“It would work,” Adrian conceded. “Declan Adrian Sinclair.”

“Declan Neil,” she corrected.

I wondered how Neil would feel about having someone else’s child named after him. In the nonstop chaos that had ensued since we’d arrived, there’d been no opportunity to talk to Olive about the circumstances that had driven her here to the commune. And as we continued our anxious vigil, it seemed unlikely we’d discuss matters anytime soon. Conversation dried up as time passed. All we could do was watch and wait. The sounds outside eventually quieted, and I didn’t know whether to be reassured or more alarmed. Equally disconcerting was that Olive’s contractions kept getting more frequent. I wondered if we should be boiling water after all.

The door opened again, and I nearly hurled the fireball at the newcomer until I saw it was Rose. Her face was streaked with blood and dirt. “We got them,” she said. “None of our people died, but there are a lot of injuries. Their doctor’s away right now, and we were wondering, Adrian, if you could . . .”

She couldn’t finish, but I knew what she wanted. Adrian did too. He turned from her to me, his face full of pain.

“Sydney—”

“She said no one’s dead,” I interrupted.

“Some might be close,” he countered. “Especially if the doctor’s away.”

I glanced back at Rose. “Are there people who might die?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know. Some are clearly in pretty bad shape, though. I saw a lot of blood when I was back at their infirmary.”

Adrian began moving toward the door. “That’s it, then. I’m going to help.” He paused to look back at Olive. “She needs someone too. Right now. The baby’s coming. Sydney—”

“No, I’m coming with you. I know basic first aid,” I said, though my true motivation was to keep an eye on Adrian. “Rose, can you help Olive? Or get someone who can?”

The look on Rose’s face showed she felt as completely unprepared for that as I was, but she gave a quick nod. “I’ll try to find someone who actually knows what they’re doing. There must be plenty of people who’ve helped with that before. But Sydney, are you sure you want to go? There’s an Alchemist on the way to help destroy the bodies.”

“An Alchemist?” Olive gasped out.

I froze, and suddenly, a whole new sort of panic took over. “On the way?”

“Not here yet,” Rose concurred. “I think they said his name was Brad or Brett or something. Works out of Marquette.”

“Don’t risk it,” Adrian told me. “Stay here.”