“Are we safe?” Oyri demanded. She walked in a circle, arms outstretched. She stumbled over the cracked earth that the worm had left, and she fell to her knees. Her facecloth was gone, and the blue uniform was torn and streaked with dirt.

Liyana scanned the hilltop. So far, no soldiers, but that could change. She thought of the emperor and wondered if he was caught in the chaos. She wished she could have explained—but no, he wouldn’t have understood anyway. He’d given the order to kill Bayla. Her mind, deep beyond where Bayla could hear her, whispered, But not me. He did not wish to kill me. She pushed aside thoughts of him. “We’re too visible. We need to hide in the tent.” Wincing from her new bruises, she hobbled over to Oyri and helped her stand.

On the walk to the tent, Oyri stumbled three times, even with Liyana escorting her. Liyana hadn’t realized how proficient Pia had been at compensating for her blindness. Pia had never taken a false step. She had walked with the confidence of a sighted person. By contrast, Oyri shuffled and stumbled like a baby goat learning to walk.

Pushing Oyri’s head down so she’d duck, Liyana guided her into the tent. Their packs were still inside, as was the withered pile of cacti that Liyana had gathered before entering the encampment. Oyri flailed her arms to feel around her, and she hit the packs. She recoiled. “I demand to know why my vessel is blind. I should be flawless!”

“Pia was flawless,” Liyana said. “You should honor her sacrifice.” Unable to watch the goddess flounder in Pia’s body, she checked outside the tent. Still no soldiers, but no Korbyn, Raan, or Fennik either. Sendar, she reminded herself. He was Sendar. Fennik was gone.

“Get back here!” Oyri screeched. “I require immediate answers. You must tell me where I am, who you are, and how I came to be here.”

Tell her the traitor’s name was Mulaf, and we will kill him, Bayla said.

Liyana ducked quickly inside. “Shh, you’ll draw the soldiers. You and several other deities were captured by the Crescent Empire. . . .” Quickly she summarized everything that had occurred for both Oyri’s and Bayla’s benefit. As she talked, she felt Bayla churn inside her. “The emperor will march on the desert soon.”

We will mount an attack on the encampment! Bayla shouted within.

“I must warn my clan!” Oyri cried.

Destroy Mulaf, and cut the viper off at the head! Bayla swirled like a sandstorm inside Liyana.

“My people must hide from this scourge!”

Give me the body, and I will wreak such havoc—

“Quiet, both of you!” Liyana held up her hands. She thought she heard noises from outside the camp. Inside her, Bayla continued to rage, scattering Liyana’s own thoughts. Please, stop, I need to listen!

Bayla fell silent, though Liyana felt her continue to churn.

Listening, Liyana heard hoofbeats hitting the sand. She crawled out of the tent and peeked through the trees. Five horses trotted down the hill. Three had the lithe bodies of desert horses, while the other two were stocky empire horses. Squinting in the sun, Liyana tried to see the riders. There were two . . . no, three. One horse held two figures. The others were riderless.

“Who is it?” Oyri called out to her.

“Shh,” Liyana said. She watched as they came down the slope. Sand billowed around the horses’ hooves. She saw the blue of their robes. Behind her, Oyri exited the tent loudly, thrashing her arms to feel her way.

It is them, Bayla said. Only Sendar rides like that.

Relief poured through her like sweet, clean water. “It’s them,” she repeated to Oyri.

“Who’s ‘them’?” Oyri asked.

Liyana stepped out of the shelter of the grove and waved her arms in the air. She saw one of the riders wave back. In a few minutes the riders and horses reached their camp. Liyana ran toward them. Behind her, Oyri tried to follow. She clung to the trunk of one of the trees. “This is intolerable. I should not have to ask. Tell me who it is!”

“Korbyn, Sendar, and . . .” Liyana saw that Raan was still unconscious. Korbyn had her draped across the horse’s neck in front of him. Liyana sprinted the last few yards.

Korbyn slid off the horse with Raan. Liyana caught the girl’s arm, slowing her descent.

“Is she—” Liyana began.

“I don’t know.” Together, she and Korbyn carried Raan into the tent and laid her inside. Liyana tucked a blanket under her head.

“Are they chasing us?” she asked.

“Not yet. But they’ll notice our absence soon enough, and they’ll be after us, especially without Sendar there to agitate the horses.” Liyana heard Sendar outside the tent, walking the horses in a circle around the grove to cool them. “We can’t stay here long.” Korbyn caught her chin and peered into her eyes. “Bayla . . . Is she truly . . .”

Tell him yes.

“Yes, she’s inside me.”

“This shouldn’t be possible,” Korbyn said. “Is she . . . well?”

Kiss him, Bayla said.

Liyana flinched. What?

It will prove I’m here.

His hand was still on her chin, and his face was inches from hers. Leaning forward, Liyana kissed him, and then she sprang back.

He touched his lips. “Was that you or Bayla?”

“I . . . I don’t know.” Liyana could still taste his lips on hers and knew that Bayla had not forced her to move. She had done it herself.

Liyana felt Bayla shift inside her. Of course, it is me! Why would he doubt? This time the swirling felt deeper, as if a chasm widened within. Recoiling, Liyana didn’t answer.

“How is this possible?” Korbyn asked again.

The swirl intensified, shifting from confusion to anger. Bayla’s anger whipped inside Liyana. Tell him I blame him.

“She blames you.”

Korbyn’s mouth twitched. “Now I believe she is within you.” His fingertips brushed her cheek. “Bayla? Beloved?”

Flailing, Raan groaned. Liyana swiftly turned away from his touch. She felt Raan’s forehead and then her pulse. Her heartbeat was erratic. “What’s wrong with her?” Liyana asked.

She’s fighting her goddess, Bayla said, as you fought me.

“I don’t know,” Korbyn said, his eyes still on Liyana. Or Bayla. Liyana felt her insides twist. He should be looking at Bayla. She shouldn’t still be here.

“Bayla thinks she’s fighting Maara,” Liyana said. “Like I fought Bayla.” She met his beautiful, deep eyes. “You must know I didn’t intend for this to happen.”

The tent billowed and shook as Oyri negotiated her way through the tent flap. Korbyn reached out a hand to steady her, and the second his hand touched her, Oyri leaped backward as if she’d felt a snake. “It’s Korbyn,” he said. “Be at ease.”

Oyri let him guide her into the tent. She settled herself between the packs, pulling them around her as if they were a protective wall. “I must heal myself.”

“I have tried,” Korbyn said. “It is not possible.”

“You tried? When?” Liyana asked. She’d never overhead Korbyn and Pia discuss this. She couldn’t imagine Pia asking him to try. Across the tent, Oyri pawed at her face, as if she could feel the scope of her blindness.

“Several nights,” Korbyn said, “while she slept . . . until she woke one night and asked me not to try again. She said if she gained her vision, then she would lose her way.” His mouth quirked, but Liyana felt her heart squeeze. She could picture Pia saying that.

“Ridiculous sentiment,” Oyri said. She rubbed her eyes hard and then harder. “And I may succeed where you failed.”

He laid his hands on her wrists and gently lowered her fingers away from her face. “Still you must wait to try. The healing will exhaust you, and we cannot afford to have two of us incapacitated. We must ride as soon as Sendar says the horses are ready.”

“I will not proceed without vision,” Oyri said. “It is insupportable that I should have a deficient vessel. How she could have hidden this in the dreamwalk—”