I put my necklace in an envelope with a letter to my sister, Noelle. I apologized and explained everything to her, but couldn’t even guess if she’d receive it, let alone read my words. Besides hurting Kerrick, she was my biggest regret. Maybe one of my patients would find a way to get the envelope to her.

As for Kerrick, I hoped Ryne explained. I had told Ryne everything about Tohon and what he’d been doing with the toxin.

I considered Danny’s situation. The boy would be well cared for if he stayed here, but the thought of Tohon raising him horrified me. I would need to help him escape. Too bad, Tohon wouldn’t stop injecting the toxin unless the Death Lilys stopped producing them.

Healing Ryne had been my main goal, and I’d achieved it. Yet, I would love to strike one blow to Tohon before I died. That night, I snuck up to the room behind Tohon’s lab. More children had been brought in, and others were gone. I crossed to the outer door. A hallway stretched to either side, I turned left and found the other sickrooms Danny had mentioned. Then I went right, searching for him. He slept in a small room on the bottom of a bunk bed.

Relieved, I sat next to him, calling his name.

“Hello, Avry,” he said when he woke. “What are you doing here?”

“Remember when I said I don’t like to see kids getting sick?”

“Yeah.”

“And you said we couldn’t stop it?”

“Yeah.”

“What if I told you I thought of a way to stop it. At least for a while. Would you be interested in helping me?”

He considered. “But what about the soldiers? That’s important.”

“Do you think it’s right to kill children to test medicines?”

“No, but—”

“There are many other ways to test medicine and none of it involves harming kids.”

His eyebrows drew together.

“I know because I’m a healer. I would never risk anyone for experiments.”

Danny shrank back. “But healers are bad. They started the plague.”

“Those healers are gone. I’m the last one and soon I’ll be gone.” I considered how much to tell him. “Danny, did King Tohon explain how you might develop healing powers in the future?”

He clutched the blanket to his chest. “No.”

“It’s not a bad thing if you do. This world needs healers and I think people are becoming more accepting.” I told him about the toxin. “King Tohon’s methods are too horrific, Danny. I want to take you someplace safe.”

“Me, too?” a girl’s voice said from above.

I glanced up in surprise. An angelic face surrounded by a mane of messy brown hair peered down at me from the upper bunk.

“That’s Zila. She’s eight,” Danny said.

“I survived, too,” she said. “I want to go. King Tohon’s mean.”

“Anyone else?” I asked.

“No. Just us,” Danny said.

“We’re special. King Tohon said so,” she said. “Two from dozens.”

“Dozens?” Danny frowned at her. “Are you sure he said dozens?”

“Yep.”

He was old enough to realize what that meant. Danny’s face paled, but he swallowed and met my gaze with determination. “We’ll help you.”

I filled them in on my plan. “Can you be ready to go tomorrow night around this time?”

“Yes,” they both said.

“Don’t tell anyone,” I added.

“Do I look like I’m eight?” Danny asked.

“Hey.” Zila threw her pillow at him.

He ducked it easily and tossed it back.

Curious, I asked, “How old are you?”

He straightened. “I’m twelve and three-quarters.”

I kept to my normal routine the next day. When I returned to my rooms from the infirmary, I brought my journal, food and a few first-aid supplies, packing them in my knapsack along with the envelope for Noelle. We’d need money, but I’d planned to sell my throwing knives.

Danny had told me the nurses only came during the day, so it should go smoothly. When it was well after midnight, I collected the kids. Dressed and ready, they both had small packs slung over their backs.

Hurrying through the castle, we slipped outside without incident. The moon was brighter than I’d wished, but we crossed to the outer buildings without raising an alarm. I paused in the stable’s shadows to listen for sounds of pursuit. After a few minutes of silence, we headed to the Death Lily garden.

Once there, I stopped next to the first one. Even though the petals were held open, I stuck my hand inside. A thorn pricked my palm. My awareness floated along the Lilys consciousness. Its misery consumed me.

How can we help? I thought.

Images of the orange toxin sacks filled my mind. I still had them in my pack. Then it showed me squeezing the liquid onto the ground around the plants. Its own toxin would kill the Death Lily. It wanted to die. Except I had the impression killing these plants was more like cutting off a limb than ending the Death Lily’s consciousness.

It released my hand and I held another two sacks. I quickly explained to Danny and Zila what we needed to do. Giving them each one of my throwing knives along with a stern warning to be careful with the sharp weapons, I sent them to the other Death Lilys. After they started, I grabbed my stiletto and cut a toxin sack open. I poured the poison around the base of the plant, then moved to the next one.