My sister shrugged. “She never cared about my teeth, or anything else about me.”

I rolled my eyes and turned on the tap in the tub. Water gushed out, luxurious beyond measure in this desert climate. “Of course she does.”

“Not like she cares about you.” She said it like a fact she’d learned long ago. Like she’d accepted it. “When are we going to rescue her?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You said High Magistrate Paorah is bad. You said he’s behind all the things you accused the Algotti Empire of doing.”

“That’s true.”

“Then we need to rescue Mother. We can’t leave her with that monster.” Her eyes were bright with tears. “I just want to find her. I want to go home.”

“I know. We have a plan, all right?” Telling Ilina and Hristo—and Zara, who’d been lured out by her insatiable need to know things—had gone as well as expected. No one liked the plan of trusting Tanhe and sneaking into the summit under false names, but like Gerel said, we didn’t have much of a choice.

Unless we wanted to hide out here until the world finished ending.

“Your plan is stupid,” Zara said. “And you didn’t once mention rescuing Mother.”

“Tomorrow. We’ll have a better idea of our options tomorrow.”

She gave a dramatic sigh, then spun around and went into the bedroom she and I shared. (Ilina had been sharing with her mother, but now that she had left, I was seriously considering moving in. I just couldn’t tell if that would make Zara more or less angry with me.)

I sank into the tub, water so hot it should have scalded my skin. But, like looking at the sun, it didn’t hurt. Not anymore.

When I closed my eyes and listened, I could hear Zara move around our room before she flopped onto the bed. Springs groaned. My sister let out a short, hitched breath, and at once I realized she was crying. Because of something I’d said?

I listened harder, hearing voices rumble in the parlor. The conversation earlier had been quick, because everyone was exhausted, but I knew Ilina and Hristo weren’t happy about my decision to go to the summit. Not as myself, and not in disguise. But I’d meant what I’d told Hristo earlier: If I didn’t go, who would? Who else could? Seven had been willing to talk only to me; we had to assume Nine would feel the same.

And then I stretched my senses even farther, until I heard—or imagined I heard—tapping. ::Strength through silence.:: Desperate prayers from someone whose god had already abandoned him.

I listened to his prayers, over and over, and wished more than anything that I could help. But there was nothing I could do to ease the pain of his loss.

When Zara’s cries quieted, and the voices stopped, and even the tapping faded, I realized I would fall asleep in the tub if I didn’t move. But somehow, the water was still hot, and the jasmine-scented air was relaxing.