And it’s never over, Uncle Jed. There will always be another Victor. The devil will always find another lost person to empower and fight in this war.

Jed tried to think of something reassuring to say but came up short. He was again struck by the toll of this war—and make no mistake, it was a war—would have on these kids. That such a thought even occurred to such a young girl . . .

That’s why God called us, Sarah Beth added. That’s why He needs Shepherds.

And sheepdogs, Jed said with a chuckle that hurt his ribs.

I’m glad I get to be one of the sheepdogs with you guys. After a long pause, she added, I feel sorry for Victor.

Jed opened his eyes and looked at her young face, which stared at the middle distance.

What? Why? He doesn’t deserve your pity, Sarah Beth, or anyone’s. Victor was evil. Pure evil.

Yeah, she relented. But he wasn’t always. Before we prayed and cast out the demons, I slipped inside his mind and saw who Victor had been. I saw the scared little boy who had first been possessed so very, very long ago. He didn’t deserve what happened to him. He didn’t deserve the abuse and the abandonment, the pain and the suffering. He didn’t deserve to watch his mom get murdered by people claiming to be righteous. He was so angry at God, but he didn’t deserve the evil that Satan forced upon him.

Jed wanted to say something, to argue that Victor could have made other choices, but he didn’t have the energy.

In the end, he died that same scared little boy. I just think it’s sad, because the boy Victor had been, the boy inside with all those demons, that boy was one of God’s children too.

She turned to him, a sad smile on her face. In that moment, she looked so much older than he’d noticed before.

“You are an amazing girl, Sarah Beth,” he said but probably too weakly to be heard over the whine of the twin turbines and the thrum of the rotors.

There’s something else you need to know, she said. Detective Perez tried to save us .

She did?

Yeah, she turned on Victor. She died to save Mom. If it hadn’t been for her, you wouldn’t have made it in time.

I . . . I didn’t know that, he said.

She wanted to love you, Uncle Jed, but she was afraid of love—afraid of it her whole life until the very end.

He wanted to hear more about Maria, to keep talking, but his eyes felt so heavy. He felt a jab in his right arm, where the medic was leaning over him. He tried to look to see what she was doing, but his eyelids were too heavy.