After a short silence, it was Brodie who spoke, his voice matter-of-fact. “Until we know who they really are and why they’re taking psychics, all we can do is fight a holding action. They don’t win—but neither do we. And all the while, for every psychic we get to in time, we lose half a dozen more.”

Sarah shook her head. “I never realized there were so many people with psychic abilities.” She saw Brodie, Cait, and Leigh exchange glances, and added immediately, “There’s something weird about that, isn’t there?”

With a slight smile, Leigh said, “Never use the word weird in the presence of people with psychic abilities, especially a born psychic; we’ve heard it entirely too many times in our lives.”

“Tell me,” Sarah insisted, ignoring the wry humor. “I’m tired of being in the dark, and I have a right to know.”

“It’s all supposition, Sarah,” Brodie said.

“All of this is supposition, according to you. So? What is this about the number of psychics?”

Brodie leaned back and gestured slightly toward Leigh, who spoke slowly.

“We don’t know what’s causing it or what it means, Sarah. All we know is that the number of people with psychic abilities is increasing, not only generation by generation, but year by year. More are born. And more are, for want of a better word, made. Created. Changed from latent to active. Twenty-five years ago, there might have been one or two people who became psychic in a given year due to a head injury or some other kind of trauma; this year, so far, you are one of fifteen.”

“What?”

Leigh nodded. “Fifteen that we know of.”

“How many did you get to in time?”

“Three. Not counting you.”

“The others…they were taken?”

Leigh nodded again. “One of them was snatched almost under Brodie’s nose. He wasn’t happy.”

With a grunt, Brodie said, “I hate to lose.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Cait told him loyally. “The guy couldn’t bring himself to believe he could be involved in something so bizarre. He just didn’t believe in the threat against him.”

“We lose some because of that,” Brodie agreed. “Psychic abilities vary; sometimes the people we’re trying to help have no way of knowing the truth of what we try to tell them. They don’t know they can trust us. So they run. Right into one of Duran’s traps.” He looked at Sarah. “That’s why we had to be so careful with you, why we held back the couple of times we got close enough to make contact. It was my decision, and I’ve learned never to approach a wary psychic in the dark. Makes a bad first impression.”

Sarah smiled slightly. “Yes, it would have.”

He nodded. “But we’re here now. You do know you can trust us, or at least you’re giving us the benefit of the doubt. And you do know what we’re up against.”

Softly, Cait said, “And you know, now, how valuable you are.”

Sarah drew a deep breath. “If all this was intended to persuade me not to go after Tucker—it failed.”

“Sarah, you can’t fight them.” Brodie’s voice was steady.

“I can try.”

“You’ll lose. They’ll take you and kill Mackenzie. They’re just waiting for you to come after him. You know that. He’s bait.”

She stared at him for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Leigh. “I came here hoping you could tell me some way to fight them. Teach me how to use my abilities against them.”

“I don’t know how, Sarah. I’m sorry. I can help you learn to use your abilities, but that will take time. It’s a matter of concentration, of focus. Of learning how to tap into those places deep inside you—and outside you.”

“The crossroads. I already found it.”

For the first time, Leigh was obviously surprised. “The crossroads?”

A bit impatiently, Sarah said, “That place we all pass through, the—the junction of past, present, and future.”

“You tapped into that?”

“Yes. Tucker needed to know something and…and I just reached out to find it for him.” For the first time, she realized that each time she had found a new use for her abilities, it was because Tucker had asked it of her or needed it of her.

“And you found it? Something…from the past?”

Sarah nodded. “Someone he knew a long time ago. I had to find out what had happened to her.”

Brodie turned his frowning gaze to Leigh. “That doesn’t sound like what I’d expect from a precognitive psychic.”

“No,” Leigh said slowly, still staring at Sarah. “It isn’t. Sarah, can you tap into that place at will?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really know how I found it the first time. It was…for Tucker.”

“You’re in love with Tucker.”

It wasn’t a question, but Sarah found herself nodding even as she felt the shock of awareness. Yes. I’m in love with him.

“You two are lovers?”

Cait, a bit uncomfortably, murmured, “Surely that isn’t important?”

Leigh didn’t even look at her. “It’s vital. Sarah?”

Again, she nodded. “But just…one night. Last night. Before they got to him.”

“I wonder if that was by accident or design,” Leigh murmured.

Brodie was still looking at her. “Why’s it important?”

“It’s important because unless I miss my guess, there’s now an unbreakable link between Sarah and Tucker. Sarah, can you sense him right now?”

“Yes. Just faintly, on the edge of my awareness. He’s sleeping now, or unconscious. He woke up once, briefly. It was cold and dark, and somebody was watching him.” She shivered, remembering.

“Could you sense him like this before last night?”

“No. Though I did…hear…him thinking about me last night before we…before we became lovers.”

After a moment, Leigh looked at Brodie. “We don’t have a choice. If we want to save Sarah, we have to save Tucker as well.”

“Why?” He glanced at Sarah. “I don’t mean to sound cruel, but my job is to protect you—not Mackenzie.”

“He’s single-minded,” Cait murmured.

“I didn’t ask you to protect me,” Sarah reminded him. “If it comes to that, you haven’t been—Tucker has. So he’s been doing your job.”

“He’s been dragging your ass all over the country is what he’s been doing, bouncing around like a tennis ball. He should have sat tight in Richmond and made so much noise the other side wouldn’t have dared to move against you.”

“We didn’t know who we could trust,” Sarah snapped, not bothering to explain that their ultimate destination had been decided by her own budding but then inexplicable instincts. “And hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

“You two stop arguing.” Leigh’s voice was mild. “Brodie, we have to go after Tucker. If Sarah doesn’t take the bait and come after him, they’ll kill him, right?”

Brodie nodded. “Not much doubt about that. They don’t leave anybody alive who could testify to illegal acts such as kidnapping.”

Leigh glanced at Sarah, then looked back at Brodie. “If they kill him, they’ll sever the tie between him and Sarah. From what Sarah’s been telling us, I believe that the tie is deeper than you can imagine and now is absolutely vital to her existence.”

Brodie stared at her. “He dies…she dies. That’s what you’re saying.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

It should have shocked Sarah, but instead she felt only a faintly unsettled but unquestioning certainty that Leigh was right. She had never thought much about the term soul mates, but she knew now that that was what she and Tucker were. They were connected, mated at the soul, and neither of them would be able to survive now without the other.

Whatever else destiny intended for them, it was clear they were meant to be together.

Somewhat grimly, Brodie said, “I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff since getting involved in this, but I’ve never seen two people bound together because of a psychic link. Not to the death.”

“If they kill Tucker,” Leigh said quietly, “there’ll be evidence enough to convince even you.”

After a moment, he leaned back in his chair and, morosely, said, “Shit.”