The Scribe - Hunter Elizabeth. Страница 47

He nodded. “Not the captain, but the rest of them were lighter skinned and light haired. Most likely not Jaron’s children. More Northern-looking. Maybe Volund’s or Grimold’s, if I had to guess.”

“And Brage has been seen in Istanbul,” Leo said. “With an angelic blade.”

Damien nodded. “In Jaron’s territory. He may have other alliances. We may be seeing a move from the North that would upset Jaron’s rule here in the region.”

Rhys asked, “A coup? Volund moving against Jaron, and using his most trusted Grigori to kill him? He could have been the one to give him the blade. There were rumors he had one.”

“They all have them,” Maxim grumbled. “Don’t let the council in Vienna fool you.”

Damien barked out a reprimand in the Old Language, and Maxim shut up.

“If there is a coup in the works, then having Ava collect more information from Jaron could be crucial,” Leo said. “She’s smart. And she’s in the perfect position to—”

“She’s not a bloody soldier!” Malachi said.

“And I’m not a china doll, either.” Ava stood, looking around the room, glaring at every man in sight. “You guys keep talking about me like I’m not here. Enough.”

Malachi stood with her. “Can?m—”

“I’m going to the garden to think for a while,” she said. “Alone. I need some quiet, so don’t follow me. Any of you.” She left the room, and Malachi could hear her climbing the stairs, all the way to the roof garden that looked toward Galata Tower.

He turned to Rhys. “Are there security cameras up there?”

“Yes.” His brother clicked a few times on the computer, then tilted the monitor toward Malachi. “She’s covered from every angle. And the alarms will go off if there is any movement on the sides of the house.”

He pointed toward Rhys’s chair as Maxim and Leo drifted from the room. “I’ll watch her. At least give her some privacy.”

Rhys looked like he wanted to object, but a quick word from Damien called him from the library, leaving Malachi alone with only the image of his mate in black and white, staring off into the distance with haunted eyes.

Maxim crept into the library an hour later, at sunset, as Malachi was watching Ava.

“You have a lovely mate, brother.”

“I do.”

“An unexpected blessing to our kind.”

Malachi had the urge to cover the computer so his fellow scribe could not see her. But Maxim only glanced at Ava briefly before turning to Malachi.

“He was with her for weeks, and no harm came to her.”

His voice held a warning note. “Maxim…”

“I believe there is something happening,” Maxim said. “There are shifts in Vienna. Then Ava appeared like this. Strangers are showing up in Istanbul. So many rumors among my associates. I hear them, Malachi. I know everyone thinks me a gambler and a rogue, but—”

“Max—”

“Something is happening.” He leaned forward. “And I think she is the key. There is something she is or has that Jaron has an interest in.”

“Of course he does!” Malachi finally burst. “She’s the first new Irina in centuries! However she came to be, she could be the key to restoring our race. And if the Irin are made whole again, the Fallen could be conquered.”

“Is that what we’re truly fighting for? Don’t be like Damien and follow the Council blindly.”

Malachi narrowed his eyes. “You speak rashly, Scribe. And you make assumptions that betray your years.”

“Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I don’t see things. Damien is wise, but he never questions orders from Vienna.”

“And you question them too often.”

“I only seek to see our people whole again,” Maxim said. “We are constantly at war, but where are the Irina? Why are there none on the council any longer? When did the future of our race become the will of eight old men? There are too many secrets.”

“The Irina retreated of their own will,” Malachi said. “Were we to force them to stay?”

Maxim sat back, no argument rising to his lips as he turned his eyes back to Ava. “She is the key. And Jaron showed her no aggression. She should meet with him and find out why. He is not an unreasonable creature.”

“He’s a Fallen.”

“Now who’s making assumptions?” Maxim said. “You admitted that the angel was helping her cope with her abilities before we knew what she was. Perhaps there is more to him than you think.”

Malachi sat back, staring toward the screen. Ava wrapped her arms around herself as the evening breeze picked up. A slight shiver shook her frame. He immediately rose to go to her. She’d left her sweater in their room.

“I must go,” he said. “We’ll talk more later.”

“It’s really rather simple,” Maxim said as Malachi reached the door. “Why don’t you ask Ava what she wants to do?”

He turned. “She’s mine to protect.”

The young scribe shook his head. “She’s all of ours to protect, brother, but she has a will of her own. Ask her.”

Malachi went to their room first, grabbing a blanket from the closet before he climbed the twisting staircase to the tiled garden on the roof. The sun was setting over the city, and the sky was painted a lush golden red. Ava turned when she heard him, then silently held out her hand.

He went to her, sliding behind her on the chaise where she sat and pulling her back into his body as he wrapped the blanket around them both. Ava leaned against him, their earlier argument seemingly forgotten as she took a deep breath and tucked her face against his neck.

“What were we fighting about before?” she asked quietly.

“You going to Jaron’s office? All of us speaking for you, instead of with you?” He tucked a curl behind her ear as the breeze tossed her hair into his face. “Or me stupidly not telling you the implications of coming back here together?”

“To be fair, I probably would have run screaming at the thought of a lifetime commitment, so I understand why you didn’t.”

“I think the phrase ‘stupidly in love’ applies. I’m very out of practice handling women.”

He felt her laugh against his skin, and she turned until she’d wrapped her arms around his waist as he laid back.

“I don’t need to be handled. Just informed.”

“I’ll remember from now on. I promise.”

Night descended, cool wind sweeping up from the water and over the city as lights lit up the evening sky. The cries of the muezzin came and went, echoing from all corners before the call to prayer drifted into the night, leaving them in a cocoon of darkness and warmth as they huddled together.

“There’s no going back,” she finally whispered. “I know that. I…I don’t even want to. You were right about what you said before, even if the truth hurt. I was alone. Plus, I’m stupidly in love with you, too, so I guess we’ll have to figure this out together.”

He thought his heart would beat out of his chest with joy. “I love you, Ava.” He squeezed her tighter. Reshon.

She tensed for a moment, then relaxed, and Malachi suspected she’d heard his soul speak the word. She’d probably been hearing it for days. Weeks? And despite that, she’d stayed with him. He’d been a fool to doubt her.

“But if these are my people,” she started, “then this is my struggle, too. My responsibility.”

“Don’t—”

“I want to meet with Dr. Sadik. With Jaron. Maybe he knows where I came from. Maybe he knows what this all means. Why those Grigori were after me. I know you always suspected him, but looking back, I never felt unsafe. I could hear his voice, Malachi.” She turned her face up to his. “And I know he didn’t mean to harm me. So, why? If he was only a predator, why?”

“I don’t know.”

“I want to find out. And I also want to know if he was telling the truth about there being others like me.”

Malachi sat up. “What do you mean, others?”

“He’d said he’d helped others with my same symptoms. Maybe he was lying, but maybe he was telling the truth. I didn’t hear any dishonesty in him. And if there are others out there, other women like me…”