“That sounds worrying.”

“It wasn’t dangerous.” I kept reading. This was bad; the Reverends were going to be livid that the news got out to the public. “My full cohort was present, and he was only in the second phase of the transformation.”

“The article says fourth.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you read.”

Finn raked his fingers though his hair, a nervous habit. “El, be serious. Why didn’t you tell me?”

I sighed and handed the newspaper back to him. “Because it wasn’t that important. No one got hurt.”

“But what if there are more Haunts?”

“Then the Sisterhood will handle them.”

“How?”

“There are protocols,” I said, brushing aside the issue. “And this was a freak incident. There’s no need for concern.”

“You don’t know that. If there was one infection, then—”

“The man could have contracted the sickness via airborne exposure.”

“He was a farmer!” Finn threw up his hands. “He would be the least exposed to the Sisterhood.”

“Some men are more susceptible than others.”

“You don’t really believe that it was airborne,” he said, seeing right through my evasion. “So, a renegade?”

I hesitated, then shrugged. “Maybe, but I hope not.”

“You’ll be careful, though?”

“Only if you stop hassling me about it.”

“El…”

“Fine, yes, I’ll be careful,” I grumbled. “I guess the whole city is talking about this by now.”

“Just about.”

“Great.” Mass hysteria on top of everything else. I scuffed my shoes against the grass. “Look, there will be an inquiry. If one of us, well, strayed, the Sisterhood will hunt her down.”

Finn sighed. His gaze travelled past me, up toward Martyrium Hill, and I knew what he was thinking. He gave a small shrug.

“Well, I hope she’s good at hiding,” he said.

“Me too, I suppose.” The taste of my mother’s blood lingered in the back of my mouth. “Although I shouldn’t say things like that. Where’s Millie?”

“She told me she’d meet us on Hyacinth. Want to get moving?”

I nodded. Finn cast a sidelong glance at the headstone, then stuck his hands in his pockets and walked toward the gates. I followed him.

CHAPTER

FIVE

By the time the fifth bell tolled, the sun had banished the last of the morning mist. Thin, bright clouds rolled across the sky.

We waited for Millie on the corner of Rose and Hyacinth. Oak trees lined the streets in the Morkith District of Minor West, and the ground was littered with acorns and crushed leaves. Horse-drawn cabs rattled past. A squirrel hopped from branch to branch, and a fat house cat followed its movements from the windowsill of a grocer, tail twitching.

I pulled blades of grass from the pavement and arranged them into circles on my knees, while Finn leaned against the tree and read through the Resounder. As he had anticipated, Millie was late.