15
SILAS
I watch her emerge from the shop with more than a little existential dread creeping around my heart. But seeing her coming toward me makes my muscles relax. She put up walls in her own brain the moment she entered the shop, and I don’t like not knowing what she’s thinking. And it’s always more difficult to identify discreet voices in a sea of so many — New Orleans is a challenge for this reason, a cacophony of thoughts.
At least I could hear Claude; Dawn’s probably the reason I could focus despite the fray on the streets. His inner dialogue was suspicious, self-protective, but not aggressive, and the agitation in his head waned when Dawn was there. He was genuinely concerned when she said she might be hurt. In all his years, Claude has never even been accused of hurting anyone
