Touched by Darkness (22 page)

his position. The sunlight reflected off the glossy

black of Damien's tied-back hair, and not for the

first time, she wondered if he had Indian or

Hispanic ancestors. His coloring created a stark

contrast to Alex's much lighter brown hair and

warm skin tones.

"Water can enhance conduction of energies,"

Damien was explaining. "Are you allowed to have

the radio or blow-dryer near the bathtub?"

"No way! Mom would split a seam."

"Why?"

"If the blow-dryer fell in the water, I could get

'lectrocuted."

"Do you know why?"

Alex considered a moment. "Somethin' about

electricity."

"Exactly right," Damien said. "The water acts as a

natural conductor for the electricity, which travels

through it very quickly, and at a greater intensity. It

works the same way with your powers."

"Does it work that way for you, too?" Alex asked,

wide-eyed.

"Yes. As Sentinels, we are of the water. It grounds

us, carries the essence of our heritage."

Kara gripped her mug more tightly, reminded

herself to not interfere unless Damien went too far

over the line.

"Maybe that's why I like to stay in the shower so

long," Alex said. "I get all wrinkled, and Mom

makes me get out."

"I'm sure that's part of it. So a good place to work

on making stronger shields or controlling your

powers is in the shower, or near water, like the

river, which is why we're here today. But," Damien

added, with a glance at Kara, "you never head off

to the river or a pool without telling your mom

first, right?"

"Right." Alex nodded his head vigorously. "She'd

ground me for a month if I went anywhere without

telling her or Luz."

"All right. Have you been working on centering

yourself?"

Alex nodded again.

"Then let's start by centering ourselves." Damien

placed his hand over the middle of his chest, curled

his fingers slightly and took a deep breath. Kara felt

a flare of energy.

Alex must have felt it, too, because he reached up

and grasped Damien's hand. "What did you do? It

feels different. Why is your hand like that?"

"It's an automatic reflex. I wear a crystal that helps

me to center more quickly," Damien explained,

patting his chest. "And it helps me use my powers."

"I can feel it." Alex looked up at him. "Can I see

it?"

"In a moment." Damien closed his eyes, took

another deep breath.

Kara felt the energy again, only this time it seemed

to be flowing around them. She guessed he was

expanding his own shield around all of them.

Richard had always shielded her if she were nearby

when he was working.

"Now then." Damien reached beneath the edge of

his shirt, pulled out an exquisite yet sturdy silver

chain. Dangling from it was a piece of pink-tinged

quartz, framed in silver wire.

A jolt went through her. Richard had worn a similar

stone, which had been attuned to the great Atlantian

crystal buried in the Atlantic Ocean. He had also

imbued it with his own energy, and it had been a

personal touchstone, acting as an amplifier for his

powers.

The trooper/Belian reached down and ripped the

chain off Richard's lifeless body. With a triumphant

roar, he held up the stone, blood dripping off it. "I

am victorious! Praise be to Belial!" he shouted,

grinning triumphantly.

Then he turned his malevolent gaze on Kara. "And

the woman becomes mine." He stalked toward her,

the necklace dangling from his fist, reflecting the

flashing lights and the blood...

"Wow," Alex said in an awed voice. "Can I touch

it?"

"Sure." Damien leaned further down, offering the

stone. "Hold it in your hand, if you want."

"Wow," Alex said again. "I can feel the energy. It's

shaking in my hand." He looked up at Kara. "I can

really feel it, Mom!"

"That's great," she said, taking a shaky breath.

"Do all Sentinels have these?" Alex asked Damien.

"Can I have one?"

"Many Sentinels have them, but you need to wait

until you're older, and see how your powers

develop."

"Aw," Alex groaned.

"Also, you must never tell anyone about this

crystal," Damien said. "Because then someone

might figure out I'm a Sentinel, and remember,

we've already agreed that should always be a

secret."

"I remember." Alex looked at him solemnly. "Some

people don't like Sentinels."

"They don't understand, and they're afraid. It is

important to keep it secret," Damien replied. "Now,

let's see how well you're shielding yourself."

Alex showed him how he'd been pretending to lock

his special abilities in a box, and Damien seemed

pleased with his progress. "Very good," he said, and

Alex practically beamed. "Now, we need to work

on 'listening' or 'feeling' without lowering your

shields."

"Listening? That's about my ears."

"I'm talking about listening with your senses. When

you feel energy, like you felt with my crystal."

Alex nodded. "Or like the really bad feeling I got at

Mrs. Burgess's house."

"Yeah, like that. What do you think that was?"

"I don't know." Alex's forehead furrowed. "Maybe

it was Mrs. Burgess's ghost. Or maybe it was from

the bad person who hurt her."

So he did realize Doris might have been murdered.

Kara shouldn't have been surprised, given how

sensitive he was.

"Was Mrs. Burgess a nice lady?" Damien asked.

"Yeah. She was really cool, for an old person."

"Since her ghost is basically her soul, do you think

it would be mean?"

Alex considered, shook his head in the negative.

"That means two things," Damien said. "The first is

that if Mrs. Burgess's ghost does come to see you,

you don't need to be afraid. And you could try to

listen to her ghost, because it might be able to tell

you something important. The second thing is that

if you sensed something else, and if it felt bad, then

it came from a bad person. You need to learn how

to sense when someone or something is bad so that

you can protect yourself. And you need to be able

to do it without lowering your shields. Are you

ready to work on that?"

"I don't know. Feeling bad things is kinda scary."

"It is," Damien agreed. "But it's something that

Sentinels do, so they can help people. And you can

learn to do it without getting hurt."

After more consideration, Alex finally agreed to let

Damien show him how to listen with all his senses.

Kara held her silence, although it was hard. She

wanted to protest, to insist enough was enough, and

to take her son home. But the safe world they'd

known a week ago no longer existed, and she knew

Alex had to be able to sense danger in order to run

from it.

She had to admit Damien was good with her son.

"You keep your shields up," he explained, "only

you crack them just a little. Do you have screens on

your windows?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what they're for?"

"Yeah, so we can open our windows to let the air

in, but keep the bugs out."

"Exactly," Damien said. "You want to open your

shields slightly, but keep up a screen, only it's not

for bugs. It's to keep your energies in, and to filter

out the energies you let inside. You have to be

careful what you pick up. Let me show you what I

mean."

They practiced the technique for another thirty

minutes or so, and Kara didn't need any special

senses to see that Alex's abilities were already quite

pronounced. It was very unsettling, and she had to

grudgingly concede—again—that Damien was

right that it was safer for her son to learn shielding

and control.

Damien called a halt when it became obvious that

Alex was mentally tiring. But it took a lot more to

spend the physical energy of a healthy young boy.

Alex immediately snatched up the soccer ball.

"Let's play some soccer!" He pointed to a sizable

tree about twenty yards away. "That can be the

goal, but you hafta actually hit it with the ball. We

can play one-on-one." He went down on one knee,

pulling his calf up behind him. "C'mon Mr.

Morgan. You gotta stretch first."

The incredulous expression on Damien's face was

priceless. Kara knew from first hand experience

that Sentinels did not play at anything. They were

ultra serious, ultra focused on the evil beings they

pursued day in and day out. She had often

suspected Richard had been born a miniature adult

and had never experienced being a child.

Even Alex, without the traditional Sentinel

upbringing, was often more serious than not, had

always seemed older than his years. He did love

soccer, though.

Alex extended his leg out behind him, doing a

lunge stretch. "C'mon! Gotta warm up your

muscles."

She should probably come to Damien's aid, but

couldn't resist the opportunity for a little payback

for the upheaval he'd brought into their lives.

"Yeah, Morgan," she said, rising, and grasping her

right ankle behind her for a standing quadriceps

stretch. "Come on. You should be able to hold your

own against a little boy and a mere woman. Unless,

of course, you're not up to the
challenge."
She gave

him a feral grin as she changed ankles.

His eyes narrowed to silver slits. He came to his

feet in a smooth, lithe movement and stepped into

her personal space. "Oh, I'm
up
to any challenge,"

he said softly. "And I do know how to play the

game."

Heat and awareness flooded her body, and her

throat tightened. She should know better than to

bait a Sentinel, especially one who was so

synchronized with her conductor energies.

Determined to hold her own, she let go of her ankle

and angled her chin at him. "Good. Try to keep up,

will you? Alex, give me that ball."

She snatched the ball from Alex and whirled,

tossing it toward the goal-designated tree. She was

after it in a flash. She'd done her own stint at soccer

in her pre teen years, and she often scrimmaged

with Alex.

"Hey!" Alex shouted. "You're supposed to wait

until the whistle blows."

"Don't have a whistle." Laughing, she glanced back

over her shoulder to see Alex barreling after her, his

small legs pumping furiously. She'd run track in

high school, so she had good speed and was well

ahead. She looked past him just as Damien tossed

his jacket onto the blanket and casually pushed up

his sweater sleeves, as if the competition hadn't

started.

Kara stopped and stared, telling herself she was just

getting her breath and letting Alex catch up with

her. Then Damien took off like a rocket, racing

toward her with super human speed, determination

hardening his face. A frisson of panic shot through

her, followed by an adrenaline rush. She spun,

kicked the ball ahead, and raced after it.

Alex was almost up with her, and still shouting.

She slowed slightly to let him catch up, saw

Damien was upon them, the heat of battle in his

eyes.

Alex took advantage of her distraction to kick the

ball toward the goal tree. Both Kara and Damien

raced after it. She was in the lead, but he had

Sentinel speed and no compunction about using it.

Even so, she was determined he wouldn't get past

her. As he came abreast of her, she deliberately

careened into him, giving him a hard push for good

measure. Caught off guard, he lost his balance and

tumbled to the ground.

"Hey!" he shouted after her as she commandeered

the ball and maneuvered it toward the tree. "That's

a foul."

"And cheating," Alex added, running behind her.

She lined up the ball, took aim and kicked. By

sheer luck, it grazed the tree. "I've got a point, I've

got a point!" she chanted, doing a little victory

dance.

Standing, Damien brushed the leaves off his jeans.

"That was a foul
and
cheating."

She put her hands on her hips, stared both males

down. "Oh, poor babies. And who are you going to