Steadying herself, she went back inside the shelter and sat down on the ground. She held herself very still, painfully aware of the hum in her blood, a strange kind of foreknowledge.

With a dark sense of foreboding, she waited. As the sun rose to its zenith, the scent of incense rose with it. The hair at the back of Mehr’s neck prickled.

There was no denying it now: A storm was coming.

Mehr went outside, holding a hand up to shade her eyes so she could watch the horizon. It wasn’t long before a figure appeared in the distance, striding swiftly toward her despite the oppressive midday heat. The figure was too tall and broad to be her mother or Lalita. When it drew a little closer, she realized it was Kamal. His hood was drawn low over his forehead to keep the heat at bay, but Mehr could still see the tension in his jaw and in his narrowed eyes.

“The Tara sent me to check that you’re still whole,” he said tersely, once he drew close enough to see her. He crossed his arms. His hands were in fists.

“I’m well,” Mehr told him. “Entirely whole.”

“Good. I’ll tell her so.” He turned abruptly on his heel, ready to leave, when Mehr called out to him.

“Why did she send you?”

The look he gave her, as he turned back, was utterly incredulous.

“Don’t you sense the storm coming?”

“Of course I sense it,” Mehr said. “I’m merely wondering what my mother fears. What did she think could have happened to me?” She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully, looking at Kamal narrowly through the glare of the sun. “The Maha is unlikely to find me here.”

His lips thinned.

“There are dangers in the storm. Apparently she wants to protect you from them.”

“The nightmares,” she said. “You mean the nightmares.”

When he simply stared at her, uncomprehending, she touched her fingers to the nape of her neck. “The fury you feel at the back of your skull. The pale thing, the force that has flesh. You’ve felt it, haven’t you?”

Mehr hadn’t thought it possible, but somehow the look of dislike on Kamal’s face seemed to intensify. No matter. Mehr didn’t need him to like her. She simply needed him to listen to her.

“Go inside,” he said in response. “Don’t come out until you’re told to.”

“I could make them go away,” Mehr told him. “You know that.”

“I know that I’ve done what my Tara has bid me,” he snapped. “And now I want to return to my clan. Are you finished?”