“I don’t know what he thinks anymore,” Gries says darkly.

I drift away from the rest of the group to idle by the beach with Askal, watching the waves lap up to shore. I wonder if it is proof that time still moves forward. But even as I wait and watch, the tide never comes in. The waves ebb and flow, but the water doesn’t rise or fall.

Askal whines. I scratch his head absently.

Anong ginagawa mo? I ask the waters silently but receive no answer.

“Room for one more?” Chase asks from behind me.

I make space, and he sits beside me. “What if we’re stuck here forever?” he asks. “What if this our version of purgatory?”

“You’re not going to be stuck here. We’re going to find a way out.” But as I say the words, I know they sound hollow. Despite my knowledge of the island, I don’t know what comes next. This has never happened before. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? It’s not your fault. You’re not the reason we’re here.” He leans closer. “I know Dad still sees Mom. I see the way he stares. I know he doesn’t say anything because he doesn’t want to worry me. But I can tell.”

He looks down. “They argued a lot the week she died. I didn’t know about what. When I heard Mom’s voice back at the cabin—was that really her?”

“Everything on this island is an illusion,” I say. “It’s the people who decide what is real or not.”

“You know more about this than you first said, don’t you? Like with the cultists. You say you don’t know what happened to them, but I think you do. You just don’t want Hemslock to know.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Just a hunch. You didn’t seem surprised by all the information they discovered about the cult.”

I stare out at the sea. “I was told that the cult had brought a woman to sacrifice to the Diwata the same way Hemslock did. Watson cut out her heart on the stone altar.”

His hand on mine feels warm and comforting. “But the Diwata didn’t like the sacrifice she’d made. So it forced her to return the body of the woman she’d killed back to her family, and then took her instead.”

“Just like the old lady said. But how do you know she’s telling the truth?”

“’Tay told me.”

“He was the island’s caretaker when it happened, right? And that’s what you meant when you said you couldn’t leave. You’re worried that without your presence the island might just—take whoever it wanted? The god needs worshippers to complete the sacrifice, but He could kill anyone He deemed sinners. You thought that staying here with Him would mean fewer casualties.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“I understand. We are the interlopers. You are trying to keep us from getting killed. What do you think’s going to happen now? What do you think we ought to do?”