Page 71 of The Silent
Alyah shook her head. “Ginny said she was following up on the scribe with the twoGrigori.”
“She thinks she knows whoitis?”
“She suspects.” Alyah looked up from her notebook. “Ginny is… different. But she knows people, and she means well. I’m sure she regrets your fight the other night, but she may neverapologize.”
“I didn’t mean to cause her pain, and I’m sorry I did. I was asking about longevity spellsforKyra.”
“For Kyra?” Alyah frowned. “How oldisshe?”
“Far older than she looks, and much longer than her natural life would have granted. Her brother had been given extra power from a Fallen ally before the Battle of Vienna, but since then there has beennothing.”
“That is unexpected,” Alyah said. “And unfortunate. We need to do something. I assume you’re planning to mate with her.Canyou—”
“It’s premature,” Leo said. “She doesn’t want to rush into anything, and even if we did, performing the ritual now is notideal.”
Alyah nodded. “A very good point. You don’t need to be depleted before an action like this, and she won’t know her half of the ritual to make you stronger.” Alyah paused. “Her tracking skills are unparalleled. We need to shore up her energy to make sure nothing happens to her before we findPrija.”
Leo bristled. “And to make sureshe’ssafe?”
“Of course.” Alyah’s expression revealed little. “Leo, I have to think strategically. That’s my job. Even if Kyra meant nothing to you, I’d still want her as an ally because of her skills. That doesn’t mean I don’t value her as apersontoo.”
“Can youdoit?”
“Not as well as Ginny could.” Alyah pulled out her phone. “Let me talk to her and see what she says. For now, track down whoever makes the food around here and ask them to pack some for us. Niran wants to be on the road within an hour, and I don’t disagree. The sooner we get up to the border, the faster we find Prija and the less likely she’s drawn into Arindam’s orbit. Angels can be seductive for morethansex.”
Sura walked into the dining room as Alyahwalkedaway.
“The food is already being prepared,” he said. “I’ll make sure it’s packed. We should be on the road withinthehour.”
“Good.” Leo put his hand on the map. “Tell me about Myanmar. Tell me aboutArindam.”
“If I tell you about Arindam, it will explain more about Myanmar, I think.” Sura sat at the table. He was dressed in his Western clothes, but he still looked like a young monk with his shaved head and wise countenance. “For many years, my father and Arindam were enemies. But my father was the clearsuperior.”
“Spoken with prejudice because he was your sire orobjectivefact?”
“Objective fact,” Sura said. “I had no love for Tenasserim. He was a monster, but a powerful one. He controlled far more territory than Arindam ever did. Few people know this, but his hold extended into southern China. Arindam was jealous of him, coveted his territory, but was never able to unseat him frompower.”
“But you and yourbrothersdid?”
“Using our father’s own gifts against him,”Surasaid.
“Prija?”
Sura nodded. “That is why I am not more concerned about her. I do not fear for her personal safety. I fear more forhersoul.”
“An interesting way toputit.”
“Don’t you think we havesouls,Leo?”
“I do,” he said. “I guess I didn’t know if you did. Is that Buddhistteaching?”
“What do our sisters hear if not the voice of the divine in all humanity?” Sura said. “But speaking of the soul does offer perspective into Arindam’s people. I think that was the main difference between my brothers andArindam’ssons.”
“They don’t believe inthesoul?”
“They don’t believe the soul can change,” Sura said. “They are born to evil, but they are given more power and gifts than humans. It is an imbalance they have no control over, so they do not strive. They will sacrifice their lives for their father. They will die and hopefully be reborn as something lessunbalanced.”
“They’re fatalists,”Leosaid.
