“Can you get through anybody’s shields, or am I special?” Finn managed to keep any sarcasm out of his tone. Barely.

“No idea,” Bishop admitted. “I’d never tried with you before—when we met and talked outside Salem and before today—but I thought it might be advisable to know here and now if your unique shields were completely impenetrable. Even so, since you’re an empath more accustomed to shielding emotions than thoughts, I might well discover the shields of a telepath more difficult to get through.”

“So, is it your strength or my shields? Can any of your team read me?”

“Reese may be able to; he’s the strongest telepath among the other teams. But he’s also the most protected because of his own shield, the least likely to probe just for the hell of it, and his range is more limited than mine is. Hollis may pick up on emotions because . . . well, because she’s Hollis.”

“An empath?”

“A relatively new one, but very strong even though it’s not her primary ability. And since her shields tend to be a bit unstable, she may well pick up on more than she intends or wishes to.”

“Isn’t she one of the mediums?”

“Yeah, Hollis has . . . several abilities.”

“Sounds like a Cavendish,” Finn said, wry.

“Hollis is unique. As far as we can determine, the latent ability she was born with is mediumistic, hence her primary ability. But it seems that if she needs a different ability badly enough, especially while working a case, she develops it. Spontaneously.”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“Neither had we. And never since.”

“She retains the ability after the case?”

“So far. In fact, the abilities tend to grow stronger over time.”

“That does sound unique.”

“And rarely easy for her. Probably one reason her shield is unstable; there could literally be too much for her mind to protect, at least for now. She even sometimes feels the emotions of spirits she encounters, which is empathic rather than mediumistic.”

“What do you mean?”

“Although their abilities are highly individual, Hollis and Diana are both what we term psychic mediums; they can both see and hear the dead, and interact with them. A physical medium can do the same, but uses all of his or her senses and is able to feel physical sensations from the spirits, sometimes even the pain of their deaths. Which, if the death was violent or otherwise traumatic and especially painful . . .”

Finn winced. “That can’t be fun.”

“No. I’ve found a few strong physical mediums over the years but, given the work we do, decided against even trying to recruit them for the unit.”

“I don’t blame you.” Finn thought about it for a moment, then said, “Hollis sounds formidable.”

Bishop smiled faintly. “You won’t think so when you first see her. Until you look into her eyes.”

“I’ll be a bit more on my guard,” Finn said slowly, adding, “It’s a little disconcerting, to be honest. After all these years, nobody around here can read me.”