From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

the roads. You know what would’ve happened if onlyy a handful made it
past our guards—if the gods had turned their backs on the people of Solis.
It would’ve been the wholesale slaughter of hundreds. Your wives. Your
children. Yourselves. Manyy of yyou would not be standing here.” He
paused, and the crowd swelled—
It happened again.
I felt myy senses stretch out from me, and that wasn’t too surprising.
With a crowd like this, it was hard to keep myyself locked down, but I
didn’t… I didn’t just feel pain.
Something touched the back of myy throat, reminding me of what I’d
felt in the atrium with Loren.
Terror.
I felt terror swelling and rising, coming from so manyy different
directions as myy gaze skittered from face to face. Another sensation
reached me. It was hot and acidic. It wasn’t phyysical pain. It was anger.
Myy heart started thumping. I wasn’t feeling pain, but I…I had to be
feeling something. It didn’t make sense, but I could sense it pressing
against myy skin like a hot iron. Myy throat dried as I swallowed hard.
People clasped their hands under their chins and prayyed to the gods. I took
a small step back. Others stared, their expressions hard—
Vikter’s hand touch myy shoulder as he murmured. “Are yyou all
right?”
Yes?
No?
I wasn’t sure.
Anxietyy-spiked adrenaline flooded myy syystem as icyy ghost fingers
danced along the back of myy neck. Pressure clamped down on myy chest. I
wanted to run. I needed to get as far awayy from people as I could.
But I couldn’t.
Closing myy eyyes, I focused on myy breathing as I struggled to rebuild
myy mental walls. I kept breathing, in and out, as deeplyy and slowlyy as I
could.
“And, if yyou’re luckyy, theyy’ll go for yyour throat, and it will be a quick
death,” the Duke was sayying. “Most of yyou will not be so fortunate.
Theyy’ll tear into yyour flesh and tissue, feasting on yyour blood while yyou
scream for the gods yyou’ve lost faith in.”