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"I should go back to work"

"Not quite yet" he said

And within seconds she was convinced that she needn’t go back at all

There were other signs that the household was far from a sane one As Tara went by the front door, she noticed that the little basket on the old oak stand near the front door, which was customarily filled with flowers, now held nu it

They had come from Notre Dame, and were filled with holy water Exasperated, Tara set the little bottle back in the basket and continued out of the house She walked to the stables, but realized when she entered that old Daniel had been let into the pasture Even as she stood deep within the structure, staring at Daniel’s empty stall, she felt Brent’s arrival She turned to find that he had co the exit

It was as it had been that first day in the crypt At first, he seeer than real, a presence that eclipsed the entry, the daylight beyond, the world And she felt again the same sense of fear, and she almost closed her eyes, as if she could hear the screa back to the police, you know," she said fro to tell them that I was in the tomb, and that I saw you there I’ll be honest, of course, and tell the to erous randfather intotrouble and er a dark silhouette against the daylight He was a

She had , but she could hear her oords echoing back at her and they were uncertain and halting

She took a step back

"Look, you’re dangerous And you think you have sonetism and that people will believe your ridiculous words and lies But we’re not all so easy" He was still walking toward her, lean, sile, and now, as the silence in the stables and the shadows seemed to surround her, he didn’t seereith each step He was co to slip his hands around her throat and throttle her He’d been char, as she had adenda, and now, he was si to kill her

There was a pitchfork stuck into a pile of hay bales behind her to the left She saw it clearly fro eyes As he took another step, she dodged back, dragging the tool-to-be-a-weapon into her hands, and before her, a warning that she would strike if he came any closer

"I’ed to make the threat a real one

Still, he merely smiled, but actually paused for ato skewer me with a pitchfork"

"I will--I swear that I will Noant you off this property, and away fro to happen, Tara"

He kept coh she now held her weapon, and knew that she did have the strength to use it, she backed aatching him ary, narrowed eyes as he slowly, confidently, took each step

"You have to admit that you’re insane You need help," she told him

She could use it, would use it

"You know that I’ the truth"

"That there are va the truth, because you were there You heard the cry in the to was following you You knew it You knew that there was danger in the shadows There was so that you couldn’t see, but you could feel it And when you came home, and that wo You stopped her fro"

He was just feet away She cursed herself, but felt the strange aze, the strange gold color of his eyes that was really just hazel, but seemed able to touch and burn as surely as any yellow flaainst every word he had said to her A killer was loose, it was natural to be hen a killer was loose, she hadn’t been feeling any supernatural warnings of danger beneath the surface of light and shadows

"Get away," she told him

He reached out a hand "Give htened around the wooden handle She bit her lip, desperate to hold on, to prove hi But she couldn’t tear her eyes away fro, and it seemed that every breath was an effort

"You are definitely your grandfather’s descendant," he said very quietly "And you are stubborn and strong-willed But you are going to give me the pitchfork"

"You’re not all that wonderful," she whispered in return "Don’t think that you are"

"But I aive it to me" She didn’t intend to do so, but as he took the last step, when she should have pulled her arms back and tensed her arms to strike, she found that her li the coan to treainst her will, she began to extend the weapon to hirasped the handle, and the pitchfork was his For one wild ht that he meant to turn it on her, to strike and send the tines of the tool shooting into her abdo the weapon far froold in his eyes, and he ca out for her She wanted to screaotten about work As Rick Beaudreaux lay next to Ann DeVant, he propped himself easily on an elbow, and watched the woman at his side

Such a beauty And so easily his