Page 85 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Nicholas Boothman
Every reflective surface went white, then black,
then white again. The pulse staggered human
hearts. Hafid sank to his knees. Zhara’s breath
hitched like someone learning to breathe in a new
atmosphere.
“I’m not your enemy,” Sofia said. “I’m your
nurse.”
Sera’s voice answered without her opening her
mouth.
“You’re our lullaby,” she said. The words
arrived in everyone’s heads like a memory. “We
don’t want to sleep.”
5. Flight Over the Roofs
The image collapsed into a thousand smaller
ones. Drones scissored out of the glare, black angles
with mirrored faces. Redactors rode their shadows
—lean, ordinary, forgettable. They moved across
rooftops without sound, mouths shaping backward
syllables that thinned the air.
“Move!” Zhara shouted. “South stairs!”
They ran a bridge of tar and wire. The medina
became a choked river far below. Redactors cut
their path two roofs over; a drone’s lens irised open
to bloom white. Carolina yanked Henry behind a
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