Michael, son of Svarog. 1699. Took part in attack of Prague prior to Rending.
Kemal, son of Jaron. 1955. Known kills, multiple victims in Istanbul, Athens, and throughout Romania.
Joseph, son of Volund. 1902. Known kills in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Brittany, Lyon, and Milan.
Some of the names had been crossed out, usually with a notation about who had killed them. There were also notes about how each Grigori fought or who their associates were. Certain names kept popping up over and over.
Volund.
Jaron.
Svarog.
Galal.
“Hey, Rhys?”
“Hmm?” He looked up from his computer.
“These names—the fathers of the Grigori listed—so are these…?”
“Fallen angels,” he said. “The real kind. Not offspring like us, and definitely not the nice fluffy variety you see on the television. The Fallen never left Earth, and they’re incredibly powerful. Incredibly cruel. We’ve killed a few over the years, but it’s very difficult. They can shapeshift and cloak their power, so more than one Irin scribe has lost his life thinking one of the Fallen is a harmless old woman or child in need of help. It’s more common they kill each other than we’re able to kill them.”
“How do you kill an angel?” she whispered to herself.
“There are only a few weapons that can do it. Most are in the possession of the Council in Vienna. They have an ancient armory they loan out to very specific people. One of their daggers showed up on a Grigori soldier last month, which has everyone scrambling. Damien was up in arms when he called Vienna, wanted to know how the bastard had obtained it.”
“Does anyone know?”
Rhys shrugged. “It’s possible an assassin they sent to kill one of the Fallen failed. Brage—that’s the one who had it—is one of Volund’s most trusted children. Volund controls most of Northern Europe and Russia. He might have given it to him, but if he did, he’d have a very specific purpose for it. It’s not something you’d give away lightly or carry every day.”
“Is it weird that one of Volund’s Grigori is here in Istanbul?”
“It could be, but then, it may be nothing. Most go back and forth despite some rivalry.”
“Huh.”
“Though… there’s a lot of strange happenings lately,” he muttered, still searching for something online. “Like your Dr. Sadik.”
Ava burned just thinking about him. Bastard. She’d trusted him, and now she had no idea who the doctor was, or even if he was a doctor at all. Rhys was still trying to track him down. They worked in silence for several more minutes, but Ava could feel Rhys’s eyes keep coming back to her.
“What?”
“I’m curious about something.” Rhys handed her a book written in what looked like Farsi just as Malachi entered the room. Ava tried to push down her own annoyance at seeing him.
“I can’t read this,” she protested, looking through the book. “I can speak a little Farsi, but—”
“Just look at the pictures,” Rhys said. “See if you recognize anyone.”
Malachi walked toward her, but she shot him a look. She was irritated about the whole “mated-not-married” thing, and she wasn’t going to try to make him feel better. He could have at least warned her. And the fact that everyone around her was so damn happy only irked her more. Would it have killed him to keep her informed?
“If you want to punish him, you’re doing a bang-up job,” Rhys said when Malachi crossed the room to speak to Maxim about something. The two conferred for a moment before heading toward the library door, leaving her and Rhys alone. Ava turned to him.
“I’ll get over it eventually, but right now I’m pissed.”
“He didn’t mean to anger you. I’m sure of it.”
“But he didn’t exactly keep me informed, did he? Did Malachi tell you we were mated?”
Rhys’s mouth did a little gasping-fish thing. “Not in those words… exactly.”
“Really? When?”
He muttered something that sounded like “Captain Donkey.”
“What?”
He cleared his throat. “Cappadocia.”
“Oh really?” She glared at the door. “We were there one night after we… you know.”
“I think the whole valley knew. Caves echo.” Rhys kept talking, even though her face reddened. “Honestly, love, the two of you had been dancing around each other for weeks. Stop being such a fussbudget.”
“A…a what?” She tried to hold in the laugh as Rhys blushed.
“Nothing.”
“Did you just call me a…a fussbudget?” The snicker turned into a laugh.
“I… well, you are. Being very fussy about all this. You’re—”
“Showing your age, old man.” Ava couldn’t stop laughing.
“And you’re being annoyed for the sake of being annoyed.” At least Rhys was laughing, too. His eyes were lighter than they had been since the disastrous night she’d kissed him. “So just stop.” The laughter left his voice and Ava wiped the tears from her eyes. “You two have what most of us have only dreamed of for over two hundred years. A mate. A partner. We can all see it, even when you’re annoyed and he’s exasperated.”
She sighed. “I do exasperate him.”
“And he loves it. He loves you. And you’re clearly besotted with him.” Rhys grabbed her hand and squeezed it for a second. “So stop trying to be sensible about it. Grab love when you can. It doesn’t come around for everyone.”