“You can’t,” the priest said, rising to his feet.

“I can,” Jack said. He pressed his palm to the priest’s chest, feeling the man’s fear and hatred stab into him as he pushed him into the wall. A small trail of electricity sparked between his hand and the priest’s robe as he fell.

“We have to go,” Jack said, turning his attention to the frightened boy. His sandy blond hair was a tangled mess, the gray t-shirt he wore might have been white at one time, and his jeans were torn above his filthy sneakers. Maybe they didn’t have robes small enough for an eight-year-old, Jack thought. The boy stared at him, trembling.

“I’m Jack and this is Bobby.”

The boy looked at Bobby.

“He’s with me,” Jack said. “We’re the good guys and we’re here to rescue you.” After a moment of uncertainty, Jack nodded to Bobby. “Bobby is here to lead us out,” he said. “He looks like a bad guy. But really, he’s a secret undercover agent here to rescue you.” Bobby raised an eyebrow toward Jack, looked at the dazed priest leaning on the wall, then finally stepped forward, stretching his hand out to the boy.

“We have to move quickly,” Bobby said.

“Stay down,” Jack said, pointing at the priest on the floor.

“There’s only one way out,” Bobby said as he led them down the hallway.

“Hurry,” Jack said, glancing behind them.

Bobby nodded and hurried down a side passageway, pulling the boy behind him. Jack followed, looking back as they turned a corner, then another. He almost stumbled into the boy as Bobby came to a sudden halt.

“What—”

“Here,” Bobby pulled back a small red curtain and reached into an alcove set into the wall.

“My wallet!” Jack said, taking it from Bobby. He ran his thumb over the brown leather, a lifeline to his former life. A normal life with credit cards and cash and coffee rewards cards.

“And your keys and phone,” Bobby said, passing them over.

“It’s not actually my phone. I stole it from a cop before I handcuffed him to a bed rail in the hospital.” Jack looked down at his wallet again and sighed. “But I might need it. Where are my clothes?”

“Sorry,” Bobby said with a shrug before moving down the hallway. Jack clutched his belongings in one hand as they made their way down twisting hallways. There were no signs of electricity in this part of the compound. Flames cast shadows from large candle sconces lining the walls.

“Should there be more people?”

“Some, but not many, these are sacred chambers,” Bobby said. He slowed to a stop and tilted his head to the side, listening.

“Are those voices?” Jack whispered, moving in close so Bobby could hear his whisper.

Bobby nodded. “Around this corner is a common area in front of the gateway.”

“The gateway out?”

“It opens to many places, and it’s the only way in or out,” Bobby said. The idea of a gateway opening to different places seemed familiar. He slipped past Bobby, staying in the shadows cast by the flickering candlelight. He crouched low and glanced around the corner.

Electric lights lit the circular room, and his eyes struggled to adjust. The electricity vibrated gently through his body. On one side of the room, an old wooden door, trimmed in iron and curved at the top, sat in an archway. On the other, three hallways, including the center one he occupied, lined the walls. Glancing left and right, he saw that each hallway had an archway with a stone set into the top, etched with its own symbol. The symbols reminded him of the language on the headstones in the In-between. He assumed each symbol identified where the hallway went.

Two men in dark suits stood in front of the door and three men in robes stood in the middle of the room. One on each side of Father Norman. The men in suits had close-cropped hair and serious expressions. Jack wondered if they were zealots like the priests or if they were hired security. They would probably be easier to deal with if they were contractors. Father Norman still wore his deep red robes and was holding some sort of scepter. Symbols and glyphs were etched into the handle and a large clear crystal perched on the end. The other men wore similar red robes but trimmed with white around the hem and cuffs. One held a small flat rock, tracing slow circles on it with his thumb, and the other wore some kind of metal glove on his left hand.

Jack pulled his head back and whispered to Bobby, “Two guards, three priests. One of them is Norman.”

“Are they holding anything?” Bobby asked.

“Some kind of scepter, and a rock.”

“Those are divine weapons, Jack, but I don’t know what they do.”

“Divine?”

“They have mystical power.”

“You mean they’re Nost.”

Bobby pursed his lips and shrugged.

“Because you guys are actually Nost,” Jack said.

Bobby nodded, slowly, as if the movement was painful.

“And the guards?”

“They’re members of the Order,” Bobby said.

“Normal guns and brute force?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, keep the boy safely behind you,” Jack took a step, but Bobby grabbed his shoulder.

“You can’t defeat them, Jack,” he said.

“I have to do something. This is the only exit right?”

“Yes, but you can’t defeat them.” Bobby stared at the wall for a moment before settling his gaze on Jack. “Take me hostage.”

“What?”

“Take me hostage. They don’t know I’m helping you and they won’t let an initiate get hurt.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jack asked.

Bobby hesitated before answering, “No, but our numbers are down, they need initiates, and it’s the only chance we have.”

“What about the boy?”

“Keep him behind you. Back us up to the door and escape.”

“Are you sure?” Jack asked.

“As sure as I can be,” Bobby said.

“Where does the door lead?”

“It opens to different locations depending on where they move the gateway outside. There may be more than one, I don’t know. It’s something the leadership council adjusts. Each of these hallways leads to a different congregation, and each of them uses the gateway to get here. It is the only way in or out of the stronghold. Right now it’s opening in Sibley, Missouri, outside of Kansas City, if they haven’t changed it. Our congregation has been following Darean’s horde in the city but can’t put the gateway too close or Darean may discover it.”

“That’s how you knew about me,” Jack said.

“That’s right, our faithful have been watching Darean and his horde.”

Jack kneeled in front of the boy. “You have to stay right with me. Can you do that?” The boy nodded and fixed his wide-eyed gaze on Jack’s face. “Hold on to my…” Jack paused and looked down, remembering what he was wearing, “… robe, and don’t let go okay.” Another nod from the boy.

“Here we go,” he said, standing up. Bobby turned around and Jack wrapped his arm around his neck, pressing his other hand into the small of his back like it was a handgun.

“Hope this works,” he said.

“Me too, I’m in front,” Bobby said.

They stepped into the room.

“Hi Norm,” Jack said.

Light engulfed him, and his thoughts slowed. He realized that Norman was pointing the scepter at him. He tried to move, but his feet weighed a thousand pounds. He saw the other priest pressing the stone to the floor. The third priest, wearing an antique gauntlet on his left hand, walked toward him.

“You didn’t tell me he was wearing the gauntlet,” Bobby whispered. He tore himself away from Jack’s grasp. Jack’s mind screamed at him to grip Bobby harder, but he couldn’t take his gaze away from the scepter. Couldn’t concentrate. He struggled to take a step. How could Bobby betray him now? Had it all been a trick?

“Why?” Jack said.

“Wait,” Bobby shouted, flailing his arms wildly, stumbling into the priest wearing the gauntlet, knocking him sideways. The contact sent Bobby on a trajectory toward Norman, who instinctively braced himself against the impact. The scepter’s light went out and Jack’s senses slammed back into him. He still couldn’t move his feet, but his upper body was free. He grabbed the robes of the stumbling priest with the gauntlet with one hand and wrapped his fingers around the man’s neck with the other. As soon as he touched the priest’s skin he felt revulsion but couldn’t tell whose it was. He also felt massive energy from the gauntlet. He channeled fear into the priest, who whimpered and tried to pull away.

“Gauntlet,” Jack said, ripping it off the man’s hand. He pushed the priest aside and shoved it onto his own hand just in time to look up at the scepter’s renewed light. Bobby sat on the floor at Father Norman’s feet with a dazed expression. Jack’s mind started to wander into the light, but the power coursing up his arm from the gauntlet sent his pulse racing. He wanted to smash things.

The priest with the rock pressed to the floor chanted in strained tones, and a great force pulled him down to the floor. On hands and knees, he concentrated on the gauntlet’s power and slammed his fist into the stone as hard as he could. The electric lights flared before going dark. Lightning danced down his arm onto the floor. Cracks spider-webbed in all directions, and shards of concrete and stone flew. He glimpsed the guards with their handguns out, but there was no time to worry about them. Norman stumbled as the room shook, but the light was even brighter in the dark. Jack wanted to curl up and stare at it forever. He violently shook his head.

“No,” he screamed and slammed his fist into the floor one more time. He imagined a crack stretching out from him to his enemies, swallowing them. More stone fragments flew, and the world lurched violently this time, knocking Norman and the other priest off balance. Jack felt the great weight lift from his body. He dove for the priests and swung his non-gauntleted fist into first Norman and then the other. Each fell unconscious to the floor. The scepter's light disappeared, plunging him into the shadowy light cast by the flames in the adjoining hallways. He spun toward the guards. Shots echoed through the chamber, but Jack didn’t feel any impact.

He swung the gauntlet into the first guard’s stomach, launching him across the room. The man slammed into the stone and fell, unmoving. Then, he grasped the other man’s hand, wrapping his gauntlet-clad fingers around the handgun at the same time. He squeezed. The man’s hand was pulped into a mass of metal and flesh. He let out a deafening scream and fell to the floor.

Bobby leaped from the floor and grabbed his robe. “Go,” he said in a quiet growl.

“The boy,” Jack said.

“Here,” Bobby said, pushing the boy toward him.

Jack felt the boy latch onto his robe.

“Come on,” Jack said.

“No, I’m staying,” Bobby said.

“What? That’s crazy—”

“I have to, for now.”

Jack felt Bobby’s resolve under the layers of serenity. “But if they find out, they’ll kill you.”

Bobby shrugged with a small smile. “I’ve been dead for a long time,” he said. Jack remembered Bobby lying on the floor, staring at his mother’s lifeless eyes. “But now I’m a secret agent, Jack, thanks to you, and I have to finish my mission.”

“What mission?”

Bobby was thoughtful for a moment before finally saying, “To save as many lives as I can.”

“I can’t leave you here forever kid.”

“I know you’ll be back.”

“I don’t even know what I am,” Jack said.

“You’re a good man, Jack. I can feel it. Now go before they wake up,” Bobby said.

“You don’t know—”

“Go!” Bobby said, shoving him toward the door.

Jack stumbled to the door and pushed. It didn’t move. Pulling had the same effect. “Stand back,” he said, swinging his gauntleted fist into the door. It exploded outward with a thundering boom. As the dust settled, a dim light crept into the room. Jack looked back to the bodies lying on the floor to see if the explosion woke anyone up. The only conscious person was the priest who originally had the gauntlet, but he sat staring blankly at the wall. The guard with the crushed hand was curled beside him, apparently passed out from the pain. He hoped the others weren’t dead, but couldn’t think about that right now. There would be plenty of time for those thoughts later. There always was.

“Go to the cemetery,” Bobby said.

“What?”

“Mount Mora, Darean’s horde is there. Maybe Ann is too.”

Jack nodded, giving Bobby one more look before grabbing the boy’s hand and picking his way through the ruined door.

“I’ll be back.”

“I know,” Bobby said.