Page 91 of The Silent
“Tell them I want the woman to—” He broke off with astrangledcry.
Prija didn’t wait. She struck again, as she had with the scribe in the van. The Grigori fell to the ground and bled from his ears as the guards rushed intotheroom.
“What haveyoudone?”
A second guard walked in. “Itoldyou!”
Prija hung back for a moment, watching the Grigori flail. Something kept her there. Kept her watching. Blood continued to trickle from his ears. His eyes were rolled back and his mouth wasslack.
“She’s ademon!”
Youshouldgo.
For the first time in years, the voice in her mind wasn’therown.
Prija walked out and wandered down the hall. She kept walking and got as far as the courtyard before someone stopped her. They threw a hood over her head and lifted her from her feet. She kicked out and struck in all directions with her mind, but she couldn’t see anyone, and she could no longer hear voices, so none of her jabs hit a target. She was tossed over a shoulder and someone jogged. It was veryuncomfortable.
“Here!” Whoever was holding her put her on her feet and started yelling. “Take her! Get her away from here. We don’twanther.”
Rough hands grabbed her upper arms. “We told you. She’s a gift for Arindam. He will hear of yourdisrespect.”
“You’re nothing here,” the other Grigori said. “And you’ll be nothing in Bagan. You take her there and Arindam willkillyou.”
“We’llsee.”
Without another word, Prija was tossed in the back of the van and the doors slammed behind her. She tore off the hood and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw hersaw sam saisafe in a corner under a bench. She looked around. Nothing about the van had changed. In a few minutes, she and her captors were traveling along the highwayagain.
ChapterEighteen
Leo,Kyra, and their motley army returned to the small inn and quickly hid the women in their various bungalows. Leo had searched for the Wa language online and found a few passages of the Bible translated. Through that, he’d been able to speak enough to calm the panicked mother. She was safely stowed in Sura’s bungalow with the other women, and Niran’s Grigoriguardedthem.
He was unpacking the van when Alyahapproached.
“Where is she?” heasked.
“Ginny takes her time, and she may have had trouble at theborder.”
“Is she going to be able to get all these women back into Thailand? They don’t have papers. They have nothing but the clothes they’rewearing.”
“The scribe house will have taken care of that,” Alyah said. “Once they arrive, we should be able to hand them off and keepgoing.”
It didn’t sit well with Leo that Prija had been moved so quickly. If she was that dangerous, the Fallen wouldn’t be able to ignore her for long. And the quicker she caught Arindam’s attention, the more difficult it would be toextracther.
“Rith is among the warriors Ginny is bringing,” Alyah said. “He will be staying with us. He has a black bladewithhim.”
“Dara’sbrother?”
“Yes.”
Leo nodded. All Irin warriors knew what a black blade was. Leo had been struck with one, and it was only coals from the sacred fire that had healed him. Black blades were heaven-forged and brought to earth at the beginning of time. They had no equal and were the only way to kill one of theFallen.
Only Irin scribes could wield a black blade, because the magic it took for mortal hands to control one had to be written on the skin. It was complicated and deep magic. Usually only elders or very senior watchers could control one. Warriors of Mikael’s line took to the magic more readily, and considering both Rith and his sister were warriors, it was likely Mikael’s blood ran in theirveins.
Leo said, “It’s unusual for someone less senior than a watcher to wield a bladelikethat.”
Alyah nodded. “Our house is… different. In any other place, Rith would already be a watcher. In any other place, Anurak wouldn’t be allowed to continue on as the watcher while serving as an elder in Vienna. It is only because female watchers are not technically allowed to exist that they have these… interesting loopholes, I think you would say inEnglish.”
“Because if Irina could be watchers,” Leo said, “then Dara would be the watcher and Rith could have his ownhouse.”
