Page 52 of The Silent
Diman.
Jarrod.
Themothers.Gone.
Thebrothers.Gone.
Hersisters.Gone.
Gonegonegone.
Kyra fell back into the nightmare. Someone caught her arms, and there was shouting. Voices pounded against her mind. Scraping pain along her arms. The careful shields she’d built around her mind closed in on her and she was left with chaos. Intira’s panic. Niran’s spike of anger. An inky black flood of power rippling from Sura. The bright flash of Alyah and Ginny’s magic like a flame in the darkness. Thoughts from every direction attacked her, and she felt herself fallinginward.
Andthen…
Slemaa.
Two hands grippingherarms.
Slemaa,reshon.
A single voice, like a deep bell tolling inhermind.
Slemaa.
He enclosed her, lifted her. Kyra reached for him and pressed her face into his chest. She tightened her arm around his neck as he surrounded her. The silence gave way to white noise, which gave way to Leo’svoice.
“Breathe,Kyra.”
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Leo was carrying her toward theporch.
“Intira,”shesaid.
“The others arewithher.”
“Icollapsed?”
“I think her panic must have unraveled your shields. Everyone came running, and you collapsed when they got close. I can’t imagine what all our thoughts were, but they must haveoverwhelmedyou.”
She nodded. “Someone needs to check on the otherkareshta. They could be having similar reactions because ofIntira’sfear.”
“Ginny is checking on them while Niran and Alyah try to find out what happened toPrija.”
“Set medown,Leo.”
“No. You’re white as a sheet. I thought you’d hit your headwhenyou—”
“Set me down.” She wasn’t panickedanymore.
He stopped. “Areyousure?”
She nodded. His touch had wiped her mind of the sudden rush of voices, and she knew she needed to try something. “Set me down and step away. Just for aminute.”
Kyra could tell he didn’t want to do it, but he slowly set her on her feet. She held on to his hand as she calmed her mind and opened her senses. She focused on the memory of Prija’s voice. Not the silence of the woman, but the voice of herangrysoul.
She closed her eyes, dropped Leo’s hand, andlistened.
In her mind’s eye, Kyra soared into the night sky and over the forest, leaving the immediate voices in the background, white noise among the rustle of bamboo. She welcomed and sifted through the friendly cacophony of voices from the human village, veering away from it and searching for Prija’s voice when she found nothing familiar close by. She ranged over the mountains and through the trees, the wind guiding and whispering to her as shesearched.
