Page 116 of The Silent
She ran over, and he lifted her carefully through the shattered window. They were in a small kitchen, and the smells of rice and fish filledtheroom.
“The stove is still on.” She turned it off and looked around. “The guards must have been interrupted at dinner.” She walked past the table—a rice-filled bowl sat in the middle of it—and down a narrow hallway lit by a single bulb. She could feelPrijanow.
Thekareshtawas in a room on the far end ofthehall.
Let me in,Kyra thoughtather.
No words, just a strangled,angrycry.
Let me in,sister.
Less anger.Morepain.
Kyra paused.I am your sister. I want to help you. Letmein.
Nothing. No anger. No pain. The mental jabsstopped.
“Leo, open the door at the end ofthehall.”
“Areyousure?”
She nodded. The door was padlocked, but Leo broke a metal leg off a chair, slid it behind the lock, and popped if off with one quick snap. The door swung open, and there was only darknessinside.
PrijaVI
The moonfaced one was here.She was followed by the sunshine male, but the male was wiser than the others thought. He stayed back. The black fog thinned around Prija, but she didn’t openhereyes.
Prija,I’mhere.
The moonfaced girl was clever. She didn’t try to speak to Prija’s body; she spoke to her mind. She spoke in English, but Prija could understand that language even if she didn’t like to speak it. Prija didn’t speakanything.
I have a giftforyou.
That was what Arindam’s sons had said before she killed them. Prijasnarled.
It’s a gift fromIntira.
A trick. Why would they carry a gift from a little girl so many miles from her home? She was so far from home. Prija’s heart cried. She wanted the peace of her forest. The soothing rush of the water over her head. The simple laughter of the village children. Why had they taken thosefromher?
Aweapon…
…killed her ownfather.
What kind of female can kill one of theFallen?
Mind crushed from theinside.
This is why they arekilled.
This is why they arefeared.
“You should fear me,” Prija whispered in her mother’stongue.
The sunshine male walked in. “Why should wefearyou?”
Prija opened her eyes. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. It had beentoolong.
The sunshine man intrigued her. His eyes were like water they were so blue. Who had water eyes? If she touched them, would her finger go through them like liquid? The mental picture nearly made herlaugh.
