The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(89)

“Kyra—”

“I know… I know you think I’ll find my voice,” she said. “But that’s wishful thinking, Leo. I do believe I’ll find a voice, but it might not be what you’re imagining.”

“Then I will be content with your song, whatever it might be. But ana sepora, Ava will teach you. I know she will.”

“Are you sure of that?”

“Should I call her right now?”

“I don’t know…” Kyra gathered her courage and spoke her secret fear. “What if it’s not good for me to learn, Leo? My blood is of the Fallen. What if learning Irina magic unlocks something dark in me?”

Leo pulled her away from his chest and tilted her chin up. He was frowning. “Do you really believe that?”

“I don’t know.” I fear it.

I see no darkness in you.

“There is darkness,” she whispered. “Leo, there is anger. There is… rage. And bitterness. And everything—”

“Everything that makes us real,” he said. “Everything that gives us humanity. We are not angels, and I thank the heavens for it. We love. And we suffer when we lose. We are jealous and generous. We are—none of us—wholly light or wholly dark. I have darkness too, Kyra.”

She shook her head. “You are too good.”

“I am not perfect. Far from it.” He smiled. “Though I’ll take your admiration for as long as I have it. No doubt, our years together will lend reality to your dreams.”

“They’re not dreams,” she said. “I have seen evil. And I have seen good.” She kissed him gently. “You are so good.”

“I’m glad,” he said. “Because that means I am deserving of you.”

“Leo—”

“Say yes.”

She closed her eyes and gave in to her heart. Yes.

“Say it aloud,” he whispered. “Please.”

“Yes.”

He captured her mouth in a fervent kiss. A worshipful kiss. They made love in the gold light of morning, and he whispered to her how much he loved her. Kyra soaked in the sunlight and let Leo’s love chase the last of her shadows away.

There was no darkness there. No shadows between them.

“We’ll go to a house by the ocean,” he whispered when their bodies were joined. “We’ll run away and hide by the sea.”

“I love you, Leo.”

I love you, reshon.



But happiness was the last thing on Kyra’s mind later that day when they met with the scribes from Bangkok. Dara joined them by video conference in the dining room of the house. Sura and Niran sat on one side of the table with Leo and Kyra. Rith and Alyah sat on the other.

“The women and children you evacuated last week,” Dara said. “They are settled in homes. The girl is being fostered by an Irin family who speaks her language. The woman with the boy is staying in the scribe house for now. She won’t leave the baby.”

“Would you leave your baby?” Kyra asked.

“I have no children,” Dara said. “But I hardly think a woman who’d been raped by an angel—”

“It’s not your decision to make.” Niran cut her off. “If she wants the baby, send her back to Chiang Mai. The child is male. We’ll know how to help him.”

“And the woman?” Rith asked.

“There are ways for human women to get well. To stay with their children,” Kyra said. “Leo and I have both seen it.”

Leo nodded. “But she needs Irina magic. And knowledge. You have to tell her the truth.”

Dara scoffed. “She’s human.”

“She’s been brought into the angelic world whether you like it or not,” Kyra said. “She deserves to know the truth.”

It was clear Dara didn’t agree, but Kyra decided to ask about the others. “The ones we rescued from Bagan. What will happen to them?”

“We’ll take the four girls of course,” Dara said. “We have foster homes for them too. The boys must be trained by your Grigori brothers. We don’t know what to do with them.”

Dara’s dismissive tone raised Kyra’s hackles, but Sura put a hand on her knee and shook his head.

“We will care for the boys,” Sura said. “We are better equipped for their challenges. But I worry about our young sisters. When you say they will be fostered, what does that mean?”

“It means they’ll be raised by Irin families,” Rith said. “As my sister said.”

“And will they be trained as Irina?” Sura asked. “Will you teach them the magic they need to become full members of your world?”

Both Rith and Dara were silent. Alyah’s face was painfully blank.

Kyra nearly choked on her anger. Only Leo’s touch kept her steady.

“You have to decide,” she said quietly. “Decide and commit. We cannot be your second-class citizens. We have lived in the shadows too long. Scribes want kareshta wives—some of these women are bearing Irin children—but the Irina won’t teach them anything more than the most basic magic. We know kareshta can sing if they are taught.”

“My own watcher’s mate has Fallen blood,” Leo said. “And Ava has been trained by ancients. Her song is powerful. She is an asset to our world.”