Sonya suddenly looked tired, as though she were the one who’d expended so much power and energy and needed to sleep. “I’m saying, when Nina comes around, she may not be the same Nina we knew. What happened? I thought you were going to keep her from using excessive spirit?”

“I tried. I really did.” Adrian leaned against me, and I rested my arm on his back. “I led the dream. I did most of the work when Olive took control—but Nina got impatient and took over. She blew through everything before I could stop her.”

Sonya nodded wearily. “Were you able to talk to Olive at least?”

“Not really,” he said carefully. I kept my own face schooled to neutrality, lest I give away that he wasn’t telling the whole truth. He held up the piece of paper he’d sketched on for me. “Does this mean anything to you?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Sonya looked down and grimaced. “I’m getting a text from the doctor monitoring Nina. They have some more questions for me. I’ll be in touch if I learn more.”

Adrian gave a weak nod, and I clutched his hand. I knew he felt terrible, like he was personally responsible for Nina’s state. With Sonya gone from the call too, that left Rose, looking dismayed at the news.

“Well, I’m glad we got a lead on Jill,” she said. “But you guys really should have been more careful about—”

“What was that you showed Sonya?”

Dimitri suddenly joined Rose on the screen. She shot him an amused look. “Easy, comrade. You’ll get your chance to lecture them too.”

“Geez,” said Adrian. “How many other people are there lurking off-screen?”

“What was that you showed her?” Dimitri reiterated, his face hard as he peered at us. Even through a computer screen, he was intimidating.

Adrian held up the piece of paper again. “This?” He leaned forward eagerly. “Do you know what it is?”

“Yes, it’s—” Dimitri bit off his words and glanced at Rose, then back at the drawing. “It’s a kind of marker worn by women in, uh, dhampir communes.”

Rose had no problem stating what his delicate sensibilities had held back from. “A blood whore camp?” Her eyes widened, and suddenly, she turned as angry as Lissa had been earlier. “Adrian Ivashkov! You should be ashamed of yourself, going to a place like that, especially now that you’re married—”

Adrian scoffed. “Both of you, calm down. I’ve never set foot in one of those places, nor do I really want to.” He looked back at Dimitri. “What do you mean, it’s a marker?”