SHE'S LANA

The younger woman beside her remained completely still and silent while the older woman lowered herself gracefully in front of me until we were eye level, and the closer she got, the stranger her silver eyes looked, almost inhuman in a way that should have terrified me more than it did. Instead, a strange warmth settled over me slowly, easing the fear twisting inside my chest as though some invisible force around her was quietly calming me against my own will.

“Don’t be afraid,” she signed smoothly, her movements calm and effortless, causing my eyes to widen slightly in surprise before she signed again for me to understand. “Close your eyes. It won’t hurt.”

I hesitated briefly before finally obeying, and the moment my eyes shut, the atmosphere around me shifted violently as a strange pressure wrapped around my body while warmth spread from her fingertips into my ears, causing both sides of my head to pulse painfully beneath her touch.

“Mother,” a sharp voice suddenly sliced through the silence, startling me slightly as another terrifying pressure flooded the room so violently that my entire body tensed. Even without seeing anything, I could feel the hostility in the air turn suffocating while freezing cold spread rapidly across the floor beneath us.

“I know who she is,” the woman replied calmly, completely unaffected by whatever was happening around her.

Violent cracking sounds instantly echoed across the room one after another, sharp enough to make my breathing hitch slightly while freezing air swept harshly against my skin, yet the woman never once removed her hands from the sides of my head.

“Mother?” Jace voice called out from somewhere near the staircase, shock filling the sound almost immediately before hurried footsteps followed shortly after, but none of it mattered anymore because something inside my ears suddenly twitched violently beneath the warmth spreading through my head.

My breathing caught sharply as a strange distorted vibration echoed faintly inside my ears, weak and broken at first before another sound followed almost immediately, then another after that, as the silence that had surrounded me for years began to break apart while my body trembled beneath her hands.

Panic slammed into my chest as the sounds stayed distorted and unfamiliar, yet they kept coming one after another while tears burned behind my eyes from the shock of it all.

The warmth surrounding my ears slowly weakened before the pressure around my head faded completely, and a few seconds later, her lips parted softly as her voice reached me clearly for the very first time.

“Open your eyes,” she said gently, causing my eyes to fly open instantly while a sharp gasp escaped my lips as tears gathered immediately in my eyes, shock crashing violently into me when I realized I could actually hear her voice.

“I...” My voice cracked badly from shock as I stared at her with watery eyes. “I heard your voice.”

Her expression softened almost immediately, warmth touching her features once more as though my reaction alone pleased her deeply.

“Mm-hmm,” she replied gently. “Welcome back to your peace.”

My chest tightened painfully at the sound of her voice, and for a second, I couldn’t even breathe properly because after years of endless silence, I could finally hear again.

Movement near the staircase suddenly pulled my attention away from her, and the moment I turned slightly, I saw Selene standing frozen beside Jace with one hand covering her mouth while her entire body trembled violently in disbelief. Even Jace looked completely stunned, yet the woman in front of me merely kept smiling calmly like none of this was surprising to her at all.

“Before anything else,” she signed smoothly for me to understand while her silver eyes held mine calmly, “allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lana.”