"Mercedes Lackey - Tregarde 2 - Burning Water" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

He blushed. "One of the ranchers getting hit was an old rodeo cowboy; you know, the oil
economy isn't the only thing that's in trouble down here, the ranchers are having problems with keeping
their spreads. This guyтАФdamn it, I felt sorry for him; he spent half his life risking his neck just so he
could save up for a place of his ownтАФthen these sickos start wrecking his herd. Well, I couldn't get
anyone to stake out the place, and I had the feeling this was more than just the work of a garden-variety
sicky, so I snuck out there on the full moonтАФ"
"And?" she prompted.
"IтАФI warded it." He could feel his face burning. Good Catholic boys didn't go around casting
pagan magic. Good cops didn't either.
"Well?"
"They never hit his place again."
"Hmm. If it looks like a duckтАФ"
"Yeah. It wasn't just some sicko; a sicko wouldn't have cared squat about a warding, right?"
"A sicko wouldn't have noticed it, right. He might even have been caught by it; that's the thing
about the warding I taught you bunch of refugees from the loonybin, it's a little like a watchdog. If
somebody sensitive comes, it warns them off; if they come in anyway, it bites them; if they're wearing
armor or just don't notice it, it raises hell with the master. If it had just been a nonsensitive sicko, the
minute he crossed the boundary with ill-intent, your cowboy would have felt a pressing need to go visit
that pastureтАФarmed."
"Well, we've had animal mutilations before, just not so close to Dallas or so many; the Chief was
inclined to let the county mounties handle it. But then it escalated, and we started getting dead people."
"Ah. So our weirdie upped the ante."
"They," he corrected, pulling off on his exit ramp. "What we've been seeing is too much work for
one person alone. AndтАФI know you told me that my main psi-talent is mediumism and not sensitivity,
butтАФwell, I've been feeling something around the murder sites. SomethingтАФI don't knowтАФ"
"Evil?"
"I guess. Something I don't want to touch, anyway. Makes my skin crawl, and frankly scares the
shit out of me."
"How's the shielding I put on you holding up? Any chance you could be getting leakages? That
might account for it. Violent death tends to make for violent spirits. And you could be a very sensitive
medium if you ever unshielded. Spirits could just slide into you like they were coming home. That was
why that critter was targeting you the night we met, not one of the others."
He shook his head. "No way; that's the first thing I checked for. Shields are as good as when you
put them on me right after that Halloween party. Anyway, that's when I talked to the Chief and managed
to get him to agree to your coming in on this."
"Not under my true colors, I take it?"
"Are you kidding? I don't want you burned on my lawn! This's Bible-thumper country; one hint of
the stuff you're really into, and we'll both end up covered in tar and feathers if we're lucky. No, you're an
'expert on modern cults.' That double major of yours in anthro and psych helped convince them you had
the credentials. They still think this is just another Manson thing."
"Gah. I wish. Not by all my preliminary investigation. Yeah, it's cult-related, I'm sure of itтАФbut
I'm also sure there's a purpose and they know exactly what they're doing. But I was hoping it would just be
one person. Group-minds are a lot harder to pin down, and a lot better at covering their tracks."
He shook his head. "Sorry. All our evidence points to at least three."
"So your department is feeling out of their depth, huh? They must be pretty antsy; a little bird in
the Hartford PD told me they'd been making inquiries." She grinned. "I suspect they liked what they
heard."
"Liked it enough that they're going to put you on a retainer. Your rep for never getting involved
with the press or blowing your own horn helped."
"GodтАФ" she shuddered. "No thanks. I have enough problems without getting followed around by