“I need to speak to you privately, if possible.” He raised one eyebrow slightly, in what was probably an attempt at subtlety. “It concerns . . . the matter of the Desoltai temple.”

Magic, in other words. The Thousand Names. Winter nodded at Bobby, who shut the door.

“I think you know Lieutenant Forester, from the Colonials,” she said. “This is Lieutenant Cytomandiclea. They were both involved in an attempt on my life by the Penitent Damned several weeks ago, and I brought them up to speed on . . . related matters.” Winter looked at the two women beside Marcus. “I assume the same is true of your companions—wait.” The girl’s face had finally clicked. “Andy?”

Andy stared at Winter uncomprehending for a moment, and then her eyes went wide. “Oh. Oh! You’re—” She cut off, uncertain. “You’re Winter.”

“What are you doing here? I thought you were wounded at Midvale.”

“Once I healed up, the Preacher sent me to help Marcus.” Andy leaned forward eagerly. “Are the others still with you? Is Jane here?”

“Most of them are here,” Winter said, fighting not to show a stab of pain in her face. “They’re camped out up the road a bit.” Looking at the other woman, Winter realized that she recognized her as well, from their desperate venture under the Vendre. “And you’re . . . Rose, was it?”

“Sothe is my real name,” the woman said. “I work for the queen.”

“She’s . . .” Marcus gestured vaguely, trying to find an appropriate description.

“I’ve seen her work,” Winter said.

“They both know what’s going on,” Marcus said. “The Penitent Damned are working with Maurisk, or else they’re running the show entirely. They tried to steal the Thousand Names, and we stopped them for now, but Raesinia got herself captured in the process. We have to get her back before they can get her out of the city.”

“Why would they want to get her out of the city?” Winter said. “If they use her as a hostage—”

“She carries a demon that makes her unable to die,” Sothe said. “The Penitent Damned want to drag her back to Elysium.”

“Ah,” Winter said, digesting this rather large revelation.

“Are your troops going to reach the Hotel Ancerre before nightfall?” Marcus said.

Winter shook her head. “I doubt it. They’re holding on like ticks over there. We’re going to have to dig in and hold through the night, I think. In the morning Janus can bring up more artillery and tear the Island down around their ears if he has to.”

She’d made her decision, she realized, sometime in the last few minutes. An all-out rush for the hotel might work, but the odds were against it, and it would certainly cost more lives than she was prepared to spend on an outside chance.