“Right here, Baby,” Jared said, crawling into the window behind Bex. “I'm right here.” I didn't wait for him to crawl all the way into the room before I grabbed him. After a few awkward maneuvers to stand while encapsulated in my arms, he kissed my forehead, and then inspected the remnants of my brush with Isaac. His jaws fluttered under his skin. “I'm going to enjoy killing him.”

“The safe!” Bex said, intent.

“Behind the desk,” I said, pulling Jared with me. “It's there,” I pointed.

“But,” Claire said, bending down to touch the wall. “It's just wall.”

Bex twitched, and then closed his eyes. “They're coming.”

Claire ran her hands over the drab paint. “I don't feel anything.” She knocked. “It doesn't sound like anything's back there.”

“Are you sure? Maybe we're in the wrong room?” Ryan said.

I looked around, seeing the same paintings on the wall. “No, I'm sure. I've seen this a million times; the safe is right there.”

Bex looked to Jared. “We have two minutes.”

Jared sighed. “Claire? Move.”

Claire obeyed, and Jared rammed the wall with his fist, pulling back broken sheet rock. Claire helped him, and within seconds, the entire panel was open, revealing the safe, three feet inside the wall.

Thousands of dust motes flurried in the air.

“That explains why you always saw them waist-deep in the wall,” Jared said.

Claire held up her hand. “Quiet.” She leaned her ear close to the safe, and then moved the dial back and forth, nodding intermittently. Within moments, the safe clicked open. Claire seemed stunned. “That was too easy. It's rigged with explosives or something.”

Jared shook his head. “I don't smell anything, do you?”

“No,” she said.

“Shax is notoriously pretentious, Claire,” Jared said. “I'm not surprised.”

She stood. “This whole thing is too easy. They take our bait, sit Ryan and Nina in the room with the safe, knowing we would come after them...and then leave?”

Bex pulled out the book. “Got it!”

“Make sure it's the real thing,” I said.

Bex flipped through the pages. “It's real, all right.”

Jared grabbed my hand. “They left because Shax is bringing his legions to end us, Claire. They wanted us to come here and give them a reason to take us all out. Heaven can't step in if we provoke them.”

Bex took a few steps toward the door, his head jerking in every direction. “Legions is right. I think the whole of Hell is coming. We should get them out. Now.”

“The roof!” I said. “They always used the roof!”

“Who did?” Ryan asked.

“We don’t want to repeat what Jack and Gabe did, Nina. That leads to the same end,” Claire said, looking out the window, planning an escape.

“Maybe not,” Jared said, looking up. “Maybe she had the dreams to show us how to get out.”

“Fine,” Claire said, grabbing the book from Bex.

Screeching from below echoed throughout the halls, turning my blood cold.