Touched by Darkness – An Urban Fantasy Romance (Book 1, The Sentinel Series)

by Catherine Spangler

  She heard his deep voice, intoning in a beautiful, ancient language. She’d seen Richard do this once, so she knew Damien was psychically restraining the Belian, while at the same time summoning the High Sanctioned, basically the high priests of the Sanctioned. They would exorcise the Belian from the Earth plane, exiling it to Saturn for spiritual rehabilitation—not a pleasant process.

  She felt the tremendous drain on Damien, felt his body shaking from the effort. She sent him as much of her rapidly dwindling energy as she could, praying it would be enough.

  A growling moan rose from Serafina’s body as a near-blinding light encircled it. Four brilliant starbursts erupted into the light circle. The Belian screamed its defiance. It burst from the body, a black, shapeless form that slithered and twisted to evade the High Sanctioned, its shrieks growing more frantic. But it was no match for the four luminous beings that surrounded and pinned it, as Damien continued the chant.

  Richard had told her the basic translation of the final incantation: Be thou removed from this plane of existence. Be thou restricted to Saturn, to be purified by the flame of the Karmic Initiator. Be thou to remain there until thou recognizes The Light, The Truth, The One. Then shalt thou return to do penance.

  As if suddenly sucked into a vacuum, the black form disappeared with a howl, and the light beings along with it. Then there was nothing left but poor Serafina’s shell.

  Kara had been present one time when Richard performed a BE, the Sentinel term for a Belian expulsion, but she hadn’t been a participant like this. Her third-eye link with Damien allowed her to see what was actually happening; Tom Greer wouldn’t have seen anything but their strange behavior.

  She felt utterly drained, yet a dark residual energy lingered within her, the destructive aftereffects of the Belian. Then she felt Damien’s touch inside her, clean and bright. He disintegrated all remaining traces of the Belian, replacing it with warmth and light.

  That done, he leaned his forehead against hers, heaving an exhausted sigh. She released his hand, placed her palm against his clammy face. He eased back to meet her gaze, his eyes glazed with pain. He tried to say something, but his eyes rolled back in his head. He passed out in her arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  They were flown to Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. Sheer will keeping her conscious, Kara managed to slip Damien’s crystal into her pocket before he was loaded into the helicopter. No way would she risk a Belian seeing that necklace while he was weak and helpless. Then it was her turn to collapse onto a stretcher, and she finally surrendered to the exhaustion and pain, barely aware of the flight to Austin.

  At the Brackenridge level II trauma facility, they received immediate care. Damien was whisked off to surgery. Kara’s thigh was stitched up and her right arm set and encased in a temporary cast. She spent the night in the hospital and was released the next morning.

  Steven Smith, Sara Thornton, and Serafina Pérez had all been pronounced dead at the scene. Tom Greer had escaped injury, while Julie Thornton and Luz each received another knockout punch of losing yet another loved one.

  But the Belian was gone, bringing Damien’s assignment in Zorro to a close. Kara tried not to think about that, tried not to have any hopes or expectations. What Damien might feel for her and what he could commit to were not necessarily in sync.

  She stood outside his hospital room. This was his third day here, and he’d be released tomorrow. He’d healed faster than a normal human with the same injuries would have. The doctors and nurses had been amazed by his progress. Even so, he’d had a rough time of it. His fast metabolism broke down pain medications too quickly to offer relief. He’d had to rely on drawing in energy to heal and control the pain, difficult to do in his weakened state.

  Even so, the side effects from the concussion he’d suffered when the Belian hit him with the shovel were gone by the first day. And today, the last of the tubes and drains were supposed to be removed. Kara opened the door and stepped inside, limping slightly.

  Damien was resting against the elevated head of the bed. His eyes were closed; sunshine from the nearby window streamed over him. He’d kicked the covers back and wore only long cotton pajama bottoms, a concession to modesty, as he preferred to sleep in boxer shorts or nude. None of the nurses had complained about his bare chest. Imagine that.

  That magnificent chest was marked with white bandages covering his left shoulder and an arm sling to keep that side immobile. The bruises on his face were fading. His hair was loose and his features relaxed. A few days’ beard growth made him look dark, dangerous, sexy. He looked good enough to eat, a sure sign of her own recovery. He opened his silvery, mesmerizing eyes.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey, yourself. I see you lost the rest of your accessories.”

  “Damn tubes,” he muttered. “Especially that catheter. Belial had to have invented that article of torture. They’d never have done that to me if I had been conscious.”

  “They took it out after the first day.”

  “One day too many,” he growled.

  She repressed a laugh. “Hopefully the equipment hasn’t been damaged.”

  His eyes took on a heated gleam. “I would think not.”

  Desire snaked through her body, but she ignored it. Since the Belian had been exiled, they’d danced around their private issues, acting like impersonal friends rather than lovers.

  “Where’s Alex?” he asked.

  “He having lunch with Luz, then she’ll bring him here. She met me at the airport, and we both picked him up. She really missed him. I thought it would be good for them to have some time together.” Feeling the press of guilt, she turned and walked to the window. Outside, Austin traffic inched along 15th Street. “I think Luz needed to get away from all the relatives coming into Zorro for the funeral. I hope she never learns I’m the one who shot her sister.”

  “You’re not the one who killed Serafina. She was long gone before we got to the Belian. And I don’t think Chief Greer will tell Luz exactly how things went down at the Thornton house.” He paused. “That’s the second physical incarnation you’ve ended.”

  Maybe her shock should have been greater, but she was worn down from the guilt and the memories. She turned to face him. “You know about Birmingham?”

  “I checked it out as soon as you told me about Richard Wayman.” There was no judgment in his eyes, only understanding. “Kara, you had to shoot that trooper. It was no longer human, and it would have killed you.”

  “I’m a doctor. I’m supposed to help people. Not shoot them and watch the blood spurt out.” She’d been grappling with a lot of things the past few days. Still, she’d kill again, if necessary to protect her loved ones or herself. Her fingers tightened on the bag she was holding.

  “I almost forgot. I brought you some food.” She placed the bag containing fruit, peanut butter, crackers, and cookies on the table by his bed. The hospital fare wasn’t enough to satiate his enormous appetite, even though the nurses took turns bringing him ice cream and leftover desserts from the cafeteria.

  “Thanks. Any Oreos in there?”

  “Yes, two packages.”

  His smug satisfaction had her smiling and dissipated some of her dark mood. He was such a guy. She eased herself into the visitor chair to take the weight off her throbbing leg. Absently, she rubbed the cast on her arm. After Damien was discharged from the hospital tomorrow, he’d probably leave the area entirely. Luz and Alex would be up to the room soon, and she had some things she wanted to say only to him.

  They needed to address their relationship—or, more likely—its closure. It was frightening—terrifying, actually—to even consider they had a relationship; or to try to salvage one that maybe had never existed in the first place. Disconcerting to throw pride to the wind, to bare her soul to a man who might toss her feelings back in her face. But she’d opened the door, and she’d told him how she felt when she whispered I love you. She didn’t want to close it ba
ck.

  “What is it?” Damien asked.

  As usual, he was too perceptive. “I’ve been thinking about some things you’ve said to me over the past few weeks.”

  “My words coming back to haunt me?”

  “Something like that.” She met his gaze. “You shared some very wise insights. One is that there are no guarantees in life. We can’t always play it safe. Sometimes we have to take chances. You also said a Sentinel soul chooses its destiny. I’m assuming other souls also do that.”

  He nodded slowly. “They do.”

  “So probably I—or my soul—chose a life as a conductor.”

  “That’s very likely.”

  She drew a deep breath. “Then maybe I’m supposed to use those abilities. Maybe I need to be conducting on a regular basis.”

  His brows drew together. “Kara—”

  She rushed on before he could finish. “And you told me that sometimes we have to trust in the Universe.”

  He didn’t respond, just watched her. Not encouraging, but she plunged on. “I’m ready to take a leap of faith. To take a chance. That includes being willing to love again. I think you should do the same.”

  He sighed. “I almost lost you on Monday. Almost got you killed because I didn’t identify the Belian soon enough.” His face took on an expression of abject pain. “I couldn’t bear losing someone else I cared about.”

  Her heart felt like it was sinking. Now she knew. He couldn’t get past the pain of his past—not a surprise. He didn’t want to risk experiencing such grief again. She’d taken her best shot. He knew how she felt. But he wasn’t responsible for her feelings. She wouldn’t beg or make him feel guilty.

  “So I guess that’s it, then.” Barely holding onto her composure, she opened her purse and pulled out his crystal. “Let me give this back to you.”

  She rose and placed the necklace on the bedside table. Then she turned to go. She knew she’d see him again, that they’d have to make some decisions about Alex. But right now, she needed distance, needed time to pull herself together. “I’d better go find Alex.”

  “Kara.” His fingers closed around her good wrist, pulled her back. “Come here.”

  She turned, vision blurring, as she fiercely told herself she would not cry. “There’s nothing more to say.”

  He tugged hard, making her lose her balance and stumble forward. She couldn’t use her broken arm to brace herself, so she ended up sprawled across him. “What—”

  His big hand grasped her chin as his lips commandeered hers. Stunned, she started to protest—which may or may not have been a mistake, depending. It gave him full access to her mouth, and he took it. God, the man could kiss.

  “Ummm,” she managed. Then her mind stopped functioning, overruled by hormones going on full alert. Somehow, she ended up in the bed with him. And somehow her leg got slung across his, while his hand slid beneath her sweater. How did he always manage to do that to her—

  “Mom! What are you doing?”

  Alex’s voice was like a wave of ice water. She jerked back and scrambled off the bed. “Alex! I was— We— I—” She yanked down her sweater, which had ridden halfway up her midriff, and felt a flush heating her face.

  Alex was grinning from ear to ear. “You were kissing Mr. Morgan.”

  “Just telling him good-bye,” she muttered, deciding a change of topic might be her best defense, while she studiously avoided looking at Luz. “It might be nice if you remembered your manners and greeted Mr. Morgan.”

  “Hey, Mr. Morgan.” Alex waved at the bed. “Luke said hi.” He raised his backpack, which he’d refused to let Kara put in the trunk with his suitcase. “I’ve got the…you know.”

  “Who’s Luke? And what have you got?” Kara asked. Damien and Alex just looked at each other.

  Luz touched her good arm. “I need to get back to my mother’s casa.”

  Kara finally looked at her, and was disconcerted by the knowing expression on her exotic face. “I’m glad you came. I know Alex was delighted to see you.”

  “I missed my chico.” Luz smiled at Alex. “It was like part of my heart was gone.” Pain flashed into her eyes as she turned to Damien. “I am sorry my sister shot you, and you, too, Kara. I do not know why she did such a thing.” Her face crumpled, and a sob escaped her lips.

  “Your sister wasn’t herself,” Damien said quietly. “I have no hard feelings.”

  Luz’s shoulders shook from her sobs. Kara enveloped her in a comforting hug. After a moment, Luz pulled back, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “I am sorry.” She took a deep breath. “Some of the responsibility for what happened is mine, Señor Morgan. I always knew something was wrong with Serafina. She was a lost soul. She went from man to man, was never satisfied. But I should have suspected something when she started acting strangely.”

  “When was that?” Damien asked.

  “About two months ago. My sister became angry and withdrawn. I sensed a new darkness inside her, but I thought it was just a temporary depression. I should have done more to help her.”

  Damien exchanged a glance with Kara. “Sometimes there’s nothing we can do to change fate. Your sister’s problems, and her actions, were not your fault.”

  Luz shrugged, radiating sadness. “Perhaps you are right.” She looked at Kara. “I will be back to work next week, if you still want me.”

  Kara hugged her again. “Of course, we want you. You’re part of our family.”

  “Gracias.”

  “We’ll see you on Saturday, at the funeral,” Kara added. “But if there’s anything you need, anything I can do, call me.”

  “Sí.” Luz leaned down to hug Alex. “Take care of yourself, hijo. Te quiero.”

  “I love you, too, Luz.” Alex waited until she was gone, then he whirled toward Damien. “Now?”

  “Now is good.”

  “Now what?” Kara asked, looking from one to the other. Damien was as impassive as ever, but Alex was squirming with excitement.

  “I got you something really neat from the Tennessee Aquarium.” He opened the backpack and lifted out a sizeable object crudely wrapped in glitter tissue paper, held on with about twenty pieces of tape. He offered it, glowing with pride. “I wrapped it myself.”

  “So I see.” She took the gift, her heart lightening. “How sweet of you to bring me something.”

  “Open it now, Mom.” Another glance at Damien. “I think you’ll really like it.”

  “All right.” She settled back in the chair and carefully undid the crumpled paper. She held up a plush stingray that was over a foot long, and was light purple with dark purple dots. “It’s adorable.”

  “Purple is one of your favorite colors,” Alex said proudly.

  “Yes, it is.” She swept her hand over the plush surface. “I love it. Thank you, sweetie. Come give me a hug.”

  “But there’s something else. Look at the tail, Mom.”

  “Where …is this it?” She saw a silver band toward the base of the tail, held with tape. She peeled the tape away, slid it off. It was a ring, with a large, oval-cut pink diamond—at least she thought it was a diamond—and three smaller pink stones framing each side.

  “It’s a ring, Mom!” Alex’s voice pitched up with excitement. “It’s from—” He glanced at Damien. “You tell her.”

  She forced her gaze from the gorgeous ring to Damien. His eyes were like molten silver, his expression as warm and open as she’d ever seen it. “It’s from Alex and me,” he said. “We want the three of us to be a family.”

  “W-what?” She could only stare at him, her mind too shocked to function clearly. “What are you talking about?”

  “He wants to marry us!” Alex crowed.

  “I—” She looked at the ring, then back at Damien. “Why didn’t you discuss this with me first?”

  “I already had a pretty good idea how you felt. But Alex needed to agree to the idea as well.”

  “I voted yes!” Alex was practically glowin
g. “And I helped Luke pick out the ring, although Damien gave us a lot of instructions. We used one of your old rings to get the size.”

  “Who the hell is Luke? Will someone explain what’s going on?”

  “You’re not supposed to use words like hell,” Alex said. “Luke is this really cool Sentinel who moved in across the street from Grandma. He was keeping an eye on me, and he showed me lots of neat Sentinel stuff. He helped me talk to the ghost. And he called Chief Greer when I told him what the ghost said.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “The ghost? Sentinel stuff? Damien, you promised—”

  “Mom, pay attention! I’m trying to ‘splain. Mr. Morgan and I wanted to surprise you with the ring. But he was in the hospital, so me and Luke went to get it. It was way cool. I got to ride on his motorcycle—a Harley—to the jewelry store and—”

  “You rode a motorcycle?” She was getting sensory overload from so much information crowding her mind. “Your grandmother let you do that?”

  “Actually, it was Grandpa, and he thought Luke’s bike was iced, so he said yes.”

  “Men and their toys,” Kara muttered. She stared at the ring. “I don’t know what to think.”

  Damien sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Come here.”

  “Oh, no. I’m not doing that again. There’s a child in the room, Morgan.”

  “Then I’ll come to you.” He stood, steadied himself. He’d been taking regular walks through the hallways, and his strength was returning. He moved around Alex and took the two steps to her. Grasping her left arm, he pulled her to her feet. She stared up at him as he unfolded her clenched fingers and took the ring.

  “I love you, Katherine Jennifer Cantrell,” he said in a husky voice. “And I think that boy of yours is pretty special, too.” One-handed, he slipped the ring on her finger, fumbling a little. “I want to be part of your lives.”

  “I still don’t understand,” she said, wondering if maybe she’d taken too many pain pills and was dreaming all this.

  “I’ve had a lot of time to think,” he said. “Especially that first day, when I was drifting in and out of consciousness.”

  “You made this decision based on drug- and pain-induced hallucinations?”

  “Kara.” His voice was a caress, melting her insides. “Of course not. My weakened state merely allowed me to drop the barriers created by fear and the past. I had nothing to do but think, especially about some things that you said.”