“You didn’t really think you could save them, did you?” Ana Lucia’s words were mocking, cruel.

I lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat. My every instinct was to squeeze the life out of her. But that would not help me—or Sadie. A second later, I released her. She stepped back, clutching the place where my fingers had left red marks on her neck. “How dare you?” she gasped. “I should have you arrested right now.”

She wouldn’t, I knew instantly. The spectacle of having her own stepdaughter removed from her house by the police was more embarrassment than she could bear. “You are evil, Ana Lucia. But your time is almost over. The Allied armies are advancing. They will liberate the city soon.” It was a bluff—though I had heard of the German military’s recent struggles against both the Allies in Italy and the Soviets to the east, I had no idea when or if either would actually reach Kraków.

But Ana Lucia did not know that. “The Russians are nowhere near the city,” she retorted. Doubt flickered behind her eyes.

I continued, “The first thing they will do after they chase the Germans out is come for collaborators like you.”

She blinked several times, as if she had not entirely considered the reality of her situation until now. The fear behind her eyes deepened.

I stepped back, satisfied, and started away.

“Ella, wait.” I turned toward her. Ana Lucia’s face was panicked now as she processed the implications of what I had said. “Perhaps I’ve been too hasty. If you stop aiding the Jews, maybe we can help each other, find a way out of this.” There was a note of pleading in her voice. “We could go to the South of France. I have some money stored away in Zurich. You could write to Maciej, ask him to send a visa for me as well.” I had not told her about the visa that Maciej’s friend, Phillipe, had sent me. I should not have been surprised, yet I realized for the first time that she had been reading my mail.

I hesitated for a beat. Once upon a time, I had wanted my stepmother’s acceptance. Now she was dangling it in front of me like a carrot and part of me wanted to take it. But she was only speaking out of desperation, the fact that I might be able to give some help that she needed. Then I saw Sadie’s beloved necklace crumpled in Ana Lucia’s fat, greedy fingers.

“Go to hell, Ana Lucia.”

I grabbed the necklace from her hand and, with only the clothes on my back, started down the stairs. At the front door, I turned back to gaze one last time at the place that held just about every memory of my family I would ever have. Squaring my shoulders, I started away, leaving my childhood home forever.

Outside, I ran through the streets heedlessly, as if Ana Lucia had already called the police and they might apprehend me at any second. My heart pounded. Then, seeing the alarmed expressions of those around me, I slowed to a walk; I could not afford to attract attention.