Page 98 of Boxed In

Another one of them switched his attention from Luke to Olivia, lunging at her.

Luke threw out his arm, catching the man in the neck and sending him sprawling in the street.

At least no cars were coming, Luke thought with one corner of his mind. Then he heard a siren in the distance and he knew that they had only a few moments to get to safety.

“Run for the temple,” he shouted to Olivia,

She stayed beside him, firing again as one of the bad guys got up and charged.

He stopped the man with a kick, then grabbed Olivia’s shoulder and urged her toward the temple.

With the assailants right behind them, they staggered together across the street toward the spot where he knew they could find safety.

As they drew nearer, Olivia gasped. “I see it.”

“Thank God! Get inside.”

One of the Poisoned Ones had given up. The other two put on a burst of speed, desperate to win the prize they had come here to steal.

One of them made a grab for the briefcase, but Olivia brought the gun down on his hand.

He grunted, but he didn’t stop running.

When he grabbed her by the hair and tried to throw her to the ground, she screamed. Luke turned and chopped down with his hand on the man’s fingers. He let go, and she stumbled along, freed from the attacker’s grip.

Police cars rounded the corner with lights flashing as Luke grabbed Olivia’s arm and pulled her up the temple steps to the stone archway carved with the phases of the moon.

Below the arch were huge wooden doors, banded with iron. They could never have fit in the space between the two row houses. Not in real life. But Luke had always known the doors would be here when he found the temple, even if he couldn’t explain how they existed in time and space.

They loomed in front of him, overshadowing the two buildings that were nominally on either side.

Olivia reached the door and grasped the handle, trying to pull it open, but nothing happened, and Luke felt a terrible pressure inside his chest.

Even if you could see the doors, they didn’t open for everyone. As he raised his hand to pound, the opposite door creaked on its huge hinges. With a prayer of thanks, he pushed Olivia inside, then followed behind her.

Stumbling, she tried to catch herself but ended up sprawling ignominiously on the inlaid tile floor. She was lying at the feet of a man wearing sandals and rich blue robes. Father Delanos.

Zabastian remembered him from the last time he had defended the Master’s property. His hair was gray, but his face was smooth. Really he didn’t look like he’d been living for over five hundred years.

Olivia gasped for breath. Zabastian struggled to maintain some semblance of dignity. But it was difficult when they’d come flying through the doors like refugees from a tornado.

Beside him, Olivia sat up and looked around in awe at the rich murals on the walls. They showed the night sky, with the moon at the center of each picture. Each was bordered by gold tiles inlaid into the stone.

“It’s real,” she gasped.

“Of course it’s real,” the Grand Master said.

She climbed shakily to her feet and stood swaying on unsteady legs. “But how? I mean, I’ve never heard of you.”

“We decided centuries ago that we did not want to set ourselves up as a rival to the world’s great religions. So we have gone underground.”

“Okay. I get that part. But that doesn’t explain this building being here where I’ve never seen it before. And nobody else can see it, either. How is it possible?”

The Grand Master spoke with infinite patience. “Because we can bend the fabric of the space-time continuum.”

“Then why did you need Luke to bring you the box?” she asked, cutting to the heart of the matter.

“We have great power—inside this building. Once we leave, we are at a considerable disadvantage.”

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