“If you’re going to fight the Penitent Damned, better to have as many people who know what a Penitent Damned is as you can get, right?” Andy grinned. “Besides, I missed most of the fight against that old witch. I still owe these fucking Penitent Damned for Hayver.”

“I wish I could join you,” Marcus said. “But I don’t think I’d be very useful at this point.”

“You need rest.” Winter waved the others toward the door. “Start getting the team ready. I’ll be with you in a few moments.”

When they were alone, Winter looked down at Marcus. She’d gotten some odd reports from her scouts, and a few pieces were finally falling into place. The picture they formed made her stomach churn.

“It was a Penitent Damned you fought here, wasn’t it?” All those charred skeletons. They’d wondered if the Patriots had been drenching civilians in oil and burning them alive. “Some sort of fire demon.”

Marcus gave a weary nod. “They set caches of flash powder in the buildings.”

“We found them,” Winter said. Her mind leapt ahead, full of racing flames. “So when we advanced—”

“The demon would turn the whole district into a firestorm,” Marcus said.

“Saints and martyrs.” Winter sucked in a breath, goose bumps rising at the thought of how close they’d come to total disaster. And there had been a lot of bodies in the street . . .

“All volunteers,” Marcus said, reading her expression. “Docks people, refugees. Men and women. Raesinia and I asked them to do it.” He smiled weakly. “Couldn’t just let them cook you, could we?”

“I . . .” Winter found herself flushing, and coughed. “‘Thank you’ hardly seems adequate. A lot of men and women owe you and your volunteers their lives.”

“Just what I had to do,” Marcus said. His eyes were red, and heavy with fatigue. “Listen. Help Raesinia. Please. As soon as you can.” His hand clenched into a fist, twisting the bedsheet. “She can’t die, but she can still hurt. If they get her away from the city . . .”

“We’ll find her,” Winter said.

“Thank you.” Marcus let out a long breath, his fingers relaxing. He put on a small smile. “The eagles look good on you.”

Winter touched the gold insignia of rank on her shoulders. “They’re heavier than I expected.”

His smile broadened a little. “Always.”

“Get some sleep,” Winter said, straightening. “When Janus gets here, tell him I’ve gone on ahead.”

Cyte and Bobby were waiting for her outside the door, and she gestured them into the empty office next door. Winter closed the door and kept her voice low.

“I’m going,” she said. “You know I have to.”

“It’s going to be hard to explain to anyone who doesn’t know about . . . all this,” Cyte said. “What are you going to tell Abby?”