There was no way to know if her brother was safe. Not from here. She glanced at the rock where the rope was tied. If she pulled the boat back, she could row over to him and check for herself. If she was fast enough, she could do it before dawn. How could she ever sleep again, not knowing if Tate was safe?

But when she went to the rope, prepared to do whatever it took to check on her brother, she noticed with a gasp that it was slack. She looked out at the water, her heart pounding. The boat was no longer on the shore. It was in the middle of the lake.

And there was someone in it.

For one heart-stopping moment she thought it was Tate, that her prayer had worked, that the Forest had listened and he was coming home.

But the person in the boat was far too large to be her brother, which could only mean it was an outsider. And he was headed straight for Endla.

If she ran to get help, the outsider would make land before she could return. As a Watcher, this was what she was supposed to do: find anyone who was trying to harm the island and kill them. But the thought of taking on a full-grown adult, alone, made her legs go numb underneath her. She was supposed to have a bow and arrow. She was supposed to have Sage.

While she’d run toward the shore, dawn had slowly been creeping up to the horizon, and the sky was light enough now that she could make out the figure more clearly as the boat continued to make its way to shore. She was fairly certain it was a man, judging by the silhouette, but she couldn’t make anything else out.

She dropped into a crouch behind the rock, aware that if she could see the person in the boat, it was entirely possible he could see her. She knew what Sage would do; she’d hide here, behind this rock, and stab the man in the back when he passed her. But Leelo wasn’t Sage. She couldn’t even kill a rabbit. How was she supposed to kill a human being?

The boat was close enough now that she could make out two things clearly: it was definitely a man, and the boat was riding lower in the water than it had with the three children in it. Even given how small Violet had been, their combined weight had to have been more than one man. Which could only mean the boat was sinking.

She breathed a ragged sigh of relief. The lake would take care of him for her. She wouldn’t have to do anything. Emboldened by the knowledge that he wouldn’t make it, she rose to her feet.

And gasped.