“So could you.”

Elijah smiled.

“Fair enough.”

They reached the ridge before dawn.

Below them stood Serenity Springs.

The old church tower rose above the town.

Lillian felt her stomach tighten.

She remembered standing in that church three days earlier.

She remembered Silas falling.

She remembered Mercer pointing at her.

She remembered the word witch.

Then she looked at her rifle.

“That's where they are.”

Elijah nodded.

Two guards stood near the cellar entrance.

The first fell silently.

The second barely had time to turn.

Lillian kicked open the door.

“Cole!”

A voice came from the darkness.

“Lillian?”

She ran down the stairs.

Cole was chained to a wall.

His face was bruised.

Blood covered one side of his shirt.

But his eyes were clear.

“What are you doing here?”

“Saving my husband.”

He stared at her.

“You shouldn't have come.”

She reached the chains.

“Too bad.”

Elijah broke the lock.

Cole stumbled forward.

Lillian caught him.

For one second, they simply stared at each other.

Then gunfire erupted above them.

“They know we're here,” Elijah shouted.

They ran.

The cellar filled with smoke.

Men shouted outside.

Lillian and Cole emerged into the yard.

Crane's men surrounded the church.

Then a single pistol shot cracked.

Pain exploded through Lillian's side.

She fell.

Cole caught her.

“Lillian!”

Across the yard, Reverend Mercer stood with a pistol.

His black coat moved in the wind.

“You should have stayed in the lake,” he said.

Cole raised his gun.

Mercer pointed at Lillian.

“The witch dies today.”

Lillian's vision blurred.

Cole pressed a hand against her wound.

“Stay with me.”

Mercer smiled.

“You see? Even now, the devil protects her.”

Lillian heard his voice.

Something inside her became very calm.

She remembered the lake.

The stones.

The rope.

Her father's silence.

The faces of fifty people watching her die.

She remembered Cole diving into the darkness.

She remembered Martha's kindness.

She remembered the ranch.

Her new home.

Her new life.

Lillian reached for her revolver.

Cole looked at her.

“Lillian—”

She raised the gun.

Mercer fired.

His bullet struck the ground beside her.

Lillian pulled the trigger.

Her shot struck Mercer in the chest.

He staggered.

His eyes widened.

Then he fell.

The town became silent.

The witch had killed the preacher.

But no one could call it murder.

Not after everything he had done.

Cole knelt beside Lillian.

Blood soaked her dress.

“Stay with me.”

She smiled weakly.

“Did I get him?”

Cole swallowed.

“You did.”

“Good.”

Then darkness took her.

Lillian woke three days later.

The first thing she saw was Cole.

He sat beside her bed with his head in his hands.

His beard had grown.

His eyes were red.

When he realized she was awake, he stood so quickly that the chair nearly fell over.

“Lillian.”

She smiled faintly.

“You look terrible.”

Cole laughed.

It was the first laugh she had heard from him in days.

“You nearly died.”

“I noticed.”

“You shot a preacher.”

“He deserved it.”

“You rescued me.”

“You're welcome.”

Cole shook his head.

“You're impossible.”

She smiled.

“So I've been told.”

Her recovery took weeks.

During that time, the truth about Red Hollow began to emerge.

Silas Granger had not been murdered.

His heart had failed.

The doctor confirmed it.

More importantly, records revealed that Mercer and Crane had been working together.

The drought had become an opportunity.

Several wells had been illegally diverted.

Water was being redirected away from small farms and toward land controlled by Granger interests.

Farmers who resisted were threatened.

Mercer had used religion to frighten them into obedience.

When Silas died unexpectedly, Mercer needed another explanation.

Lillian became the perfect target.

She was poor.

She was unmarried.

She was intelligent.

And most importantly, she had no powerful family to defend her.

Calling her a witch had united the frightened town against one woman.

But Cole's arrival had destroyed the plan.

Now the evidence was spreading.

People began leaving Red Hollow.

Some apologized.

Others disappeared.

Daniel Hart came to Blackstone Ranch one afternoon.

Lillian was sitting on the porch.

She saw him walking toward her.

For a moment, she considered going inside.

Then she stayed.

Daniel stopped several feet away.

He looked older.

Smaller.

“I heard you were alive.”

Lillian looked at him.

“You knew I was alive.”

“I mean…”

“You watched me drown.”

Daniel's eyes filled with tears.

“I was afraid.”

“So was I.”

“I thought Mercer would kill me too.”

Lillian stood.

“You were my father.”

Daniel lowered his head.

“I know.”

“No. You don't.”

Her voice trembled.

“When I was underwater, I thought about you.”

Daniel looked up.

“I thought you would come.”

Silence.

“You didn't.”