“Yeah, they’re nice; it’s all good,” she said, distracted by the overwhelming disappointment she was feeling. “So . . . this is it? This is the White Room?”

“Yes and no,” Corbin said with a chuckle. “You’ll see . . .”

Sarah Beth scanned the spartan space for another door but there wasn’t one. Strange. It was as if Corbin had been waiting for her inside what was basically a glorified closet. Then suddenly she felt her insides get heavy. A wave of vertigo washed over her as she tried to make sense of the pronounced gravity she was experiencing.

“What in the world?” she said through a breath. “Are we in some kind of elevator?”

“Yep. Weird, isn’t it?” Corbin said. “We’re going up by the way.”

“Freaky,” she said, getting her bearings just as the elevator came to a halt. “Hold on a minute—what’s below us now?”

Corbin grinned. “An identical waiting room attached to the lift below this one.”

“So any students that try to sneak a peek will just see the same little white room as this one and be none the wiser?”

“Exactly.”

“Very cool.”

“If you think that’s cool, then wait till you see this,” Corbin said, stepping past her to push open a white door identical to the one Sarah Beth had walked through on the ground level.

Sarah Beth’s eyes went wide as she scanned the magnificent space beyond—a large and beautifully appointed rotunda with the most impressive stained-glass dome ceiling she’d ever seen. As she stepped into the circular room, her gaze automatically went up to where a white dove—with wings a dozen feet wide—soared against a background of blue.

“The symbol of the Watchers,” Corbin said. “Our symbol . . .”

Gooseflesh stood up on Sarah Beth’s forearms and she felt a profound sense of peace and tranquility wash over her.

“What do you think?” a familiar adult voice said, drawing Sarah Beth’s gaze back down. Pastor Dee was approaching from the opposite side of the room.

“It’s incredible,” she said, sweeping her gaze over an outer ring of ornate columns and biblical paintings before finally settling on the ten-foot-tall fountain gurgling in the middle of the room.

“I thought you’d like it here,” Pastor Dee said with her trademark easy smile.

“What is this place?” Sarah Beth asked.

“It’s our Sanctuary—not like the sanctuary in the campus chapel, but in the practical sense, if you know what I mean,” Corbin said.

Pastor Dee laid her hand on Sarah Beth’s shoulder. “The school’s founder was very intentional about wanting a safe and tranquil place for students to train, pray, and connect with other Watchers around the world.”

“Then why are we the only ones here?” she asked.