“We hadn’t exactly worked out all the details yet. But we have to try. The longer he stays here, the higher the odds of him being discovered.” She gestured to Isola. “Case in point.”

“And what makes you think he shouldn’t be discovered?” Isola asked, but her voice wasn’t cruel, like Sage’s could be. She was conflicted, and Leelo couldn’t blame her for that. Saints knew she had been. “This is not the same as Pieter. He’s an outsider, Leelo.”

“Believe me, I know.”

Jaren raised his hand hesitantly. “If I may. Isola, I mean no harm to you or anyone else on Endla. Or to Endla itself. As I said, it was an accident that I ended up here in the first place, and I would do anything to get home.” He paused, and though Leelo avoided his eyes, she could feel his on her. “If this stays between the three of us, then no one else ever needs to know I was here.”

Isola sighed. “I won’t tell. Not yet, anyway. But if you give me any reason to doubt you...”

“I won’t,” Jaren said. “I promise.”

Isola nodded and rose. “I should get home. Mother will be worried about me. Come find me tomorrow, Leelo. We have more to discuss.”

Leelo glanced at Jaren, then rose and followed Isola outside. “Thank you, for not telling. I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you. I didn’t know what to do.”

Isola’s demeanor changed once they were out of Jaren’s hearing. “This was why you asked me about the cottage and the boat, wasn’t it? I can’t believe you, especially after seeing what happened to Pieter. Not to mention my family. Why would you ever endanger your mother over a stranger?”

Leelo sighed, dragging her hands down her face. “I know how irrational it all must seem. But I didn’t plan any of it. When it came down to it, I couldn’t kill a person, even if he was an outsider.”

Isola softened a bit. “I can see that. You don’t even like killing rabbits.”

“Exactly.”

Isola shook her head, and in that moment she seemed so much older, like she’d lived a decade in the past few months. “This is dangerous, Leelo. More than you can possibly understand. You could have spared yourself a lot of trouble if you’d just killed him to begin with.” She glanced over at the cottage. “I hope he’s worth it.”

Leelo swallowed the lump of apprehension in her throat. “Was Pieter?”

Isola inhaled sharply, then released her breath with deliberate slowness. “Ask me that in another six months, Leelo.”

“Why did you come here today?”