by Linda Barlow
"No one could blame you," she said softly.
A minute went by, then two. Daniel's hand moved, his fingers interlacing with hers. "When I met you I thought you were one of them, and it tore me apart because I knew I wanted you. I knew I had to have you."
"And I taunted you by letting you believe it." She hated the thought that what she'd regarded as her harmless teasing during those early days had caused him pain. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, Daniel. Please forgive me."
He looked into her eyes, and the world narrowed to just the two of them. He moved his thumb, gently wiping away some dampness at the corner of her eyes. "Look at you. You're tenderhearted as hell, you know that? I'll bet you cry buckets over sad books and movies."
She smiled.
His expression softened, and his own tenderheartedness showed clearly in his eyes. "I felt so vulnerable then. I was just a kid, and I've grown a thicker skin over the years. But I don't like remembering how it felt to be so confused and helpless and alone. Does that make sense?'
She nodded. "Totally." Every time he confronted the fact that her mother was a medium, he was forced to confront a particularly tragic and devastating time in his childhood. No wonder he got so hostile when the subject came up.
He had leaned back against the sofa cushions and shut his eyes. She really ought to leave it at that, she knew, but there was something else she had to know.
"The medium, Daniel," she said hesitantly.
"What about her?"
"It wasn't my mother, right? I mean, it couldn't have been. My mother never used tricks or projectors. She never willfully deceived anyone or abused her gift."
He frowned. "Your mother's a fake like all the rest. But, no, she wasn't the one. Her name was Myra Kelley."
She remembered the name, of course. Myra Kelley had been the fake medium he had viciously exposed on one of his earlier programs.
Let my enemies beware...
"I dealt with her," he said with the harshness that was just as much a part of Daniel Haggarty as the tenderness was. "She didn't know when she agreed to come on the show that I was the same kid who had tipped over her projector years before. But I won't really feel satisfied until I roast all the false witches of spiritualism."
Including your mother. He didn't say it, but Kate was sure that's what he was thinking.
Chapter 14
"I keep feeling as if something awful's going to happen," Kate told Graham backstage on the night of the official opening of Macbeth.
"Stop whining, girl. It's Opening Night Fright."
"It doesn't feel like that. It feels like something else. It feels as though there's a shadow gathering around me."
"Yeah, yeah, tell me about it." Graham was unsympathetic, no doubt because he had the Opening Night jitters himself.
Kate always got nervous before a performance, but it usually waned as soon as the play started. Tonight, though, the feeling persisted even after she had successfully completed her first scene.
She suspected that this was because things had been a little strange with Daniel. After their heart-to-heart talk a few days before, she had expected them to grow closer. But it felt instead as if he had backed off. They still spent a lot of time together and made passionate love, but he was acting distant. He avoided speaking about anything personal or intimate. He fell asleep right after sex. A new project had come up at work, and once again, he was deeply involved with planning and researching his programs. He bristled every time he encountered Graham, and Graham, in turn, bitched about him far too much in front of her.
Was he freaked out by the degree of closeness they had briefly attained? That could happen with guys, she knew; her girlfriends talked about such things all the time. She was tempted to challenge him on his subtle withdrawal, but she didn't want to push him. Anyway, there was no hurry. Men like Daniel could probably only cope with so much intimacy at a time.
He'd promised to be at the play that night, and she presumed he was in the audience, even though she couldn't see him over the glare of the stage lights.
Everyone in the cast seemed nervous, and the actor who was playing Macbeth had spilled hot coffee on one of his costumes and given himself a slight burn, which had freaked out the more superstitious members of the company. Paul Tiele kept muttering that he must have been out of his mind when he had agreed to direct the unlucky Scottish Play. But the play went off more smoothly than ever, and the audience was warmly enthusiastic. By the time the final curtain fell, Kate's gloom had vanished and she, along with everyone else in the cast, began to share the heady feeling of having successfully accomplished exactly what they'd set out to do.
The cast and their friends, including Daniel, were milling about toasting each other backstage after the performance when Graham called Kate from the backstage door.
"Kate, luv, there's somebody from the audience who wants to congratulate you," he told her. Kate turned, and saw her mother.
"Mom!" she cried, staring at the small, white-haired woman decorously clinging to Graham's arm. Oh, no! Daniel had gone stiff and silent at her side. The confrontation she'd been trying to avoid was upon them.
Blinking in dismay, Kate ran to throw her arms around her mother. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to watch your performance, of course. I didn't want to tell you beforehand, in case it made you nervous."
"But how did you get here?"
"I took a taxi," Iris said proudly, as if taking a taxi were a marvelous feat. For her mother, Kate reflected wryly, it probably was. She lived close by, but she rarely went out alone these days. "You were wonderful, as always, but Kate, really, the spell doesn't go quite like that. You got several of the exhortations wrong."
Kate was conscious of Daniel hovering over them, listening to every word. She laughed nervously. "I said it the way Shakespeare wrote it, Mom; that's what they pay me for. Good heavens, this is such a surprise!" I wish you'd warned me. "Come in and say hello to everybody."
Daniel, naturally, was the first to demand an introduction. He bowed in a courtly fashion and took Iris's hand as if he meant to kiss it. "I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time, Mrs. Carter."
"Really, young man?" Iris looked him over. "You're not a member of the acting company, are you?"
"This is Daniel, Mother. A friend of mine."
Iris smiled a little vacantly as her spooky blue eyes wandered again over Daniel. "Ah, yes, Daniel. Something to do with television, wasn't it?"
"We spoke on the phone," he confirmed. "About doing an interview."
"Oh, yes. Kate told me some rather uncomplimentary things about you, Daniel," Iris said with her usual unblinking honesty. "I must say I'm surprised you and she are still friends."
"We're very close friends as a matter of fact."
Iris's smile grew warmer. "Really? Then perhaps you're the one I've been expecting. You took your time about it, didn't you? My daughter has been alone far too long."
Daniel raised his eyebrows at Kate as he answered, "I intend to see that she's alone no longer."
Iris was beaming now. "Such an authoritative tone." She sighed. "These are the times when I do so wish Kate had a strong father who would stand beside her and demand to know whether or not your intentions are honorable." She paused. "But, of course, you and I know the answer to that, don't we, Daniel?" She peered directly into his eyes as, for a few instants, a battle of wills seemed to flare between them. Then Daniel broke eye contact, darting a glance at Kate. He looked disconcerted.
"Willful and stubborn," Iris chided him. "You guard your mind well, but you are curious, aren't you? The drive to know the truth is stronger than your prejudice. Can you feel yourself changing? Loosening up? Becoming a little more open-minded?"
"Mother..." Kate interrupted. Daniel's face was flushed, and for the first time since she'd known him, Kate saw him at a loss for words. She didn't know whether to laugh or slink away in embarrassment. A few years before, embarrassment would have won
out, but recently Kate had stopped feeling so defensive about her mother. Once she had longed for the ordinary sort of mother everybody else had, but now she was proud to be the daughter of such an original.
Still, given Daniel's feelings about psychics, she could see nothing but trouble ahead. Certainly he was the last person she wanted her mother to exercise her powers on. It wouldn't take much to incite him. Poor Iris had no idea what she was up against.
"Don't narrow your devilish eyes at me, young man. I'm far too old to be intimidated in that manner," Iris went on blithely. Smiling, she turned back to Kate. "Good for you, my dear. It's about time you chose the alpha of the pack. You need a man with spirit."
"Don't say anything," Kate whispered to Daniel a few minutes later as they stood together watching Iris chat animatedly with Paul Tiele.
"Who's saying anything?"
"I told you she was, um, different."
"She's different all right." He was still flushed and tense. "She tried some kind of weird mind-trick on me."
"Mind trick? How would you even know that? According to you, telepathy of any kind is impossible."
He frowned, but didn't answer directly, saying instead, "She's lucky she wasn't born in an earlier century."
"It's lucky we all weren't. You'd have been the first to demand the witches' execution if you'd lived back then."
"You're probably right. I suppose a TV program like mine is about the closest this society comes to public shaming and execution." His gaze flicked thoughtfully over her mother as he added, "Damn. I wish I had a videographer here tonight. Maybe if I called the studio—"
"No way, Daniel." She touched his arm lightly and said, "We should go."
He ignored this sensible suggestion. "You led me to believe she was foggy-brained and tottering on the brink of the grave."
"What I said was that she was retired and that she didn't do interviews."
"I don't know why you're so protective. It's evident she can fend for herself."
"Look, I'm totally cool with why you feel the way you do, but she's my mom. If you ever so much as point a cell phone camera in her direction, I'll be very angry and upset."
Daniel glared at her for a second before his features slowly relaxed into a smile. "Fine. But don't expect everything to go exactly the way you want it to go. You're with the alpha of the pack now, remember?"
Yeah, that part of her mother's nonsense he'd obviously liked! She had a flashback to the last time he'd gotten really alpha in his lovemaking, and how it had excited her. She remembered the words he'd wrung out of her—words of love, words of commitment. And from him? Nothing.
Maybe she should consider breaking things off with him. (No! something inside her cried). Maybe she should turn her back and run before she sank without a trace into the heartless pit he was digging for her soul. The dark lord of the underworld...
"Kate?" His fingers traced over her cheeks. "I'm just teasing you. Are you okay?"
She shook herself. "I'm fine," she said brightly. "Did somebody mention a party?"
Somebody had. Graham was inviting everyone in the cast over to his place for an impromptu celebration. To her dismay, his summons had already been accepted by Iris, who announced happily that she hadn't been to a party in years. Kate hadn't expected this; her mother usually retired early. "Aren't you tired, Mom? Why don't I just take you home?"
"No, no. Dear Graham has a psychic friend he's going to introduce me to. He's already offered me a ride, and I've accepted." She looked at Daniel, who was frowning. "But if you and your young man are tired, my dear, why don't you go along home? Don't think about me. I'm sure I can spend the night at Graham's apartment if it gets too late."
"Of course," Graham said smoothly. He and Kate's mother were old friends, and Kate knew he was fond of Iris. "My guest room is at your disposal." And without allowing Kate to say anything more on the matter, he bundled Iris off to his car.
"I think we should go home," she told Daniel as they got into his Porsche in back of the theater.
"We're going to Graham's party."
His peremptory tone annoyed her. "I thought you couldn't stand Graham."
"Surely you're not going to abandon your mother at this hour of the night."
"My mother understands that I want to be alone with you."
He flashed her a look. "We'll have plenty of time to be alone later."
"Look," she said, exasperated. "I'm sure you don't really want to spend any more time around my psychic mother. Can't we just leave it at that?"
"No. We can't."
"You're hot on her trail, aren't you, witch-hunter? Can't bear to let the quarry out of your sight. Have you ordered a video crew to meet us at Graham's apartment?"
He glowered at her, not answering, following the car in front of them toward Graham's apartment. Kate fumed in silence. He would do whatever the hell he wanted, of course. He always did.
At the party, Kate was so irritated with Daniel that she spent the next half hour chatting with other friends and avoiding him. He didn't seem to notice; he was too busy hanging around her mother.
Kate didn't tune into the general discussion until she heard somebody mention the infamous curse on Macbeth. "Maybe Iris can help us get to the bottom of that superstition," Graham suggested. "She knows all about spirits and witches and things."
Uh-oh, thought Kate, noting the way her mother snapped to attention and demanded an explanation. She also noted the devious look Graham directed at Daniel. Graham had made it clear that he resented and distrusted her boyfriend. She wouldn't put it past him to turn his party into a forum on superstition and psychic phenomena just to anger the skeptic among them. She liked Graham, but his delight in causing mischief could be excessive. He didn’t always consider the consequences of his actions.
"I've heard that there's an actual witches' spell in Act Four," said Paul Tiele. "One theory has it that the evil spirits called up by the spell must wreak some havoc before they're allowed to return to wherever it is they came from."
"There is a witch's spell in the play," Iris confirmed. "But it's worded incorrectly, so I doubt it would call up any spirits. On the other hand," she went on after pausing for thought, "some of the darker spirits are notorious rascals. Perhaps one of them has an aversion to the incantation used in the play. He may even have been offended by the playwright, either here or in the Other World."
"Offended by the playwright?" Daniel repeated in a low, sarcastic tone. He had edged around the guests and was now standing just behind Kate, his fingers lazily massaging the nape of her neck.
"Shut up."
"My kingdom for a camera crew."
"It would be nice to know exactly what it is that brings down the ill fortune," Paul mused. "This play's got several weeks to run. I'd very much like to avoid disasters."
"Why don't we summon the spirits and ask?" Graham suggested. "We've got a famous medium here, after all. We could hold a séance. How about it, Iris, are you up to it?" he added with a malicious glance at Daniel.
"I could attempt it, of course. One never knows what might happen, though. The spirits do not always come at the beck and call of those of us who are still in the fleshly realm."
"Oh, dear God," said Kate. She glared at Graham, who blithely ignored her. "Really, Mom, don't you think it's much too late at night for that sort of thing? I'm exhausted. Daniel and I were just about to leave."
"Run along, then, dear. I've decided to stay with Graham tonight anyway. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Mom!"
Kate felt the light touch of Daniel's fingers on her arm. "Leave her alone. If she wants to do it, let her."
She turned to look at his face, but Daniel's attention was on Iris. She recognized his expression. It was the same one he had worn on the night they first met, when he looked into her eyes and threatened to burn her. "Let's get out of here."
Daniel's eyes were gleaming beneath his thick lashes. "Soon. Not yet."
"Please, Daniel.
I want to leave."
"Take my car, then. I'll catch a cab home."
The bad feeling that had been bothering Kate on and off all day returned in full force. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation between her mother and Daniel on this explosive issue. "You hate this sort of thing. You don't want to witness my mother doing a séance."
"On the contrary." He smiled grimly. "I can think of few things I'd rather witness." And he refused to budge.
While chairs were being arranged in a circle in the living room, Kate tried again. "Please, Daniel, let's go. Graham should never have suggested this. I think he's trying to taunt you. Don't play his game."
"It's your mother's game I'm interested in," he said tightly.
"If you insist on staying, I'm going to wait outside."
But he had apparently changed his mind about her leaving. She felt his fingers closed around her wrist. "Stop pretending this has no connection to you. I want you to stay and see how it plays out."
For a moment, Kate felt a surge of fury toward witch-hunter D. B. Haggarty. But the feeling swiftly changed as she realized that he might want her beside him for some sort of emotional support….the sort that he, big tough alpha male that he was, couldn't admit. Besides, his thumb was rubbing sensuously over the pulse point on her wrist, while his entire attention was on Iris. She doubted he was even conscious of the tiny massage he was giving her or of the shivers of desire it sparked within her.
She was worried and upset, but even so, he could arouse her. She was really hooked. She shared at the fingers that enclosed her wrist like a manacle. Just as she'd feared, she was out of her depth in this relationship. It had been true from the start.
The dark cloud settled over her. Being with him was such an emotional roller coaster—wildly exciting but scary as hell. Arthur had never jerked her around, or tied her insides in knots.
