The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(55)

Leo snarled and came up swinging. He might not have had the light feet of the Grigori, but he had speed and size. He plowed into Niran, bringing the smaller man to the ground. They rolled in the dry leaves, Niran wrestling away from Leo and jumping to his feet.

“She does not belong to you,” he spat out, blood at his lip.

“She does,” Leo said. “And I belong to her.”

“Just because she’s known you longer does not mean you can understand her, scribe.”

Leo rolled up. “She is my reshon. I don’t expect a Grigori to understand that.”

“Reshon.” Niran sneered. “Ah yes. The precious Irin soul mates. Did she hear it? Did she hear it coming from your own mind? That’s not heaven’s will, scribe. That’s wishful thinking.”

Leo struck out, only to have Niran parry his blows. Fists and feet flew. The Grigori was clearly a master of muay thai fighting. His speed was more than a match for Leo’s own. But punching Leo was akin to punching a wall. Leo knew it, and Niran knew it too.

As they fought, Niran aimed for Leo’s knees and elbows, trying to attack the scribe’s weakest points to gain the upper hand. Leo brought his fist down on Niran’s jaw, jolting the Grigori and rattling his brain. It was the only thing that seemed to slow Niran down.

Leo had taken another jolting kick to the knee when he heard a quiet voice say, “Enough.”

A blur of movement, then a punch to the chest that felt like a gunshot.

Leo flew back into the brush. When he opened his eyes, he saw Niran on the other side of the clearing. Sura stood between them, his arms extended and his palms facing the two fighters.

“We are facing a common enemy,” Sura said quietly. “This fighting is unacceptable and useless.”

When Leo could breathe again, he rasped out, “Was that one punch?”

Niran groaned a little. “I hate it when he does that.”

“You need to teach me,” Leo said.

“You both need to calm down.” Sura reached out to Niran and helped his brother up. “She loves him. She has loved him for years. This has nothing to do with besting you. Don’t let your resentment ruin a partnership with Leo and a friendship with Kyra.”

Niran’s face was unreadable. He nodded once at Sura and disappeared into the shadows.

Sura walked to Leo. “I’d offer to help you up, but you don’t need it.”

“That is a hell of a powerful punch for a small man,” Leo said. “I hope you don’t mind my saying that.”

“Compared to you, I am small. Why would I mind your telling the truth?”

“Good point.” Leo climbed to his feet. “For the record, I didn’t start this.”

“I didn’t think you had.” Sura began walking, and Leo fell in beside him. “I’m not going to try to explain my brother. That’s not my job. As I’m sure you can imagine, your relationship with Kyra will cause some to disapprove. I hope you don’t think that all my brothers or I feel the same way as Niran. His feelings are his own.”

“I don’t.” Leo stopped. “I didn’t think I had the right to love her. Not for years. I didn’t think she would even want me in that way when she’d been through so much. But I think she does love me, and I’m not going to be noble for anyone except her.”

Sura frowned. “She chose you. It has nothing to do with rights or being noble. You love her and she chose you. You honor her by respecting that.”

“She is my reshon.”

Sura smiled a little and began walking again. “In my hopeful moments, I like to think the Creator has such a blessing for the children of the Fallen as well as the children of the Forgiven. If we prove worthy of it.”

“Ava has Fallen blood. Kyra has Fallen blood. Why should the daughters of the Fallen be capable of soul mates but not their sons?”

“An excellent question,” Sura said. “Logically, I think you are correct. But when we have no experience of something, it is often hard to imagine it.”

“True.”

“For many of us, hope like that feels greedy.” Sura turned and looked up at Leo. “All of us live knowing that our births probably killed our human mothers. Most of us feed on human energy, often stolen from those who die giving it to us. We are not optimists, and we don’t come by virtue naturally.”

“If virtue was natural, it would have no value,” Leo said. “The Irin aren’t perfect either.”

“Perhaps not,” Sura said. “But you start from a culture where you are valued for being good. We start from the opposite.”

“If I were the Creator,” Leo said, “that would make the sacrifices and the life you and your brothers lead even more worthy of reward.”

Sura laughed. “Then I only hope our Creator is as generous as you.”





Chapter Fifteen





Kyra had avoided spending time with Alyah as much as possible. Unlike Ginny, the Thai Irina didn’t have the easy American temperament that made casual conversation simple. Alyah reminded Kyra of her brother. She was focused and serious. Smart and frighteningly efficient. Though she was patient with the kareshta at the temple in Chiang Mai, she had never been warm like Ginny.

So when Alyah knocked on Kyra’s door the next afternoon while Leo and Niran were scouting the border, Kyra was surprised.