I stared at the large, brown tree. Someone, sometime, had built a white fence around it. It stood in the center of the largest town on Peter’s that the guys simply called The Town, emphasis on The when they said it. As though everywhere else was secondary to this location. I wondered if the town had come first or the tree. Had they built the town around the tree or vice versa? Did it matter? No. But I wondered just the same.

I walked forward and climbed onto the fence. Behind me, Gordon made a noise like he was going to stop me. Even if he’d finished with that thought, which he didn’t, I was going over the fence anyway. Maybe it was illegal to touch the tree. The authorities could come arrest me. Or they could try. I doubted they’d get past the five guys behind me.

I needed to put my hand on that tree.

Mika…

I stopped moving. “Did you guys hear that?”

“I didn’t hear anything, beautiful,” Gordon answered. “Jump off that fence before you fall.” He was controlling his nerves, but I could feel them.

I shook my head. “Really? You didn’t hear anything? Something said ‘Mika.’ I heard it. And I’m a good climber.”

Still, to ease his nerves I jumped down to the other side and strode the small distance to the tree.

Mika… you came home.

It was the tree. It was speaking to me. I outright turned around. “The tree is speaking to me.”

“Wait… what?” Lennon asked the question, but I’d already put my hand on the tree. The need to do so had been overwhelming, and like it had been waiting forever to share secrets with me, the tree showed me what I needed to know.

It had been planted here hundreds of years ago. Those who claimed to remember when that happened were lying. It was one of those problems with folklore and verbal history. Sometimes things went astray in the telling of the story, although the fundamentals remained the same.

A man in a black jacket had shown up and stuck a stick in the ground. The vision of that man moved through me. It was Reed. From my own recollection, I knew one thing—he’d broken many rules in doing this. The tree grew, and as it did, the power from that stick spread throughout the island. The magic roots kept the demons away. They couldn’t come here, couldn’t even see it.

But the tree was far older than its planting. As a seedling, it had lived where the sky was purple and divinity wept for humanity. It had listened, it had watched. It had learned. It wasn’t the right pronoun for what this tree was, but since gender wasn’t a reality for the tree, I couldn’t do better in how I thought of it. It would have to do.

There had always been demons, and there had always been women who could defeat them. Most people went their lives without stepping a foot into that world, without knowing anything about it. There hadn’t been a need for a Sisterhood. Mothers taught daughters. Whispers in the night. True creatures of the dark fed off souls and went back to their existences, watching us, destroying only a few lives at a time.

Beelzebub and other Originals controlled them all. There was a balance. Lives were destroyed in small numbers. Divinity wept, but life continued.

Until it didn’t.

I’d always wondered—how had the apocalypse happened? What had changed? What had taken place that all the demons came and weren’t stopped?

The tree wept. Inside of me, I felt the weeping. It remembered. It saw. One demon. A dark looming presence, like a shadow on the wall. A shadow could be missed even by those who should know better. The women who’d fought hadn’t noticed.

But then a young girl did. She saw the shadow, and instead of fighting it, she invited it inside.

That was all it took. One girl. One invitation to possess her. Power. The creature got a taste of it. For hundreds of years, it moved from one girl to the next, a person who should be destroying it, embracing it instead.

The shadow grew. It invited more demons to this world. The girls who took the shadow as their own read books, they learned how to bring them here. The demons multiplied. Even the old ones—the Originals—didn’t know what to do with this. They didn’t want apocalypse. What would they do when there were no more humans here?

Divinity fought back. Sister after Sister was born, it seemed for a while that we might win, and then Katrina betrayed them. She was the next girl to take the shadow. And she held it close to her heart while she took over the Sisterhood.

There were few left who could be totally trusted. I was sent to Peter’s to be born. Reed’s overstepping might prove helpful yet. If I could be kept away, if the tree could protect me here, then they knew one soul would stand against Katrina. Anne might not make it. Teagan could be destroyed. Nothing could be counted on anymore. There was hope—so much hope—but if the women who fought the demons could take one instead, then what assurances were there anymore?

One place left that the tree would protect.

And then they’d taken me.

All hope had been lost. The tree held out. It was almost out of magic. The demons would come to Peter’s. Like everywhere else, this place would fall.

The Oracle hadn’t been allowed to grow here, hadn’t spent her formative years in love and protection, hadn’t met her soul mates under a protective hand.

“It’s okay,” I put my head against the bark of the tree. “Anne didn’t fall. Teagan wasn’t destroyed. They hoped we would be enough, and we are. And I’m…” It was hard for me to admit this, but I would. “I’m so much stronger than they thought I could be. I don’t need protection. They do. From me.”

The tree’s happiness flowed into me. I pulled back just a little. “Let me warn them, the people of this place who you have cared for. Let me see if I can get them ready. Hold on that long.”

It would.

I stepped back, dizziness forcing me to my knees. I’d never expected to converse with a tree, let alone have a history lesson from it. Those were details I’d never known before. Gordon was suddenly by my side. “Mika?”

“Sister Mika, are you okay?” Jayne called out from the other side of the fence. “The tree glowed.”

I touched the tree one more time. “Yes, it does.” I met Gordon’s gaze. “We all have to talk. The girls, too. This is their life as much as it is mine. Turns out that one bad decision, one truly poor moment, repeated over and over, can really destroy the world.”

Gordon scrunched up his face. “What?”

“Mika,” Neil called out, “there’s something else.”

What could it be? Gordon gave me his hand, and I got to my feet. Near my guards stood a woman. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her face was long, thin, and her body on the slender side.

I walked toward the fence, and this time I let Gordon help me over.

“You look just like him.” The woman might have fallen over except that Neil grabbed her shoulders keeping her upright. “I heard there was a Sister here, and I had to see.”

The truth of this moment hit me hard. I’d been so focused on my loves’ families that I’d not stopped to consider, not once, that we’d determined I’d been born her. Which meant I had a family here, too.

I didn’t look much like this woman in front of me except that I shared her body type. We were both slender, exactly the same height. My face was shaped the same as hers.

“You look just like your father did. He passed away trying to save you.”

I had never, in my entire existence, expected to meet my mother.

Lennon was speaking to her. “We understand so much more now what happened. We’re so sorry this happened to all of you…”

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do in this moment, how I was supposed to feel. I gave in to the need that was both terrifying and overwhelming at the same time. I threw my arms around her, and I held on.

This was the person divinity had picked out to raise me in this place. I was supposed to have been kept safe, the Oracle, who could see the babies and call their families here. Only I hadn’t seen one since I’d arrived. Maybe divinity had paused their births to give me a break. It didn’t matter. She would have kept me safe until I could do this job.

On this island outside of reality. She was my mother, and they’d taken her from me and me from her.

I didn’t know how long we stood there, but I tried my best to bask in this gift I’d not expected, because tomorrow I would leave her again. And when the tree died, everything she knew as true would change.

“Hi, Mom.”

I was spent. So tired from the emotions of the day that my need for rest went beyond sleeping. I stared at the ceiling of the basement. I’d told the guys I’d come down to bathe, which I had done, and now they waited for me upstairs. I wasn’t moving so fast.

I’d not had a vision since I got here, but I could feel one coming. I’d gotten used to the sensation in the cursed place. A baby had been born, and I needed to see it.

Clara was here. Katrina couldn’t get into my head to see this baby. The longer I held out doing this, the worse it would be when it happened. The beginnings of a headache had formed, and it was only going to get worse.

Five sets of footsteps pounded down the stairs. I hadn’t thought to block them from this. They must have felt this happening to me, and it was the first time since we’d co-joined.

“Mika? Status?” Neil was at my side first. “What hurts?”

I met his gaze. “I’m going to have a vision. These magical gifts don’t come without a price. Everything is two-sided, good and bad. I’m rambling. Sorry.”

Neil sat down on the bed next to me, his hand on my forehead. “You feel like you have a fever. Can you just get this over with? Endure it? I’m sorry, but if you have to, rip off the bandage. I know it’s easy for me to say.”

I teared up. “It’s not that, Neil. I’ve never had one of these visions and not gotten trapped in Katrina’s cursed road. I don’t want to go back there again.”

“I get that.” He smoothed my hair off my forehead. “Clara’s power won’t let that happen to you. She’s upstairs. My father made the girls brownies. She’s chatting away. No one is getting in your head to do anything to you.”

I nodded. I had to be brave. This was ridiculous. I’d suffered through worse. What was any of this if I couldn’t find a little faith? I let my power move through me. One second I was in the room with my guys, and the next I was somewhere else, but it wasn’t a dark road.

Sunlight shone through a small house, and a woman rocked a crying infant.

“Mika.” Neil stood next to me. What was he doing here with me? “Looks like you took me along.”

“I…” I hugged him tightly. “Thank you for coming.”

He grinned. “My pleasure. Glad to do it. What is this place?”

“It’s where a Sister has been born. I get to go give the mother the bad news. Katrina would run up and find them. I’ve never done this before.”

He touched my cheek. “Maybe best to start by not thinking of it as bad news. You have an amazing gift. You guys are going to save the whole world. Her daughter chose this life, came down, chose her, and better yet, you aren’t going to take her from them. So, chin up, Mika. All will be well.”

Neil looked so sincere I had to squeeze his hand. “Since when are you glass half full?”

“Since I got you. Anything is possible.”

I hoped he was right. I walked slowly toward the woman. I wasn’t sure exactly how this would work. I’d never spoken to one of these women before. She jolted to her feet, holding her baby close. “Who are you?”

I cleared my throat. “You can see me?” That was helpful.

“Like a ghost. Are you a ghost?”

Well, that was interesting. “No, I’m not a ghost. I’m a Sister. Do you know what that is?”

She gripped the baby tighter, her knuckles turning white. “You can’t take her. I won’t give her to you. I don’t need anything from the Sisterhood. I’ll die sooner.”

I believed her. My heart clenched for my own mother. “I would never take your baby. Not ever.”

She shook her head and backed up. “I know what happens.”

“Not anymore. That’s not how things are going to go. But I need you to listen to me. Your daughter, if you don’t get her to us, if you choose not to come to the Sisterhood, will be okay until she is twelve years old. Then her powers will turn on. Every demon anywhere nearby and some far away will be drawn to her. She may not be able to control or use her powers. It could get her killed and the rest of you as well.”

I saw when my words penetrated through her fear. A different kind of concern overtook her features. I wasn’t what was scary to her anymore; what I told her was much more intimidating. She kissed her daughter’s cheeks. Once, then twice.

“Take the trains to the westernmost part of the Badlands. The stop is called Otoro.” I’d been on the trains many times now and couldn’t remember the trips at all. “The locals can tell you where the Sisterhood is. We’ll be waiting for you. If you decide now, if you decide later. You’ll always be welcome.”

Since I was basically inviting this woman and any future people to Anne’s Sisterhood, I probably needed to let Anne know I was doing so. That would mean hustling it home starting tomorrow. I pulled myself back. I’d delivered the message. I couldn’t or wouldn’t ever tell anyone what to do with their families. It was up to this woman and her family to decide what to do.

I hoped they made the right choices.

I was flung back into my body at the same time Neil was thrust into his. The room spun then righted itself. Neil grabbed his head. “Wow. That hurts.”

“It does.” But all in all I preferred the sensation to the dark cursed road. I sat. “Thanks. Glad that is over.”

Wayne slapped Neil on the back. “You went with her?”

“Guess she wanted a little bit of company.” He grinned.

I got off the bed. With that taken care, my energy had returned. “The tree told me some things today. How and why the demons took over. What it has seen. It won’t be able to sustain this island much longer. The demons are going to come.”

I watched as they each digested this information with different degrees of horror on their face. Ren looked the least surprised, but then again, this place had never been the haven for him it was for the rest.

Gordon backed up. “We have to warn people.”

“We do.” Wayne nodded. “But not frantically. We need to have a plan and suggestions.”

“There isn’t any fighting them unless you’re a Sister,” Lennon added. “Maybe it’s better not to tell them. If they can’t do anything about it. Why frighten them ahead of time?”

“All of these people”—Neil rubbed his eyes—“waiting to be slaughtered and possessed. With no one to help them.”

The room was quiet for a moment until Ren spoke. “I think Mika probably has some good thoughts on this she is keeping to herself out of some misbegotten idea she can’t comment since these are our friends and family and not hers.” He took my hand. “Am I right?”

He wasn’t wrong. I might not have put it exactly that way. But I wasn’t going to intrude on their life here. I did have family here, too. Even if I was having a hard time wrapping my head around that.

“Well,” I breathed out, “as much as it is going to cause panic, they have some time to make decisions. I have no doubt in my mind that this place will be overrun as soon as the tree’s shielding is down. The tree has…” I was guessing, really, but based on what it showed me in terms of its power, I could make some reasonable assessments. “A year.” It could be longer. Better to err on the side of less time. “They can decide if they want to leave or if they want to stay. None of them will be able to fight them, but there are places in the world that seem to manage better. Some of the spots on the edge of the Badlands remain relatively demon free thanks to their relationship with Katrina’s Sisterhood. I’m not saying that’s a great thing. Maybe if they moved close to where we live, we could help them.”

For that matter, if people really started to come to live near us, it was seriously going to build up the area. That was a thought for another time.

“They can make choices,” I finished.

Neil rubbed his chin. “Town hall.”

The house was quiet. I’d opted out of going with them to the Town Hall, which had meant I’d stayed behind with Ren and the girls. Daniella’s daughters were upstairs packing to return. It was amazing to me that they’d actually put their stuff away. I hadn’t so much as opened a bag since I’d been here.

Lennon came down the stairs, taking them two at a time. “I bailed. My father and some of the others like him starting proclaiming things, and I had to get away.”

I was reading, and Ren had his head in my lap. His eyes were closed, but I didn’t think he was really sleeping so much as kind of just being quiet for a few minutes. I shut the book. “Welcome back.”

He plopped down next to me. “Thanks.”

Ren opened his lids. “So it’s just as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

Lennon yawned. “Worse. Because everyone who is not like my parents is actually terrified. Hard to calm people down. Hard to get them to believe it’s going to be okay when it’s not.”

I rubbed Lennon’s leg. “I’m so sorry.”

“We’re lucky you came here and spoke with that tree or we’d never have known this was going to happen.”

I kissed Lennon’s cheek and kept my left hand in Ren’s hair, stroking it. This was such a sweet, quiet moment. “You don’t think perhaps ignorance might be bliss?”

“Nope.” Ren sat up slowly, leaning against the bedframe. His eyes were hooded. “I think we need to get out of here tonight.”

“What?” His words were so startling that I almost didn’t believe them. “Why do you say that?”

“No one knows the people of this place as well as I do. I mean, that’s not exactly fair. People know their families. Lennon knows his parents better than I do.”

Lennon groaned. “Unfortunately.”

Ren continued. “They don’t know what this place is like when you don’t fit in. Or when you aren’t part of any group considered acceptable. My life on the other side of this island was horrendous but maybe worse when my parents died and I was that kid no one wanted to admit had been left to starve. So they shunned me, mistreated me, and might have preferred it if I’d died. Most people, anyway. Javier wasn’t like that, obviously. We need to run. They will come for Mika and blame her for this, as though her coming here is what caused it.”

I waited for Lennon to argue with him, and when he didn’t, my heart rate kicked up. I rose, trying to act calm even if I didn’t feel that way. “Is this a real possibility?”

Lennon ran a hand through his hair. “I wish it wasn’t, but it is. He’s right. We need to go now while they’re still in the meeting.”

“What about the others?”

Ren pointed upward. “I’ll get the girls.”

Lennon took me in his arms. “Cut them off. Neil. Wayne. Gordon. They’ll understand it once they figure it out. I don’t want them to know where we are. Once we’re off the island, put them back on. We’ll wait for them. It sucks, but they’d agree that your safety comes first. They’ll come charging here as soon as the first cry for your head is made. For now, they’ll probably think you’re having sex. When we’re all gone, they’ll be logical about it, after Gordon stops ranting. They’ll leave the island. We’re not going far.” He held out his hand. “I know this is sudden, but you know I don’t overreact.”

He didn’t. He watched everything and noticed everyone. He understood us better than we did ourselves, and it seemed that Ren could be counted on to know the worst in people and see what they would do before they did it.

I let Lennon lead me from Javier’s home, running for our lives in the middle of the night. And as we rounded the corner down the street, I cut off my link to three parts of my heart. I really hoped Lennon was right and it was better they not be able to find me, better they not be able to lead anyone to me. This was different than briefly linking to just one of them instead of all five, this was like losing three parts of my very essence. I hated every second of it.

The boat ride was awful. The further I went from Neil, Wayne, and Gordon the worse the pain of keeping them out of my head became. Lennon rubbed my back. We were on the last ferry off the island. It would be the next day by the time we landed. The wee hours of the morning, as Ren called it.

They didn’t want me to reconnect until I was officially on dry land, lest any fishing boats come after us. Better everyone search the island for me. They’d never think I’d leave my other three. My head pounded, and I cried out. I needed them.

Without them, the world suddenly seemed like too much. I’d had years of alone, and I knew the difference now.

Ren sat next to me, Daniella’s daughters on the other side of him bundled in coats. They looked warm, and I was glad they weren’t uncomfortable. I was freezing. We hadn’t grabbed any of my stuff when we’d taken off out the door.

“I swear,” Ren’s voice was low. “They aren’t going to be angry. They’re going to get it.”

“It’s not that.” I wasn’t afraid of their temper. “You didn’t just join to me. I joined to you. I miss them. Like a huge hole in my soul.”

Lennon scooted even closer to me. “We love you. This will be over soon.”

I hoped he was right. We’d had no choice but to do this. If there was even the possibility they’d have to kill their friends and neighbors or loved ones to save me, I’d never have been able to live with it.