Heavy footsteps sounded in the courtyard. Montgomery. He’d soon find out I was gone and hunt me down with the bloodhounds. He’d drag me back to Father’s nightmare in minutes.
I climbed down into the barn again, kicked off the hutch latch, and pulled out two kicking rabbits. They squirmed in my hands. I climbed back onto the sawhorse and pushed them through the thatch hole, then went back for the rest before pulling myself after them. The rabbits wouldn’t stop the dogs, but they might slow them down.
I dropped to the ground. Pain shot through my shins. Then I was tearing blindly through the jungle.
NINETEEN
I DIDN’T STOP RUNNING until the first rays of daylight broke through the canopy. The dogs’ barking, distant as ghosts, might only have been my imagination. Closer, the sound of water led me to a stream. I collapsed on the bank to fill my dry throat with cool water.
That frantic night before, under moonlight echoing with the sound of screams, fleeing had seemed imperative. But in daylight I doubted my decision. My arms were covered with red scratches. I knew my face must look the same. The house shoes were little more than shreds. I peeled them off, wincing, and tossed them into the stream. They’d be useless to me now. I eased my bruised feet into the water. I buried my face in my hands, losing myself in the rushing sound of the stream.
A hand touched my shoulder.
I jerked up, ready to scream, but just as fast another hand was covering my mouth.
“Shh. It’s me.”
Panic made me twist away, tearing Mother’s dress against the river stones. “Edward!”
Sweat ran down his face from running. I could only stare as if he were a ghost. He’d followed me. My dream came back, the blood on his hands, that cold kiss.
“What are you doing here?” I asked between breaths.
“I saw you from my window tearing through the jungle like a demon was after you.” He splashed water over his face and neck and wiped it off with his cuff. “I came after you. It’s not safe out here, Juliet—”
“Did you see? Inside the laboratory?”
He paused. Took in my bruised feet, my torn dress. “No, but I heard the screams. I can guess what he was doing in there. I told you there was no good reason for a doctor to live in such a remote place. But you shouldn’t have run. It’s dangerous. I couldn’t bear for you to get hurt.…”
My heart wrenched a little that he’d risked his own safety to come after me. And then I remembered why I had run. How my curiosity had pulled me to that laboratory like a hungry animal to a fresh kill. I shuddered, disgusted with myself.
“I had to get away.” I rubbed the life back into my aching feet, pushing hard until I felt sparks of pain. “I saw something I wish I hadn’t.” I looked him in the eye, wondering if he was strong enough to deal with the truth. He’d survived twenty days at sea. He’d had the courage to run away from a wealthy life—not an easy feat. Something in me wanted to test his strength, to see just how much he could take.
He lowered his voice. “What did you see?”
I closed my eyes and replayed the scene from the laboratory. The twisted limbs, just like Balthazar and the rest of the islanders. All the caged animals. My head had suspected the connection, even though my heart didn’t want to believe it: Father might be creating things—creatures—out of vivisected animals.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t go back there. I thought there might be other people on the island. The missionaries, maybe …”
“It’s dangerous out here. People are dying.”
I frowned. “That islander who was killed? Father said it was an accident.”
“It was no accident. No one accidentally has his heart clawed out of his chest.”
My spine went rigid, forcing me to my feet. I paced without even meaning to. I’d suspected Father hadn’t told me the truth, but not like this. “What do you mean?”
“They found the body near the beach. Three claw marks to the chest. Not the first one, either. They’re still finding some of the bodies. Puck told me some terrible stories.”
I glanced at the dark jungle. It wasn’t the dogs Edward was worried about, but a dangerous wild animal. I remembered the bandoliers around Balthazar’s chest. Father eating a strawberry slowly, telling me it was nothing to worry about.
I shook my head. “Montgomery would have said something. He wouldn’t have let me come if it was dangerous.”
“Montgomery’s been away six months. He didn’t know,” Edward continued. “Neither he nor your father knows what’s killing people. That’s why I came after you. We have to go back before it finds us.”
“No! I can’t face him. Don’t you understand? I don’t want to ever see him again.”