Page 77 of The Silent
Give thanks for each breath. Give thanks for each moment of peace.She swallowed her angeragain.
Andagain.
She wassilent.
Seven breaths later, she felt Alyah sit next to her. The angry part of Kyra wanted to kick her out of the room. The pragmatic survivor needed her to stay and give her magic. Alyah took Kyra’s hand and began to sing in a low voice. It was a tonal chant, dipping and weaving over words Kyra didn’t recognize. As she sang, Kyra felt the energy touch her and spread like oil over water. It rippled over her and sank beneath her skin. She felt luminous andstrong.
Her soul wept at the beauty of it. She longed to weave power like this, as Bun Ma wove thread in her loom. As Alyah sang, Kyra listened to the notes climb up and down, measured steps in a heavenlydance.
She fellasleep.
* * *
Vasu crouched before her.“Do you seeityet?”
“See what?” Kyra openedhereyes.
She was in her bungalow, but everything was hazy. The vibrant colors had leached from the room. Vasu sat back on his heels and peered at her like acuriousbird.
She blinked. He was araven.
She blinked again.Acat.
“Will you stop?” she said. “One form is confusingenough.”
He shifted back to the beautiful man with the heavy-lidded eyes. “Do you seeityet?”
“Seewhat?”
Vasu sighed. “Children are so much wiser thanadults.”
“Notusually.”
“Yes, they are. The little one saw it immediately. Like stars, she said. A perfectgeometry.”
The little one…“Are you talking about Intira? Have you been talkingtoher?”
“Her mind is a very interestingplace.”
Kyra spoke in a firm voice. “Stay away fromIntira.”
Vasufrowned. “No.”
The petulant expression reminded Kyra that she wasn’t dealing with a typical angel. There was something intensely childlike about Vasu, a brightness and curiosity her father had never exhibited. Vasu was like the naughty child who dropped a rock on another child’s finger. It wasn’t cruelty. It felt more like curiosity. Of course, it was curiosity without moralrestraint.
Kyra understood amoral creatures. She had been raised among theFallen.
“Vasu, you must stay away from Intira. Her mind is young andimpressionable.”
“Iknow.”
“But think,” she said carefully. “If you visit her too often, she may soon mirror your thoughts and not her own. Then what makes her interesting and unique will be spoiled. Her mind should remain her own. That is what makesherwise.”
Vasu crossed his legs and sat in front of her. “You may have someinsight.”
“Is that why you visited me?” It wasn’t the first time she’d been visited by a Fallen. Her father had sat in her dreams when she was young. Sometimes he felt benevolent. Mostly hefeltcold.
“I visited you…” Vasu cocked his head again. “Why did Ivisityou?”
