Ketty turned away from Fiona toward Jaren, who had inched closer to the boat. If he jumped in, the movement might be enough to push the boat those last couple feet into the water. Leelo rushed to his side.

But it was too late. The other council members arrived, all nine of them, including several large men. They would kill Jaren, and they would make Leelo watch.

Suddenly, Isola broke into a sprint. She picked up the knife Leelo had dropped and dove for the rope.

“Go!” Mama screamed at Leelo, and everything slowed down as she turned and reached for Jaren’s hand, hauling him toward the boat. Isola slashed repeatedly at the rope, trying to free it, and Fiona, finding some strength Leelo had never witnessed before, was there at the stern, pushing with all her might.

Sage hurled herself at Isola, knocking the girl down. The rope was frayed but still holding on by a thread. Jaren was in the boat, taking up the oars and using them to push away from the shore. Sage screamed when she realized that Leelo was in the boat with him.

“Leelo!” Sage was at the stern, her boots perilously close to the water’s edge as she pulled with all her might in one last desperate attempt to stop her cousin from escaping. “Don’t leave me!” she screamed.

And then the others were there, pulling next to her. Sage collapsed in relief, sobbing like a baby, as Jaren and Leelo were hauled out of the boat—Leelo kicking and screaming like a wild animal, Jaren silent and resigned to his fate.

And as Leelo was torn away from the people she loved, she saw that Sage was smiling in relief, even as holes formed in her boots where they’d been splashed in the commotion. Sage didn’t care about the pain she caused anyone, not even herself, Leelo realized.

Just as long as Endla was sated.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Jaren stood at the center of the pine grove, trussed up like a turkey, surrounded by the Endlan council members. There had been an argument about what to do with Leelo, her mother insisting that she be taken home to avoid any further trauma, while Ketty insisted she stay and watch what her selfish actions had wrought.

Ketty, unsurprisingly, had won.

Leelo sat next to her mother on a log just outside the circle of council members. Her cousin was there, too, attempting to speak to her, but Leelo just stared dead-eyed at the ground in front of her. Her braid had unraveled in the chaos and her hair hung around her in soft waves. Jaren wanted nothing more than to hold her and promise her everything would be all right, to apologize for involving her in this awful mess, to tell her he loved her again and again.