“We can go north, Maeve. North across the tundra. No one knows what’s on the other side. I could… I could take you home. Where you’d be—where you’d be safe.”

The words I had said to her as I pressed her against the wall in the alleyway the night before still rang in my ears. I should have just done it, whether with her willingness or by force. I should have picked her up and ran, stealing through the night until we reached the port and tossed her on a ship. I ...