The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(66)

Prija washed. She closed her eyes and let the warm water fall over her, filling her mouth and covering her face. She soaked her hair and wiggled her toes. Whatever else the night brought, at least she would be clean. It had been days since she’d had a proper bath, and she could hardly bear her own scent. She washed away the grime but was relieved when she turned off the water to find that the black fog that had wrapped around her was still there. It settled against her skin as she pulled on the cotton shirt and wrapped the skirt around her.

After she dressed, she knocked on the door and the guard opened it.

He led her down a hall and into a bedroom.

So much for being untouchable.

She didn’t have much time. The Grigori—he must have been someone important because the room was spacious and had beautiful furniture—was already there. Before he could turn, Prija struck out with her mind.

“Tell them I want the woman to—” He broke off with a strangled cry.

Prija didn’t wait. She struck again, as she had with the scribe in the van. The Grigori fell to the ground and bled from his ears as the guards rushed into the room.

“What have you done?”

A second guard walked in. “I told you!”

Prija hung back for a moment, watching the Grigori flail. Something kept her there. Kept her watching. Blood continued to trickle from his ears. His eyes were rolled back and his mouth was slack.

“She’s a demon!”

You should go.

For the first time in years, the voice in her mind wasn’t her own.

Prija walked out and wandered down the hall. She kept walking and got as far as the courtyard before someone stopped her. They threw a hood over her head and lifted her from her feet. She kicked out and struck in all directions with her mind, but she couldn’t see anyone, and she could no longer hear voices, so none of her jabs hit a target. She was tossed over a shoulder and someone jogged. It was very uncomfortable.

“Here!” Whoever was holding her put her on her feet and started yelling. “Take her! Get her away from here. We don’t want her.”

Rough hands grabbed her upper arms. “We told you. She’s a gift for Arindam. He will hear of your disrespect.”

“You’re nothing here,” the other Grigori said. “And you’ll be nothing in Bagan. You take her there and Arindam will kill you.”

“We’ll see.”

Without another word, Prija was tossed in the back of the van and the doors slammed behind her. She tore off the hood and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her saw sam sai safe in a corner under a bench. She looked around. Nothing about the van had changed. In a few minutes, she and her captors were traveling along the highway again.





Chapter Eighteen





Leo, Kyra, and their motley army returned to the small inn and quickly hid the women in their various bungalows. Leo had searched for the Wa language online and found a few passages of the Bible translated. Through that, he’d been able to speak enough to calm the panicked mother. She was safely stowed in Sura’s bungalow with the other women, and Niran’s Grigori guarded them.

He was unpacking the van when Alyah approached.

“Where is she?” he asked.

“Ginny takes her time, and she may have had trouble at the border.”

“Is she going to be able to get all these women back into Thailand? They don’t have papers. They have nothing but the clothes they’re wearing.”

“The scribe house will have taken care of that,” Alyah said. “Once they arrive, we should be able to hand them off and keep going.”

It didn’t sit well with Leo that Prija had been moved so quickly. If she was that dangerous, the Fallen wouldn’t be able to ignore her for long. And the quicker she caught Arindam’s attention, the more difficult it would be to extract her.

“Rith is among the warriors Ginny is bringing,” Alyah said. “He will be staying with us. He has a black blade with him.”

“Dara’s brother?”

“Yes.”

Leo nodded. All Irin warriors knew what a black blade was. Leo had been struck with one, and it was only coals from the sacred fire that had healed him. Black blades were heaven-forged and brought to earth at the beginning of time. They had no equal and were the only way to kill one of the Fallen.

Only Irin scribes could wield a black blade, because the magic it took for mortal hands to control one had to be written on the skin. It was complicated and deep magic. Usually only elders or very senior watchers could control one. Warriors of Mikael’s line took to the magic more readily, and considering both Rith and his sister were warriors, it was likely Mikael’s blood ran in their veins.

Leo said, “It’s unusual for someone less senior than a watcher to wield a blade like that.”

Alyah nodded. “Our house is… different. In any other place, Rith would already be a watcher. In any other place, Anurak wouldn’t be allowed to continue on as the watcher while serving as an elder in Vienna. It is only because female watchers are not technically allowed to exist that they have these… interesting loopholes, I think you would say in English.”

“Because if Irina could be watchers,” Leo said, “then Dara would be the watcher and Rith could have his own house.”

“Exactly. But he believes in her leadership, so he stays to bolster her. It gives the rest of the scribes confidence to know a strong scribe and singer head the house, even if our watcher is far away.”