Could a twelve-year-old boy do that alone? Maybe.

No. There was no way. Even if there was a way, she refused to accept it.

Someone had helped him.

Harrison was calling to her. “Honey, is everything alright?” He’d heard the shattering bowl.

“I’ll be right up,” she shouted, but her mind was on Sylous now. She’d betrayed him!

No . . . No, someone had betrayed her.

Who would do such a thing for a stranger? Who had anything to gain from freeing the boy? Who would be so bold as to do so from her home? Someone who had betrayed her before, Rose thought. Someone who believed the stranger had meaning.

Only one name came to mind.

Grace.

THE ABANDONED TRAIN CARS SAT ON RUSTED TRACKS to the north of Haven Valley. Only a stone’s throw beyond the perimeter, the cars were out of sight except from the top of several boulders at the red line. When I was much younger, Jamie and I would climb those boulders and make up tales about how much gold and jewels the cars could carry.

That was before approved paths had been staked out. Before the laws to stick to those paths had been introduced and enforced. The only time I’d seen the train cars lately was with Jamie, when we’d broken the law so he could go check the Fury for himself.

Breathing hard, I pulled up just short of the red rope. I looked around to make sure we weren’t seen by anyone doing a perimeter sweep. No one in sight. I glanced down at Eli, who’d matched me the whole way, two of his strides for each of mine. We hadn’t spoken; I’d been focused on getting here without being detected.

He smiled at me.

“You good?” I asked.

“Good.”

“Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“To those cars,” I said, and stepped over the red rope. Images of what had happened to me last time I’d been past the perimeter flashed through my mind. I’d tried to think of anyplace to hide Eli inside Haven Valley, but I knew once Rose discovered he was missing, they would search every house. There were a few abandoned buildings to the east that had once been used by the mining company, but they might be the first place the guardians looked.

At least for the night, the train cars were probably safe. The safest place I could think of anyway.

True, the Fury were out here. Part of me wondered if rescuing Eli from Rose only to put him in the reach of the Fury was doing him any favors. But he’d lived among the Fury for years and survived.

My body tensed every time I heard a sound. I was alone and vulnerable, even with Eli walking beside me. Especially with Eli beside me. He was just a boy.