Page 85 of The Silent
Sura cocked his head. “Is it so black-and-white for you,singer?”
Niran said, “Their sire is not dead. It’s not sosimple.”
“Whynot?”
“Because,” Leo said, “if their sire is living, they will do whatever he wants. Almost without question. They are virtual slaves. Do you want the slaves of the Fallen in yourhouse?”
Alyah didn’t appear to likethatidea.
“If we’d already killed Arindam, it would be one thing,” Niran said. “But those women are compromised. Their children belong to the Fallen. Their Grigori protectors are loyal. If we take them into our camp, we have no way of knowing if they would betray us. Neither would you. Geography might provide some protection, but that depends on how powerful Arindam hasgrown.”
“But we can’t just leave them there,” Alyah said. “They’re human. They will die if we leave them among theFallen.”
Leo asked, “How deep are you willing to diveinhere?”
Alyah said, “We have our mandate from the council. The protection of thekareshta—”
“Is not your job,”Niransaid.
“I don’t agree.” Alyah’s chin jutted out. “If you’re not willing to do anything about it, then the scribehousewill.”
Sura raised a hand. “It’s not a question of being willing, Alyah. It’s a question of putting our own sisters in danger. Humans under thrall to a Fallen only think of the angel. They would betray us withouthesitation.”
“So you’ll let my house take them,” Alyah said. “I’m not asking you to shelter them, but those children are vulnerable. Those women are victims. If Arindam wants to take on the scribes and singers of Bangkok, then let him. Our watcher wields a black blade of heaven. We are not afraid of theFallen.”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “You speak for your house on thismatter?”
“My houseunderstandsduty.”
Niran nodded. “Very well. Call your brothers and sisters then. Tell them to follow us north. We will free those under Arindam’s control and put them under the protection of the Irin house before we go after our sister. You can do with them whatyouwill.”
Sura spoke sharply to Niran, but Niran only raised a hand. “I’m not going to argue, brother. If the Irin want the responsibility, they can take it. I have no love for Arindam’s sons. They had a chance to gain their freedom, and they chose safetyinstead.”
Leo said, “So we have a plan then? We’ll follow Kyra’s direction to the first compound and take out the Grigori there, free the women and children before we move to the nextcompound?”
Sura nodded. “I know where he’s likely to take her next, especially if they were afraid of her. There is another compound, even more isolated than the first. With Kyra’s range, she should be able to listen for it once we get past thefirst.”
* * *
They didn’t waitfor Kyra to wake. With the prospect of a Grigori skirmish on the horizon, none of them wanted to sit idle. Leo packed up their things and loaded them into the van before he put Kyra in the back seat. They rode north over the border with little trouble. The guards were too excited about the prospect of meeting famous fighters from the US and Hong Kong to give them much scrutiny. Leo took a number of pictures with them before they drove deeper into the mysterious countryside ofMyanmar.
They rode for hours, winding their way through river valleys and over mountains to a country inn where Sura was greeted by familiar hosts. Kyra was just waking as the van stopped, and Leo, Niran, and Alyah jumped out to unload theirluggage.
Leo saw her blinking in thebackseat.
“We’re over the border?” sheasked.
Henodded.
Kyra took a deep breath, closed her eyes. “We’reclose.”
“Sura knew where he wasgoing.”
“Are they going after the women and children?” she asked in Greek, knowing they could speak anonymously in her nativelanguage.
Leonodded.
Kyra frowned. “Are NiranandSura—”
