They entered Julitta’s apartment building and, in silence, took the elevator to the fifteenth floor. Kit had lost the ability to speak; her lungs had shrunk to the size of fists. Her veins ran with ground glass, spiky and fevered. She would see Nolan again …

Melina knocked on an unmarked door down a long hallway of identical doors. Kit moved to one side, out of direct line of sight, and tried to persuade herself to breathe.

There was a muffled noise behind the door. “Yes?” said a man’s voice. Nolan’s voice.

Melina put her mouth to the door. “Nolan, it’s me. Melina. I’ve brought—” But before she could complete her sentence, the door flew open. Nolan stood there, ragged from sleep but otherwise whole. He did not look haggard or haunted or riven with regret. He did not appear to be suffering. Kit felt herself relax just the slightest bit.

“Melina! What’s wrong?” he exclaimed. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“You don’t need to tell me that,” she said with a quick smile. “But I’ve been worried about you. I wanted to see if you were all right. And I wanted to bring you—”

“I’m fine,” he interrupted. “I’ve gone out a few times. I cover my face with one of those masks, just like everyone else, and no one has recognized me. So far, anyway.”

“You should leave the city.”

He raised a hand as if in acknowledgement of an argument lost a long time ago. “When I think of a place to go.”

Melina took a deep breath. “There may be a place,” she said. “I’ve brought someone to tell you about it.”

And before Melina could turn to wave her forward, before Kit could take a step, Nolan’s eyes lifted and found her. He did not move a muscle, but his whole body reacted; he appeared to leap forward, to glimmer with incandescence. His hand on the doorframe tightened till Kit could actually sense the protest of the wood.

In the silence, Melina’s voice sounded strained and artificial. “She came to my place looking for you. I believed her when she said she knew you. But if you don’t want—if you—say something, Nolan. Let me know if you want me to take her away again.”

“No,” he said, and nothing else.

There was another moment of complete silence, while Kit and Nolan stared at each other and Melina waited for instructions. “Well, then,” Melina said finally, “I guess I’ll be going. If you leave the city, Nolan, please let me know where you go. I’m glad you’re all right. I’m glad you—” Her voice trailed off. No one said anything. Melina’s laugh came, soft as a whisper. “I’ll be on my way, then. Goodbye, Nolan. Goodbye, Kitrini.” And she edged away from them and down the hall. And they were left alone, face-to-face.

CHAPTER NINETEEN