Liam steered them down the narrow streets of the village. They’d stumbled on the ski resort when it emerged from the thick of night like a Bavarian oasis of wood and plaster. There wasn’t enough snow to warrant a tourist infestation yet, but the taverns and inns were open for a smattering of visitors.

When they’d spotted the officer’s pristine Benz parked out front, they knew they had quite a catch waiting for them inside. When they entered the beer hall and found he was only an Untersturmführer, certainly not important enough to be loaned such a magnificent piece of machinery for a night out, they knew their luck had just ramped up. Now to press it a little bit further.

“Where’d you get the car, Klaus?” Liam asked, as casually as he might ask about the daily special.

Klaus huffed indignantly, but shrank back when Daniel pushed in closer with the edge of his knife. “I am an officer of the German army, and as such, I am afforded—”

“Oh, no. Nuh-uh. Not with those measly little squares on your lapel, you aren’t. Bet that line works all right with the Fräuleins, though, huh, Klaus?”

Klaus glowered at him. “All right, so I borrowed it. What do you care? You aren’t German.”

“I wouldn’t get too clever, Klaus. Who we are isn’t your concern.”

Liam turned off the main road and onto an access trail, deeply rutted and rattling with muddied-out tracks. The nose of the car tipped upward as they climbed, their teeth chattering all the way. The darkened ribs of trees closed around them as the village began to fade below.

“Where are you stationed? Wewelsburg?” Daniel asked.

“All right. You sound German.” Klaus whirled toward Daniel. “But you look like a filthy—AUUGHHH!”

Liam tried and failed to stop himself from laughing. He didn’t need to look back to know Daniel had embedded the knife in Klaus, carefully missing his vital organs for now. “Sweetheart, you were supposed to wait until after we got his uniform off.”

“Couldn’t help myself.” Daniel flashed him an embarrassed grin in the rearview, lighting Liam up from the inside. “My filthy parents were butchers, so I’m fairly certain that right now, the blade is beneath your left lung,” he told Klaus. “But if you make any sudden moves, it’ll take nothing for me to puncture it. That’ll be considerably more painful than what you’re currently feeling.”

“You fucking bastards—”

“Answer the question, Klaus,” Daniel hissed.

“Yes! I’m stationed in Wewelsburg! Why are you only asking me things you already know?”

“Just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Liam clenched his jaw against a particularly sharp jolt in the road. The trees were parting to reveal the star-smeared sky above them. As they crested the ridge, he turned toward the left and scanned the ridgeline for the chairlift.