Chapter 24 · Don't Follow That Voice

The voices stopped.

All at once. Every person on the street, every face in every window—they all went quiet and turned back to whatever they'd been doing. Like nothing happened. Like they hadn't just spoken in unison with my dead mother's voice.

My legs felt like wet sand.

"Layla." Kira's hand closed around my wrist. "We need to move. Now."

I couldn't. My feet wouldn't work. Because I was still hearing it. Not out loud anymore—inside my head. The exact cadence Mom used when she'd call me down for breakfast. The little upturn at the end, like my name was a question she already knew the answer to.

Come home, mija.

"She's in your head, isn't she." Kira wasn't asking. Her grip tightened. "Layla, listen to me. That is not your mother."

"You don't know that." My voice came out thin. "You said the rift—you said things get pulled in. What if she's stuck in there? What if she's been trying to get out this whole time and I just—"

"She's dead." Kira said it flat. No cushion. "I'm sorry. But she's dead, and whatever's using her voice wants you to forget that."

I yanked my hand free.