The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(77)

It had shocked her to see the reaction when they arrived at the hotel and he was mingling with other guests. To her, Leo had always been the most gentle of men. She was surprised to realize human men were frightened of him. Women, of course, were drawn to him.

But unlike most Grigori, who were incapable of ignoring female attention, Leo hardly seemed to notice the admiring or wary glances. He moved through the world utterly self-contained, cheerfully curious, and wholly focused on her and her needs.

She’d had to shove him out the door that morning. He knew his touch helped to keep the Fallen’s voice at bay.

“Let’s have lunch,” Sura said. “Leo will be cross with me if I don’t feed you.”

“Can we eat in our suite?”

“Of course.” Sura hopped out of the carriage, which had taken them to the steps of their hotel. “Why don’t you go to the room, and I’ll order something light for us to share?”

“Thank you.” She put up an umbrella and hated the fragility of her steps. Without Leo, everything in her body felt hypersensitive. Even her skin felt like it was picking up sound from the humans around her. The background noise grew louder the longer she stayed. She could hear the angel most of all, but she also was picking up disturbing thoughts from Prija. She’d homed in on the woman the moment they drew near the temples.

What she’d heard wasn’t promising.



She was hiding in darkness when Leo returned. Without waiting a beat, he slid his shoes off at the door, unhooked his knife holsters, and joined her on the bed, sliding a hand under the loose shirt she wore and pressing one palm to the small of her back while the other slid to cradle her head.

Kyra took a deep breath and let the silence envelope her.

“Better?” he said.

She nodded.

“How bad today?”

“It’s the same. It hasn’t changed since we arrived in the city.”

“He’s in the compound. We got visual confirmation today.”

“How did you escape his notice?”

“I kept back with Rith. Alyah and Niran are the ones who saw him.”

Though Irina had long ago developed magic to hide themselves from the Fallen, Irin still had a difficult time evading detection. Niran, a Grigori, and Alyah had the best chance of remaining under Arindam’s radar and escaping detection.

“How many sons?” Kyra asked.

“I’d estimate nearly fifty in the compound, though only two-thirds are what I’d consider fighting age.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” A Fallen would send little children to fight if it suited his purposes. Children were disposable to them. They could always breed more. “Women?” Kyra asked.

“A dozen or so. Around half of them pregnant, according to Alyah.”

“Children?”

“Kyra, why are you doing this?”

“I want to help.”

Leo fell silent. It had been an ongoing argument from the time they’d descended the hills and Kyra had begun to hear the Fallen.

“I can help,” she said. “I want to, and I promised the girls back in Chiang Mai I’d get Prija back.”

“We have her brothers with us.”

“They don’t know,” Kyra hissed. “Have they heard her mind? No. They have no idea what they’re dealing with.”

Prija had retreated so far into her mind that even Kyra was having trouble hearing her. She’d surrendered to the darkness around her. Every day, the wall grew a little harder. A little more dense.

Part of Kyra was grateful. Despite Prija’s fractured psyche, her ability to block meant she could protect herself. Part of Kyra was worried. Too long in the darkness wasn’t a good indicator of Prija’s mental health. It would only take a certain amount of pressure from Arindam to crack her open if he wanted to. If the darkness Prija had gathered around her cracked open, Kyra didn’t know what would happen. She could lash out at the Fallen. She could lash out at her brothers.

Kyra had seen both things happen.

“What is that?” Leo pointed to the corner.

Kyra had taken the cloth Intira had woven and draped it along the sofa in the sitting area. “Intira made it.”

Leo stared at the weaving. “Is that a traditional Thai pattern?”

“I don’t know. She gave it to me to give to Prija. Told me that Prija would know what it is. I was hoping it would give me some kind of insight into what she’s feeling or how her mind works, but so far…” Kyra turned toward him. “Why do you ask?”

“Because it looks like Hurrian,” he murmured. “But there’s no way a child in rural Thailand would have seen anything like that.”

“What’s Hurrian?”

“It’s the earliest known human musical notation,” Leo said. “There are rumors that some very early scribes tried to record Irina song in a similar way, but scholars believe they’re wholly human. Nothing supernatural about it.”

“Strange. Why would Intira weave something like that?”

“She wouldn’t.” Leo sat up, sliding his hand into Kyra’s to maintain contact. “Unless…"

“Do you think Vasu—”

“Maybe.” Leo raised an eyebrow. “Her mind is brilliant.”