Epiphany struck. Like her daughter, Rachel had been targeted by the Dark Ones for elimination. What had happened in Kenny Bailey’s basement all those years ago had been no accident.

“Are you okay?” he asked them, his eyes going from Rachel to Sarah Beth.

Sarah Beth nodded and ran to Corbin. Kneeling at the older girl’s side, she felt tears begin to stream down her face. “Is she dead? Please tell me she’s not dead, Uncle Jed.”

He took a knee on Corbin’s other side and checked the pulse in her neck, which was weak but detectable. Outside, he heard the unmistakable thrum of helicopter rotors, and he pushed a single thought out.

Hurry, Ben . . .

“Don’t worry, Sarah Beth,” he said, meeting her worried gaze.

“You promise?” she said, her eyes asking the other question on her mind.

“I promise,” he said and, feeling a little woozy from blood loss himself, made sure to add, “We’re all going to make it.”

CHAPTER
FIFTY-SEVEN

NORTH COURTYARD

ST. GEORGE’S ACADEMY

2252 HOURS LOCAL

Jed left the building under his own power, his head swimmy. He walked across the pavers, his rifle at combat ready, scanning for threats through the one eye he could still open. Victor was defeated, but there could still be more Dark Ones out there, lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.

I’m a SEAL and SEALs are never out of the fight, he thought. I have to honor the legacy of those who fought before me . . . brave men who fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold.

But he was also a Shepherd—a guardian bound to protect and serve the innocent  and the pure. He had done that tonight by facing off against the greatest evil he’d ever encountered. Despite the failed attempt to use the Chinese weapon to sell the lie that God had abandoned His children, the Dark Ones had somehow still brought the fight to God’s children anyway. In violating the Watcher sanctuary, Victor had crossed a line the Shepherds had believed uncrossable. By summoning a legion, he’d made the Watchers blind and deaf long enough for his army of dark servants to execute two missions at once while keeping the Shepherds off-balance with diversions, distractions, and misdirection.

And with God on their side, the Shepherds had thwarted both.

His mind turned to Maria, a woman he’d believed he could love. Victor’s secret weapon. He’d watched them zip her into a body bag, his fist clenched with conflicting emotions he was struggling now to reconcile.

How could I have been so blind?