Wearing the expression of a man adjusting his belief system, Finn nodded.

“Those of us who see auras,” Hollis went on, “that’s what we’re looking at. The way Nellie saw mine last night, though I still dunno— Never mind that. Every person’s individual energy field, in living color, is as unique as a fingerprint. Different colors mean different things, different emotions, but that’s only a baseline; every person’s aura is always a combination of more than one color, and it changes as their mood changes.”

“Okay,” Finn said.

“So. The auras of most people who aren’t psychic or don’t have shields sort of . . . flare . . . in an irregular pattern of colors around them. Even pulse sometimes as their energy changes. But shielded psychics have auras that look different. Because they’re guarding their own minds, their own energy fields, their auras are held closer to their bodies, and there’s a distinct edge along the outside of the colors. The visible aspect of their shields. Does that make sense?”

“I suppose so,” he said cautiously. “Though I always thought shields were inside our heads. Around our minds.”

“I thought so too until I could see auras. And there are guards of a sort we all use to protect our minds specifically, but our shields are partially made up of the energy of our bodies. The energies in our auras feed the shields our minds create and control. So our most protective shield tends to be the one around our entire bodies.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. If there’s also energy aimed at that shield from outside, a very strong psychic probe or an attack, even an electrical charge of some kind, then the outer edge of a shield has a metallic glint. If it’s a powerful, determined attempt to get at the psychic, I’ve even seen sparks sort of striking and bouncing off.” She paused. “No sparks yet, but what I’m seeing tells me someone somewhere is trying to get past your shield. And none of us is doing that.”

ELEVEN

Hollis stopped on the sidewalk two buildings down from the bank and zipped her jacket against the increasing chill, sighing and watching her breath fog in the air. “That makes four elders from two of the other families, not counting all the Cavendishes in Nellie’s bank. I’m beginning to think I don’t need to meet other elders or family members, not for this.”

Bishop said, “So still the same. The psychics have shields that look unusual compared with what you’re accustomed to seeing, more dense and held closer to their bodies, but no sign anyone is trying to get through them.”

“No sign at all. Only with Finn. Maybe he’s just a target because he’s the one in charge of the investigation. No way to really know why until we know who. I’m glad his shield is so solid. I’m also glad you talked him into staying with Nellie at the bank.”

“He knows it’s reasonable with the Five being targets, never mind a possible direct attack on him.”