He took her chin in an iron grip, forcing her to stare into his icy eyes. “Then you’re not very smart.
Listen to me
. I’m the one who’s supposed to take the risks.”
She jerked her chin away. “Oh, better you get blown up than me?”
“It’s my job to protect innocents. Besides, I’m faster and stronger. I have a better chance of surviving a blast than you do.” He took her arm and pushed her sweater back. She winced when he began blotting the main cut. “Be still,” he ordered.
The pain distracted her momentarily, but when he stopped with the peroxide and studied the cleaned cut, she found her voice. “What about you? You’re in a mortal body, and you can be killed. You told me that yourself.”
He reached for the antibiotic cream. “Oh, I can be killed. But that goes with the territory. I’m a Sentinel. I was born to do this. If you can’t follow orders, I’ll leave your fine ass behind.”
Marla started to snipe back, but Julia intervened. “What did Adam say?” she asked, giving Marla’s hand a warning squeeze.
“He and Barrie went by the church. He wanted to see if he could pick up anything before the area is completely cordoned off. He said it’s a madhouse there.”
“You think?” Julia shook her head sadly. “I hope everyone got out of the church. And I hope to God I never see anything like that again.” She shot Marla a sharp glance. “And that my sister lets the professionals handle things from here.”
“Oh, she will.” Luke gave Marla another long look. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Arrogant Sentinel. Glaring at him, she grabbed the hydrogen peroxide, wishing it was iodine. “It’s
my
turn to doctor you.”
THEY spent the afternoon in what Marla thought of as a war council. Adam and Barrie returned to the house, and Damien and Kara arrived from Austin. A police scanner was on, as was the television, and all developments were monitored.
Two people were dead, one of the ministers and a maintenance man. Tragic, but far better than Marla had feared. It was good to know her dash into the church had saved lives, and made it well worth the lectures, and the stated dire consequences should she disobey orders again, that she received. Apparently Sentinels were immovable when it came to the safety of the humans in their charge, and could get pretty heavy handed. But she’d do it again in a heartbeat.
She looked around the kitchen table, where everyone had gathered. The four Sentinels, or actually three Sentinels and a Sanctioned, formed a ring of intimidating power. Barrie, although untried, appeared as focused and resolute as the others.
The energy humming through the room made Marla’s skin tingle. Kara, a seasoned conductor, seemed unaffected. Julia also appeared undaunted, but then she had literally faced down death. But Marla felt like a lightweight next to these commanding personalities.
“I wasn’t able to pick up much energy at the BCS,” Luke said. “I’d just started working it when Julia realized the church was about to blow.” He looked her way. “I’m very grateful for your attention to details. And that you told me when the mower reached the end of the church. Otherwise, Marla and I might not be here.”
Julia’s hand tightened around her coffee mug. “In the years that I’ve had this ability, or curse, or whatever you want to call it, I’ve only seen relatively minor future occurrences—someone falling, losing a job”—she shot a quick glance toward Adam—“a car accident. At least, they were relatively minor when compared to a church blowing up.”
“Unfortunately, death and destruction go with Belian territory,” Kara said.
“Yes,” Adam agreed. “But today’s blast doesn’t make sense. I think it’s a reasonable assumption that the bombs either went off early, or the Belian was alerted to our presence and set off the explosions ahead of time. More likely it planned to detonate on Sunday, when the building would have been full of people.”
“I agree,” Damian said. “Unless this explosion was a planned diversion, and there’s a bigger target—or targets.”
“I wouldn’t put it past the bastard,” Luke said. “But we don’t know that for a fact.”
“And we don’t have much to work with,” Adam said. “Barrie and I were able to pick up Belian energy from a donut shop across the street from the church. It either did surveillance or detonated from there—assuming the blast wasn’t accidental.”
“Are you saying he could have been watching us, and set off the bombs because he realized we had found the target?” Marla asked.
“It’s a possibility.”
A chill swept through her. “So
we
could be responsible for the blast today.”
“Wrong,”
Luke said fiercely. “The Belian is totally responsible for those bombs, for their detonation, and for the loss of lives. And it will pay.”
“Quite a paradox,” Julia mused. “Did my vision show what was already fated to happen, or did we create the situation by acting on the vision?”
“So did your actions become the catalyst that fulfilled the prophecy? It’s another version of the question, ‘Which came first—the chicken or the egg?’ and a universal mystery,” Adam told her. “I choose to believe that things happen for a reason, and pretty much unfold the way they are intended to manifest.”
His steady gaze went around the table. “No sense second guessing ourselves. What we have to do is finish this thing here and now. Luke, you and Marla see if she can link with the Belian again and find out anything about what happened today.”
So she had the honor of coming into close contact with the monster. Marla punched down rising panic. She’d survived William Bennett—she would survive this.
“Barrie, since you absorbed some of the Belian’s energy today, see if you can work on a signature and do a deep meditation. Be sure you’re fully shielded.”
Excitement flashed in Barrie’s eyes. “Yes, sir!”
“Damien, check out the area around the church. See if you can get close to that donut shop and the church grounds and pick up anything. Then you and Kara work with the energy. If you can’t get close enough, use what you picked up in Austin.
“I’ll continue to work the energy from my end. I want to be notified immediately if there are any new developments. Keep your scanners on through the night, and meet back here at eight tomorrow morning. Are we all clear on what we’re doing?”
Everyone responded in the affirmative.
“All right, then. Walk in Light.” Adam’s midnight gaze went to Julia. “Shall we go? Tomorrow will be a long day.”
Marla remained in her chair as everyone else rose and prepared to go their separate ways. She was exhausted, her body ached, and she longed for a long soak in the bathtub.
But first, she and Luke had a Belian to contact.
HE was furious. He had never failed—
never
! Today wasn’t his fault.
No.
It was those cursed Sentinels. How had they gotten so close to him? He was too careful, too smart. He’d been fooling them for years. It was a test, that’s what it was. Belial was challenging him.
He would show them. Everyone would know that he was the best. He couldn’t be stopped.
That calmed him a little, until he thought again about what had happened today. Then the rage almost consumed him. He rampaged through the hotel room, kicking over furniture and stabbing two pillows into shreds.
After that, he cut himself, to prove he was still strong. The pain was good, calming. It was punishment for allowing them to get so close; it was a distraction from the inner rage and the pounding in his head. He longed for a live body to sink his six-inch hunting knife into. The screaming, the fear and the blood, the stench of death, would make him feel better.
He stared at the blood oozing from his arms and at the tufts of foam and fabric scattered across the bed, forced himself to take a deep breath. How had they found the church? He’d just finished planting the bombs an hour earlier, and was enjoying a crème-filled donut, along with the view of the church, from the donut shop across the street.
He’d taken the detonators with him, like he always did, so he could slip his hand into his pack and feel them while he envisioned the upcoming explosion and let the anticipation excite him.
He’d seen the silver truck pull into the church parking lot, hadn’t thought much of it. But when the man and two women got out, he thought he felt a glimmer of the power. That had gotten his attention, and he’d watched the three people intently. He didn’t feel anything else, but he kept a watchful eye. Unfortunately, the truck was parked in such a way that he couldn’t see the license plate.
When the man went down one side of the church, and the two women, one moving slowly with a cane, went down the other side, he knew something was definitely wrong. He stood and moved to the plate-glass window, holding his backpack. They couldn’t possibly know.
But then the man stopped at the exact spot where he himself had studied the building foundation and planned the best place to weaken the structure with a blast. He’d felt another flare of the power then, knew without a doubt the blond man was a Sentinel.
Before he could react, the two women returned to the front parking lot. The one with the cane pointed at the riding mower on the church lawn. He’d stepped outside then, trying to hear them. The other woman had run inside the church. As she flung open the main door, he heard her shout something about a bomb.
They knew! But how? He had paced the sidewalk, one hand in his backpack, as he debated his options. When the blond man—the cursed Sentinel spawn of The One—ran inside, he knew what he would do. He would detonate now. He hated having his plans disrupted, but he was flexible and could think fast on his feet.
The church explosion would send the Sentinel and the woman to the fires of Belial. It would still be a clear warning to the blasphemous messengers, would strike terror in all those who persisted in believing.
They didn’t know that he already had bombs planted at another target. He’d let the fear rampage, and then wait until things calmed down and the fools began returning to their routines, like mindless sheep. Then he’d strike.
So he had detonated the bombs, feeling the rush of sexual excitement that always accompanied detonation. But he hadn’t allowed himself release, because he hadn’t carried out the plan exactly. When he saw the Sentinel spawn come from the back of the church, carrying the brown-haired woman, a wave of fury rolled through him.
How dare they escape! Sirens wailed in the distance as the man and women climbed into the silver truck. The authorities were arriving way too quickly. He stepped forward, intending to cross the street and get the license plate of their vehicle. But a fire truck came roaring down the street, sirens and lights flashing.
Damnation!
He stepped back as the fire truck blocked his line of vision. When he could see around it, the silver truck was gone.
Thinking about it now, in the trashed hotel room, renewed rage filled him. They would pay. Every single one of them. After he blew up the next target, he would track them down like dogs. They would suffer slow, torturous deaths, until finally their cursed souls were dispatched to Belial.
JULIA walked stiffly down the carpeted hallway, well aware of Adam Masters behind her. Not that she could hear him. He was one of those ultrastealth types who moved without any whisper of sound, just another irritating part of his devious persona. But she could feel him, feel the heat he radiated, and that damned energy that hummed between them whenever they were in close proximity.
Maybe it was the hellish day behind them, or her utter fatigue and aching body, but the energy grated on her even more tonight. “Do you have to walk so close?” she snapped over her shoulder. “And since you appear to have more money than God, couldn’t you have gotten rooms—oh, excuse me, suites large enough for ten people—closer to the elevators?”
“I did the best I could on a day’s notice. I’d be happy to carry you if the walk is too much of a hardship.”
“Your condescending attitude doesn’t become you, but then none of your obnoxious traits do.”
“Ah, Julia, that’s what I like about you. No games, just brutal honesty. Well, here we are.” He stopped beside a door.
“No, here
you
are. In case you’ve forgotten, my suite is the next one, and I will continue to keep the connecting door bolted.”
“As is your privilege,” he said in that smooth way that made her see red. “But we are not quite through for the evening.”
“Oh, I think we are. Good night.”
“Wait.” His hand shot out, clamped over her arm. “We need to do one more thing.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. Nor did she like the ramped-up energy surge his touch engendered. She turned, stared into his black-as-sin eyes. “We are
not
doing a conduction—not tonight, not ever.”
“Not even to stop the Belian?”
Demon memories rushed at her—William Bennett’s twisted, hateful face as he rammed himself into her. No man had touched her in any intimate manner since that night. The very thought of it sent tremors of panic through her.
“I would do almost anything to stop this monster. But I—I don’t think . . . don’t know if I could do a conduction.” She clenched her free hand, hating her cowardice and her inability to overcome the past. Hating the fact that even after eleven years and numerous therapy sessions, her wounds were still raw.
Adam’s expression seemed to soften, or maybe it was an illusion of the dim hallway lighting. “I wasn’t suggesting a conduction. We’re going to do something less . . . engaging.” Keeping his grip on her arm, he waved his free hand over the magnetic lock, and the green light flashed. No key card for him.
“Show off,” Julia muttered. She made a mental note to push a chest in front of the door connecting their suites.
“I just prefer expediency.” He opened the door and stepped back. “After you. I have a bottle of merlot, your preferred choice of drink, I believe.”
