The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(60)

There?

No, lower. There.

Tell me.

I feel… everything. Everything.

Good?

So good.

Their hours of sensual exploration sat in the front of his mind, and Leo found it difficult to concentrate. Part of him had wanted to rush her. He’d felt desire before, but nothing like what he felt with Kyra. Part of him was intimidated by her. She was so beautiful, and he loved her so much. When the time finally came, would he embarrass himself?

“Focus,” Sura said quietly.

Leo looked up. Sura wasn’t talking to Kyra.

“Focus,” he said again with a pointed look at Leo.

He nodded and shifted his attention, not to the pleasure of Kyra’s skin but to the energy he felt coming from her. Her power, should she ever truly control it, was immense. He could feel her magic like an electrical current beneath her skin. He put his palms against her sides and imagined grounding her. He touched his talesm prim and felt his own magic come alive.

He could feel it. Leo sat behind her, sitting at the edge of her power and tasting the vast scope of it. He could feel when her mind opened and her consciousness flew upward.

He opened his eyes and met Sura’s gaze. “She’s having an out-of-body experience, isn’t she?”

“I believe it’s something like that.”

Leo glanced at Alyah, but he could see the singer was as fascinated as he was. He could feel Kyra’s consciousness leave her body, her soul resting like a banked fire in the center of her being. But her mind and power flew up and outward. He gripped her waist, and she leaned back into his chest, using his body as a cradle for her own. He felt her chest rise and fall. She was present and away, all at the same time.

Within minutes, her breath was slow and even. Leo looked down and her expression was restful except for a thin line between her eyebrows. He reached around and slid his palms under her own.

Their hands met and their fingers knit together; Leo was unprepared for the jolt of power that hit his chest.

His eyes rolled back and his body went limp.

He tasted the wind. Heard the rustling of trees.

Voices came from the distance.

He heard Kyra’s breath in time with his own.

“…more than the others…”

“She was dangerous.”

“—had to be moved.”

“Arindam will not be pleased when he hears—”

“He must not hear.”

“…protect the others. The children…”

A cacophony of thoughts entered his mind, a jumble of the Old Language and a dialect he’d never heard before. The rush overwhelmed him and his head swam. Thoughts beat at his mind. Voices came too fast. Too loud.

Slemaa.

He sucked in a breath at the sharp command.

Domem.

It was Kyra’s voice in his mind. Her thoughts layered over the cacophony, untangling the threads like a weaver sorting her loom.

Domem.

He matched his breath to hers and found his thoughts again.

Four male voices. No, five.

Three women.

He couldn’t count the children.

Muffled laughter.

“Leo.”

Kyra.

“Leo, let me go.”

Can’t.

“You can. Let me go. I need to return without you in my mind.”

Safe.

“I am safe. I’ve done this before. Imagine taking a step back.”

He pictured her as she’d been in the cottage before him, her body resting against his, their hands knit together.

“Let go of my hands.”

In his mind’s eye, he let go of his white-knuckle grip on her hands and—

—blinked awake with Sura, Niran, and Alyah crouched around them, staring at Leo.

“Where is she?” Sura asked.

“At the compound,” Leo said, flexing his hands to return circulation. “She’s listening.”

Niran asked, “Prija—”

“Moved.” He focused on her breathing, which did not change. He traced a spell for clarity on Kyra’s shoulders. Another for peace. “She will be able to tell you more. I was too overwhelmed by the number of thoughts, but she didn’t seem to have trouble sorting them out.”

Alyah asked, “So you were with her? You heard what she heard?”

“Yes.” He bent and pressed a kiss to her neck, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “She’s like Ava. Kyra can let me hear what she hears like Ava can share what she sees. The only problem is I don’t have the tools to sort through all the thoughts.”

Alyah nodded. “It takes time.”

Leo tucked a strand of hair behind Kyra’s ear. “She’s a long way from here.”

Sura’s gaze sharpened. “Could you see—”

“I couldn’t see anything. I only heard.”

Niran stood and leaned against the door. “So we wait.”

It was only a few minutes later that Leo felt Kyra return to her body. Her breathing changed and her body lay more heavily against his.

“Leo?” she murmured.

“I’m here.”

“Too bright.”

He gathered her up and put her on his lap, tucking her face into his chest to shield her eyes while Niran and Alyah closed the shades in the cottage. He ran a hand over her arm and felt goose bumps.