Iyisha, Malcolm, and Marybeth stepped into the church hall together.
The air felt thicker than the last time they had been here.
Her heart pounded, steady and loud inside her chest, but she kept her face composed. They could have refused Darius. They could have taken the map and left Whitewater before sunrise. No one would have stopped them.
But walking away would mean pretending they did not know what was coming.
And Malcolm had not said no.
That alone had decided it.
She glanced at Marybeth. The lost look on her face had not left since the night before.
They moved deeper into the hall.
More people than last time.
More faces.
More murmurs.
Elizabeth spotted them almost immediately and approached with a small smile.
"You came back."
"We did," Iyisha replied calmly. "We wanted to talk to Pastor Rick."
Elizabeth's smile widened slightly.
