Chapter 34 · Favorite food?

She moved from cot to cot, clapping patterns, snapping her fingers, making the children answer with words instead of song.

"Name?"

"Lena."

"Favorite food?"

"Bread."

"Worst person in the Bastion?"

The girl pointed at Silas.

Mira almost smiled. "Excellent answer."

Silas gave her a flat look. "Keep working."

"She has better instincts than your council."

"My council isn't tied to a cot."

"Your council also hasn't tried to bite me today."

A boy across the room started humming again.

Silas reached him first. He dropped to one knee and gripped the boy's shoulders.

"Look at me," he ordered.

The boy's eyes fluttered.

"Don't sing. Hear me? Don't sing."

The boy's voice climbed.

Silas tightened his hold. "Mira!"

She ran toward them. The boy's mouth opened. Black marks crawled up his cheeks.

"Hold his jaw shut," she said.

Silas did it at once, one hand firm beneath the boy's chin. The child's humming turned into a muffled vibration.

Mira grabbed the boy's hand and pressed it against the floor. "Tomas, what's his name?"

Tomas answered from the next cot. "Eli."

"Eli, squeeze my fingers."

The boy squeezed.

"Again."

His fingers clenched around hers.