The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(40)

She nodded. “Someone needs to check on the other kareshta. They could be having similar reactions because of Intira’s fear.”

“Ginny is checking on them while Niran and Alyah try to find out what happened to Prija.”

“Set me down, Leo.”

“No. You’re white as a sheet. I thought you’d hit your head when you—”

“Set me down.” She wasn’t panicked anymore.

He stopped. “Are you sure?”

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 a minute.”

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 her angry soul.

She closed her eyes, dropped Leo’s hand, and listened.

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 she searched.

This was why Barak had kept Kyra and Kostas together. Her father had been a Guardian of Heaven, the bearer of a Guardian’s blade, and Kyra and Kostas were the strongest of his children, the most gifted when they listened for danger. When the twins held hands, Kyra’s range was nearly as powerful as their father’s had been. Alone, she could still hear for miles.

“What are you doing?” Leo’s voice came to her as if he were talking from beneath the sea.

Kyra ignored him.

Voices of humanity. Voices she’d never understood. The same, everywhere in the world. Over hills. Through forests.

There.

Kyra focused on the familiar voice and tracked it.

Prija’s soul was spiked with anger. She was headed north. Directly north. Her thoughts were blood-red and wavering on the edge of violence. Kyra tried to listen to the voices closest to her. One Irin. Two… Grigori?

What did it mean?

She opened her eyes and grabbed Leo’s hand. The weight of silence made her head swim, and she took a deep breath. “Prija is with an Irin scribe and two Grigori. She’s headed north. Fast enough that I think she must be in a car. She’ll hurt them if we don’t find her soon, and I doubt she’ll stop with her attackers.”

Leo’s eyes went wide. “How can you hear that far?”

“My father was a cardinal angel,” she said. “I am not without power of my own.”

“I’m going to have more questions about that later, but for right now, we need to get back and let Niran and Sura know. Are you steady enough?”

She squeezed his hand and began reciting the spells Ava had taught her. Her battered walls clicked into place. The door she’d flung open in her mind eased shut. After a few moments, she nodded. “I’m fine.”

His brilliant blue eyes were wide. “That is amazing.”

“I’m sorry I collapsed before.” She swallowed, trying to rid herself of the tightness in her throat. “Intira’s voice was so panicked, and the memories…”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” She could tell by the set of his mouth that the answer didn’t please him. “Maybe… not now.”

He nodded, and the tight set of his mouth eased. He was so open. So expressive. But he hid deep feelings behind that happy facade. She was beginning to see him now.

As they walked, Leo kept her hand in his, and Kyra remembered the words she’d heard from him when he held her, the voice of his mind that sang like a crystal bowl.

“Leo?”

“Hmm?”

“What does slemaa mean?”

He frowned. “Slemaa? It means peace.”

“Peace.” She smiled. “You were thinking that when you were carrying me.”

He smiled. “That’s not what I remember thinking, but I’m glad that’s what you heard.”

“And what does reshon mean?”

He stopped in his tracks. “What?”

“Reshon. Your voice was very, very clear, and you were thinking that too.”

Leo’s jaw dropped.

Kyra was adept at reading expressions, but she couldn’t read his. The closest she could come was picturing a paper lantern glowing from the inside. She’d seen people lifting them into the air at the lantern festival in the city. That’s what Leo’s face reminded her of.

“What does it mean?” she whispered, her stomach in knots.

She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t for the giant man to drop to his knees before her, kneeling on the forest floor. He took both her hands in his and pressed them to his forehead, whispering words in the Irin language she didn’t understand. He pressed her palms to his face, and she felt tears on his cheeks.

“Leo, I don’t understand.”

He lifted his face, and she had no trouble interpreting his expression then.

Pure, incandescent joy. His smile lit the night.