"I've heard legends about that, too," Anna said, and her repugnance was equally clear. "About evil shamans who live by stealing power from others."
"That's sick," said Lewis. "If a chi gong master did that, he'd be ostracized. It completely violates the Tao."
Their abhorrence was reverberating in the web, shuddering over Kaitlyn in waves. Very distantly she could sense Gabriel's stony presence.
No wonder he didn't want them to know, she thought, knowing that no one else could sense her through the all-pervading horror and aversion. None of them can understand. They just think it's awful.
She wished she could tell Gabriel she was sorry, but Gabriel was looking out the window, his shoulders tense.
To Kaitlyn's vast relief, Lewis changed the subject. "And of course there are the people whose energy fields are too strong," he said with a sly look at Rob. "You know, the people you agree with even when you don't know why. The ones that put you under a spell with their charisma—their energy just knocks you out."
Rob's eyes in the rearview mirror were innocent. "If I see somebody like that I'll tell you," he said. "Sounds dangerous."
"It is. You can find yourself fighting evil magicians just because some nut thought it was a good idea."
There was an edge to Lewis's voice that showed the remark wasn't entirely benign. Kaitlyn was glad they weren't talking about vampires anymore, but discouraged when everyone lapsed into silence again.
Something's wrong with us, she thought, and shivered.
The silence lasted for endless miles up the coast. The dunes ran out eventually and were replaced by black basalt headlands that plunged down to the sea. Huge waves crashed around strange rocks rising like monoliths out of the water.
At one point they passed a deep fissure in the cliffs, where the pounding sea had whipped the water into a froth like cream.
"Devil's Churn," Lewis said sepulchrally, raising his head from the map.
"Looks like it," Kaitlyn said. She meant to sound lighthearted, but somehow it came out grim.
Silence again. They passed offshore islands, but these were inhabited only by gulls and other birds. No trees, no white house. Kaitlyn shivered again.
"We're never going to find it," Lewis said.
This was so unlike him that Kait felt only surprise, but Anna turned sharply. "I wish you wouldn't be so pessimistic. Or if you have to be, I wish you'd keep your opinions to yourself!"
Kaitlyn's jaw dropped. The next moment she felt a rush of protective anger. "You don't have to be so nasty to him," she told Anna heatedly. "Just because you're so—so stoic all the time…" She stopped and almost bit her tongue. What had made her say that?
Hurt flashed in Anna's dark eyes. Lewis scowled. "I can fight my own battles," he said. "You're always jumping in."
"Yes, she's a real little do-gooder," Gabriel said from the front.
Rage exploded in Kaitlyn. "And you're a coldblooded snake!" she shouted. Gabriel gave her a brilliant, unsettling smile.
"She got that one right, anyway," Rob said. The van was swerving erratically. Rob was looking at Gabriel rather than at the road. "And you shut up, Lewis, if you know what's good for you."
"I think you're all horrible," Anna gasped. She seemed on the verge of tears. "And I've had it, all right? You can let me off here because I'm not going with you any farther."
Tires squealed as Rob hit the brakes. A horn blared behind them.
"Fine," Rob said. "Get out."
Chapter 8
"Go on," Rob said curtly. "Don't keep us all waiting."
The horn blared again behind them.
Anna rose without any of her usual grace. Her movements were jerky, full of repressed energy. She snatched up her duffel bag and began to fumble with the door handle.
Kait sat stiffly, her shoulders tense, her head high. Her heart was pounding with defensive fury. Let Anna go if she wanted. It just showed she'd never cared for the rest of them in the first place.
Ridiculous.
The thought came out of nowhere, like a tiny glint of light in her mind, there and gone in an instant. It was enough to shock Kaitlyn into some kind of sense.
Ridiculous—of course Anna cared for the rest of them. Anna cared about everything, from the earth itself to the animals she loved to just about any person that crossed her path.
But then why was Kait so angry with her? Kait could feel all the physical symptoms. The pounding heart, the shortness of breath—the flushed face and tight feeling at her temples. More, there was a wild need to move in her muscles, like the desire to hit something.
Physical symptoms. It was another glint, surfacing from Kaitlyn's subconscious. And suddenly she understood.
"Anna, wait. Wait," she said just as Anna wrestled the door open. She tried to make her voice calm, when it kept wanting to come out panicked or seething.
Anna stopped but didn't turn.
"Don't you see—everybody, don't you see?" Kaitlyn looked around at the others. "This isn't real. We're all upset, but we're not really upset at each other. We're just feeling angry, so our minds think there must be a reason to be angry."
"It's just nerves, I suppose," Gabriel sneered. His lip was curled and his gray eyes were savage. "We couldn't possibly really hate each other."
"No! I don't know what it is, but—" Kaitlyn broke off, realizing that in addition to all the other physical symptoms she was shivering. It was cold in the van, colder than could be explained by the open door. And there was a strange odor in her nostrils, a sewer stench.
"Do you smell that? It's the same thing I smelled yesterday when Lewis did his sleepwalking bit. And it's cold like yesterday, too." Kaitlyn could see confusion mingling with the anger in the faces around her, and she turned to the one person she trusted absolutely.
Rob, she said fervently, please listen. I know it's hard because you feel like you're angry, but just try. Something's going on.
Slowly Rob's face cleared. The smoldering fury went out of his amber-colored eyes, leaving them golden and somewhat bewildered. He blinked and put a hand to his forehead.
"You're right," he said. "It's like that psychology experiment—give someone an injection of adrenaline, and then put them in a room with someone acting angry. The first person gets angry, too, but it's not real anger. It's been induced."