Chapter 20

"Rosalie!Why the hell did you run off like that?"

I peek from under my canopy of salttain to see Liam barreling towards me. The storm has dissipated as fast as it came, like they always seem to on this island. And I no longer think climate change is to blame.

I don't think Tyler was compelled to come back to Salttain because he thought the island was at risk for environmental degradation. Something's going on here all right, but not that.

And I'm starting to think Tyler knew what it was all along.

I don't have time to ponder this because, knife out, Liam whips across the distance between us and, with brutal efficiency, hacks down the plants that tower around me. They twist and bend as if trying to escape his blade. Shrieks ring in my ears as Liam severs the stalks at their roots.

"Stop! Stop it!" I try to block his attack, but it's too late. The plants have all been defiled. Slaughtered.

Liam flashes me a dark look and sheaths his blade. "I've been looking for you for over an hour! What were you thinking? Do you know how many bog-holes are out here?"

I press Tyler's charm to my chest. The earth's vibrations have dulled to a faint murmur. "Why did you do that?"

"I couldn't give it a chance to escape. It's what we came for, isn't it?"

I gaze up at him, tears pricking my eyes. "It has to offer itself. It's never going to trust me again."

Liam gapes. "You've lost your Landsider mind. What are you talking about?"

"I'm only telling you what I felt."

Liam shakes his head, finishes tying up the cut stalks, and slings the bundle over his shoulder. "We should go. Everyone will be after this plant. As soon as word gets out, you're going to be the most popular girl on Salttain Island."

I let out a huff. Without looking back, Liam forges through the bulrushes. Trudging behind him in uneasy silence, I finger the handful of blooms in my pocket.

Liam stops to take a swig of water and offers some to me. "I know you're angry. But the salttain did offer itself to you. Sacrificed itself to your need," he says. "That's how it functions. There's more than enough for Evan and Aurora in this batch. And if you watch how we do the healing ritual for my sister, you'll learn how to prep the poultice yourself. It's not something you can easily figure out on your own."

I frown, weighing his words. But I don't get the chance to respond. Liam tenses, hand to his blade. "Stay back," he says as two figures spring from a thicket of rushes.

"You can't seem to stay gone, can you, old buddy?" Wade Lambert drawls with a lazy smile, a long, curved sword resting casually on his shoulder.

The other figure, face covered by a crude leather mask, wields two short daggers. Wade spears the ground with the sword and leans on it. "You're looking fine as always, Rosalie."

Liam pushes me back, shielding me with an outstretched arm.

"Hand that bundle over," Wade says, "or I'll slice you up like a holiday ham, O'Donnell."

Liam shoves his bundle of salttain at me. "Guard this with your life."

I'm about to lunge with my mediocre karate skills when the masked figure thrusts a high kick at Liam. He sidesteps, grabs hold of his attacker's leg, and flips him onto his back. He's got him pinned, a foot on his chest and blade at his throat. "Make a move, and you'll be the one roasting on a spit," Liam says, and delivers the attacker a blow to the jaw that knocks him out cold. I heave a sigh of relief. Until I notice there's no sign of Wade.

I'm grabbed from behind, cold steel to my throat. "Let's see how loyal a friend O'Donnell really is," he whispers in my ear. "I told you, you can't trust them."

"Too chicken for a fair fight, Lambert?" Liam crouches, brandishing the masked attacker's knife. Wade presses the flat side of his sword harder against my throat, and I struggle for breath. Black spots splatter my vision as I try to wriggle free. Recalling one of the self-defense moves Tyler taught me, I kick backward into Wade's groin with all my might.

He grunts and loosens his grip. The breath flows back into my lungs, and I deliver a roundhouse kick aimed for his gut, which Wade, still panting, manages to evade. He leers at Liam. They circle each other, blades at the ready.

"Someone should have gutted you and your bitch sister like mackerels a long time ago," Wade sneers. "Brody has a shattered jaw and is blind in one eye because of her. Give me that plant to heal him and maybe I'll let you live."

Heart hammering, I flash back to the beach party. Had Aurora done that much damage with her barefooted kicks? What is he talking about?

Liam springs into a twisting kick that sends the sword careening out of Wade's grip and into the shallow marsh. Wade retaliates with a jab to Liam's stomach, knocking him off balance, his knife flying out of his grip. Pouncing, he grabs Liam by the hair and traps him in a stranglehold.

"I'm done with you and your crap, O'Donnell," Wade snarls. "I'll be doing the island a favor by getting rid of you."

No matter how angry I am at Liam, I don't want him to die. I scoop up one of the dropped knives, lunge, and jam it into Wade's leg. Blood spurts from the wound.

Wade staggers, and Liam twists free. I crack Wade over the head with the handle of my blade, nausea rolling into my mouth. He falls, unconscious, next to his fellow attacker.

All for a goddamn plant that comes when I call it.

Blood leaks from the anonymous attacker's head and mingles with the swamp water in a murky red soup. I bite back the wave of shock that threatens to overwhelm me. "We killed them," I say, shaking.

Liam kneels and pulls off the stranger's mask. It's one of Wade's cronies from the beach. He feels for a pulse. "They're just knocked out. Let's get out of here."

"And leave them like this?"

"I should slit Wade's throat and throw him down a bog-hole."

"No. Please. I know he's awful, but isn't that a bit extreme?"

Liam tenses. "It took every ounce of restraint I had not to carve Brody Lambert up right in front of Randy the other night. If you knew our history, you'd award me a medal of honor."

"Won't someone come looking for them?"

"This pathetic ambush wasn't authorized by Randy. It's not his style." Liam flashes me a tired half-grin. "No one wants to admit they've located salttain. Especially if Wade's cut his da out from the haul."

I shake my head, trying to piece it together. The magic. The brutality. "What Wade said about Brody… How can that be? Aurora didn't even land a kick on him."

"Liars gonna lie. Most likely, Randy beat the shit out of him."

"His own son?"

Liam swipes grit and sweat from his brow. "Wade probably wants to sell the salttain so he can get off the island and away from Randy. I would too, if he were my da."

I frown. "Why don't you leave?"

"I do every fall."

"Why do you come back?"

Liam's face is blank, his mouth a straight line. I've crossed into Sphinxville again.

"We still haven't figured out what to do with these two," I say, giving up.

Liam grabs some of the salttain blooms and stuffs them up Wade's and the other attacker's nostrils. They stir and moan but don't wake. "C'mon." Getting to his feet, he turns and marches off ahead.

"How did they know to follow us?" I ask, breathless, as I catch up.

"The earth speaks to everyone on Salttain Island," Liam says, taking an oddly poetic turn. "All who care to listen can hear. But in your case, for reasons I don't fully understand"—he shoots me a look that hovers between bewilderment and satisfaction—"it sings."