Blood Sins

They had turned with tacit agreement away from the natural church to continue down the slope, and Sawyer walked beside her for several steps in silence before answering. He still felt that wary sense of danger, but it was oddly unfocused.

It's not this place. It's more than that. Different. There's something else now.

It made him want to reach for his gun.

'I feel it,' he answered finally. 'Sets my teeth on edge. But it wasn't always like this. Years ago, I mean. It's only been in the last few months that I really noticed a difference up here in the way the air felt. The way I felt when I was here.'

'Before then it was normal?'

'As far as that goes, yeah. What changed?'

'Him, probably.'

'Do you know why?'

'Not really. Psychic abilities tend to evolve, or do when they're used. And they can be affected by everything from the person's mental and emotional state to a summer storm or other strong electromagnetic field.'

'That's a wide range of possibilities.'

'I don't have any easy answers, Sawyer.' She sent him a look that was a little wry and more than a little reluctant. 'Most of this is new to me too. Until about a year ago, all I knew about psychic abilities was what I was coping with myself.'

'Alone?'

'Pretty much. No family to speak of, and I've been on my own since college.' A frown flitted across her face and then vanished. 'It wasn't until college that I really built my shields, and then it was from necessity. I kept picking up test answers, responses the professors wanted from us, stuff like that. It was cheating, and I didn't like it. So I learned to shut it out.'

'What's wrong?' Sawyer asked.

'Well, cheating'

'Not that. You winced. What is it?'

Tessa wasn't at all sure she was comfortable being observed so closely even though a part of her was keenly aware of his every move and expression, but heard herself replying, 'A little headache, that's all.'

'Starting when?'

'Just now. Probably this place.'

With his own senses or instincts still nagging at him, Sawyer said, 'Is the hair on the back of your neck standing up? Because mine is.'

She looked at him, then looked around them. 'The cameras. Probably. They're all over the place.'

'And if it's not the cameras? Tessa, you told me Samuel can kill without touching someone. Without even being near them. So how would you know if you were a target? How would you know that sort of attack was coming?'

Tessa thought about the report of Sarah's death, of how quickly she had died, without warning, and drew a deep breath, aware now of building tension inside her. 'I don't know,' she replied.

'Could it start with a headache?'

'I don't know.'

'Tessa'

'He has no reason to consider me a threat. So why would he feel the need to kill me?'

'You don't know he doesn't consider you a threat,' Sawyer countered. 'He could have been delving into your mind this whole time.'

'He hasn't been. I'd know.'

'Would you?'

'Yes.' She thought so. She hoped so. But a chill stole over her, and it had nothing to do with the crisp winter day.

Sounding a little frustrated, Sawyer said, 'So I guess that means I can't talk you into leaving right now?'

'I can't leave yet. Do you have any idea how difficult it's been to get someone inside the Compound, let alone the church?'

'Does it have to be you?'

'I'm here. The universe opens doors for a reason.'

Sawyer quite abruptly took her hand, his fingers twining with hers.

Surprised, Tessa said, 'Why did you'

'You're not going through this door alone,' he told her. 'Whether you like it or not, I'm here too. That open door is as much mine as it is yours. And I'm a stubborn man.'

She thought about protesting, but his hand was surprisingly warm, and surprisingly comforting. She liked it. She liked it too much. And all she could think of to say was, 'Better be careful. One thing I've learned is that when two psychics make a connection, even a simple one odd things can happen.'

'Odd things are already happening,' Sawyer said, sounding calmer now. 'For instance, have you noticed there's no livestock here in the Compound? No pets visible?'

Tessa followed his lead obediently, even as she wondered if he meant this as a distractionor if he was just able to keep his mind on business a lot easier than she could. 'I noticed yesterday. Kept hoping today I'd see a few cows or horses, but no luck. There were once pets and livestock, I take it?'

'There were last fall.'

'And they disappeared suddenly?'

'Well, sometime since late September. That was the last time I was up here until we pulled the first body from the river almost two weeks ago.'

'What are you thinking?'

Sawyer didn't hesitate. 'Sacrifice.'

Tessa glanced at him, then allowed her gaze to roam around as they walked, for all the world as if she were mildly curious about her surroundings. Not that there was much to see except a large, unnervingly vacant pasture. She definitely had a sense of being watched but had to assume it was a camera somewhere nearby.

Needed to assume that.

Because the alternative was a lot more unnerving than the empty pasture. And, potentially, a lot more dangerous.

I see you.

* * * *

Samuel reached out further, harder, irritated by his own weakness. He was tired, yes, but this should have been easy.

Relatively easy, at any rate. Because she was just a woman, and women were, after all, designed by nature to let men in.

This one was stubborn, though. Well guarded. He could sense an open door there but couldn't seem to find it. He forced himself to draw back a bit, to probe more delicately, even though it meant fighting his own instincts.

He always wanted to break them. To reach inside and crush, rewarded by the incredible burst of energy they released when death took them.

But that was for his enemies and for those who wanted to leave him and leave God's grace, not his Chosen.

And he wasn't yet sure which this one was.

So he used up precious energy by testing her defenses with all the delicacy of years of practice, probing, searching for the door he could sense was already opening for him

* * * *