He shrank back against the wall. “It’s possible, yeah.” At least he had the good sense to act embarrassed. “There . . . there was an accident, once. Someone I cared about . . . I think the monsters recognize me.”

Rebeka made a strange sound at that, but Simone ignored her, glaring at Liam. Whatever help this idiot sorcerer boy could offer the Resistance, whatever minuscule advantage, it couldn’t be worth all this hassle. “I think it’s time for you all to leave.”

Daniel lunged forward. She’d forgotten he was there—the bloodied boy lurking in the corner, so quiet he might as well have been a cobweb. Now, though, he moved in front of her, fists raised, something like a snarl or a growl lodged between his teeth. He had the feral look of someone out of options. “We don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Simone reared back. “Get. Out. Of my. Face.”

Her hands tingled with unspent energy. She was hoping for a fight. Let him try to swing at her. She stared him down, his tattered guard uniform and the freckles of blood across his face. She’d rather punch a Nazi, but she’d take what she could get.

To her disappointment, his shoulders fell. “One night,” he mumbled. “You promised us one safe night.”

She bared her teeth at him. “That’s before I knew you were bringing monsters with you.”

It was, however, the four of them against Simone. She saw that plainly now. Phillip, poor Phillip, wanted so badly to do the right thing, and the two siblings looked so worn through it was a wonder they were still standing. She couldn’t imagine why they were following Liam, but if they’d survived in these woods this long, they were a damned sight more stubborn than she’d given them credit for.

Rebeka squared toward her, fists tight at her sides. “I didn’t think you were out here because you were easily scared.”

“Scared? No,” said Simone. “Practical, yes. If it does not help my mission, then I have no use for it. Or you.”

“You want something useful?” Liam asked. “You saw the power that universe holds. It can shred through the Third Reich’s forces when it’s properly harnessed. Those ‘monsters’ are why we were able to face an entire outpost of Nazis and walk out alive.”

“Barely,” Simone said.

“In this war?” Rebeka huffed. “Barely is enough.”

Simone fumed, but said nothing. The girl had a point. If they could contain those creatures, if they could harness that dark energy, it would be a great boon for Georges-Yves’s network. Possibly as significant as what she and Phillip were doing.

Wait, was she actually considering it? This mission was going to be the death of her.