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“There is no cure.”

“No,” I confessed, “but I could alleviate their pain until a surgeon arrives.” I turned back to the door, but Elder Gryff grabbed my wrist and dragged me forcefully back through the yard gate and onto the street.

“Let me go!” I shouted, trying to pull away.

“I’ve heard what you do in the hospitals, Nedra,” Elder Gryff said, and there was some emotion in his voice... was it sympathy? “But we cannot allow that here. When someone falls sick, their home is closed. That’s the way.”

If this was a normal illness, quarantine would be effective. But it hadn’t helped anyone at the hospital.

“I can help,” I said again, brandishing the golden crucible in front of him.

“No,” he said, pushing me toward my own home. “No, you can’t. Go home. We know how to deal with this.”

•••

I tried twice more to go to the Longshires’ house, but Elder Gryff had set a watch. Friends, neighbors—they patrolled the house, ensuring that no one went in and no one left. I could see the fear on their faces, the most powerful motivator to drive them into action.

That night, I snuck out. The guard was sleeping; it was easy to slip by him and creep to the front door, my golden crucible in hand.

But when I knocked, no one answered. And I knew.

I was already too late.

FORTY

Nedra

When i awokethe next morning, Ernesta’s eyes were already open and staring at me. She knew I’d snuck out last night.

“I had to try,” I said.

“You always do.”

It was strange, how easily I fell back into the old familiar habits of home. I’d been away for months, becoming someone new. A girl who defied traditions and attended a school that didn’t want her. A girl who worked tirelessly to make a difference in a world wracked with plague.

A girl who knew what to do with love.

But now, being home, lying in bed across from my twin, it felt like the mask I wore at Yugen had cracked away.

“I’ve missed you,” I told Ernesta.

She grinned. If we were solemn, we were identical, but it was our smiles that always gave us away. Mine was never quite as bright as hers.

“You haveGreynow,” she said, rolling onto her back and saying his name in a singsong voice.

I threw my pillow at her, then snatched it back so I could rest my head on it.

“Things have to change, though, don’t they?” Ernesta said, her tone more serious as she continued to stare at the ceiling. “We have to figure out what we want to do with ourselves. We can’t stay here forever.”

“Growing up is overrated,” I said, waiting for her to turn to me so we could share a smile. “Let’s just stay here forever.”

“Says the girl who’s leaving as soon as that school opens again.”

“Ifit opens again.”

Nessie groaned. “Quit being so pessimistic. There will be a cure. The plague will pass. And you’ll be gone again.”

“But not forever.”