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“When were you bitten?” she asked.

“Earlier today. Maybe a couple hours ago,” I answered as best I could.

“Okay,” Jovie said. “I need to… I need to check some things.” She turned and walked away.

After she’d gone, I finally looked at Max, and the devastation in his face was enough to make me start crying. I tried to stay calm and collected, because I didn’t really have time to waste on emotions. Not that I wanted to feel them anyway. Underneath so much sadness and uncertainty, there was only fear. Cold, palpable, and ready to devour me if I gave it a chance.

“Maybe you’re immune, like me and Remy,” he said hopefully.

“Maybe,” I allowed, but I had never seen anyone bitten and survive. The memory of Polly’s face contorting with ravenous rage was all too fresh.

“Listen to me, Max,” I said, my voice calm but thick with tears. “We need to prepare for the worst. You have to make sure our baby is safe, no matter what else happens.”

He took a deep breath and wiped roughly at his eyes. “Okay. What do I need to do?”

Jovie returned then, carrying a logging chain in her hands. “I know this isn’t pleasant, but I have to think about the safety of the whole community.”

“So you’re gonna chain her up?” Max was appalled. “She’s not even showing any signs! She might not even be sick! It’s too soon!”

“I am supposed to banish her or execute her,” Jovie replied coolly. “This seems much kinder and moreprudent.”

“It’s fine,” I said before Max could argue further. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. You all need to be safe, too.”

He nodded, but he wouldn’t look at me for a little while. Not even when Jovie suggested we move to a room at the back of the house, with a door that could lock. He helped me up and took one arm, while Jovie took the other, and we shuffled through the house.

My new room was small, with whitewashed wood paneling on the walls and floorboards that creaked underneath my feet. Pressed flowers were framed and hung on the walls, and a quilt made of patches of various red fabrics lay across the twin bed.

Max helped me into it, and Jovie made sure I was comfortable with the pillows and blankets.

And then she wrapped the chain around the wrought iron bed frame, securely locking it. When she finished with that, she took the other end of the chain and wrapped it around my ankle before locking it on. Max flinched every time it rattled, but I didn’t.

“This is just a precaution,” Jovie repeated. “I am still going to treat you until… I’ll treat you as long as I safely can. So let’s start with that wound and trying to get your blood pressure down.”

She went into another room and returned with a kit to clean and sterilize my bite wound. It hurt some, but I didn’t mind that much. I just stared up at the ceiling while Max held my hand.

Jovie had almost finished bandaging it when I heard an irritated lion’s growl followed by a thud at the door.

“What was that?” Jovie asked, clearly alarmed.

“That’s Ripley,” I said and looked to Max. “Let her in before she destroys the door.”

“Let who in?” Jovie asked.

“We have a lioness, but she’s very friendly,” Iexplained as Max went to open the front door.

“What?” Jovie straightened up in surprise, but I already heard the cat’s big paws on the floor.

Jovie screamed as Ripley came running into the room, her leash dragging on the floor behind her. The midwife pressed back against the wall, but the lion ignored her and instead put her paws up on the bed so she could nuzzle me.

“Sorry about that,” Boden said, and I looked up from petting Ripley to see him standing in the doorway of my room. “It’s hard to keep the cat away from the girl.”

“Are you… Stella’s family?” Jovie asked uncertainly, and he nodded. “Why don’t we step out and talk for a moment, while we let Stella and… and her cat reconnect.”

I didn’t mind because Ripley was so focused on nuzzling me. All I wanted to do was bury my face in her fur and cry and hug her as tightly as I could, because I knew she could take it.

When I looked up from her, I could see Jovie, Boden, and Max standing just outside the doorway, and the three of them talked in hushed voices. They weren’t speaking for long, but I saw Boden’s whole body sag, and I knew that they’d told him.

When they finished, he slowly walked over to my bed, and tears were swimming in his eyes. “Hey, Stella. How are you doing?”