“It would be easier, but my concern is that if things go bad and we need to retreat back to the Sanctuary, we don’t want Victor to know about that entrance and block our escape.”

“Hmm, that makes sense.” Josh nodded. “Okay, we take the fire escape ladder and save the staircase for if we get in trouble.”

As if in response, a flash of lightning filled the room with blue light from the window, followed by an enormous clap of thunder and a gust of wind pelting the glass with heavy rain.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” Michaela said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sarah Beth watched Corbin put a hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “You can do it, Michaela. I know you can.”

Michaela bit her lip and nodded.

“What’s the plan when we get down there?” Josh asked. “We’re not Shepherds. I mean, what are we supposed to do—waltz up to Victor and say, ‘Hey, we’d like you to leave and we’re not going to stop asking until you do’? What can we do to him?”

“Taking on Victor face-to-face is not my plan,” Corbin said. “Our job is to collect all the lost kids and get them to safety while avoiding Victor in the process.”

“How exactly are we supposed to avoid him? And when we run into him—and we will—how will we survive that, Corbin?” Michaela demanded with a quivering voice.

A thought filled Sarah Beth’s mind—one she felt sure came from outside herself.

“Actually, I have an idea how we might be able to avoid him,” she said.

“Go on,” Corbin said.

“I’m getting pretty good at projecting . . . I did it while I was running away from Victor.”

“Hold on,” Corbin said, her eyes going wide. “You projected while you were running?”

“Yeah,” she said, unable to suppress a proud little grin, despite the fear she felt at what she was proposing.

“That’s like expert-level stuff, Sarah Beth. I’ve never done anything like that.”

“Thanks.” After a beat, she added, “So what I’m thinking is that I project around until I find Victor and then I keep tabs on him. If I try to locate him the regular way, I think he can sense me, but it seems like when I project, he doesn’t see it.”

“You’re projecting in the world, not getting in his head,” Corbin said, nodding and rubbing her chin. “It makes sense, I think.”

“So I find him on the campus, and then we go where he’s not, always moving and escorting the lost kids to the tornado shelter. The room has two doors—one for East Hall and one for West Hall. We’ll need to snapchat with somebody inside the shelter who can let us in. Getting the doors open and closed quickly is critical.”