"I hope Theo Majestic is dead." Anne said.

She sat beside her father in the auditorium. They were near the closed door, and the light touched them.

Would Anne touch Lock Tannis?

She sat on a soft chair. Lock didn't sit next to her, and not seeing Him was like being a warrior with no weapon.

Hundreds of seats were in the room. Two were occupied. Shoes moved against the floor outside the room, Lock worshippers walking in the hall. When at home, Anne was never far from her massive family.

She wore a gray shirt with long sleeves, blue pants, and black shoes. Her father donned a gray suit.

Inside a Freeman base, Anne had met Sabrina Sam. That girl's last name had been Majestic. She and Anne had different surnames, but they shared birth parents.

Theo.

A long time ago, he had transformed Lock Tannis into a Soynite ruler. Theo had taken His royal authority. Yet Lock led the Freemans.

Lilly.

Eleven years ago, she had given birth to Anne. Summer had taken her from the Majestic family. But she had given Anne food, gifts, and safety. Summer doubled as her Watcher and her mother.

Their space station was huge and blue, like an ocean's big wave. Its strong walls didn't surround Lock Tannis. If He arrived at her home, Anne would bow.

"He's never going to know what it's like to worship Lock Tannis," Anne said. "Theo is a heretic, and he's going to die as one. So will his wife. And we'll kill those foolish Highs we met inside that Freemans base, if they don't join us."

Using X-ray goggles, Anne's father had seen a baby Freeman inside Sabrina's backpack. Anne's nephew. Theo's grandson.

Only Soynites could join the Lock Tannis Church. Anne's father had established that rule.

Anne had fired lasers from her eyes, and they had torn through Lock's Freemans. His warriors might not believe she worshipped Lock Tannis. Yet His pale fighters would kneel without hesitation if He ordered them to. His Freemans were great, and so was He.

Anne's father rubbed his thumb against his index finger.

Like that Freeman base's walls, his hair was gray. Its long strands touched his suit. He and Anne were blue-eyed people, and he wasn't her biological father. But she would be dead if it weren't for him.

"Sabrina and Jake," Anne's father said. "They're doing what Theo Majestic wants them to do. Those Majestics are horrible. No offense, darling. You're the only Majestic who doesn't want what Theo wants. I'm sure Lilly and your siblings would try to kill Lock Tannis if they had the opportunity to. But you wouldn't. No, you're better than the rest of your birth family. When your mother took you away from the Majestics, it was one of her finest moments. Now she's here, helping this massive family do what Lock Tannis wants us to do. Your mother is wonderful. Just like our beloved Lock."

Summer. She had become Anne's mother while Freemans spread Lock's glory on Soy.

"If my father hadn't been such a Lock Tannis hater, I would've loved for him to meet your mother," Anne's father said. "I killed my father. One day you might have to do the same, Anne. And I don't mean you'll have to get rid of me. You have a father who wants to kill Lock, and that man is your birth father. Theo Majestic. There are two things we do to Soynites who hate the greatest member of our race. We offer to let them join the Lock Tannis Church. Or we kill them. We're not going to let Theo join us, though."

The auditorium's stage. Would Theo lay on it?

"Family," Anne's father said. "Sometimes you have to kill them. Even when you love them, there are times when you have to kill someone you love. Not long ago, Allison killed a boy on that stage."

Heretics lived away from the space station. But Lock's followers resided within the home, and they would kill for Him.

Anne's father pointed.

"Theo needs to be on it, too," he said. "One day he needs to be on that stage. A Lock worshipper needs to kill him. Or Lock Himself. Regardless of who does it, Theo must die. He exiled Lock. Lock is better than all of us, and He didn't deserve to be banished from Soy. Your brothers and sisters know that. So do I."

A long time ago, one of the six original Soynites had killed a Freeman by accident. The Soynite had been Hase Majestic's closest friend. The first Freeman had murdered her, and then he and his pale people had left Soy.

Freemans had started despising Soynites a long time ago. Lock had wanted to kill Free's natives, to stop them from killing more Soynites. Theo hadn't approved.

He was a fool. Lock Tannis wasn't.

"Lock wanted to destroy the Freemans, so His people, our people, would be safe from them." Anne's father said. "He saw how harsh those Freemans were. He wanted them dead. But did Theo agree to take the fight to the Freemans?"

"No," Anne said. "Theo banished Lock. He made Him leave Soy."

"That's right," her father replied. "Lock was forced to leave His friends and His family. Your birth father deserves to suffer, Anne. Always remember that."

The door swung open. Anne's mother and Claudia Creek entered the room.

"There's the love of my life, and Sister Claudia is with her," Anne's father said. He smiled. "Hello."

When would Anne see Lock Tannis? Theo, Don, and the other former Highs had seen Him, but His worshippers hadn't made eye contact with Him. They hadn't gained that privilege.

Anne's mother. She wore a black dress and a grin.

"Nick Majestic is here," she said. Anne and her father stood. "Claudia and Leo found him in the hangar. Right now, he's handcuffed to a bed. A few minutes ago, Claudia told me what happened. I haven't seen Nick since the invasion."

Nick. Theo and Lilly had made him, and three Majestics had come afterwards. Anne was those Lock haters' youngest child.

Who was Nick? An eighteen-year-old Majestic. Anne's brother. A heretic.

Like blood on a fruit, Nick tainted the Lock Tannis Church's headquarters. Lock's opposers would rather ruin His life than help Him accomplish His goals. It was Anne's duty to help eliminate the heretics, and she could do that by converting them, or killing them.

Claudia Creek. She wore a red shirt and blue jeans, and black shoes covered her feet. The light bathed her long dark blonde hair. She had been born sixteen years ago, and her birthday was January thirteenth. Anne's father had fallen in love with a great woman, Anne's mother. Claudia might fall in love with a great girl.

She hadn't trained her gray-eyed gaze on Lock. Neither had Anne. But they would, and He would reward them for their devotion.

Anne's mother stroked her brown hair, and she grinned.

Her husband didn't.

"Don't get too excited, Summer," Anne's father said. "There's no guarantee that Nick will become one of us. You know what we may have to do to him."

"Leo and Nick are in the room together," Claudia said. "He's being restrained with Strife handcuffs, but I could read his mind if I stand near the door. He won't be able to hide anything from us. He won't be able to pretend to love Lock Tannis."

Anne would die for Lock Tannis. Her love for Him was as real as her brother.

"Your Save is wonderful, sister," Anne's father said. He ran a hand through Claudia's hair. "Just like you. If you weren't part of this family, Claudia, we wouldn't have a way to recognize Soynites who truly love Lock. Thank you."

Claudia smiled. "You're welcome, Bane."

Nick had found Anne's home. Would he die for Lock Tannis? Or would he die during an attempt to kill Him?

Anne's mother caressed her blonde hair.

"Nick wants to see Anne," Claudia said. "He had a teleportation stone with him, but Leo took it away. Nick isn't going to take Anne away from us."

"What do you want to do, Anne?" Anne's mother said. "Do you want to come with us, so we can see Nick?"

If Anne spoke to Nick, she could convince him to pray to Lock Tannis. She had embraced her sister Sabrina inside a Freeman base. Nick had come into the place where Anne lived, and maybe she would hug him. Her brother.

"I want to see him," Anne said. "But don't tell him who I am. I want to do it myself."

Her mother kissed her forehead.

"Okay, my girl," the woman said. She rubbed Anne's arms through her gray shirt. "When the invasion was happening, I helped Lilly and Nick stay safe. Now your brother is back in your life. Hopefully, he devotes his own life to worshipping Lock Tannis. If he decides not to, he will be making a horrible mistake."

Anne's mother faced Claudia.

"Claudia," Anne's mother said. "You said that Nick wants to see Anne. Did he overhear anything that could've made him realize that we all worship Lock?"

"He teleported his Soynite spaceship into the hangar," Claudia said. "But we didn't see it happen. He told us that's what he did. Me and Leo were talking to each other, and we stopped when we saw Nick. He must've heard our conversation. But when me and Leo were talking, we didn't mention Anne. But Nick knows that she lives here. I read his mind. He knows that Anne is a member of the Lock Tannis Church, and Lilly knows it, too. Jake Wayne's Watcher, Peter, told her about it."

"What else did you learn?" Anne's mother said.

"Lilly adopted one of the Highs, the one whose name used to be Lovely Windsore. The blind High. Her name is Lena now. Nick hates her."

Lena.

Lilly had given Anne a new sibling.

"Now Anne has two sisters who are Highs," Anne's father said. He chuckled. "Is Lilly trying to become the mother of all of the Highs?"

"I don't know," Anne's mother said. "But let's go see Nick. Claudia, take us to him."

"Remember this, everyone," Anne's father said. "Don't hurt Nick. It may make him hate us even more than he already does. He will say horrible things, but we won't hit him. Okay, Claudia. We're ready. Take us to Nick Majestic."

Claudia guided the group. They headed through halls and stepped past bedrooms.

They reached the room containing Nick Majestic.

He lay on a bed, handcuffed to the headboard. The restraints were around its bars. The green handcuffs surrounded Nick's wrists. Lock's arms weren't around Anne, but one day they might be. Receiving a hug from Him would be better than getting one from Nick.

Taped to the wall was a paper sheet. It displayed a black double triangle, the Lock Tannis Church's symbol. Anne had seen black double triangles inside the space station, on Earth, and on Soy. She belonged to the group the double triangle signified.

And she belonged with Lock Tannis.

Leo Letterman crossed his muscular arms, not smiling. Maybe if his younger brother returned to him, he would smile.

Nick glared.

"Summer," he said. "I want to see the girl you kidnapped. When I get out of here, I'm going to take her back to her mother. Her real mother."

"Nick!" Anne's mother said.

She grinned, as if Nick had said he wanted to worship Lock. She scurried closer to the bed. As her mother planted a kiss on Nick's cheek, Anne fiddled with her fingers.

Nick wanted to see her. She would have to talk to him. She would have to speak to the heretic who acted like Theo had become more important than Lock Tannis.

Anne had talked to heretics, and she had killed more than one.

"I missed you," Anne's mother said. She caressed Nick's blond hair. "I've prayed for a reunion with you so many times. Lock Tannis reunites us with the people we want to be reunited with, and He is always with us."

Nick sneered.

"If I don't kill you, my mother will," he said. "Where's Anne?"

Anne strangled the urge to punch him. If he killed her mother, the girl would never hug her again.

"You are going to show Sister Summer respect," Claudia said. She stood near the door. "She's our leader's wife, and she's our sister. You will respect her, you terrible heretic."

"Either way, I'm going to take Anne to her mother," Nick said. "And I wish you got killed during the invasion, you Lock-loving piece of trash!"

Claudia glared. Anne's father put a hand on the telepath's back.

"Sit down, Claudia," he said. "You don't have to read his mind right now. We want to talk to Nick, not interrogate him."

"Okay, Bane," Claudia replied.

Leo ran a hand through his long brown hair.

"Nick," he said. "You're Theo Majestic's son, but it's not too late for you to redeem yourself. Join the Lock Tannis Church."

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"Why should I?" Nick said. "If you expect me to worship Lock Tannis and kill my own father, expect something else. Because I'm not going to do any of that. Do you hear me? And I told you and that telepath that I want to see Anne. Where is she? Where is my sister?"

Where was Nick's sister? She stood in the bedroom, and Lock Tannis was always with her. Not long ago, her father had sacrificed a boy. Now her brother was in the same room as her. The sacrifice had pleased Lock, and He had brought Nick to Anne's home.

Freemans outnumbered Soynites and humans. They lived as the pale majority, and Lock Tannis ruled them. Theo would never be as great as He was.

"She's safe," Anne's father said. "Tell me about your other sisters. This isn't an interrogation. This is a simple chat between a Lock worshipper and Theo Majestic's son. Your father was Lock Tannis's dearest friend, and now he's His worst enemy. But Theo's son doesn't have to be an enemy of Lock's. You can join us, Nick. So can your sisters."

Nick shook his head.

"One of them can't join this cult," he said. "Because she's already in it. Bring her in here. I want to see Anne."

"Stop saying that," Claudia said, sitting backwards on a chair. Her forearm rested on its top rail. "Heretic."

"Don't tell me what to do. And if I don't kill you, Hailey will. She's tough. Just like me. And she wants to find Anne, too. Here's what's going to happen, you Lock lovers. I'm going to take Anne with me. We're going to go to my mother, and that's going to happen soon. This cult is going to lose its mind-reader, too. And it's going to lose Anne."

Anne looked as if Nick had punched Lock Tannis. She approached him.

"This group is my family!" she said. Nick scowled. "Brother."

Nick's stopped scowling.

"Anne?" he said. "It's really you. You were a baby the last time I saw you, and now you're older. You've gotten bigger. I'm going to take you to Mother, baby."

"I'm her mother," Anne's mother said. "She's my baby. She's mine and she always will be."

She lifted Anne's hand, and then kissed it. How many times had the woman done that? Would she be able to show Anne affection tomorrow?

Tessa Pack. She couldn't show affection to anyone.

"My mother talks about shooting you in the head," Nick said. "She abandoned her family, but she's going to see it get put back together. You can't stop my mother, and you can't stop Hailey. Or Betty. None of you can. High Kara Ascend is alive, too. Don Ascend's daughter. Her name is Jill, and I met her. She's young. But she's way better than you, Summer. It was a pleasure to kneel for her."

"It's a pleasure for me and my family to see you handcuffed to that bed," Anne's father said.

Anne, her mother, and Claudia laughed. Leo didn't.

"If this Strife weren't here, none of you would be laughing," Nick said. "There would be broken bones. And blood, too."

He wouldn't break Anne's bones, and he wouldn't make her bleed.

"If you were on that stage in the auditorium, dressed in white and about to be sacrificed, I wonder if you would still be this defiant," Anne's father said. "It's not too late for us to like you, Nick. Remember that."

Nick lived. Maybe he would leave the space station and reunite with Lena.

"What's our sister Lena like?" Anne said.

"Your sister, Anne," Nick said. "Your sister. Lena is horrible. She abused Hailey, and she tried to kill her."

"Lena tried to kill Hailey?"

"Yes. She's not a High you want to meet. She's a blind monster, and she doesn't deserve to get her vision or her Saves back."

Nick lay on a bed inside the Lock Tannis Church's headquarters. Where was Lena?

Did she walk in a different room, as her hands roamed the space ahead of her?

"Nick," Anne's father said. "During your stay here, Claudia is going to get a lot more information from you. You will join our massive family, hopefully. The Lock Tannis Church could use your help. The former Highs made the right decision. Except for Theo, of course. They chose to join Lock. You met Don Ascend's daughter, Jill. And you met Don himself. I can only hope that you and Jill make the choice that Don made. Lock needs great Soynites."

"Lock isn't great," Nick said.

Lock Tannis had wanted to destroy the Freemans and keep His species safe. Yet Theo had exiled Him.

Why did Nick support Lock's worst enemy? Why couldn't he be like Anne, a girl who would hug Lock if given the chance?

Anne glared. If she hit Nick, she would disobey her father's order. If she hit her brother, maybe his hatred for the Lock Tannis Church would grow.

"My father, Vernon, believed that, too," Claudia said. "And if I see him again, I'm going to kill him."

"Claudia is such a darling, Nick," Anne's father said. "She knows that some fathers need to be killed. It's simply the way it has to be sometimes. When the Freemans were spreading Lock's glory on Soy, I killed my father. Now the invasion is over. And your father has to die, too. Don't you want to live with your youngest sibling? If you join us, you'll be able to."

Leo had taken Nick's teleportation stone. He couldn't escape.

"I don't need to join your cult to live with her," Nick said. "I told you what I'm going to do. I'm going to take Anne to my mother."

"Is your mother where Hailey is?" Claudia said. "And Lena?"

"Yes. And none of you Lock worshippers will hurt my mother. And none of you will hurt Hailey. But there are people in this room who are going to get hurt, and I'm not one of them."

Anne's mother scowled.

"Nick," she said. "Don't threaten my family ever again."

Nick could unleash threats, but he couldn't free himself. His parents couldn't give him freedom.

"Everyone, leave this room," Anne's father said. He smirked. "Everyone who can leave anyway. I'll go as well. But, Anne, I want you to stay with Nick. Talk to him. It's not too late for your brother to become like us."

"It's not too late for me to kill you, Bane," Nick said.

Handcuffed to a bed, he couldn't kill anyone. His defiance was pointless, like trying to kill a Freeman with your pinky.

Anne's father, Claudia, and Leo moved toward the open door. So did Anne's mother.

"Anne is going to be in my situation!" Nick said. "She's going to be handcuffed to a bed, and none of her friends will be able to save her. I'm going to take her home with me, you Lock-worshipping fools."

Anne closed the door.

Her father. Her mother. Claudia. Leo. They had left the room. They didn't wear Soynite pendants, but Nick did. He wore respect for Theo, but he should toss that aside.

"We didn't hurt you," Anne said. "The Lock Tannis Church is good."

"Horrible, you mean," Nick said.

"There's something you should know. Your mother isn't going to kill mine. I hope she kills Lilly, though."

"Don't be like that. Mother loves you, and she wants you back. She let Summer keep you, but she regrets it. Mother wants her baby back. I'm going to do everything I can to take you to her."

Nick wanted to reunite Anne with Lilly, but he couldn't even move off the bed. Anne laughed.

"You're handcuffed to a bed," she said. "You can't even leave this room. You're not going to take me away from my family."

Nick narrowed his eyes.

"You're away from your family," he said. "Bane and Summer aren't your parents. They're members of a violent cult. Your real parents aren't here, and your sisters aren't, either."

Lilly. Was her desire to find Anne stronger than Nick's? Did Lilly believe Anne would drop her love for Lock Tannis?

"Lilly let my mother keep me," Anne said. "Why does she suddenly want me? She spent years not looking for me. While you're here, where is she?"

Lilly didn't stand in Anne's home.

"I shouldn't have called her Lilly," Nick said. He let a heavy sigh loose. "She's my mother. She's our mother. I shouldn't have been so rude to her."

"You're in the custody of the Lock Tannis Church, and now you're feeling remorse," Anne said. "Lock Tannis is a forgiving person, but you can't serve Him and your mother at the same time. You have a choice to make."

Anne stood beside the bed.

"You hate Lena," she said. "Do you hate your mother, too? You said you called her Lilly. You called her by her name."

"I was mad at her," Nick said. "But now that I'm here, and now that I see what you are, I appreciate her. I could've ended up like you. Or I could've been killed. Mother saved me before. More than once, actually. I'm going to save you."

"It's too late for you to feel guilty. If you don't join us, you won't see Lilly ever again. If you do join us, you'll have to accept that she needs to die. You're pathetic. You're handcuffed to a bed, and now you want your mother. Do you only want people when you want to be saved?"

Nick turned his head.

When Freemans attacked Soy, Anne's mother had held her. She hadn't had teeth back then, or the ability to walk. But her mother had carried her. She had protected the youngest Majestic.

Nick hated the blind Majestic.

"You hate Lena. Did you hurt her?" Anne said.

"I did," Nick replied. "I might hurt her again. If I do, she will deserve it. But I don't want to talk about that blind tyrant."

"She's your sister."

"You're my sister."

Blond-haired and blue-eyed, Anne and Nick were Majestics.

"That's true, but you need to remember that I'm not like you, Sabrina, or Hailey," Anne said. "And I'm not like Theo. I know there's only one person who deserves to be worshipped, and His name is Lock Tannis."

"You're talking about the man who destroyed our planet and got almost all of our people killed," Nick said. "That Lock Tannis. Those beliefs that this cult filled your mind with are going to go away. Me, Mother, and Hailey are going to help you. I need to take you to them. You'll see Ken and Nova again, too. I know they were in that Freeman base with you."

"They were. And they're still alive, hopefully. They're welcome to join this family, too."

Sabrina and Kevin didn't lay on the stage in the auditorium, and maybe they never would.

"This isn't your family, sister," Nick said. "The Lock Tannis Church is a cult that worships Father's worst enemy. Our worst enemy. Do you know how many good people got killed because of Lock? A lot. Even Pristine Claude got killed. My Watcher is dead, and yours kidnapped you. She took you away from your family, Anne. Summer didn't save you."

"I respect my mother," Anne said. She squeezed the comforter. When would Nick stop being a fool? "I love my mother. Do you love yours, Nick?"

Lilly Majestic. Did she want to find Anne? No matter what Lilly wanted, she had to die.

If she could, Anne would pierce that Theo lover's heart.

"My mother is your mother," Nick said. "Stop acting like she isn't."

"One day she's going to be wearing white," Anne said. "And she will be in the auditorium, and a Lock worshipper will kill her. And if Lilly's son isn't careful, he will be wearing white soon."

"I'm not going to die here."

Anne tapped a Strife handcuff.

"But you are trapped here," she said. "And Leo took your teleportation stone. You're not going to get away from my family. Become one of us, Nick. You need to realize that Lock Tannis is the best Soynite of all time. He always will be. And I need you to know that."

"And I need you to free me," Nick said. "Let me go. If you get my teleportation stone back, we could get out of here. I could take you to Mother. She misses you. Hailey does, too."

Hailey. Was she as foolish as Nick and Sabrina?

"Great," Anne said. "Maybe she'll join the Lock Tannis Church. Sisters should be together."

She caressed Nick's hair.

"Siblings should be together," she said.

"But you shouldn't be worshipping Lock," Nick said. "You should be with your real family. These cult members aren't your family, Anne. I'm your brother. I'm your family. The woman you call your mother is your abductor. Her husband is a cult leader who murdered his own father. Bane Sinister isn't your father. Theo Majestic is. Summer shot him, and she kidnapped you."

"I know what happened."

"Father picked you up when you cried," Nick said. "He fed you. And he didn't tell the Soynite public about you, because he wanted to protect you. He loved you. He still does, actually. He loves Nova and Hailey, too. And he loves Mother. If you let me go, we could find him. He's missing. But he doesn't have to be lost forever."

Theo couldn't save Nick.

"He does have to die, though," Anne said. "Your father isn't going to save you. Neither will your mother. Hailey won't help you, either. She can't. And I really doubt that your blind sister would be much help."

"Don't call that monster my sister," Nick said. "Mother wanted her. I didn't. She hurt my best friend."

"Who's your best friend?"

"Hailey."

"Sweet. And if you were like me and my family, that would be sweet, too."

Nick didn't pray to Lock Tannis. He would rather stab Him than worship Him. Anne's father and mother didn't stand in the room, but Anne could influence Nick. She could make him acknowledge Lock as the universe's greatest person.

"I don't want to kill my brother," Anne said. "But I might have to. There's still time for you to become a member of the Lock Tannis Church. That means you're fortunate, Nick."

"Fortunate," Nick said. "My sister worships Lock Tannis. I can't apologize to my mother. And I'm handcuffed to a bed. How could you consider me fortunate, Anne?"

Anne pressed her hands against the comforter's softness.

"I'm trying to help you," she said. "I want to love you, but I can't do that if you're not a worshipper of Lock Tannis. You have to love Him. And if you pretend to love him, Claudia will know. You can't hide things from a telepath. Claudia might kill her father one day, and I might kill my birth father. Theo Majestic doesn't deserve to live."

Nick narrowed his blue eyes.

"Do you have any idea how wrong you are?" he said. "When are you going to realize that you're on the wrong side? How did those two fools make you believe that Father needs to die?"

"My parents know the truth," Anne said. "I wish your parents did, too."

"Bane and Summer don't know the truth. Lock Tannis isn't great, and we lost our home because of him. The Soynite royal palace is gone, but Mother and Hailey are living at a different place. Free me. Me and you have to get away from this cult. I have to take you to your family."

Anne chuckled.

"You're a comedian, Nick," she said. "If I go with you, Lilly and Hailey will restrain me. They want to keep me away from my family. But I'm not going to let them do that. My family is here."

"I'm the only member of your family who is here," Nick said. "Mother lied to Hailey, but I'm not going to lie to you. I promise I'm going to get you out of this place. I'll take you to your mother and your sister. We'll get rid of that nonsense Bane and Summer filled your mind with."

Lilly had lied to Hailey.

"Your mother lied to Hailey," Anne said. "You want me to live with a liar. My mother didn't hide the fact that I'm Theo Majestic's daughter from me. And when she tells me she loves me, she means it. And she shot your father in the leg, when she could've killed him. What has Lilly done for me?"

"What has this cult done for you?" Nick said.

"These people are my family. You're my brother, but Leo is a better brother to me than you are. You disrespected Lock Tannis. You disrespected my parents. And you're disrespecting my family by being a heretic."

Nick wanted to kill the person who had made Freemans destroy Anne's home planet. She couldn't love him. He hadn't earned her love.

"I can't love anyone who doesn't love Lock Tannis," Anne said.

Lock Tannis was the greatest Soynite, not the missing man who had exiled Him.

"But there's hope for you," Anne said. "You don't have to be my enemy, and you don't have to hate Lock Tannis."

"You don't have to love him," Nick said. "Just come with me. Mother and Hailey aren't going to hurt you. Mother is a liar, and Hailey loves the tyrant who abused her. But your mother and your sister won't hurt you. Neither will I."

"Why did you hurt Lena?"

Lena was Nick's High and his sister, but he had called her a tyrant. He had admitted he had hurt her.

"Because she slapped me," Nick said. "She slapped me because I didn't kneel for her."

Anne would rather be slapped than kneel for a High.

"You hurt your blind sister," Anne said. "If you could, you would hurt your sister who worships Lock Tannis. Do you think I'm dumb, Nick?"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Nick said. "I want to protect you. Let's get away from these people. Mother and Hailey want both of us to be safe, and maybe they're at the space station right now. They're supposed to go somewhere today, but maybe they haven't left yet. Get my teleportation stone. I need it."

If Anne gave Nick what he wanted, he would use it to escape.

He hadn't prayed to Lock Tannis.

He hadn't accepted the truth.

He couldn't leave.

"What you need to do is stay here," Anne said. She gestured at the room. "This is where you have to be. If you accepted the truth, you wouldn't be our prisoner. You would be our brother."

If Lock Tannis ordered Anne to kill Nick, she would obey Him. But she might make Nick accept Lock as the greatest person. It wasn't too late.

Restrained, Nick couldn't escape. And his hatred for Lock needed to flee.

Anne held Nick's Soynite pendant between two fingers.

"Members of the Lock Tannis Church don't wear pendants," she said.

"I'm never going to be one of you anyway," Nick said. "I know I'm on the right side, and that's the one our father is on. Mother and Hailey are on it, too. Even Lena is."

"I won't be."

Anne sighed. "The more you speak, the more you doom yourself."

"I'm going to get out of here," Nick said. "You're going to have a new home, Anne. You don't belong here. You don't belong with these Lock worshippers. We're going to be together in a different place. Me, you, and the rest of our family. Mother is going to be with us. Father will, too. Hailey, Nova, and Ken will be there. All of us will be together."

Anne scoffed. "Your parents have to die."

"But you don't want me to. Isn't that right?" Nick said.

Anne sat on the bed. She kissed Nick's cheek.

"You don't have to be a heretic forever," she said. She rubbed her thumb against the Strife handcuff's hard green. "Don't you want to live, Nick? I know you do. And I know you don't like this situation you're in. You're at the Lock Tannis Church's headquarters. You can't escape. And you're on a bed with your shoes on. But you don't have to be this miserable, brother. Help me and my wonderful family. Worship Lock Tannis."

"No," Nick said. "I know what I would do to Lock if he was in this room. And it wouldn't involve worshipping him. He's horrible, Anne."

"Here's some advice," Anne said. "If you want someone to care about you, don't insult the person they love."

"I love you, Anne."

The door opened. Anne's father entered the room.

He could see the past and the future. He could turn invisible. And he would help keep his people alive, people who had to live long enough to see Lock Tannis.

Bane Sinister. Anne's father. Her leader. Lock's most devoted worshipper.

"The others left the hall, but I was listening to your conversation with Anne," Anne's father said.

"And I want to listen to your death," Nick said. "It's going to happen one day, you know. You're going to die, Bane. You're going to get killed. And someone in this room will do it."

Anne almost slapped Nick. "Don't be like that!"

"It's okay, darling," her father said. "Nick can try to offend me all he wants, but he's the one handcuffed to the bed. He's the one in my custody. He's the one who is at my mercy."

Nick couldn't hurt Anne, her father, or Lock Tannis.

"Too many of my brothers and sisters were killed by people who support your father, Nick," Anne's father said. He scowled. "They were killed by heretics! Do I have to remind you that you're a heretic yourself?"

His breath shook like a frightened heretic.

"Felix, Toby, and Camilla deserved better," Anne's father said. "They were killed by the Soynites who own the fastest Soynite spaceship. We couldn't even bury Camilla. I didn't see the damage that awful heretic did to her."

He frowned.

Nick smiled.

"Don't look so happy," Anne's father said. "You might become like Camilla soon."

Anne nodded. She said, "That's true, Father."

"Nick, your parents are heretics we don't plan on sparing, but you don't have to become our next sacrifice," Anne's father said. "You don't have to die as an enemy of Lock Tannis."

Felix Veto.

Toby Dim.

Camilla Jean.

Two dead brothers and one dead sister. Anne would never forget how important they had been to the Lock Tannis Church, and she would kill Nick if the deed would resurrect Felix, Toby, and Camilla. They hadn't died as Lock's enemies.

"Nick, you have to make the wise choice," Anne's father said. "There's still time for you to do that. If you're not one of us by tomorrow, the Lock Tannis Church will sacrifice you. If that happens, Anne will be your killer."