'We do have some upcoming events,' the gray-haired woman said. 'Tonight, we're having a special lock-in, and following that, we have a Sunday dawn ritual.'
'That sounds interesting,' I said. 'Literally, at dawn?'
'Oh, yes, exactly. We call the weather service and everything,' Sarah said, laughing.
Steve said, 'You'll never forget one of our dawn services. It's inspiring beyond belief.'
'What kind of—well, what happens?' Hugo asked.
'You'll see the evidence of God's power right before you,' Steve said, smiling.
That sounded really, really ominous. 'Oh, Hugo,' I said. 'Doesn't that sound exciting?'
'It sure does. What time does the lock-in start?'
'At six-thirty. We want our members to get here before
For a second I envisioned a tray of rolls set in some warm place. Then I realized Steve meant he wanted members to get here before the vampires rose for the night.
'But what about when your congregation goes home?' I could not refrain from asking.
'Oh, you must not have gone to a lock-in as a teenager!' Sarah said. 'It's loads of fun. Everyone comes and brings their sleeping bags, and we eat and have games and Bible readings and a sermon, and we all spend the night actually in the church.' I noticed that the Fellowship was a church, in Sarah's eyes, and I was pretty sure that reflected the view of the rest of the management. If it looked like a church, and functioned like a church, then it was a church, no matter what its tax status was.
I'd been to a couple of lock-ins as a teenager, and I'd scarcely been able to endure the experience. A bunch of kids locked in a building all night, closely chaperoned, provided with an endless stream of movies and junk food, activities and sodas. I had suffered through the mental bombardment of teenage hormone-fueled ideas and impulses, the shrieking and the tantrums.
This would be different, I told myself. These would be adults, and purposeful adults, at that. There weren't likely to be a million bags of chips around, and there might be decent sleeping arrangements. If Hugo and I came, maybe we'd get a chance to search around the building and rescue Farrell, because I was sure that he was the one who was going to get to meet the dawn on Sunday, whether or not he got to choose.
Polly said, 'You'd be very welcome. We have plenty of food and cots.'
Hugo and I looked at each other uncertainly.
'Why don't we just go tour the building now, and you can see all there is to see? Then you can make up your minds,' Sarah suggested. I took Hugo's hand, got a wallop of ambivalence. I was filled with dismay at Hugo's torn emotions. He thought,
I jettisoned my previous plans. If Hugo was in such turmoil, we didn't need to be here. Questions could wait until later. 'We should go back to my place and pack our sleeping bags and pillows,' I said brightly. 'Right, baby?'
'And I've got to feed the cat,' Hugo said. 'But we'll be back here at … six-thirty, you said?'
'Gosh, Steve, don't we have some bedrolls left in the supply room? From when that other couple came to stay here for a while?'
'We'd love to have you stay until everyone gets here,' Steve urged us, his smile as radiant as ever. I knew we were being threatened, and I knew we needed to get out, but all I was receiving from the Newlins psychically was a wall of determination. Polly Blythe seemed to actually be almost—gloating. I hated to push and probe, now that I was aware they had some suspicion of us. If we could just get out of here right now, I promised myself I'd never come back. I'd give up this detecting for the vampires, I'd just tend bar and sleep with Bill.
'We really do need to go,' I said with firm courtesy. 'We are so impressed with you all here, and we want to come to the lock-in tonight, but there is still enough time before then for us to get some of our errands done. You know how it is when you work all week. All those little things pile up.'
'Hey, they'll still be there when the lock-in ends tomorrow!' Steve said. 'You need to stay, both of you.'
There wasn't any way to get out of here without dragging everything out into the open. And I wasn't going to be the first one to do that, not while there was any hope left we could get out. There were lots of people around. We turned left when we came out of Steve Newlin's office, and with Steve ambling behind us, and Polly to our right, and Sarah ahead of us, we went down the hall. Every time we passed an open door, someone inside would call, 'Steve, can I see you for a minute?' or 'Steve, Ed says we have to change the wording on this!' But aside from a blink or a minor tremor in his smile, I could not see much reaction from Steve Newlin to these constant demands.
I wondered how long this movement would last if Steve were removed. Then I was ashamed of myself for thinking this, because what I meant was, if Steve were killed. I was beginning to think either Sarah or Polly would be able to step into his shoes, if they were allowed, because both seemed made of steel.
All the offices were perfectly open and innocent, if you considered the premise on which the organization was founded to be innocent. These all looked like average, rather cleaner-cut-than-normal, Americans, and there were even a few people who were non-Caucasian.
And one nonhuman.
We passed a tiny, thin Hispanic woman in the hall, and as her eyes flicked over to us, I caught a mental signature I'd only felt once before. Then, it came from Sam Merlotte. This woman, like Sam, was a shapeshifter, and her big eyes widened as she caught the waft of 'difference' from me. I tried to catch her gaze, and for a minute we stared at each other, me trying to send her a message, and her trying not to receive it.
'Did I tell you the first church to occupy this site was built in the early sixties?' Sarah was saying, as the tiny woman went on down the hall at a fast clip. She glanced back over her shoulder, and I met her eyes again. Hers were frightened. Mine said, 'Help.'
'No,' I said, startled at the sudden turn in the conversation.
'Just a little bit more,' Sarah coaxed. 'We'll have seen the whole church.' We'd come to the last door at the end of the corridor. The corresponding door on the other wing had led to the outside. The wings had seemed to be exactly balanced from the outside of the church. My observations had obviously been faulty, but still …
'It's certainly a large place,' said Hugo agreeably. Whatever ambivalent emotions had been plaguing him seemed to have subsided. In fact, he no longer seemed at all concerned. Only someone with no psychic sense at all could fail to be worried about this situation.
That would be Hugo. No psychic sense at all. He looked only interested when Polly opened the last door, the door flat at the end of the corridor. It should have led outside.
Instead, it led down.
Chapter 6
'You know, I have a touch of claustrophobia,' I said instantly. 'I didn't know many Dallas buildings had a basement, but I have to say, I just don't believe I want to see it.' I clung to Hugo's arm and tried to smile in a charming but self-deprecating way.
Hugo's heart was beating like a drum because he was scared shitless—I'll swear he was. Faced with those stairs, somehow his calm was eroding again. What was with Hugo? Despite his fear, he gamely patted my shoulder and smiled apologetically at our companions. 'Maybe we should go,' he murmured.
'But I really think you should see what we've got underground. We actually have a bomb shelter,' Sarah said, almost laughing in her amusement. 'And it's fully equipped, isn't it, Steve?'
'Got all kinds of things down there,' Steve agreed. He still looked relaxed, genial, and in charge, but I no longer saw those as benign characteristics. He stepped forward, and since he was behind us, I had to step forward or risk him touching me, which I found I very much did not want.
'Come on,' Sarah said enthusiastically. 'I'll bet Gabe's down here, and Steve can go on and see what Gabe wanted while we look at the rest of the facility.' She trotted down the stairs as quickly as she'd moved down the hall, her round butt swaying in a way I probably would have considered cute if I hadn't been just on the edge of terrified.
Polly waved us down ahead of her, and down we went. I was going along with this because Hugo seemed absolutely confident that no harm would come to him. I was picking that up very clearly. His earlier fear had
