“Luka and I have to leave, Claudia. And so should you and Piotrek.” I give her a slight smile. “It’s time for that trip to China.”

Shouts from below, calling us.

“They want you to find it, don’t they? What you forgot.”

“If I don’t, they’ll come after us.”

She nods, squinting toward the east, which is just turning the color of denim. “Ana and Nino can go where they like. But Piotrek and I . . . we’re coming with you.”

“Claudia, I can’t find it. Whatever it was is gone.”

“We stay together.”

“It’s not safe!”

“Screw safe! We’re family.”

“You can’t speak for Piotrek.”

“He’ll tell you the same thing himself when we get back.”

And then she’s running off the edge of the building.

Thirty minutes later, Nino has hijacked a Vespa, which he plans to take to some skateboard park.

“It’s his new thing,” Ana says with a laugh before climbing on the back. I’m going to miss her.

“Meet us at the flat before dawn. It’s important,” I say before they speed away.

We leave Claudia and Piotrek to talk in private near a low bridge over the river, where I know she’ll end up diving into the muddy water. A last burn before we pack up and go. But I can’t fathom jumping into even a tributary of the Danube. Not after my conversation earlier tonight.

Instead, I persuade an off-duty cabdriver to drop us off near the funicular. I’ve been silent all this time, Luka worrying his lower lip between his teeth. Now that we’re finally alone, I begin to shiver violently in the rain.

The moment the cab pulls away, I collapse to the wet pavement with a shudder.

“Audra!” Luka slides an arm around my middle.

“He killed her.”

“Who? Killed who?”

“Nikola. He was there tonight. With Tibor. He killed Amerie. He killed my mother!”

Luka pulls me to my feet. But I curl in on myself, sobbing. Finally, he just lifts me into his arms.

I can smell him even in the rain. The scent that is a part of him as much as his eyes. His hands are strong—enough to kill—but gentle as they hold me to his chest. He touches a kiss to my temple as he carries me into the building, down the stairs of Claudia’s flat.

“We have to leave,” I say. “When Claudia and Piotrek get back.”

“All right.”

He doesn’t bother to get a towel, wraps a blanket around me after he’s peeled away my wet clothes, setting the package beside the bed.

His hands know me. His mouth knows me. And, impossibly, his heart knows me, too.

Better than my own.