But how could he know about her…unless…unless he was one of them?

Oh, Jesus!

She heard something. A noise…a sibilant hiss…

The hairs on the back of her nape lifted.

What the hell was that?

She froze in place, hands up, as if to ward off danger, body quivering, poised on the balls of her feet, softly panting. He was here! Close! He’d already entered the maze. She could hear him now easily, as he was making no effort to disguise his approach.

Her heart knocked painfully against her ribs.

Was he alone? She thought he was alone. He should be alone. She’d set this up so he would be alone, but now she didn’t know.

Didn’t know anything.

That’s where the fear came in, because she always knew.

That was her gift.

And maybe her curse.

That’s why they hadn’t been able to keep the truth from her. That’s why she’d found out who they were, and who she was, even though they’d tried hard to keep her from learning.

For her own safety, they’d said.

And now…now she was beginning to understand what they’d meant.

Because of him.

She strained to listen, her heart quivering, her fear mounting. He was walking through the maze. Unhurried. Undeterred. Making all the right turns. Was there more than one set of footsteps? Someone else? She couldn’t be sure.

And she couldn’t stay where she was. She glanced upward over the tall hedge and saw, as the clouds shifted over the moon, a shaft of the palest light. It threw the bell tower of the church in stark, ominous relief, and near it, just to the south, the roof line of the convent.

She’d seen those landmarks a hundred times before.