Waldo's smile thinned as the cigarette burned down between his fingers. "Come to bargain?" His voice carried the weight of someone who already believed the outcome was his.
Iyisha stopped a few paces away. Her legs felt unsteady but she made herself stand straight. "Lauren is going to Motherhood whether you like it or not. If you want her safe, Malcolm and I will take her. We will get her through the checkpoints and to the gates."
Waldo tilted his head, smoke curling around his face. "That is what you bring me? Walk her into the council's hands and hope they are gentle?" He laughed once, sharp and humorless. "You really think safety exists in that place?"
"It is the only chance she has," Iyisha said, forcing her voice steady. "Anything else will brand us all. If I am caught, so will you, and Lauren. None of us will see another safe zone again."
Waldo studied her in silence, then crushed the cigarette under his boot. "Then I go with you."
Iyisha blinked. "What?"
