The Secret (34 page)

“We know the Fallen can manipulate time and human perception. It must have something to do with that.”

“Whatever his reasons, Vasu did protect me. I didn’t even know the Grigori had followed me, and I’m usually pretty good at spotting a tail after years of having bodyguards when I travel. I’d let down my guard.”

Damien shrugged. “Or he led them to you to see what you’d do. We have no idea what his motives could be.”

“He was… oddly honest. I think he’s an ally of Jaron’s. He could have hurt me anytime he wanted. I’d let him in the apartment when he was a cat.”

“A cat? Malachi left that part out.”

Ava explained as she downed another cup of coffee and devoured the breakfast pastry Damien had brought. If it weren’t for the typical voracious Irina metabolism, she’d blow up like a whale. The sweets in Vienna were out of this world.

 
“I’ve never heard of one shifting to an animal before, but that could be something unique to this Vasu. Perhaps the same talent that allows him to transport you over distances.”

“Aren’t angels basically the same?”

“No.” Damien stood to get himself another coffee. “They were created to perform different duties, therefore they have different talents. That’s why a daughter of Leoc has visions, but a daughter of Ariel has an affinity for the elements, like Sari.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Can you move rocks and wood?”

Ava grinned. “That was pretty cool at the Library, huh?”

Damien’s mouth lifted in the corner. “She was a vision. I was the envy of every scribe in that room.”

“I love that you’re not intimidated by her power. By how outspoken she is.”

“Why would I be? It only makes me stronger.” He sighed. “You lived in the human world for too long.”

“I’m better now.”

“I remember when I first met you.”

“You were so suspicious.”

“You were so jumpy.”

They both smiled, and Ava was glad—as painful as Malachi’s loss had been—that she’d found Damien.

She put a hand over his. “It’s good to have a brother.”

THE mating feast at Damien and Sari’s house wasn’t quite the grand event that Ava had imagined. It was more like a really fun, really long dinner party with lots of speeches and blessings. Everyone stood up to say something really eloquent or really funny. All the scribes from the Istanbul house were there, along with Renata and Mala. Orsala, Sari, and Damien were the hosts. Sari and Damien’s brother-in-law had also been invited. Gabriel was the mate of Sari’s sister, who had died during the Rending. Ava could see the tension between him and Damien, but she didn’t ask questions.

She was too happy.

Malachi was at her side. The passionate, intense man who had slowly been returning to her was back completely. He joked with his brothers. Held her close to his side all night. Teased her shamelessly and was quick to open his shirt and show off the new mating mark to anyone who asked.

He also watched every door and window like commandos might crash through at any time.

“Relax,” she whispered to him when she’d gone to stand by the window and watch the moon. He’d drawn her away from the window without a word, distracting her with a kiss.

“What are you talking about?”

“You. You’ve been like… poised for action all night.”

He slid his hand down to cup her bottom. “Well, if you’d like to leave now—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” she said with a laugh as she wiggled away. “You and Max and Leo looked all over the city today. And I know you’ve got some of your buddies outside right now. We’re not going to be invaded by enemy forces.”

His smile wavered. “We don’t know that.”

“What did Orsala find out about Vasu?”

“That he was supposedly killed by the archangel Galal over two centuries ago. But before then, he’d been an ally of Jaron’s in Central Asia. He was also known as one of the more… human of the angels.”

“How—”

“The legends say that Vasu was young—the equivalent of an angelic child—when the angels fell. He interacted with humanity more than the other Fallen. Humans in his area considered him a kind of god because he came among the population so much.”

“Interesting. Well, he was different from Jaron. He, um…” She cleared her throat. “He kissed me.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t sexual.” She put a hand on his chest. “It was after the fighting. I was in shock. And he was… curious, I think.”

Malachi’s face was stormy. “He kissed you?”

“I didn’t kiss him back!”

“What did you do?”

“Well…” She paused, trying to remember the tumult in the cemetery. “I think right after that I crawled over to the bushes and puked. Probably not the reaction he was going for.”

Malachi burst into laughter. “Probably not.”

“Just relax,” she said. “How many mating feasts are we going to have after all?”

“My mother had seven.”

Ava blinked. “What?”

“Yes, one with her immediate family and new mate. One with my father’s. Then the extended families host one. And of course, my father’s family was in Turkey, so—”

“Wow, so…” She looked around the room. “Are we going to have to do a lot of these?”

“Not if you don’t want to,” he said. “We’re not exactly the traditional Irin couple.”

“No.” She smiled. “We’re just… us.”

Rhys wandered over. “I feel privileged. The first mating of an Irin scribe and one of the
kareshta
. Doesn’t this feel historic?”

Ava could see the scholarly excitement, but she had a hard time thinking of her own life as historic in any sense.

“Historic may be stretching things, Rhys.”

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I want to know when Damien plans to reveal the existence of the Grigori women. We should all be in the Library for that.”

Malachi seemed hesitant. “Do we need to? We promised Kostas our discretion. He has women and children he’s protecting. Revealing anything to the elders could be dangerous at this point.”

“But we must,” Rhys said. “Not only could this change everything about how our race views the Grigori, but we may have trouble getting a mandate from the elders unless they know there is something to be gained.”

Ava asked, “What exactly do you mean by mandate? In Irin terms.”

Rhys said, “Think of it as… a rule of engagement. Officially, our mandate as scribes now includes protecting humans, killing Grigori, and hunting angels if they hunt us first. A watcher who deviates from that can be disciplined. His scribes could receive censure.”

“So, officially, Damien and you guys have been breaking all kinds of rules.”

“Yes,” Malachi said. “But Damien is old and powerful enough that no one is going to question him too much.”

“Did you know he was a Templar Knight?”

Both the men blinked.
 

“What?” Malachi said.

“This is awesome,” she said. “I love knowing stuff you guys don’t.”

“Whether that’s true or not,” Rhys continued, “one of the reasons Damien has been petitioning the elders is to change the mandate of the scribe houses to include more offense against the Fallen—specifically Volund—based on the attacks in Istanbul and Oslo.”

Malachi nodded. “He’s not having much success.”

“But the knowledge that there are Grigori women being victimized would be another motivation for taking action.”

“Yes,” Rhys said. “Leo was right. There are thousands of scribes without mates because there are so few women left after the Rending. The elders would not be able to ignore that. The Watchers’ Council would force them to expand the mandate. They would see the
kareshta
as potential mates, as you and Ava are mates.”

Malachi tensed. “You’re saying that not only should we reveal the existence of the
kareshta
, but we should also reveal that Ava is of their blood?”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

He squeezed her tighter as one of the scribes she didn’t know came up to Rhys.

“We have a situation,” he said quietly.

“What is it?” Rhys asked.
 

“There is a… I don’t know what he is. He smelled Grigori, but he didn’t attack.” The guard sounded confused. “Just handed me a note to give to Maxim and ran.”

“What did he look like?” Malachi asked.

The guard shrugged. “Like a Grigori. I would have killed him, but he came and left quickly. He looked to have a dozen men with him. I was prepared to call for help when he mentioned Maxim’s name.”

“Give me the note,” Rhys said. “And wait here.”

“Kostas?” Malachi murmured as they walked to a quieter corner.

“Possibly. Or a trap.”

“Have you ever heard of a dozen Grigori walking through the middle of Vienna like that? We’re only blocks from the Library.”

“None would dare.”

Except, Ava suspected, a heretic Grigori with nothing to lose. But Kostas had been adamant about secrecy when they’d met him in Sofia. What could have caused him to seek them out now?

“Ava?” Malachi reached for her hand and she took it. So much for reassuring him nothing was going to happen.

Rhys approached Max in the corner, who started and grabbed for the note his brother held out.

“Malachi,” he called from across the room. “With me?”

Malachi nodded and tried to let Ava’s hand go, but she held on tighter.

“I’m going with you.”

“Ava—”

“He didn’t hurt me before. He’s not likely to do it now. And Kyra might be with him.”

After meeting her grandmother, Ava was desperate to talk to the
kareshta
woman again.

Malachi paused, nodded. “Stay close.”

“I will.”

THE four of them slipped out of the house and down the stairs, turning right when the earlier guard nodded in that direction. In an alley, just off the main road, they caught the muted scent of sandalwood.

“Maxim,” someone hissed from the shadows.

“Kostas?”

The man flew from the shadows and grabbed Max by the neck, tackling him to the ground.

Malachi and Rhys immediately flew to their brother’s aid.

“Who did you tell?” Kostas shouted. “Who was it?”

“Kostas, I—”

“I trusted you!”

Ava saw the dozen Grigori standing in the shadows, but none went to aid their brother. They were watching. Waiting to see what Malachi and Rhys would do. Ava had the feeling that the minute any knives came out, all bets were off.

She saw Malachi reach for one of his daggers. “Malachi!” she cried.

Her mate pulled away from the fight to go to her, leaving Max, Kostas, and Rhys tumbling on the ground.

“Stop them!” she yelled. “Something’s happened. We need to talk, not fight.”

One of the Grigori stepped forward just as Rhys tore Kostas from Max’s throat and stood between the two men.

“Yes, something happened,” the beautiful man’s face was twisted in rage. “One of you betrayed us. Betrayed our sisters. The children…”

Ava gasped and Malachi immediately sheathed the knife he’d been about to pull and put his hands down.

“None of us betrayed you,” he said. “And we would never put your women in jeopardy. We’ve been trying to find a way to help.”

“The monastery was attacked,” Kostas panted out. “Old women. Children. They killed anyone who couldn’t flee.”

“No.” Ava felt her knees give out.
 

Malachi caught her.

“Kostas,” Max panted. “I would never—”

“No one knew where it was. We were so careful. We turned away dozens because we couldn’t be sure their sires were dead.”

Beyond the anger, Ava could see grief tearing up Kostas’s eyes. The sickening rage of a protector who had failed.

“Who was it?” Kostas asked again. “
Who did you tell?
”

Max shook his head. “I don’t know, my friend. None of us would put children at risk.”

Kostas still glared. “Kyra was in the city with me. Sirius”—he pointed at the Grigori who had spoken up—“was the guard there. Most of his men are dead now. There were too many. Some of the older girls and women were able to escape with some of the smallest. But the oldest
kareshta
and some of the youngest…”
 

Sirius said, “We lost thirteen of our sisters and a dozen free Grigori. The monastery was compromised. They knew exactly how to attack.”

Max said, “You’ve never taken me there. None of us knew where it was, Kostas. Think. This betrayal did not come from us.”

“It was Svarog’s men. Assassins from Hungary. We didn’t even know they were in our territory.” Kostas’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “We didn’t even know.”

“The other women, are they safe?” Ava asked.
 

“For now,” Sirius said.

“How many are left?”

“Eighteen. We need to find them a new place. Right now they’re scattered among our brothers in populated areas. They can’t stay there for long. It’s not good for the little ones.”