Authors: Lea Griffith
Arrow to the Soul (29 page)
Her eyes closed and her hands clenched on his face. A tremor shook her slight frame and Adam knew then—she was his.
She’d given over to him, and no matter where this thing took them—no matter where the journey lead, she would let him take it with her.
“You. Are. Mine.” Her voice was strong and birds took flight in the canopy surrounding her temple.
His gaze lifted, watching as they flew into the light of the day. It would be dangerous, their path. She had many more secrets to tell him, but for this moment, they were as they’d been meant to be—each other’s.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Arrow watched the day break over Adam’s face and felt the band around her chest ease. She had been the butterfly in the spider’s web for so long now. This man tracked her to her home, coming for her and demanding all that she was. He’d freed her from the spider’s trap.
Arrow walked to the ledge he’d stood on yesterday and looked into the pinks and oranges of the dawn. “Blue, blue sky, Ninka. We are close, sister,” she said to the morning.
She hoped Adam could handle her darkness because the truth remained in the screams that echoed in her mind—she was death. And she had more to dispense.
But he’d given her something she’d never imagined and so she would protect him from harm as long as she could. She had no doubts that in the end her life would be given in this quest for vengeance. Another truth she held deep inside. The black swamp she’d been born from called to her daily.
But while she lived, while breath coursed through her body, she would drink Adam’s light and give him all the good that was in her. He had shown it to her and she would give it to him because she could do no less.
He asked her to return to Virginia and she was going to do this…for him.
Eventually, questions would have to be answered, but some things were buried so deep she wondered if she could speak of them at all.
The boy needed to be found. Nodachi had hidden him. And now another besides Bone, Blade, Bullet, and herself sought the boy. Joseph would never give up his quest to find the child either, but it was the other who sought him that made sweat bead on Arrow’s low back. She hated fear, but recognized she could control it.
The boy was to First Team as Ninka had been. In his safety lay their redemption. If they could save him from his creation, they would earn back what they’d lost that morning in Arequipa so many years ago.
And then there was Joseph. How she yearned to drive her
ya
through his heart.
Soon…
“Saya,” Adam’s voice called to her and she turned, walking to his warmth.
“I am here,” she said as she climbed between the silk sheets, curving into his body and feeling his strength sink deep under her skin.
He pulled her tighter to him and tucked her head into his shoulder. “Sleep,” he said.
“Yes.”
Arrow closed her eyes, breathed in his cedar and citrus, and smiled.
For the first time in a long time the darkness didn’t taunt her.
Translation Guide
In order of occurrence:
Yummi
(Japanese) Bow
Ya
(Japanese) Arrow
Oniwaka
(Japanese) demon child
Sohei
(Japanese) warrior monk
Poupon
(French) little baby
Bayu-bay
(Russian) American equivalent of “Hush, little baby”
Hi wa kiyurédomo tô-shin wa hiyédzu
(Japanese) Though the flame be put out, the wick remains
Watashi wa, Ninka sorera o korosu. Watashi wa sorera subete o korosu
(Japanese) I'll kill them, Ninka. I'll kill them all.
Ven aquí chica geisha!
(Spanish) Come over here, geisha girl!
Oni
(Japanese) demons of the pit
Disculpe, ¿me pueden ayudar? Hay un hombre que en este momento que es muy peligroso. Temo por mi vida. ¿Me pueden ayudar
(Spanish) Excuse me, can you help me? There is a man coming in right now had is very dangerous. I fear for my life. Can you help me?
Corre a la parte posterior. Voy a llamar a la policía
(Spanish) You run to the back. I'll call the cops.
Gracias
(Spanish) Thank you
Kodomo
(Japanese) Child
Merci
(French) Thank you
Es guiso. Usted necesita comer, hijo
(Spanish) It's stew. You need to eat, child.
Tú estabas allí?
(Spanish) You were there?
Hija
(Spanish) Daughter
Chi
(Japanese) Blood
Kokoro no oni ga mi wo séméru.
(Japanese) The body is tortured only by the demon of the heart.
Kata
(Japanese) Form—as in martial arts forms—series of movements that create a complete set called a form.
Watashi no nikushimi o kanjiru
(Japanese) Feel my hate.
Watashi no ikari o kanjiru
(Japanese) Feel my pain.
Akuma no shinden
(Japanese) Temple of the Demon
Watashi wa kirādesu. Kore watashidesu. Yami wa watashi o torikakomi, sono naka ni namerakana mizu no heiwa ga arimasu.
(Japanese) I am a killer. This is me. Darkness surrounds me and within it there is the peace of smooth water.
Achot
(Hebrew) Sisters, pl.
Tzoah
(Hebrew) shit
shi to odoru
(Japanese) dance with death
U-ki wa, kokoro ni ari
(Japanese) Joy and sorrow exist only in the mind.
Non, ma sœur, j'ai gagné.
(French) No, sister, I won.
Ensuite, nous contestons.
(French) Then let us challenge.
Ya ga massugu tobu to watashi no tāgetto no kokoro o mitashite mimashou.
(Japanese) Let the arrow fly straight and meet the heart of my target.
Watashi wa chūdan sa remasen.
(Japanese) I will not break.
Je ne vais pas casser.
(French) I will not break.
Watashi ga katta!
(Japanese) I have won!
Taigāsu ga shinu to sono kawa o nokosu. Hito wa shinu to sono namae o nokosu.
(Japanese) Tigers die and leave their skins. People die and leave their names
Watashi ga omotte iru...
(Japanese) I have wanted…
Kore wa sudeni okonawa rete iru.
(Japanese) It is already done.
Senshi wa nijūzetsu o motte imasen.
(Japanese) A warrior does not have a double tongue.
N’ziyrah
(Hebrew) Sister, s.
Je t'aime. Vous êtes mon cœur. Toujours.
(French) I love you. You are my heart. Forever.
L'amour est trop pâle pour une émotion que je ressens pour vous.
(French) Love is too pale an emotion for what I feel for you.
Nĭ shì yīgè hăorén?
(Chinese) Are you a good man?
Yùnxíng
(Chinese) Run
Mōmoku no otoko wa hebi o osorete imasen.
(Japanese) The blind man doesn't fear the snake.
About the Author
Lea Griffith began sneaking to read her mother’s romance novels at a young age. She cut her teeth on the greats: McNaught, Woodiwiss, and Garwood. She still consumes every romance book she can put her hands on, but now she writes her own.
Lea lives in rural Georgia with her husband, three teenage daughters, two dogs, a cat, and a Betta fish named Coddy George. When not working at the EDJ, she’s usually at her keyboard writing. She loves romance and nothing is off-limits when it comes to her muse.
Taliesin Publishing thrives on introducing you to new authors and great stories. If you enjoyed this book, please continue reading for blurbs of other stories releasing soon we think you’ll love. And, please spread the word.
Taliesin Publishing
Where great stories give birth to legends.
In Heaven’s Shadow by S. A. Bolich
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Cupid’s Arrow by Jianne Carlo
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Stephanie and Eli end up together alone on a PR tour for the company’s first animated release, a movie set to be the next family-oriented blockbuster. The ‘morning after’ the original imprints of Valentine Voodoo disappear, and the primary suspect is Eli.
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Table of Contents
Arrow to the Soul by Lea Griffith
No Mercy - Book 2