Beds.
My throat closed.
"Government housing?" I whispered, hardly daring to imagine.
He hesitated just long enough for me to hear the truth in the silence. "They won't give it unless everything is approved," he said gently. "So if not—I'll hire a realtor."
I stopped walking. "A realtor?"
He smiled at me under the lantern light, soft and earnest. "Yes. To help us find a place. A good one. A safe one. Something big enough for all of us."
All of us. The words sank into me slowly, sweetly, terrifyingly. Warmth flooded my chest, and with it a wave of dizzydisbelief.
"You can't just do that," I whispered. "Gideon… that costs… so much."
He lifted our joined hands and kissed my fingertips. "I promised to take care of you. Let me."
A soft sound escaped me—half laugh, half sob—and he pulled me close, tucking me against him like I belonged there. And maybe I did. Maybe for the first time in my life, I belonged somewhere.
We rounded the corner toward my street—the ruins jagged and familiar—when a small, frantic figure darted out from the shadows. Axel.
His face was white with terror. "Inga!" he gasped, breath hitching. "Inga—sie haben Klaus?—!"
My heart stopped.
"They took Klaus!" he cried in German, clutching my arm. "The Russians! Two soldiers — they came— they— they grabbed him?—"
The world went silent. Everything, the warm night, the happiness, the ring on my finger, fell away like a dream snapping in half.
"What?" I whispered. "Nein… nein… Axel, no…"
"I was coming to Die Ecke—" he panted. "About an hour ago—they stormed our place—they took him— they put him in a car— they drove— that way?—"
He pointed down the dark street. My knees buckled. The world tilted.
No. No, no, no,no.
Not Klaus. Not my brother. Not the last piece of my family. My breath left me in a single, sharp sob. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. "Why?" I choked. "Why would they take him? He's just a little boy—he's harmless—why?—?"
Gideon turned toward me, his jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jump. "I don't know," he kept his voice low and dark and shaking with something dangerous. "But I'll find out."
His eyes locked on mine, burning with fury and promise.
"I swear to you, Inga," he said, voice breaking on my name, "I'll find out why—and I'll get him back."
I folded into him then, collapsing against his chest as the world tilted and fell away. His arms caught me instantly, holding me up, holding me together.
When he was sure I could stand on my own, he dropped into a crouch in front of Axel, gripping his shoulders gently but firmly.
"Which way?" he demanded.
Axel pointed again, shaking so hard his teeth chattered. Gideon rose and turned to me. His expression—God—I had never seen anything like it. All humanity stripped away. All warmth gone.
Just deadly focus.
"Inga," he said, and my name inhis voice nearly broke me. "I need you to be strong now."
"I— I can't—" My voice tore apart.
