Page 87 of The Scribe (Irin Chronicles 1)

He thought for a moment, wishing he could just be back in Istanbul without the long drive. Ava’s breathing changed slightly and she let out a soft murmur but didn’t wake.

“You and the woman,” Damien asked. “You’re together?”

“Yes. She’s mine.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes.”

There was a long pause, and when Damien’s voice came back, he sounded amused. “It’ll be good not to be the only one tormented by a mate. Congratulations.”

Malachi grinned, reaching over to play with a piece of hair that was tickling her nose. “My Ava adores me. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ha!”

He bit his lip to hold in the laughter when she frowned in her sleep and batted at his hand. Adoration, indeed.

“I’ll let you off the phone. Drive carefully. Rhys should be back tomorrow night. He left Göreme just a little bit after you left Kusadasi.”

“It will be good to see him. Has he made any progress with Ava’s genealogy?”

“He sounded like he’d made some kind of breakthrough, but he didn’t say what. Just that he had a few more questions for her.”

Malachi frowned. “Fine.”

“And I’m going to suggest she go see the mysterious Dr. Sadik.”

“Not without me.”

Damien paused, then said, “We’ll talk about it when you get back.”

“Not without me, Damien. It’s not going to happen.”

“She saw him for weeks with no danger.”

“We don’t know that. How do you think they found us tonight?”

“It’s hardly out of their normal hunting grounds. Perhaps it was a coincidence?”

“I don’t believe in a coincidence that leads six Grigori to corner me in an alley while I happen to have Ava with me.”

“You’re newly mated, and thus you’re paranoid. It’s completely understandable.”

“And I’m completely right. She’s not going to his office without me.”

“We’ll talk more tomorrow. Until then, take care.”

“I’ll see you later.”

As he hung up the phone, the question plagued him. How had the Grigori found them? Not just in Kusadasi, but in that particular restaurant at that particular hour? It couldn’t be a coincidence. He glanced at Ava, still sleeping securely. He didn’t think she’d called Dr. Sadik again, so how had it happened?

He slowed the car and pulled over near a roadside market, then he grabbed her mobile phone from the center console. Could Sadik have tapped into the network somehow? Doing so would indicate he was far more connected than Malachi or Rhys had initially suspected. Perhaps it was simpler. A tracker of some kind. A simple GPS chip would have allowed him to track Ava anywhere she went. He flipped her phone over, looking for any indication it had been tampered with.

“What are you doing?” Her sleepy voice didn’t distract him as he looked at the edges of her mobile. No scratches or marks indicated that the case had been manipulated or modified.

“Do you have one of those location apps on your phone so you can find it online if you lose it?”

“No. I turned off all the location services except for maps. Carl put one on and it pissed me off, so I shut all of them off. Why?”

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