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"Aether "Of course not, silly Do you really think I could kill e?" I ask

"Painkillers and antivenin You were poisoned, and until the poison is coonna hurt It’ll help you sleep, too"

She inserts the needle into a tube leading froood arm, but before she can inject, I blurt, "Wait! I don’t want to sleep yet Not until I see Bowen"

Lis ree froown pocket "Please inform Dreyden Bowen that he is needed in lab room fourteen," she says "He’ll be here any minute, I’m sure I still can’t believe Duncan Bowen’s brother is the one who saved you" Her face twists with distaste and then darkens with anger

"Why?" I ask

Shethe bodies after the fights He’s the one who h he knew you were brother and sister"

"No! Does Bowen know?"

Lis shrugs and her jaw tightens

As if the mention of his name has called him, Bowen strides into the rooain, his lips rosy red and s He stops beside my bed and stares down at me like it’s the first time he’s ever seen me I blink and catch my lip in my teeth, unsure of what to say, unsure if I can talk at all, with my entire body flooded with emotion

"Fotard," he whispers Without another word, he cliently liftsarh to wake up" He kisseshi creaainst his chest

"Four days!" He says it like it’s been a year "And your brother-in-laon’t letthe day"

"My who?" I ask

"Brother-in-law," Lis says, standing with her arotburied by laundry "Why did you putside of the wall to fend for myself?" I say

Dr Grayson steps to the side of my bed and peers deep into my eyes "Believeyou here"

"Why?" Bowen and I ask in unison

"A year ago, I found a cure for the virus But there was a problem Every child I cured, oke up froure out as going wrong So I woke a child and stayed awake at his bedside for forty-eight hours He survived Until I left his bedside, at which point he went into cardiac arrest So the healed children Someone who didn’t want them to be cured It took me three months to discover as behind the h I have a suspicion

"Jacoby Soneschen"

"The governor? Why wouldn’t he want them cured?" Bowen asks "Think of all of the lives it would save! It wouldan end to the wall, an end to the rules An end to …" He sits up and his face slowly hardens, taut with anger "If a cure was discovered, and it was publicized, the ould come down And that would mean an end to Soneschen’s power"

Dr Grayson nods "That, and soured out about the healing properties they carry Their blood is sort of like a fountain of youth, increasing health and strength He’s been drinking it toit to the Inner Guard to make them--and ultimately himself--more powerful The irony is, he didn’t know that the beasts still carry the health benefits after they’ve been cured"

"So," I say, "the night you put ht you hidto hide you?" He reaches out and ruffles overnor has eyes and ears everywhere, even outside the wall If I kept you on this side of the wall, you wouldn’t have lived to see a sunrise, so Lis and I got you out We were going to try to get you to Wyoovernor’s reach, and then start a movement to distribute the cure to the rest of the country, but Lis and I were ile you to the other side of the wall We couldn’t come for you"

I look at Lis "You were in prison?" I ask

She nods "But only for a few days When the governor couldn’t find you, he let us out and had us watched day and night He probably figured we’d lead hiives the doctor a look

"That’s enough talking," he says "You need to rest, Fiona You have a concussion, broken pinky, broken hand, seventy-eight stitches, and severe bruising In addition to blood poisoning Beast blood or not, you’ve got a lot of healing to do"