Read Touched by Darkness Online
Authors: Catherine Spangler
a soft sweater in a shade of blue that brought out
the color of her eyes, and a pair of worn jeans that
hugged her gently curving hips. Damien might
have self-imposed mental barriers and preternatural
abilities, but he was still a flesh and blood man, and
not immune to the allure of an attractive woman.
Especially not to the allure of a woman who was
also a precisely matched conductor, as evidenced
by the strong sexual rush he felt when Kara reached
him. But he had years of experience in controlling
his reactions and ruthlessly forced his responding
body into submission.
Kara obviously felt the spark, too, but didn't have
the practice he'd had in controlling his body, as
evidenced by the puckering of her nipples through
the sweater. Damn, the woman wasn't wearing a
bra. Not that it mattered, he told himself firmly.
The energy snapping between them was a
good
thing, one that would help him track the Belian in
Zorro.
"You're right on time." Her arms crossed
defensively over her chest, and she turned away.
"Alex is in the kitchen."
She glanced over her shoulder as she led the way.
"We just finished dinner. Are you hungry?"
The aroma of food drifted from the kitchen, and
Damien's heightened sense of smell told him they'd
had beef, potatoes, carrots, and bread for their
dinner. He couldn't remember when he'd last had a
home cooked meal; probably not since his youth.
He experienced another rare nostalgic punch. Both
his parents had enjoyed cooking—hearty soups and
stews on cold New York winter nights, and French
toast or waffles on the weekends, replete with
bacon, fresh fruit, and real maple syrup. But the
family meals had ended thirty years ago—
Damn it!
What was the matter with him? He was
methodical and logical, able to maintain an intense
focus on whatever task was at hand. He didn't
indulge in going off on mental tangents in general,
much less forays into his past, especially into his
childhood. That life was over and long gone.
"I've eaten," he said brusquely, stepping into the
kitchen behind Kara.
It was an inviting and cheerful room, with pale
green walls, rustic, white-painted cabinets, and a
warm terra-cotta tile floor. A white wooden table
and four matching chairs were grouped in a
breakfast nook on the left side of the room. Alex sat
in one of the chairs, playing with the remaining
food on his plate.
He shot a quick sideways glance at Damien, looked
back down. Damien could feel the boy's heightened
tension. He knew he'd be more effective if he could
present himself more as a friend and put the boy at
ease.
"It smells great in here," he said to Kara. "Do you
do the cooking?"
A small snicker came from the table. "No." She
shook her head. "I'm not much of a cook, I'm
afraid."
"No?" Damien looked toward Alex. "So, young
man, does that mean you're the cook?"
A quick shake of the head, brown hair bouncing;
Damien thought he saw the flash of a smile. "Then
it must be your maid—" he stopped, corrected, "Or
housekeeper, or whatever she is."
"Luz takes care of Alex after school and cleans the
house and keeps us from starving to death, at least
during the weekdays," Kara said. "Have a seat, and
we'll get these dishes out of the way."
He pulled out a chair and sat before prodding to
find out more about the housekeeper. "Luz is very
protective of you and Alex."
Kara picked up the leftover meat loaf and potatoes
and carried them to the counter. "Yes, she is
protective, and she's very good at swinging a
baseball bat."
"She's not a conductor," he mused, ignoring her
inference, "yet I sense unusual mental strength in
her."
"She's a
curandera.
Not only can she swing a bat,
but she can put a curse on you."
Another snicker came from the table, followed by,
"Oh, Mom!"
"Ah, a healer." Damien considered a moment.
"What is her specialty?"
Kara shot him a surprised look. "Well. I'm
impressed, that you even know what a
curandera
is, and that they practice different kinds of healing.
Luz is a midwife and herbalist."
"She looks too young to be very skilled," he
commented. "And I would think what she does
would be in conflict with your scientific approach
to medicine."
"Not really." She pulled some aluminum foil from a
drawer and began wrapping the meat loaf. "Most of
her patients would never go to a conventional
physician. Luz is very knowledgeable. She learned
from her mother, who was a skilled
curandera
for
many years. At least she'll contact me if one of her
patients has childbirth complications. That's better
than nothing."
"True enough," Damien agreed.
"Alex, please clear your dishes off the table." Kara
bent down to look in a lower cabinet, giving
Damien a tantalizing view of jeans stretching
across a very fine rear. She retrieved a storage
container and stood to put the potatoes in it.
Alex picked up his plate and glass and carried them
toward the sink, but detoured to open the back
door. Before Damien could protest, Mac rushed
inside, already barking. Damien started to send a
mental command to the animal, but then he saw the
flicker of Alex's hand toward Mac, felt the
quicksilver flare of power.
With a final growl, Mac subsided. Kara, getting the
bread and carrots from the table, didn't see the
action, nor did she see the quick glance Alex shot at
her, then at Damien—or the flash of triumph on his
face and the little smile.
Damien contemplated the boy's too-innocent
demeanor. So, Alex must have observed him
silencing Mac on Saturday and again on Monday,
and figured out what he'd done and then replicated
it, which showed intelligence and ability. Not only
that, but Alex was obviously experimenting with
his powers.
That wasn't unusual for a curious boy who could
sense things most humans couldn't, but it could
prove dangerous with a Belian nearby. Without
working closely with Alex on his powers, there was
no way for Damien to know how long he'd been
using them, or how gifted he really was. But he'd
told Kara he'd hold off as much as possible, and he
intended to honor that.
Considering, Damien sat back in his chair. Alex
turned to the sink, Mac settling expectantly on his
haunches, his full attention on the plate the boy was
holding. Alex paused at the sink with his back to
them; Damien saw a piece of meat loaf falling into
a dog dish on the floor.
Kara sank into the chair to his right. "Every night, 1
tell him not to give Mac scraps, because I don't
want Mac begging at meals," she said, her voice
pitched low. "And every night, he sneaks scraps to
Mac anyway, and I pretend not to see." Her voice
hitched, and she paused until Alex stepped onto a
small stool by the sink and turned on the water to
rinse his dishes.
"I love the
normalcy
of our little games and
routines." She clenched her hand into a fist on the
table, her gaze hardening. "Fate has no right—
no
right
—to take this away from us! I don't want to
give up the life we've built here.
At least her tirade hadn't included Damien as a
villain, which he considered a sign of progress. But
unfortunately, Sentinels and conductors were not
fated for 'normal' lives. "I can understand you
wanting that," he said quietly. "But as I've already
told you, there are no guarantees."
Alex shuffled back to the table, with Mac right
behind him, nudging his hand, probably hoping for
more scraps. She turned toward Alex, her
expression changing, and her face taking on a glow.
As she looked at her son, she radiated love. Damien
found the transformation fascinating. He vaguely
remembered his parents looking at him like that—
once upon a time, in a care free world he hadn't
known for years.
"Sit down, sweetie," Kara told her son. "You know
Mr. Morgan is here to talk to you."
Alex slid into the chair across from Damien, his
expression wary. Damien leaned forward,
maintaining direct eye contact with the boy. "Do
you know what I'm here to talk about?"
"Kinda."
Without dropping his shields, Damien deliberately
projected energy. "Can you feel anything?"
A pause, then a small nod. "You feel funny. Like
you did on Saturday, and yesterday."
So Alex could sense the power, even when it was
shielded. Sentinel energy vibrated on a very high
frequency. Conductors and Sentinels could usually
pick up that energy from other Sentinels because
they operated through the three higher chakras.
Belians operated only on the four lower, Earth-
based chakras, with two consequences. The first
was that they couldn't readily sense Sentinels or
conductors, which was fortuitous. But it also made
it difficult for Sentinels to sense them.
"What you're feeling is a special energy that I
have," Damien explained.
"So you're different." Alex looked down, played
with a napkin left on the table. "Like me. I've
always been different from the other kids."
"You're a very normal boy, Alex," Kara interjected.
"You're smart and good, and I'm very proud of you.
Your thoughts are just unusually strong sometimes,
that's all."
Damien placed his hand over hers, gave a small
shake of his head to let her know he didn't want
interference. "Do you agree with your mother,
Alex?"
"No." He scuffed his feet against the floor, looked
at Kara. "It's more than that, Mom. I can tell if
someone is sad or happy, or angry. I can always tell
when you're upset. And if I think hard enough, 1
can move things with my mind. Although I know
I'm not supposed to," he added hastily. "I know
we've talked about it a lot. I don't think the other
kids at school can do any of that stuff. I'm not like
them."
"Does being different bother you?" Damien asked,
keeping a warning hand over Kara's.
"Sometimes, 'specially since I can't tell anyone
about it. Mr. Morgan…"
"Yes?"
"What's a Sentinel?"
Damien felt Kara tense, sensed she was about to
jump in. He squeezed her hand. "I'm not going to
discuss that with you tonight. I will say most
people don't know anything about Sentinels, which
is why you should never mention them to anyone."
Alex thought about that for a moment. He appeared
to be very deliberate in his words and actions,
reminding Damien of himself as a boy. "You told
me I'm a Sentinel, like you. That we both have
power." Alex tilted his chin up. "My special powers
—the ones the other kids don't have—are those
Sentinel powers?"
"Alex—" Kara began, jerking her hand free, but
Damien cut her off.
"Yes, they are."
"Did my dad have those powers?"
"Yes, your father had them."
Alex's eyes flared, darkened. "My dad was a
Sentinel," he said, making the obvious connection.
Kara leaned forward, placing both her hands on
Alex's arms. "Sweetie, those Sentinel powers are
part of the reason your father died. Which is why it
is very,
very
important that you must never use
them. You must never talk about them, and you
must be very careful to shield your thoughts."
His brow furrowed. "Shield my thoughts?"
"Kara, let me handle this," Damien said firmly. "I
gave you my word we'd only discuss shielding
tonight, and I will hold to that. But you can't ignore
the boy's questions. That will only confuse and
upset him further."
"I'm not upset," Alex protested, then chewed his
lower lip. "Not 'zactly."
"I'll let you handle it, as long as you stick to our
agreement," Kara told Damien. She returned her
attention to Alex. "Mr. Morgan is going to work