Thirty-Four

The moment Kit and Sadie disappear into the night, whatever force holds me down evaporates. I shoot to my feet and race to the window, expecting at any moment that the force will shove me back. It doesn't. The entity is focused on Kit. On her prize. She has him, and nothing I can do will change it.

Oh, we will see about that. He is alive, and I am going to—

"Laney?"

I stop, skidding on the broken glass. I turn slowly, almost reluctantly, because I know what I will see. The one thing that could stop me.

Madison is on her feet, wobbling, her hand to the bandages over her throat.

"Get in the crawlspace," I say as I race back to her. "I'll lock you in there."

"No."

"Yes! That thing has Kit, and—"

"I know, and I am going with you." She takes my arm, her grip weak but firm, and starts for the door.

We are outside, and I struggle to focus, feeling as if I'm being wrenched apart by two colossuses booming in my head.

What the hell are you doing taking Madison out here?

Move faster! That thing took Kit! Ithas Kit.

The second one wins out. It should be an easier fight. Not only does Madison insist on coming with me, but she's hardly safe in the house. Still, every instinct I've tried so hard to bury—constantly reminding myself I'm not her mother—has sprung to life, screaming at me to get my child back in the damn house.

Back in a house with no windows? Without me? With Garrett lying on the floor, still alive in some way, still conscious enough that he might attack Madison in his final fury?

No. She is with me, and she will stay with me.

She is where she wants to be, and that is enough.

As we run across the deck, I catch sight of blood below, of blood spatter on the rocks. I remember Jayla, and I almost body-slam Madison in another direction, so she won't see her.

"I know what happened," she says, her voice a rasp, as we move. "To Jayla. I… I was in there. I heard what that thing said." Her voice catches. "I'm sorry, Laney. I'm so sorry."

Don't be sorry for me. Be sorry for Jayla.

I know what she means, though, and my eyes fill. Madison is not a child. She has said that again and again, and only now am I starting to see it—to see the woman she is becoming.

She will be the best of me. Certainly the best of Garrett. That is what I am protecting. Madison might insist she can look after herself, and maybe she can, but I'm protecting that precious seedling of infinite promise in her. I'm protecting her future.

We run to the side steps. Before we race down, I stop and peer into the night. I'd seen Sadie drag Kit to the right, but there's no sign of them. There isn't even a damn crow left. I hadn't noticed that, but now when I look for them, I see nothing but the moonlit night.

"There!" Madison rasps, jabbing a finger at the forest beyond, and I catch a glimpse of Sadie's blond hair.

Madison is already galloping down the stairs, and I have to fight the urge to tell her to go slower. She's lost so much blood. But if she can run, then we must run.

I race after her and grab her hand. I expect her to resist, and there's a flash of memory, of me taking her to the zoo and reaching for her hand and having her shove it into her pocket. Oh, even at eight, she'd been discreet, not wanting to offend me, but I'd understood. She was too old to hold hands with her auntie, and from that day forward, she would always be too old. Today, though, when I reach for her hand, she takes mine and holds it tight as we run across the rocks.

We lose sight of Sadie during that run. Madison had spotted her from the deck, but now we're down in the low stretch with the beach on our left. With Jayla's body on our left.

Don't think of that. Don't look and don't think.

The rocks climb toward the forest, and when we are in that dip, we can't see Sadie. Can't track her pale hair. We run as fast as Madison can manage, steadying each other when we slip or stumble. Then we are scrabbling up the rock to the forest's edge.

"Do you see her?" Madison says.

"No, but we know which way she went. And she's dragging Kit. That's going to leave a trail."

We run faster, bearing down, both of us focused on the spot where we last saw Sadie. My heart gives a little leap of satisfaction. We're moving so much faster than Sadie. Wherever she's going, wherever she's taking Kit, wherever the entity intends to kill him, Sadie will not get him there before us.

We reach the spot. I know it's the right one because the downed tree I'd snuck around earlier is right in front of us.

Still holding hands, we search, our ears attuned for any sound.

"We should be able to see something, right?" Madison says. "She's dragging him."

"She is."

She was.

What else could she do? Carry him?

She could, with the entity's strength.

"You look at the bushes," I say. "I'll look at the ground. It's still damp from the storm."

"Sadie's only wearing one shoe," Madison says quickly. "I noticed that. She lost a shoe."

That's something. Even if she is carrying Kit, the weight will press her bare footprints into the soft ground.

"Where would that thing take him?" Madison says as we scour the bushes and ground. "It didn't kill him at the house. It wants him someplace. Where?"

"I don't—"

I stop as everything in me screams an answer. I almost brush it off. Find a trail. Be certain.

There is no time for certain.

"The tree," I say. "The oath. I made the oath—"

"—at the oak tree."

Madison veers that way, and I resist the urge to stop her, to insist on finding the trail and doing this logically.

I'm not dealing with a creature of logic. I'm dealing with an ancient and unknowable sense of justice.

I made the oath at the tree. I did it there because to me that tree was the beating heart of the island. The tree is the tangible symbol of this thing, this entity, the spirit of the island, and even if I hadn't comprehended that, I'd sensed it every time I was drawn to that tree.

My oath wasn't spoken words. It wasn't even a mental promise. I'd reached out with my heart and my fervent determination to do right by this island. I was an intruder, but I hoped I could be more.

I hoped I could be an intruder that the island might accept. One who came with respect, who came to protect, not destroy.

Madison and I run for the tree. We run through the forest and along the stream, sloshing in the water, knowing it will take us to the tree.

The heart of the island.

Finally, I see the tree, the gnarled and terrible beauty of it rising from its clearing. I see it… and I do not see Kit.

"There!" Madison says, lifting our joined hands to jab.

Something is moving in the forest. Coming from our left. It's Sadie, still dragging Kit by his hair. Seeing that, I snarl in rage and launch myself—

Madison holds me back. I twist toward her, but she's looking to the right. Another figure is lurching through the forest. Another human figure.

Garrett?

The other figure passes through moonlight, and my heart stops, my knees weakening.

"Jayla," I whisper.

It is Jayla. Or what remains of Jayla. The husk of her broken body. She's dragging herself from tree to tree, bracing against each as if those trunks are all that's holding her up. She still wears Kit's hoodie, and it's red with blood.

Jayla is heading toward Kit and Sadie.

I let out a string of curses. This goddamn entity knows exactly how to stop me from saving Kit. She doesn't need invisible forces to slam me back. Just wake Madison in hopes I'll stay in the house. If that fails, bring Jayla. I would attack Sadie to get Kit back, but how much will I dare do that to Jayla?

No, I have to. Remember it's not Jayla. Remember—

"Put him down," Jayla rasps.

She's still moving toward Sadie and Kit. Dragging herself from tree to tree.

"Put my fucking brother down," she says, "or I will grab you by the hair and drag you from one end of this fucking forest to the other."

"Jayla?" I whisper.

Madison's hand squeezes mine. "It's a trick, Laney. That thing is using Jayla to trick you."

Jayla's face swings our way. Her face is a mask of blood.

"Hey, kid," she croaks. "How'd you get so smart?"

My knees weaken.

"You really think I'm that easy to kill?" she says. "And do you think I'm going to let that thing kill my little brother?"

"Will you duct-tape me to a tree if I try to help?" I say.

"Nah, this time, I actually could use a buddy."

My eyes fill, and I say, "Jayla is the most amazing person ever, and I'm so lucky to be her friend."

"See? You do remember the magic words."

I let out a sob, as Madison and I run for Jayla. She doesn't stop moving toward Kit. When she's near him, she lunges, and it is not a smooth or elegant lunge. It is a broken lurch, but she throws herself into it and hits Sadie square in the chest, sending her flying backward.

I run toward them, Madison keeping up.

"Be careful!" I shout. "That thing can—"

Sadie bucks, throwing Jayla off her with incredible force. I scream. Madison lets go of my hand and runs to Jayla. I stop before I do the same, and I force myself to block Sadie instead, as her ravaged body rises, grotesquely pulled up by invisible strings.

"Stop!" I say.

Sadie's eyes go black, her mouth opening. The open flap of her cheek has torn all the way to her mouth now, and my gorge rises as her jaws open, torn lips and cheek quivering.

"We have had this conversation," the entity says. "I will not have it again. There is a price. He offered to pay it. The woman is still alive. Take that as my show of mercy."

"Yeah," Jayla rasps from the ground. "You failed to kill me, and now you're calling it mercy."

"I failed nothing. I made a statement, and then I let you live. If you took that for a sign that I might show mercy again, I can correct that mistake before you draw another breath."

"I made you a promise," I say. "I made it here. In this spot. I meant it, and you know that I meant it or you'd drive me off this island. But you don't want me gone. I might have done a half-assed job, but you would still rather have me—properly motivated—than leave the island unguarded." I pause. "Is that right?"

"Yes, you can have your island," she says. "But I must have my price."

"Okay then. Just clearing that up. You want me. You need me. Got it."

I wheel and run in the other direction.

"Laney!" Madison shouts.

Madison comes after me, and I don't try to stop her. I run twenty paces north, to the edge of the pond. There, I trample down the warning sign as I wade in to get what I need.

At a shriek behind me, I turn to see Sadie's broken body flying toward me. I lunge out of the way and lift the dripping leaves so the entity can see them. Then I stuff one of the roots in my mouth.

Madison screams. "Laney, no!"

Madison runs for me, but Sadie knocks her aside and charges.

I dodge Sadie and spit out the root. Sadie stops, eyes black as the entity watches me.

I lift another root from the bunch clutched in my hand.

"Water hemlock," I say. "The island is named after it. The most poisonous plant in North America. One of these roots will be enough to kill me." I meet those black eyes. "How badly do you want me alive?"

The thing snarls, and I don't see Sadie in that face anymore. I don't see anything remotely human.

"I have a deal for you," I say. "You are going to hear me out or I will stuff these roots in my mouth and swallow them before you can stop me." I meet her eyes again. "You know I will."

The spirit gnashes Sadie's teeth and jerks her head with those birdlike movements, but that black-eyed gaze doesn't leave mine.

"You want me as the island's guardian," I say. "You can only have me if you let Kit live. Let him live, let Jayla live, let Madison live. It's too late for Sadie, I know that, but the others must live, and in return, I will give you what you want."

"You will give me what I want after you pay the price," it says. "You will give it to me knowing that if you do not, I will take the others."

"So you'll force me into being your protector? Blackmail me into it? Would it not be better to have my compliance willingly? To have my promise—my oath—willingly? Because that is the only way I'm giving it. You threatened to kill everyone else who sets foot here." I shrug and lift a root of hemlock. "That can't bother me if I'm not here to see it."

"Oh, I can make sure you are here to see it. Even if your body is dead."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take. Because I will not look after this island for a spirit that murdered my child or my husband or my best friend."

Sadie's shoulders twitch, an odd movement, almost like a bird trying to flap wings it doesn't have.

"You stay," she says finally.

"Yes, I'll stay here every summer, and no one will come unless I'm here to watch over—"

"No, you stay. Here. On our island. Forever."

Fear licks through me, a looming vision of being trapped on this island. I love it. I love it so much. But I have a life elsewhere. Madison has a life elsewhere. Kit has a life elsewhere. If I am here—always here—I will lose them.

Except I won't, will I? They will still be alive and that's all I wanted two minutes ago.

I open my mouth to agree.

"No," Jayla's voice rasps as she appears, dragging herself from tree to tree. "She can't. Literally, she cannot do that."

Sadie's body turns on Jayla.

Jayla lifts her hands. "I'm pointing out facts. We're in the middle of Lake fucking Superior. You said you've seen people come and go on this island. How many of them survived a winter? Oh, maybe at one time, when humans knew how to do that, but we've adapted to a different life. Laney isn't a survivalist. She teaches children."

I jump in. "She's right. I won't let Kit die because I'm too afraid to stay here. But I wouldn't survive more than a winter or two. I can be here in the summer—all summer—and make sure no one else comes—"

"You can only be sure of that if you are here. No one comes in the winter. The lake does not freeze enough to cross. From spring equinox to winter solstice though, you must be here."

"I can't boat over when the lake's partly frozen."

"Then you will fly. I know what is possible. I have seen it. First thaw to full freeze, and you will not set foot on the mainland during that time. Not for a day. Not for an hour."

I swallow. This isn't summers on the island, a dream I'd once held.

Someday, I will be able to write full-time, and I'll spend the entire summer writing on the island, and it will be glorious.

This is a perversion of that dream, as if I did indeed find a monkey's paw.

Be careful what you wish for…

I wouldn't be holed up here of my own free will. I'd be chained, like Persephone in hell. Except this was supposed to be my paradise.

Be careful what you wish for…

I don't turn and try to see Kit through the trees. I don't need to, because there is no doubt what I will do.

I made an oath, whether I intended to or not, whether this is fair or not, whether this is justice or not.

I made an oath.

I will pay the price.

I turn to the entity in Sadie's body. "Make your vow," I say. "And I will make mine."