“Well done,” Leelo said, trying not to look at the rabbit. One of the other good things about hunting with Sage was that she was always willing to do the dirty work, knowing how sensitive Leelo was when it came to death. But she had to get over this squeamishness somehow. If there was one thing she had learned from her aunt Ketty, it was that survival was a bloody business.

Tate smiled at her over his shoulder and cleaned his blade on the grass. “I know you’re worried about me,” he said. “But I really will be okay.”

There was an assuredness to his tone that Leelo hadn’t heard before, and she was grateful he was managing to be so brave. “It’s not you I worry about,” Leelo said, looking off toward the village on the other side of the lake. “It’s them.”

“That’s what I mean. Mama told me something... I’m not supposed to tell you. But it’s a good thing. Something that will keep me safe. So you don’t have to worry anymore.”

“What something?” As far as Leelo knew, her mother had never kept a secret from her before. Certainly not with Tate. He was terrible at keeping secrets, like the time he’d overheard Leelo confide to Sage she had a crush on a boy and Tate had immediately told. Of course, that had been years ago. She looked back at her brother, marveling at how much he’d grown.

Tate kept his lips pressed together and shook his head. “Mm-m. I’m not telling.”

If their mother had told Tate a secret, especially one that could keep him safe, then she wasn’t going to pry. She just hoped it wasn’t a lie Fiona had concocted to make him feel better. He deserved to go out into the world with his eyes wide-open. She remembered the villagers with their taunts and stones all too well.

And then she remembered the boy who buried the hatchling. She hadn’t seen him again, and none of the other Watchers had reported a sighting. She wondered what had brought him here that day and what he thought of Endlans. He had waved when he could just as easily have thrown rocks. Perhaps Tate could find someone like him. Even Sage said some outsiders were better than others.

There were two more incantu leaving in five days with Tate. Another boy and one girl. Only three islanders out of more than three hundred. Why did Tate have to be one of them? Leelo wondered. Why couldn’t it have been some other family? But she knew deep down that those other families would grieve the loss just as much, that her desire was selfish.