Page 8 of The Silent
“Understandable.” Niran turned off the main road and into a stand of trees. “The road is rougher from here to the monastery. I hope motion sickness isn’t aproblem.”
“Not usually.” They went over a pothole that caused Kyra’s jaw to snap shut. “Butwe’llsee.”
They drove farther into the forest before Niran spoke again. “The deal is this: if you can help our sisters to protect their minds, we will help your brothers control theirmagic.”
Kyra looked at the dark markings that peeked from Niran’s collar. “You tattoo yourself liketheIrin?”
“Notlike the Irin,” he said. “We learned this discipline from humans. But we think it may accomplish something similar to Irintattooing.”
“And itworks?”
Niran narrowed his eyes. “Do you feel unsafewithme?”
“No, but you wouldn’t attack one of our kind,wouldyou?”
“Wouldn’t I?” Niran said quietly. He held out a hand. “Touch me. Feel my energy. See foryourself.”
Kyra was surprised to find herself hesitating. It was just a hand. He was just another angelic bastard like herself. She reached out and took it. Immediately, Niran’s fingers closed around her palm. Her first impulse was to pull away from the presumptuous hand, but she relaxed into his touch when she felt the nervous energy built up over hours of travel leave her body and flow into Niran like water releasing fromadam.
Kyra let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d beenholding.
“Better?” Niran askedquietly.
“Yes.”
“How doIfeel?”
She poked at the emotions she sensed from him. “You feel…steady.Calm.”
He released her hand to grab the wheel and steer the car across a shallow stream. “You feelpowerful.”
She watched him, but his eyes remained ontheroad.
“I’m not a warrior likeSirius.”
“There are many kinds of power,” Niran said. “It is a foolish man who thinks physical strength is a substitute for mental discipline.” He smiled a little. “I am not afoolishman.”
“That’sgood.”
“Can you truly teach my sisters how to make their minds safe fromhumans?”
“I think so,” Kyra said. “Their father is dead? You’re sureofit?”
“Iam.”
“How are you sure?” Kyra had thought her own father was dead for decades, only to find out he’d been in hiding with help from his allies. The knowledge that she’d been living in false freedom had beendevastating.
“I know my father is dead because my brothers and I killed him,” Niran said quietly. “We killed him with oursisters’help.”
* * *
The templewhere Niran took her was hidden in the hills northeast of Chiang Mai, surrounded by lush green forests of bamboo and fat-bottomed trees covered in moss. Sunlight filtered in where the road and courtyard had been cleared. Ferns and orchids covered the leaf-strewn forest floor, competing with sprawling roots forspace.
The temple was the first human structure to meet her eyes, its grey steps ancient but neat and in good repair. Though the temple didn’t have the lustrous gold-covered statues and brilliant painted columns of the wats she’d seen in her research, this place hummed withpower.
She could feel the energy contained within the humble structure as she stepped out of the car. Stone dragons flowed down either side of the stairs, and potted palms dotted the courtyard in front of bungalows surrounding the central structure. The houses were simple stilted buildings. Dark, varnished railings lined the front of each one with flowers flowing from window boxes and hanging baskets. Orchids clung to tree trunks, and the air was filled with the scent of fragrant flowers and the chirp ofbirds.
“Welcome,” Niran said, walking to the back of the truck to grab her suitcase. “I’m sure you’ll want time to wash and rest. A house has been prepared for you. It’s notmodern—”
