“I know that we’re supposed to be vetting you and your little social club of Germans who are playing at Resistance now that it’s far too late,” Simone said. She stood up straighter, scanning their faces. “You’re doing an abysmal job of proving yourselves so far.”

The man narrowed his eyes, but none of them mustered a clever retort to that.

The blond girl, the one Simone had first spotted in the trees, stepped into the midst of Simone, Phillip, and Rebeka in some strange sort of negotiation. “I’m Ilse. These are my colleagues, Mitzi and Jürgen.” Mitzi and Jürgen stared back with tight jaws. “Please forgive our harshness. It’s been very difficult for us to watch the world unraveling around us. Even in our little town.”

“I can’t imagine,” Rebeka said in a tone that was pure venom.

“You misunderstand me. There’s something terrible happening at Wewelsburg Castle,” Ilse said. “Something that has to be stopped.”

Simone and Rebeka exchanged a look. That horrible ceremony Rebeka had seen when she stepped into the shadows. Those bloody demons were going to follow them everywhere.

“We’ll need to set up your radio system first so we can get word out about what’s happening,” Simone said. “But then, if you’re willing . . .”

Simone felt a tug deep in her gut as Ilse’s gaze landed on her. She stared back, challenging, and hoped Ilse didn’t know it for the pitiful bluff it was. “I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Ilse laughed like shattering glass. “We’ll see about that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

LIAM

Liam awoke to birdsong. Sunlight tickled his nose as he stretched along their makeshift pallet on the floor, savoring the raw, swollen feel of his mouth. “Daniel,” he murmured, fingers stretching, grasping. “C’mere.”

But his hand landed only on bunched-up blankets, already cold.

“Daniel?”

Dust motes swirled in the sunbeams as he stood. The air in the chalet was too stale—ash and sex and musty bedding. Too silent. Sudden panic jerked Liam upright like a puppet string.

“Daniel?” He whispered this time, pushing to his feet. “Daniel, where are you?”

The only answer was a dark crackle in the back of his mind.

Liam forced himself to take a slow, steadying breath. He hadn’t so much as touched the shadow world since their escape from Nazis and then Pitr the previous evening. He didn’t need the shadows to guide him, to bolster him. But they certainly made things easier. Thoughts of the darkness circled him like a hunter outside the cabin. If Daniel was in danger, or if Pitr had found them—maybe he could just snatch a fistful of energy, only enough to protect them—