I raise my finger to point at the Boatman, but the bottle of nerium has been stuck to my hand with some of the sticky bitumen, and I cannot shake it off.

A cold wave of river water seeps under the curtain hanging in front of the doorway and begins to flood the room.

Get out! Get out! We’re going to drown!

I want to scream as the water rushes in faster and faster. My hands find the end of the thread at my mouth and try to pull, but Nanaea’s stitches are sure and strong. I stand and reach for Iltani, but she sinks underneath the water and is gone before I can catch her, her black-streaked eyes blinking at me beneath the surface.

The frigid water rises to my calves. Then above my knees.

Panicked, Dagan stands and pulls Nasu out of the water. But Nasu lunges at him with his dagger, and they square off, sloshing through the steadily rising tide.

We must get out! Now!

Nasu jabs at Dagan and he weaves to avoid the hit. Dagan counters with a thrust, and Nasu jerks backward. They fight, swinging their blades, splashing with each jab. Each near miss. The water rises to their waists. Their chests.

The water rises to my chin.

I’m going to drown!

I claw for something to keep me afloat, but the nerium bottle won’t leave my hand. I bump into Iltani’s cold, clammy body, and she shrieks at me, bubbles and black eels pouring from her mouth, while she tries to pull me under.

The water climbs past my lips. I choke as it goes up my nose and burns down the back of my throat, and a scream tears through my sewn mouth.

Dagan turns his head as if just noticing I am there, and as he does, Nasu pulls his dagger out from under the water and slits Dagan’s throat.

Dagan!

He sinks beneath the waves, blood pulsing from his neck with every one of his heartbeats.

And before long, I’m not choking on water anymore.

I’m choking on Dagan’s blood.

DAWN BROKE WITH the crowing of a rooster from somewhere in the distance.

Though my dream had filled my mouth with bile upon waking, it had given me a glimmer of an idea. I just needed Nasu to listen to me.

He clenched and unclenched his fists in their restraints.

“Wait. A dream? You had a dream and now you want to do what with our blades? You aren’t an expert at war tactics.”

My face flushed. I’d done a lot of harm when I’d been trying to heal. And I hadn’t trusted him or even myself, but now we needed to work together or we would all die.

“Well—”

Nasu twisted his wrists. “Don’t even speak. Neither you nor Dagan have had any regard for the expertise sitting right in front of you this whole time.”

Dagan’s eyes were hard when he stared at Nasu. “Arwia believed that we could sneak the brides in and take out Uruku, but you and Assata destroyed those plans before we could execute them.” His voice was hoarse. “You’ve made plenty of mistakes yourself. Your coup alerted Uruku to our presence.”