Her sister’s words were soft, kind even, but the weight of disappointment they held was obvious, and Adelaide turned sharply on her heel.

“Addy! Don’t walk away from me,” Elise pleaded.

Adelaide spun around, anger pulsing inside her. “I’ll do my part, Elise. I’ll lure him away and I’ll help to get them to the beach. I’m capable of holding up my end of the bargain, but I won’t be told where I’m to live.”

Elise stared at her in silence, and Adelaide walked straight out of the door and into her bedroom, crawling beneath the covers without even bothering to change into her bedclothes. She wanted to hate her sister, wanted to scream at her and slam her door, but she didn’t.

Because everything Elise had said had been right, and now she had to choose between her heart and her head. Or figure out a way to choose both.

CHAPTER NINETEEN CATE

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CATE

Cate sat on the edge of the bed, systematically checking over Jack’s wound. She’d avoided eye contact with him when she’d come in, telling him simply to take off his shirt, and now she was staring at his skin without really seeing him. The wound itself had healed well, despite her very basic stitching, but she could tell that he was still in pain, even though he’d gone to lengths most days to insist he was absolutely fine and didn’t need to be fussed over.

She looked up when he caught her wrist, his fingers curling around her skin. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Cate pressed her palm flat to his chest, taking a breath and fighting the overwhelming urge to cry. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Liar,” he teased. “You can’t live in such close quarters with someone for this long without knowing something’s up.”

Cate squeezed her eyes shut, riding the wave of emotion before opening them again. “I’m worried that it all seems too good to be true, our escape I mean. I was there with Elise, I heard the plan and I know it’s our best option, but—”

“You’re worried we won’t even make it out of the village,” he finished for her.

She groaned. “Exactly. I mean, how can we expect to even make half an hour, an hour on foot? There could be Nazis at every turn and darkness isn’t going to save us.”

“Because we’ve done it before,” he said. “And we can do it again. That’s why it’s going to work.”

She nodded. “Perhaps.” The last thing she wanted was to be negative, but could they really be that lucky a second time? And what if the boat wasn’t even there, and they were waiting for nothing? “I feel like we’re leaving so much up to chance, and I don’t like it.”