Oh, gods. What if Asha had given her the wrong thing, and she waited here like a fool, and meanwhile the garudas ripped her family to gory shreds?

“Nitya?” she whispered, as mortified as if the feather’s eye were judging her. “Um, are you there?”

Silence.

Tanvi had never felt more ridiculous, but the sooner she knew Nitya was safe, the sooner she could be reinitiated and forget this entire mess. “Nitya,” she tried again, louder. “Hello?”

She didn’t know what she was expecting. It wasn’t like Nitya was going to jump out of the feather. And there weren’t any strange whorls or symbols that might have been a message.

It was just a feather.

Tanvi grabbed it off the shelf. She’d chuck it into the vase and then toss the whole thing out the door. What was wrong with her, believing for even a second that Asha might care about anyone but herself?

If only that didn’t make Tanvi’s heart sting so much. She clenched the feather tighter. Why were feelings so stupid?

The tip of the quill sliced into the meat of her palm. Tanvi flinched, but before she could drop the feather, the cobalt-and-turquoise eye at the center blinked open, revealing a screen.

Nitya’s relieved face appeared there. “Tanvi?”

“Nitya?”

“There you are. I was starting to think you’d never call.”

Tanvi felt herself gawking. “What?”

“I made Sameer tell Asha to get hold of you. He didn’t want to, but I told him I’d leak his film footage if he didn’t.” Nitya sounded triumphant. “I guess he believed me.”

Tanvi didn’t have the first clue what to say. Worrying about Nitya was one thing, but now that she had her sister here, her brain might as well have gone to Prithvi without her. “How do you think I’m calling you?” she asked, hesitant. That seemed safe enough.

“My phone, duh. Don’t be weird.” Nitya frowned, and it was so controlled, a slight lowering of her eyebrows. “Tanvi, what is going on?”

“Didn’t Sameer tell you?”

Nitya shook her head. “Of course he did, but magic? Nagas? Like, do you get how weird this is?”

“So what were the garudas that attacked us?” Even Tanvi could hear her own aggravation. “You saw them, right?”

“I saw . . . eagles?” Nitya allowed.

“Eagles that attacked us. That attacked you.”

Nitya didn’t say anything.

Exhaustion made Tanvi’s whole body heavy. Why bother? “I’m glad you’re safe. I’m gonna go.”

“Wait!” Nitya said. “Please. Look, I just— I don’t understand. You’re really in Nagalok?”

“Really.”

Nitya gnawed on her thumbnail. “You need to come home. You know that, right?”

Tanvi’s hackles went up. This whole dynamic felt familiar, Nitya bossing her around, and Tanvi pushing back. Had that been their pattern? Whatever it was, she didn’t like it. “I have to go,” she repeated.