A rusty hinge screeched as Mr. Barrett shut the door behind him. Me and Mom and Dad hugged. Talked for a little while, and then they returned their attention to the television. A regrettable incident, as far as they knew, but small, and settled now. The smell of our living room had never been so comforting.

And I needed to go get some blankets.

Fifty

Solomon

“She should be fine until the morning,” said Anchal, our neighbor from two doors down. She emerged from Radha’s bedroom, holding a blanket. Anchal was a sleepsider, able to make anyone doze off no matter how stressed out or addled they were. Anchal spent an awful lot of time helping people rest in difficult moments.

“You’re amazing,” I said, and hugged her.

“He’s going to be okay, yeah?” Anchal asked. “Our little boy?”

“We’re going to find Connor,” I said. “Nothing will happen to him.”

“Give these to Radha when she wakes up,” she said, and handed me a plate of cheesy biscuits. I set them down on the table, beside dozens of other delicious foods brought by neighbors.

Anchal nodded at Ash on her way out, but clearly did not recognize her. Between an oversize hood and some of Radha’s makeup, expertly applied, the Refugee Princess had rendered herself invisible before we returned to the Underbridge. We’d gone back to be with Radha, hold her hand through the agony of this moment, but apparently she’d been so stressed—and so hell-bent on storming out to slaughter every Destroyer in sight—that her friends had intervened and talked her into accepting Anchal’s help first.

I sat on a floor cushion, beside Ash. The smell of Radha’s hut had never been so comforting. What did it smell like, wherever Connor was? Was someone being nice to him?

Images flooded me, against my will. Ugly dark rooms. Harsh words. Disgusting food, or none at all.

My spine shivered. My bones throbbed. Ash looked up at me sharply. My own anger had risen fast, and spread to her. I smiled and focused on breathing. Ten breaths later, I asked her, “Can you find him? See him? Wherever Connor is right now? And show me him?”

Ash looked into her hands. They were empty. It was a long time before she said, “I can try.”

“I can help,” I said, hoping it was true. Strong emotions had helped her remember the Night of Red Diamonds. Emotion is the key to memory. Maybe it could unlock vision as well. “What kind of feeling would be most helpful?”

“Let’s start with calm,” she said.

But calm did not work. Five minutes of slow peaceful breathing produced nothing but images of the riversea rushing by, herbivorous dragons munching chestnut tree leaves.

Ash asked, “How about anger?”

I let myself drift back into the nightmare images. Connor in chains. Connor screaming. People laughing at his pain.