“And you,” she said, thinking maybe he needed to hear it. “You saved me. You never left me.”

“God used me to do my part, I guess,” he said and sat back down on the couch, pulling her down and letting her fall against him.

She could feel inside him that he needed to go. But he held her anyway.

“Okay,” she said after a long while.

“Okay what?”

“Sarah Beth can help the Shepherds look for the weapon but only from the safety of the school.”

“Understood,” he said. “And besides, the school is on lockdown. She’s not going anywhere, even if she wanted to.”

“Is there anything else I need to know about?”

“Ben’s put Joshua Bravo on alert. If anything pops, we’re getting mobilized.”

“Of course you are,” she said, shaking her head.

“I figured you’d love that,” he said with a half-hearted chuckle. Then, his tone once again serious, he asked, “Rachel, are you going to be okay?”

“Me? I’ll be fine . . . The dishes and the laundry certainly aren’t going to wash themselves,” she said, laying on the sarcasm.

“I meant, are you going to be okay here all alone?”

She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll invite Maria over for a lockdown wine party. We’re literally in the same boat on this since our men keep running off and leaving us.”

“The two of you have been spending quite a bit of time together.”

“Can you blame us?”

“It’s not an accusation. Just an observation.”

“Well, we have a lot in common. And she just got her unescorted visitor clearance approved, so she can come and go, which is nice.”

He smiled at her and then leaned in and kissed her lips. “I need to get back.”

“I know,” she said with a brave smile. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said, and she kissed him one more time for luck.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX

THE WHITE ROOM

ST. GEORGE’S ACADEMY

0720 HOURS LOCAL

Sarah Beth had trouble sleeping and woke well before dawn. Not because of nightmares like usual, but because she couldn’t stop thinking about the White Room and the hidden Sanctuary beyond. At twelve, she seemed too old for giddy, but secretly she felt a little giddy. She couldn’t wait to get back there. Suddenly, being different came with a perk—one that she intended to utilize at every opportunity. She could practically feel the room calling to her.

Instead of joining her roommates for a sit-down breakfast in the dining hall, she’d grabbed a banana en route to the White Room. First period started at 0825, so that gave her almost an hour to practice locating before heading to class.