A lump rose in her throat. She didn’t have a nagamani, and she couldn’t exactly ask the nagarani to lend her one, but at least she could do this much.

She opened the jar and released a handful of fireflies. After all, Indu was seeking, and so were they. Maybe they could keep each other company.

The fireflies flew straight to Indu’s head, forming a gentle peridot-colored halo. Indu didn’t stir, of course, but her new friends weren’t going anywhere. Maybe their magic would get through to her somehow.

“Stay with us.” Tanvi hesitated, then clumsily stroked Indu’s hair back from her forehead. She couldn’t say why, except that, according to her thumping temples, it was what Mom would have done.

Trying not to throw up, both from the pain and from the memory, she fled—but only to Bharat’s room. And then to the other runners’, until all the fireflies had been given out. She didn’t think Venkat would mind.

Then she lugged herself back to her own room, where, still clutching the empty jar, she flopped onto her bed and passed out.

By the time she wrenched free from blood-splattered nightmares about garudas beheading her mother, Tanvi’s body and brain felt like someone had worked them over with a sledgehammer. Dizzy, she sat up and realized she still hadn’t called Nitya.

Her last feather. What if Asha couldn’t get her more seeds?

Gritting her teeth, Tanvi stabbed her hand for the second time that day.

Nitya answered right away. “I don’t want to freak you out, but there’ve been a couple of eagles circling the house. They were there when I left for school and still at it when I got home.”

Tanvi froze. She might as well have been an ice sculpture of herself.

Madhu. It was Madhu, reminding Tanvi she was watching. Reminding her what the price would be for not keeping her mouth shut.

Had Madhu seen her sneaking out to visit the other runners?

“Tanvi? You still there?”

Tanvi put her face close to the feather’s screen. “Is—is Mom okay? Are you?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. Don’t worry; I haven’t told her anything.”

“Good. Don’t.”

“I wasn’t going to! Calm down.” Nitya, who should have been the one freaking out, seemed to think her news was no big deal. “I thought about calling animal control, but last I checked, they still considered eagles acceptable wildlife.”

Tanvi wanted to reach through the screen and throttle her. Nitya didn’t get how bad this was, not even after seeing the garudas. “It’s not a joke! This is serious.”

“So what am I supposed to do, hide in the basement all day? There’re bugs down there!”

Someone knocked at the door, two sharp raps.

Despite everything, despite knowing how stupid it was, a secret thrill streaked through Tanvi. Venkat was here. “Come in!”