Tessa got down on her knees and drenched the sponge, then ran the blue-tinted water over Jem’s head and chest. It smelled of a strange combination of sulfur and jasmine, and it seemed to lower his temperature. Catarina rubbed the contents of the other vial on her hands and began working at the wound and his arm and chest, massaging the spreading darkness back toward the opening. Jem’s head lolled back, his breathing rough. Tessa swabbed his forehead, reassuring him all the while.

They did this for an hour. Tessa soon forgot the sound of the bombs outside, or the smoke or burning debris that drifted in. Everything was the motion of the water and the sponge, Jem’s skin, his ordinarily calm face twisted in pain, then going still and slack. Both Catarina and Tessa were drenched, and there was water pooling on the floor around them.

Will, Jem said, and the voice in Tessa’s head was lost but seeking. Will, is that you?

Tessa fought back the lump in her throat as Jem smiled at nothing. If he saw Will, let him see Will. Maybe Will was here, after all, come to help his parabatai.

Will, Tessa thought to herself, if you are here, you must help. I cannot lose him too, Will. Together we will save him.

Perhaps she imagined it, but Tessa felt something guiding her arm as she worked. She was stronger now.

Jem suddenly lurched in the water and came halfway out of the tub, his back arching into a shape that should not have been possible and sending his head under.

“Grab him,” Catarina said. “Don’t let him hurt himself! This is the worst of it!”

Together, and with whatever force was aiding Tessa, they grabbed Jem as he writhed, his strange, inward screams filling their heads. Because he was wet, they had to wrap themselves around his limbs to try to prevent him from flailing, from bashing his head against the tiles. He knocked Catarina loose, and she fell to the floor and smashed her head into the wall, but she came back and got her arms around his chest again. Jem’s screams blended with the chaos of the night—the water splashed and the smoke blew in. Jem begged for yin fen. He kicked so hard that Tessa was thrown back against the sink.

Then, all at once, he stopped moving completely and fell back into the tub. He looked lifeless. Tessa crawled back across the wet floor and reached for him.

“Jem? Catarina …”

“He’s alive,” Catarina said, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. She had her fingers on his wrist. “We’ve done all we can do here. Let’s get him into bed. We’ll know soon.”