“It’ll be a fair exchange, harmless for all involved,” Hania replied, flashing a small, appreciative smile. “I promise.”

When she produced a sedative and offered it to me, I shook my head in refusal. I wanted to allow myself to cry, to live fully in this moment, because as painful as it was, it meant my walls had come down in a way I hadn’t permitted in a long time. The ache of love and loss pierced me to the core of my soul. And it reminded me that I was still human.

Everyone I loved had been taken from me. Irena had been my last piece of home, the last bit of the life I’d left behind, taken as easily and viciously as my parents, brother, and sister. She had prevented my attempt to help, had accepted her fate, yet overwhelming darkness struck me as it had after I had found my family. Failure. Despair. Everything I held no power to change, direct and fierce as the whip across my flesh. Father Kolbe had told me to live and fight, but the more I did the more I lost. And I wondered if I had anything left to live or fight for.

No, I couldn’t allow myself to think that way. There were a few things I had left. I had my memories of them and a life to live in their honor. I had Hania and my promise to reunite her with her children. I had my vow to find Fritzsch, to hear from his own mouth how he had denied my mother’s final request, refused to spare my siblings, and executed my family himself. I had the resistance.

When I managed to catch my breath, I lifted my head and looked at Hania. “I’ve been working with the resistance for almost a year, and you—”

“Don’t start this again,” she said, holding up a hand. She rose to her feet, and so did I. I’d attempted this conversation many times, but I wouldn’t let her avoid it this time.

“What will it take for you to join?”

“That is enough. You’ve had a difficult day, you’re upset, and I’m not discussing it,” Hania said sharply, and when she spoke again it was with finality. “I have children, Maria.”

“Children who haven’t seen their mother in over a year.”

She had started to leave the alley, but that was all it took for her to close the distance between us, fuming. “I’ve fought for my sons every day, and if I risk everything, if Protz finds out—”

“None of it matters if we don’t stop this. They’ll kill us eventually, and they’ll keep killing until there’s no one left.” I caught her by the shoulders, but my voice fell as my tears returned. “When will it end?”