Emma's scream tore through the orchard.
It was loud in her own skull and thin in the world.
Blood streamed from both ears, dark against her skin as it ran down her neck. Her red panda ears flattened tight to her head. Her mouth stretched wide, forcing out sounds her own body could no longer register.
She could not hear Snow Team shift into formation.
She could not hear the low rustle of wings or the faint scrape of boots across the dirt.
She could not hear her own voice breaking.
But she could see.
She saw Josh's body on the ground.
She saw Robert beside him.
She saw Sarge standing between her and Felicity.
And she saw Felicity watching.
Emma staggered upright, unsteady. Silence pressed from all directions. Her throat strained as she screamed again, the sound distorted and hollow.
"She is pretending," she shouted, unaware of how it landed.
Her finger lifted and pointed directly at Felicity.
"The glow. The softness. The helpless act."
Snow Team did not move.
