Teacher said something in a language I didn’t understand.
I shook my head. I didn’t have a better way of showing my lack of understanding.
“No?” he asked, smiling a little.
I shook my head once more.
“A shame, that,” he said. He sounded genuinely bothered.
Shén Yù spoke. It didn’t sound Chinese, with the wrong cadence. It was a question, by the sound of it, accusatory.
Maybe there was a power that would have made sense of it. It didn’t matter.
Dragon’s weapons were primed and ready to fire, the threat implict. When she spoke, her voice as clear as a bell in the clear mountain air.
It was the same language Shén Yù had spoken to me. The same incomprehensible language Teacher had lapsed into.
English.
I might have been drifting back to sleep, but another tickle at my face made me wrinkle my nose. “What is-?”
“That, honey, is the only reason we’ve been trying to wake you up. You’ve been using your power while you sleep, and every bug in the neighborhood has been gathering here to crawl on you. Not all at once, not all together, but they’re adding up and someone’s going to notice.”
Then, in a softer voice, she said, “Taylor, don’t go to sleep.”
I was surprised to realize I was drifting off. Funny.
“I know the painkillers are nice. We gave you boatloads, since you were really hurting. But we need you to send them away. The bugs.”
Oh. I dimly recalled telling my bugs to come to me not long before I passed out. I guess I hadn’t ever told them to stop. I guess blacking out had prevented me. I sent an instruction, then told her, “Good as done.” Something caught my attention. “Hmm. Interesting music.”
“Music?” Lisa momentarily looked very concerned. She looked at Brian.
“Outside. In front of the door. A smartphone, maybe. There’s a guy, listening to music. Maybe he doesn’t have the headphones on or the buds in his ears. Or they aren’t plugged in to the phone itself. Sounds like orchestra, or pop. It’s Latin? Or English? Both? That last bit sounded Japanese. Or Chinese. Is it racist I can’t tell the difference?”
“You’re babbling, Taylor,” Brian said, not unkindly.
Lisa briefly disappeared from my field of vision, “But she’s right. There’s a guy on the steps out front, listening to music. How did you know?”
“Moth on the door. I was so busy listening, I forgot to make her go. I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll-”
“Shh. Relax. It’s fine. Just send the bugs away, and you can go back to sleep. We’re handling everything, okay?”
It was okay. I drifted off.
