Touched by Darkness (5 page)

played soccer, watched
Star Trek.
He— She

clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to face what

she'd known since Alex was three, what she

desperately wanted to will away.

The sudden presence next to her, the startling feel

of a hand over hers jolted through her like a

burning brand. The stranger sat next to her on the

sofa, having moved with astonishing stealth and

speed— something she well remembered. She

gasped and tried to pull back, but he tightened his

grip on her hand. Currents of energy tingled up her

arm.

"No more games," he said. "I will get to the truth of

the matter, with or without your cooperation. I can

help you. Alex needs protection until he can learn

to shield himself."

What protection had Richard had? If her son was in

danger from the same dark forces... God, why had

she thought all that was behind them?

She pressed her free hand against her mouth,

mortified by the sudden rush of hot tears in her

eyes. "We don't need your help. Just go away."

His face impassive, he manifested a clean

handkerchief in his palm and handed it to her.

"Let's start from the beginning."

#

The fool. He thinks he can hide from me, can keep

his presence in Zorro a secret. But I'm too smart

for him—and too powerful. It's only a matter of

time before I uncover his identity.

Now that I have physical substance, I can't be

defeated. A weakened body has given me

everything I need. It might be diseased, but soon I

will find a stronger body, and then the possibilities

will be endless. The terminations... ah, how

glorious! The rush, the adrenaline, the power.

Praise Belial for my descension into this plane. No

Sentinel can discover or defeat me. There will be

more terminations, more power. I will have it all.

"Your son was fathered by a Sentinel," the man

repeated, a ruthless determination underlying his

deep voice. "Who?"

Kara knew he'd eventually uncover everything—

already had, for the most part, but a deeply

ingrained instinct for survival insisted that she

continue to deny the facts. "What makes you so

sure of that?" she challenged, wiping at her eyes.

"There's no denying Alex is a Sentinel, no matter

how much you might wish otherwise. And there are

only two ways a human can have Sentinel power.

The first is to be born to parents where one or both

have the power. The second is through possession

of a body. I'll bet your son has no indications of

being possessed—and believe me, you would know

if he was. You are not one of us. Therefore, the

transfer of the power came from his father."

She lifted her chin, glaring at him defiantly,

although fear still pounded through her, barely

restrained only through tremendous effort on her

part. "And there are no exceptions to that rule, no

anomalies?"

"None. The mother becomes pregnant only if a

Sentinel soul chooses to enter the physical plane at

that time and through those specific parents."

The soul chose? Both the time and the parents?

This new knowledge skittered through Kara,

adding to the emotional and mental overload.

"You didn't know this." Her surprise must have

been evident, because he said it more as a statement

of fact rather than a question.

Richard had told her there was no need for birth

control, and she'd believed him. She'd been so head

over heels in love with him, that she didn't care if

they did have a child. But she hadn't known any

details of how Sentinels came into the physical

plane.

There was probably a lot more she didn't know,

information that might be necessary to keep Alex

safe. Resignation seeped through her, and she felt

weary and drained. Any denials were futile in the

face of the stranger's perceptiveness. She shook her

head. "I didn't know how Sentinels came into

being. I didn't even know I was pregnant until after

Richard
—
" She paused, closing her eyes against the

pain. "Until after he was murdered."

The stranger leaned closer. "Tell me about

Richard."

Surrendering to the inevitable, Kara steeled herself

against the grief. "I met him in Birmingham,

Alabama. I had just finished my residency in

family practice. He was a medical examiner for the

county coroner's office."

That fateful moment flashed through her mind:

Bored to tears at a stuffy AMA honorarium dinner,

she'd glanced across the room to see a tall,

handsome man staring at her. Normally she would

have ignored him, but the attraction had been

mutual and instantaneous. She'd watched as he

threaded his way through the crowd with a

purposeful tread, his gaze never leaving her, and a

shiver had swept through her body...

"Birmingham." The stranger's voice jolted her out

of the memory. "You must be talking about Richard

Wayman. His physical entity perished after a

mortal encounter with a Belian that had incarnated

as a state trooper. Seven years back, I believe."

A mortal encounter?
No, that was too neat and

clinical. It had been a massacre...
The trooper, his

inhuman eyes shielded behind mirrored sunglasses,

coldly gunning down innocent people as they

screamed in terror and tried to run. Smiling as he

stepped over bodies sprawled around him like

broken, bloody toys. Daring Richard to stop him
—

a challenge no Sentinel could ignore.

With a gasp, Kara tried to shut out the horrific

images that she had witnessed seven years ago. She

channeled her emotional upheaval toward the man

now sitting beside her. She wouldn't allow his

unemotional reduction of Richard to nothing but a

statistic.

"Richard Wayman was more than
a physical

entity,"
she snapped. "He was a flesh and blood

man, and he cared about people, really cared what

happened to them."

So much so, that he had answered the Belian's

challenge. Had stepped forward so no more

innocents would die.
She clenched the

handkerchief, dug her nails into the fabric.

The stranger appeared unaffected by her outburst.

"And you conducted for him?"

Other memories swirled forward, heated and erotic:

Richard rising above her, stroking inside her deep

and hard.

"That's it, baby. That's it. Just let yourself go, and

don't worry about the energy. I'll handle it. "

Light flashed around them, electricity arced

between them, and her body began convulsing, in

the throes of the most powerful orgasm she'd ever

experienced. "Oh, God, Richard... oh my God!"

Then the light and feelings became so intense, she

couldn't see, couldn't think, could only be swept

away by sensation.

"Kara?"

Her heart was pounding again, and her breasts felt

painfully swollen. She drew a deep breath, looked

into the stranger's glittering eyes. "Yes. I conducted

for him."

"Did you work together long?"

Worked together, lived together, loved together.

"Almost two years," she murmured.

"Yet you had no idea what to expect, or that your

child would have the power."

She blew out her breath. "No, but we've handled it

without any problems."

"You can't continue to do it on your own. Alex

needs to be initiated into the Law of One. He needs

to be instructed in the proper use of his power and

the fulfillment of his purpose on this plane."

"We've been fine until now," she insisted

stubbornly. "I want my son to live a normal life."

"You can't keep denying the reality, Kara. An

unshielded initiate can draw discarnate entities, or

worse. The Belian I'm hunting could eventually

pick up Alex's power and prey upon him."

"What are you talking about? There can't be any

Belians in this area. There haven't been any

murders. No crime at all, in fact."

"You're wrong about that. There has already been at

least one murder in Zorro. But the authorities

labeled the death as accidental."

Another chill swept through her, and she clenched

the handkerchief until her hand ached. "I don't

believe it. David Thornton was the only recent

death, and he drowned six weeks ago. He never

could swim, but he always insisted on going out in

the water to fish, even in January."

"He didn't drown. I believe an autopsy would show

that he died from other causes."

"What other causes?"

"A blow to the head."

She knew when a Sentinel visited the scene of a

crime or a death, and was able to pick up a psychic

trail, the Sentinel could often 'see' what had

happened. But she couldn't bring herself to accept

what the stranger was telling her.

"He was battered badly because the current carried

him over several dams, and it was two days before

they discovered his body," she said.

"That was the official report. But Thornton was

dead before he entered the water."

It didn't surprise her that this man had been able to

access the police reports, just as she understood

why, even if he had 'seen' David's death, he didn't

know who had committed the alleged murder. A

highly advanced Belian could obscure its presence,

so it would only appear as a blur in a psychic

vision.

But she still wouldn't accept that David had been

murdered. Couldn't accept it, because it would

herald the end of the normal existence she'd carved

out for Alex and herself.

"No," she persisted. "The medical examiner would

have discovered the blow to the head, and the death

wouldn't have been ruled accidental. There are no

Belians in Zorro. The population has hardly

changed since I've been here. Besides Alex and me,

nobody new has moved to Zorro in a number of

years."

His expression hardened; impatience again flashed

in his eyes. "You're not that naive, Kara. We just

talked about it. Not all Belians come to Earth

through physical birth."

Horrific possibilities flashed through her mind.

"Possession," she murmured, feeling even sicker.

"Exactly. You probably also know such a thing is

easier if the possessed person's body or mind is

weak." He leaned forward, his frigid gaze fixed on

her. "There are two things you will do for me. You

will give me a list of your patients with serious

physical or mental conditions. And you'll help me

track down this entity."

"I won't do either of those things. I'm not going to

allow you to terrorize innocent people."

"I can get the medical records, with or without your

help," he informed her grimly. "And you will

conduct for me."

She knew she couldn't keep him from accessing her

patient records, unless she destroyed them, and she

would give that serious consideration after she got

rid of him.

As for the conducting, although he possessed the

power to force her compliance, the code of honor

that all Sentinels followed did not allow him to use

his power that way. A conductor had to be willing

to be called into service.

"I won't conduct for you, or anyone else." She rose

from the sofa, finding strength from her resolve.

"We've talked. Now you can leave."

He rose, too, and she instinctively took a step back

from his intimidating frame. "You must conduct for

me. This Belian is eluding me. I need you to

provide the focus and magnify the energy. Like you

did with Richard."

Another emotional blow, added to the staggering

overload of the day. "Richard and I
—
It was

different. We loved each other."

"Love has nothing to do with conducting. It is the

physical bodies that are the conduit, and the

balancing of female and male energies." He closed

the gap between them, grasping her shoulders.