Nora looked between Anika and Luca and back again. She said, “You know, you know—if it was your bebe right now, would you let them be taken to so much danger?”

There was silence, and I watched as Anika sucked in a breath and lay a hand on her own stomach, Nora’s eyes following the movement. Luca swore under his breath, and Pop said something about how she wasn’t to know.

Nora looked around the room again, this time her eyes landing on me and Sam.

“Our brother died,” I whispered.

Her face went white and she shook her head once. “Më vjen keq,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

Nora and Anika held each other’s gaze for what felt like a hundred years, until Luca’s voice cut through the quiet.

“Whatever chance you had for that child is gone—they’ll never let you stay now, it’s pointless to even try.”

“I can’t believe that!” Mr. Khouri said back. “You should know as well as anyone that morality doesn’t always equal legality.”

That sounded so much like what Luca had said about our own moral compass, that I was sure he would listen to Mr. Khouri and help us.

“I can’t do this,” Luca said, and then he scrubbed at his face again. “I am an officer, I could lose everything. . . .”

“She already has!” Mr. Khouri snapped.

A bad feeling crawled along my spine with icy fingers.

“Is that why you brought her here?” Luca asked, but he wasn’t looking at Mr. Khouri anymore—he’d turned to Pop. “Because who’d come knocking on a police officer’s door, looking for an escaped refugee? Was that the plan, Jeff?”

I heard Sam inhale quickly, and I felt the weight of Pop avoiding my gaze. “Who indeed?” he asked, not breaking contact with Luca’s hard stare.

“Do you know what you’ve done?” He made a move toward Pop, and Anika took a firm hold of Luca’s arm, squeezing it so tight I saw her knuckles go white.

“Please,” I whispered.

“Why do you even care? Where have you been this year, Jeff?” Luca spat, while Pop slowly stood up to his full height. “You’ve brought this mess to my family’s doorstep. Are you even sticking around for the fallout?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Pop said. “And your family, is it?”

“Please . . .” I said again, and Sam reached for my hand and squeezed.

“You can’t save everyone!” Luca suddenly yelled, and I felt myself stepping forward.

“Yes you can!” I must have screamed it, because suddenly everyone went quiet, all their eyes turned to me.

“You can, I know you can!” I said, staring up at Luca. “You saved me, once—you got to Merjeme in time.” I looked from Nora to Luca and back again. “You can save her, too, I know you can!”

Luca started shaking his head.