“Kreutzer has my research. If he’s using something I did to aid the Nazi war machine, then I have to stop him. I won’t let this be my fault, too.”

“Let someone else stop it,” Rebeka said. “You’re only one man—”

“There is no one else,” Liam said, something animal in his tone. “And I’m sick of not doing everything I can. I know what it’s like to wait and hope bad things won’t come for you. I’ve gotta go to them first.”

Both Rebeka and Daniel had stepped back from him. He was standing—when had he stood?

Oh. The shadows. They spilled around him, flowing from his palms, swirling at his feet. Blood welled under his fingernails from his clenched fists as he hummed the resonant frequency.

Liam sank down into the hay and closed his eyes, then forced himself to stop humming so the rift would close. In a rush of whispers, the shadows flowed back into him and curled up to wait.

“It’s the best chance we have,” Daniel said softly to his sister. His face was gentle now, pleading. He was asking for her help, or at least her permission.

Rebeka glanced sideways at Liam, then managed a stiff nod. “All right.”

Daniel’s shoulders dropped, relaxing. He wasn’t smiling, exactly, but it was close enough that Liam wondered what he’d have to do to earn a full smile.

“So.” Daniel pushed up his sleeves. “How do we start?”

Once their plan was set and they’d stolen a few hours of sleep, Daniel led him into the woods while they let Rebeka rest. Those slim fingers circled Liam’s wrist as he guided him through the dark, but it was so quiet Liam thought he could follow him just by the sound of his breaths. Not that he minded being led.

Liam barely saw the truck, tucked beneath an escarpment just high enough to block most of its bulk, until they were right upon it. Daniel released him, and Liam pressed his hands to the cool metal in awe. The white stenciled Reich symbol on the door—an eagle clutching a swastika inside a laurel wreath—almost glowed in the dark.

“Do I even want to know how you got this?” Liam asked.

Daniel raised one eyebrow. “I am sure you can guess.”

“You’re a scary man,” Liam said, meaning it as a compliment.

Daniel leaned one shoulder against the driver’s side door. “I do my best.”

Starlight traced the side of his face, much closer to Liam’s own than he realized. Unlike in the shadow world, they were in Daniel’s territory now. Liam tried to follow his lead and propped his head against the door, too.

“What did you leave behind?” Daniel asked, eyes glittering in the darkness. “What are you running from?”

Liam grimaced. “I’m that obvious, huh?”