Blood Sins

Chapter Eighteen

AT FIRST, Ruby wasn't even sure she was awake. It was pitch black, for one thing, the sort of darkness that was only possible in sleep. And the silence was curiously muffled, the way it was when thick snow lay on the ground and covered the trees.

And then there was the fact that she couldn't seem to move a muscle other than her eyelids.

"You've been naughty, my child. I'm afraid you must be punished."

With that memory came the pain that had followed his words, and Ruby felt hot tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Pain, not pleasure, not any kind of pleasure, not even the pretend kind. It had felt as though a white-hot knife had jabbed at her head, again and again.

She had tried to keep her shell as hard as she could, had fought with everything inside her, and something told her now that it was only because of that struggle that she was still her.

But as hard as she'd fought, Father had managed to take something from her, she understood that dimly. He had managed to steal some of her strength. Maybe most of her strength.

She thought that was why she couldn't move. Because it didn't feel like she was tied up or anything like that. It was just that her arms and legs felt incredibly heavy and a bit numb, as though they'd been asleep.

Ruby tried to call out for help, but only a bare whisper of air escaped her lips, and she had the sudden terrified notion that he had stolen her voice when he took her strength. He had stolen her voice and left her here

Where?

Was she still in the Ritual Room?

She had no sense of space above her or around her. In fact, she could have been in a coffin for all she knew.

Another terrifying possibility.

She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping it would be better that way, but the blackness and the panic and terror were the same. She had no idea how much time had passed, how much time was passing. She had no idea whether thissurely part of Father's punishmentwas temporary or whether she would just disappear, as so many others had disappeared.

Her mother was gone. Her father. Brooke. She had even sent Lexie away.

Ruby had never felt so alone in her life.

The only taxi Grace could boast pulled up to the gates of the Compound, and Tessa rolled down her window to speak to Carl Fisk.

"Good morning, Mrs. Gray." He was, as always, polite.

"Mr. Fisk. I called ahead and talked to Mr. DeMarco; I came to get my car. And to see Ruth, if possible."

"He said you were expected, Mrs. Gray. Joe, you might want to check with DeMarco after you let Mrs. Gray out; he said something about a couple of the women wanting to go into town this morning."

"Okay, I'll check with him. See you, Carl." The middle-aged driver was also polite, but disinterested enough that Tessa had concluded he probably wasn't a church member. Probably.

As the taxi passed through the gates, Tessa wondered for the first time if her driver was a church member. But it was a fleeting thought, dismissed because she had to focus, had to concentrate on shoring up her shields. Even just barely into the Compound, she could feel the skin-tingling effects of the odd energy fields. She thought it was stronger than it had been the day before and wondered if it was caused by the approaching storm system that had surprised the local weather peopleor by something else.

DeMarco met the taxi at his accustomed spot in the Square; beside him, two of the young wives of the church waited, scrubbed and smiling and curiously indistinguishable from each other.

Tessa paid her driver and got out of the taxi, and the two young women got in. She stood beside DeMarco and watched the car pull away.

"Friday shopping?" she asked him quietly.

"They were discussing whether to go tomorrow. Since the taxi was bringing you, I suggested they go today." His voice was just as quiet as hers.

"So there's two away safe."

"I hope so."

"What about the others?"

"Usual routine. Most of the children will be at their lessons, in their homes. Well out of the way, at least initially. There are probably less than a dozen people inside the church, most of them in the recreation area or upstairs in the office space."

"Where's Samuel?"

"Meditating, as he does every day at this time. Tessa, you need to be very careful. There was something different about him this morning."

"Does he know I'm here?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that he held a Youth Ritual yesterday while I was gone."

"Is that"

"Call it an initiation, in stages. As the girls reach puberty, he begins to lead them through a series of ceremonies supposedly intended to purify their path to womanhood."

Tessa felt queasy. "He begins stimulating them?"

"So I gather. The ceremonies for his Chosen ones are attended only by Samuel, Ruth, and the girlsfour each time. But I've seen the afterglow."

"Christ."

Calmly, DeMarco said, "For that alone he deserves to rot in hell. But something unusual happened yesterday, or at least I think it did. This group is the one including Ruby."

"You never said she"

DeMarco cut her off. "I wasn't about to tell you something that would only make you more determined to rescue her as soon as possible. And I had no reason to suppose this ceremony would be any different from the two or three Ruby has already endured."

Not nearly as calm, Tessa said, "So something was different this time?"

"I haven't seen Ruby this morning. Or one of the other girls who was in her group. Brooke."

"Would you, normally?"

"A communal breakfast, with prayers, in the church's dining hall. Not everyone attends, but many do. Ruby's mother was there, smiling. But no Ruby. And no Brooke. I gather the group has a new girl, Mara, but no explanation was offered as to why she apparently replaced Brooke or what happened to Brooke or to Ruby."

Tessa had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. "You think he hurt them this time?"

"Brooke's gone," he said simply.

"What?"

"I knew it as soon as I saw Samuel this morning. I could feel it in him, that particular energy. He destroyed Brooke."

Tessa swallowed hard. "And Ruby?"

"I don't think so. You still feel the connection, don't you?"

She didn't have to think about that. "Yes."

"Then she's still alive. But I have no idea where she is."

"I have to find her."

"I know. And I can't help you, except by making sure the chief's distraction is felt all through the Compound." DeMarco checked his watch. "We have about half an hour. The cameras are already cutting in and out, but they always do when a storm's on the way, so no alarm."

"And no watching eyes?"

"Give me five minutes to get to the control room and take care of that."

"What about Ruth?"

"She was busy. I didn't wasn't to disturb her. Be careful, Tessa." DeMarco turned and went into the church.

Tessa glanced up at the clouds thickening in the sky, drew a shaky breath of the cold morning air, and slid her hands in the pockets of her lightweight jacket. She tried to open herself just enough to get a sense of the place but not enough to be vulnerableand immediately felt once again the skin-tingling sensation of energy.

It was almost automatic to instantly retreat, to shore up her shields. To protect herself.

But her determination to do her part today, coupled with her growing worry for Ruby, overrode that impulse for self-preservation. Or just made Tessa more stubborn; she wasn't sure which.

She kept that door in her mind open just a little bit. And listened with every sense she had.

Tessa began to wander around the church grounds, taking the long way to her car as she kept that narrow opening in her shields and tried to probe through it.

"Come on, Ruby," she murmured, "where are you? You've reached me before. Reach me now"

She walked slowly and probed as cautiously as she could, sensing people inside the church, inside the neat little houses, all of them with the eerie sameness that had struck her from her first visit.

All the scrubbed and nice people

Help me! Please help me

Ruby.

"I just think you could have mentioned it, Chief, that's all," Robin Keever said somewhat stiffly.

Sawyer closed the Jeep's hatch and faced her, sighing. "Robin, I've already explained that I didn't know feds were in the area until yesterday. Literally yesterday. And I told you about it last night when I got back to the station and found you still hanging around."

"I was off the clock," she muttered.

"That's not the point. The point is that I told you about the feds as soon as I could."

Her gaze slid past him to the Jeep and, still obviously disgruntled, she began, "Well, I just"

"So," he cut her off, "do you want to play or take your marbles and go home?"

She blinked at him, and a small smile worked at the corners of her mouth. "You mean be in on the operation?"

"Yeah. Such as it is." Before she could leap on the offer, he added sternly "Listen to me. We don't want anybody up there in the Compound getting spooked. That means you keep your hand away from your weapon, you keep things casual, and you do exactly what I tell you to do. No more, no less. Got it?"

"Yes, Chief."

"The feds just want to have a quiet look around without making a big fuss about it." He hoped to hell he was as good a liar as DeMarco was. "So they go in as locals. I drive this Jeep, you drive yours, and we each have a couple of uniformed officers with us as we serve the warrant." He glanced up at the grayish sky as a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. "Damn, the weather's moving in earlier than we expected."

"Do feds melt?"

He stared at her.

"Sorry. Sorry, Chief. Is the weather important?"

"You'd be surprised." He paused. "Really surprised. Robin, I need a familiar officer driving the other vehicle, somebody Fiskor whoever's manning the gatewill recognize. But you are not to interfere in any way with the agents, understand?"

"Yeah, I get it." She was frowning now. "I'm not a rookie, and I won't do something stupid."

"I'm not worried about you doing something stupid," he said patiently. "I'm worried about you getting hurt. So stick close to the Jeep, and if anything weird happens, you hit the deck and keep your head down until it's all over."

"Until what's all over? Chief, if you don't believe they have weapons stockpiled up there"

"They don't."

"Then what am I hitting the deck to avoid?" Her voice was getting stiff again.

Sawyer didn't have a clue how to warn her, at least in part because he didn't know what to expect himself. Not that he could confess that, of course. "Just stick close to the Jeep," he repeated finally. "Let's go. We have to meet up with our temporary officers."

By the time Tessa circled the church, she was convinced that the faint whisper she'd heard twice more was coming from somewhere inside. She had met no one on her stroll, which didn't strike her as particularly oddherebut she was a bit wary of going inside.

Help me

Not wary enough to ignore the plea, however.

Crossing her fingers that, between them, DeMarco and Galen had muddled up the security system enough so that she didn't have to worry about being watched, Tessa simply walked up the steps to the open front doors of the church and went inside.

She passed through the vestibule, stepping with more caution into the church proper. As far as she could tell, it was deserted.

She walked slowly down the center aisle, looking around, trying to both reach out with her senses and keep herself protected.

Because, at the extreme edge of her awareness, she could feel something probing. Seeking a way in. And the sensation was the creepiest thing she had ever felt in her life.

It was Samuel, she was certain of it. It was him because that probing touch was cold and dark and lifeless. Soulless.

But hungry.

She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly, fighting not to slam that door shut and curl up in a ball deep inside her own mind so he would never be able to find her

Reese, interrupt his meditation now.

Tessa nearly jumped, that inner voice was so clear and strong. But it wasn't Ruby's voice; it was Bishop's. And it was virtual proof that the energy field here in the Compound was affecting all their abilities.

But it also left wide open the question of just howand how muchthey would be affected.

And how well they would be able to control those changes. Bishop, at least, appeared to be handling the change well, but as for the rest of them

Tessa stood where she was, near the altar, and waited several moments until that probing touch at the edge of her awareness abruptly vanished.

Okay, Rubywhere are you sweetie?

She heard no inner voice in response and felt a chill anxiety. Had she waited too long?

Look for her in the water, Tessa.

Bishop again, reminding her of the instruction that had come from a spirit.

Tessa realized she was staring at the baptistery behind the pulpit. Like many she had seen, the room had a clear glass window overlooking the church so that baptisms could be witnessed by the congregation.

It struck her even before she reached the glass that the tank should have been drained, and yet it was filled. She dreaded looking insideand was immeasurably relieved to find it filled only with water.

She slumped a little, but anxiety swiftly replaced relief. Look for her in the water? If not here, then where?

Tessa

Faintbut close. Very, very close.

Tessa stared at the baptistery for an instant and then began looking for the way back there.

Hurry, Tessa.

Not daring to think it, Tessa whispered, "I'm hurrying."

You don't understand. None of you really understands what he can do.

"Ruby"

Hurry. We need Cody. Cody can help us.

Tessa didn't have a clue who Cody was, but she hurriedand found, at last, the door she'd been seeking.

"It's a legal warrant," Sawyer told Fisk at the gate. "Signed by a judge last night. After we obtained positive identification that the woman's body found in the river Wednesday morning is that of Sarah Warren. One of your members, and last seen here at the Compound."

Fisk grimaced slightly as he returned the document to Sawyer, but the only thing he said was, "Mr. DeMarco will be waiting for you at the Square, Chief."

Sawyer drove through the open gates, keeping an eye to the rearview mirror until the Jeep driven by Robin had also cleared the gates. Good; Fisk hadn't recognized Galen. They'd been fairly sure he wouldn'tbut only fairly sure. Sawyer didn't relax even then and heard the tension in his own voice when he said, "The gates aren't closing. I take that to mean the security system is down?"

"Should be, by now. Knowing Galen."

"Admittedly I don't know much about this stuffbut aren't you taking a hell of a risk?"

From her position in the backseat on the passenger side, Hollis said, "Yes. He is."

"So are you," Bishop pointed out, beside her.

"He doesn't want my ability," she retorted.

"No. He just wants to kill you."

"Then let's hope Quentin is right and I still have a life or two left to risk."

Sawyer muttered, "You two are really boosting my confidence here."

"Sorry," Bishop said, not sound it.

Hollis said, "Don't worry, our makeshift shield is holding. More or less."

"It's the less that's making me nervous," Sawyer told her.

"We'll hope we can shore it up a bit as time passes."

"There isn't all that much time left." He heard the tension in his own voice.

Bishop said, "We're working on it, Chief. It's a bit difficult for us." There was a rare strain in his voice, "We've never before been able to build on or share one another's abilities."

"Now you're telling me this?"

"It was a chance we had to take."

"That we could share," Hollis explained. "And damn if it isn't working. So far, anyway. The communication thing is amazingly clear; even I can hear it. Faintly. But I've gotta tell youeverybody's aura is beginning to look a bit metallic. There's a hell of a lot of energy here."

Sawyer checked the clock on the dash and said, "And more coming. I just want to make damn sure we get to the Square before Samuel decides to have one of his outdoor sermons as the storm approaches. I don't want him anywhere near that so-called natural church, not considering Quentin's vision." Even at second hand, "remembering" that vision was enough to make Sawyer's entire being flinch. Smoldering bodies, Tessa and the others crucified and worse. No. No, they were not going to allow that to happen.

He was sure they weren't.

They made it, the Jeeps pulling into the Square just as Samuel came out of the church, with DeMarco at his side.

"Hang back," Sawyer advised Bishop quickly. "I don't think either one of us wants to put your makeshift shield to the test until we absolutely have to."

"Amen," Hollis murmured.

Sawyer got out of the Jeep and walked quickly to meet Samuel and DeMarco, reminding himself over and over again as he looked at the reverend that he couldn't even begin thinking about the things this benign-looking man had done. He had to stick to the plan, no matter how much he wanted to pull out his gun and

"Reverend Samuel. DeMarco."

Pleasantly, Samuel replied, "I understand you have a federal warrant, Chief. Needless to say, we'll cooperate fully. I was most saddened and deeply disturbed to hear of Sarah's death. She was a wonderful young woman."

Sawyer had to get a grip on himself before he could respond as calmly as he needed to. "I appreciate your cooperation, Reverend." He handed over the warrant, which Samuel no more than glanced at before passing it on to DeMarco.

DeMarco, Sawyer saw was more stony-faced than usual but otherwise seemed the same, the habitual faint smile meaningless.

"Just tell us what you need," Samuel said smoothly.

Sawyer looked back over his shoulder, relieved to see that Robin was standing by the driver's door of her Jeep, as instructed, the bulk of the vehicle between her and whatever might happen here near the steps of the church. Her face was, finally, inscrutable.

And about damn time too.

Quentin was leaning negligently against the passenger door, looking quite unlike himself in the deputy's uniform, hat, and mirrored sunglasses that Sawyer had always disliked seeing on his officers. And, beyond him, Galen had taken a couple of steps away from the Jeep and was looking around with apparent idleness.

Bishop had his back to the group near the church steps; he and Hollis, both hatless and without sunglasses but otherwise dressed as Grace police officers, appeared to be talking casually, with Hollis turned just enough so that no one on the steps could see her face.

It was a very relaxed scene, as intended. And the few church members who had noticed something going on and come to see what it was appeared merely curious and rather wary but not upset.

Good. Good. Everything low-key and casual. And leisurely. Because they had to have time for everyone to get in position. That was the tricky part. The timing.

Almost ready.

Thunder rumbled.

Stall Tessa's voice, faint but clear. I need just a few more minutes.

Sawyer felt a jab of cold panic.

"We'd like to take a look around," he said to Reverend Samuel, hoping to hell he sounded calmer than he felt. "Talk to your people. We need to know who last saw Sarah. We need to find out if anyone has any information they may not realize is important." Deliberately, he added, "You know the drill. We've been through this before, Reverend."

"We have nothing to hide, Chief, I do assure you." Samuel glanced up at the lowering sky, adding mildly, "Though we might, perhaps, be well advised to take this discussion indoors."

Either he was another superb liar or else he really didn't sense a threat. Which meant that DeMarco's dampening fieldand possibly Sawyer'swas having the desired effect. But Sawyer's feeling of triumph was cut short when they all heard another vehicle coming up the neat graveled drive. He turned without even thinking about it, staring at the gleaming black sedan as it pulled up near the police Jeeps.

Jesus, not now. Who the hell?

A chauffeur who looked like a cross between a navy SEAL and a retired heavyweight boxer slid from the driver's seat and, expressionless, opened the car's back door.

Senator Abe LeMott stepped out.