“No. We need to rest.” Simone clicked her tongue. “Tomorrow we can regroup at Wewelsburg, catch up with your brother there. But I don’t want to face these shadow things without the American’s help.”

“I . . . I don’t think the shadows will be a problem now,” Rebeka said, looking down at her hands.

Phillip’s eyebrows crawled up his forehead. “Because Liam isn’t with us?”

She shrank into her shoulders. “No. Because I am.”

“You might need to explain that one,” Phillip said.

Simone gripped her rifle strap. “If you’re some kind of demon magnet now too—”

Rebeka shook her head and dropped down onto the ground, tucking her knees under her chin. She looked either very brave or very scared, and Phillip couldn’t decide which. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“And you know this how?”

“I’ve seen with their eyes.” A laugh wrung out of her; it sounded too much like a sob. “Apparently I’ve been doing that. For quite some time.”

“Rebeka . . .” Phillip said. “You’re tired. We’ve been through a lot—”

“Don’t patronize me. I know how mad it sounds. But I shouldn’t have feared it. I should have seen it sooner for what it was, before . . .” Her gaze fell, and she tucked herself together tighter. Disappearing. “They won’t hurt me. We have an . . . affinity, I think. A bond.”

“You think,” Simone said, sour. “What in the hell do you mean?”

But Phillip’s mind was fuguing on what she’d said before. I should have seen it sooner for what it was. Those words clanged around in him like a tolling bell, guilt bricking itself up around him. He’d come out here to smash it all down, prove he could help, too, in his own way. But was he really saving anyone, or was he only putting them in more danger?

Now he dropped to sit beside her, knees falling wide until he was cross-legged. Karl and Guillerme—had they avoided being found? Or had he only sealed their fate?

“Why are we all sitting down?” Simone asked. “I’m trying to make a plan—”

“We should take this cabin,” Rebeka said. “If you don’t want to travel at night, it’s our best choice.”

Simone issued a few short sputters, then looked to Phillip for support. Oh, no, he wasn’t playing that game. He shrugged, head tilting toward the cabin as if to say, Worth a look.

With a growl, Simone stood back up and unslung her rifle. “Fine. I’ll search it.” She trudged forward two steps before whirling back and adding, “Don’t go anywhere.”

Once her footsteps retreated, Rebeka sagged forward and squeezed her eyes shut. A tear gleamed in one corner of her eye.

“Hey,” Phillip whispered. “Are you all right?”

She gathered her dress’s hem into a fist. “I wish I’d understood sooner.”

“How do you mean?”