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

by Catherine Spangler

  He’d removed the suit coat and the tie, and rolled up the shirt sleeves, exposing strong muscular forearms. With his dark skin and five o’clock shadow, and his midnight hair flowing freely about his shoulders, he looked like a modern-day pirate, threatening on many levels she didn’t want to probe. It didn’t help that he’d returned from Doris’s house radiating excess psychic energy that jangled her already taut nerves.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She was mentally and physically exhausted. There was a gaping hole in her heart, created by the loss of a friend she couldn’t yet properly mourn. Instead, she had to hold it together for her son, subject herself to the trauma of a conduction, and at the same time maintain her dignity in front of this Sentinel. “Hell no, I’m not ready,” she muttered.

  He held out his hand. “Come on.”

  Willing her hand to remain steady, she placed it in his, felt the tingle of electricity.

  “Alex’s room?” he asked.

  “No,” she said firmly, although a bed was the standard setting for a conduction—along with tangled sheets and nude, writhing bodies. But she refused to cross those boundaries. “The living room.”

  His brow arched at that, but he said nothing as they walked to the main room and over to the couch. “Sit here.” He indicated one end of the couch and pulled the overstuffed chair around to face it. “I’ll take the chair.”

  They seated themselves, adjusting furniture so they fully faced one another. He scooted the chair forward until his knees touched the couch, with her legs sandwiched between his thighs, far too close for comfort. Her heart was jumping like a panicked frog in a net, and memories of Richard crowded into her mind. She shoved them away, stared into Damien’s mesmerizing silvery gaze.

  “No intimacy,” she said again. “No unnecessary touching.”

  “So we agreed.” He reached toward her, pausing when she flinched involuntarily. “Kara, we have to touch some.”

  She felt like the naive, starry-eyed high school girl she’d once been, too shy and intimidated to say hello to the football quarterback on whom she’d had a huge crush. This is ridiculous, she told herself.

  “I know.” She wiped her palms on her sweatpants, the most coverage she could find, and held out both hands.

  He took them, turning her left palm faceup and placing his right palm down against it. Then he turned his left hand faceup against her right hand, completing the familiar, standard position for opening energy pathways between Sentinel and conductor. Leaning forward, he shifted their pressed-together hands to rest on her thighs. He inhaled deeply, exhaled; she knew he was centering himself and creating protective shields.

  Already, without any other initiation, she could feel the flow of psychic energy beginning to cycle through their hands. She couldn’t believe that just a simple physical link could initiate the energy. Good thing she’d kept her bra on and donned a thick sweatshirt, because her nipples were already painful nubs. She felt another flare of panic, caught her breath.

  “Easy now,” he murmured. “Close your eyes and breathe through it.”

  Simple for him to say. She closed her eyes, managed a few deep breaths. The energy began pooling in her groin, quickly heating to an urgency that spread like fingers across her abdomen. On an intellectual level, she understood it was just the base chakra activating and expanding; this chakra controlled ovaries/gonads and reproduction and therefore sexual urges. But on a visceral level, it was an awakening of desire.

  With astonishing speed, the energy cycled upward to just below her belly button, bursting through the second chakra, setting her abdomen aflame. With it came the sexual surge, creating a physical need so violent, she had to clamp her thighs together to keep from crying out. The energies were rising fast, much faster than she remembered with Richard. She struggled for air, unable to assimilate the overwhelming rush of energy.

  “Breathe!” Damien commanded. “Just breathe and go with the flow.”

  The third chakra opened with an audible pop, energy pouring through her lower rib cage. “Too fast,” she gasped. It had been too long since she’d done this…. “I can’t do it.”

  “Let go, Kara. Let it carry you along.”

  “I can’t—” She was vaguely aware that she had her fingers wrapped around his hands, that he had pressed his legs tightly against her thighs…it was too much.

  “You don’t have to do anything. Just hold on, go with the current.” His voice was like steel, a command she was helpless to ignore. She felt tossed like a buoy in a stormy sea.

  Another pop, and green filled her field of vision. Warmth flooded her fourth chakra, spread through her chest.

  “We’re through the lower chakras now,” he said, sounding calm and impassive. “All you have to do is hang on.” He meant that symbolically, but her fingers convulsed around his hands, desperately seeking an anchor. She felt his fingers curl around hers in return, felt the solidness of his grasp. “It’s all right,” his deep voice soothed. “Keep breathing.”

  The pressure eased somewhat, but her throat burned as the energy moved into the fifth chakra, the first of the higher three centers. They were in the Sentinel realm now, in the spiritual chakras that facilitated links with God and with the super-consciousness many referred to as the Universe.

  The slight easing was short-lived. There was a blinding starburst of light, followed by a sharp spear of pain in the top of her head. The sixth chakra was now open, but she had no time to process it. The light spilled into the center of her forehead, into the seventh chakra. An electrical tingling began there.

  With all the chakras open, the energy had a full range to flow and began racing through all seven centers in a figure eight pattern. It created a rocking sensation along her spine. She felt like she was being jerked off the couch, but knew that was just her perception. She also knew her “third eye”, which was linked to the sixth chakra, was now engaged with Damien’s. Colors flashed behind her eyelids—red, orange, yellow, green blue, indigo, violet—alternating with light-speed images she couldn’t decipher. Faster and faster and faster.

  Clawing, sexual desire permeated it all. Kara’s heart raced, her breasts ached, and her vagina throbbed with basic, primal need. This was when most Sentinels and conductors came together physically. When the steady pounding of the male into the female set up a cadence that merged with the lower-based chakra energy signature of the Belian, slipping into that energy like a key into a lock.

  This was when Richard would have entered her body, filling her, slaking her desperate need, as their energy merged to surround and pattern the Belian’s energy, culminating in an explosive climax and leaving strong mental images that would lead Richard to the identity of the Belian.

  But there would be no relief for her this time. No physical release or the bonding of minds and souls, or the glow of the spiritual aftermath. No lying in bed afterwards and piecing together the parts of the Belian puzzle, then making love again, this time with leisurely tenderness. No Richard. Ever again.

  Grief engulfed her, but not even that pain could dull the relentless sexual demands of her body. She wrenched her thoughts to Doris. For her, she could handle this—she would handle it. She’d come this far, and Doris’s murderer was not going to get away with his crime. Kara reached deep, trying to ride the waves of energy and focus on the stunning starburst radiating in the center of her mind.

  The images flashing through her mind in a super blur meant nothing to her, but that didn’t matter. Damien would be able to interpret them. Her job as a conductor was to magnify and focus his psychic abilities, allowing him to chisel away at the Belian’s psychic blocks. She was simply a conduit, albeit a very powerful one.

  The energy began to slow, as did the rocking motion. The color and image flashes became weaker, began fading. She felt the surge receding, leaving behind a tingling sensation, like that of a limb falling asleep, then reawakening. But the sexual heat didn’t recede. The four lower chakras w
ere tied to the Earth, encrypted with the survival instinct of mating. Her entire body reverberated with a now highly charged libido.

  Mind over matter, she told herself, clenching her teeth. Or maybe a bath in ice water. She felt Damien withdraw, mentally and physically, and it left her oddly bereft. Blowing out a shaky breath, she opened her eyes. He had pushed the chair away a few feet, and lounged back in it, watching her. He appeared composed and completely unaffected by what had just transpired, while she suspected she was rumpled and wild-eyed, with her hair going all directions.

  Damn him. How could he be so impervious? He was in a human body, wasn’t he? She squinted at his lap, trying to see if he had an erection. He should have a raging one, if he was experiencing even one tenth of the lust she felt right now. She couldn’t tell, not with the dark suit and the dimness of the room.

  Stop it! she told herself. She was just feeling the after effects of the conduction, not a true attraction. Fatigue and exhaustion seeped through her.

  “You all right?” Damien asked.

  “Just fine.” She tried to get up, found her rubbery legs wouldn’t support her.

  “Careful there.” He was out of the chair in a single movement, his hands on her arms the only thing that prevented her from toppling over. “You’re shaking. Here, lie down for a few minutes until you get your balance.”

  “I’m okay, really.” But she sank onto the couch and let him swing her legs up and settle her on her back as if she were a child. She didn’t like it, but it was better than pitching forward onto her face.

  “Sure you are.” He pressed warm fingers against her neck, his gaze fixed on her face. “Your pulse is pretty fast.”

  No kidding. That was late-breaking news. Reaching a sexual flash point tended to have that affect on a woman. Kara shook her head to clear it, and to chase away the inane thoughts. She was definitely punchy, and she couldn’t remember ever being this bad after a conduction.

  He returned to the chair. “That was a very powerful conduction.”

  “It did seem pretty strong,” she conceded, telling herself to focus on the images produced rather than the physical after effects. A cold shower was going to be the first order of business, as soon as her legs decided to work. “Did you get anything?”

  “Not much, although some details might clarify when I do my evening meditation.”

  “You’ll meditate tonight? After all that energy’s been let loose?”

  “It will be much more controlled. Regular mediation doesn’t snap all the chakras open like that. It’s gradual and regulated.” He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. “I did get a sense of water during the conduction.”

  She remembered seeing flowing currents in some of the swift flashes of scenes. “I did, too. It could have been the Blanco River.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “It was clear water that looked green because of the rocks. I also got images of a road running beside the water.”

  “That would probably be River Road—an original name.” Kara rubbed her forehead, now battling a sudden headache. “Do you think what you saw has to do with David’s death?”

  “No, they’re not the same images I got at the place where I believe he went into the water. More likely, they’re related to the Belian.”

  “Perhaps it goes there a lot?” she asked.

  “Maybe. Either that, or it lives there. One way or another, it is a connection to the Belian.”

  “Oh, well, then.” She made an effort to turn on her side and face him, wincing as the movement made her head throb worse. “If it lives there, that narrows the suspects down to about one or two hundred people who reside along River Road.”

  “It’s still a clue, and it gives us a place to start looking. I also saw a live oak tree.”

  “Only a few thousand of those,” Kara muttered.

  “Smart-ass,” he said, with a hint of a smile. “No, this tree is very odd looking. It’s missing a big branch, but not a clean break, and most of the bark on that same side is splintered off. The tree was probably hit by lightning. It’s unique, and I think I’ll know it when I see it.” He drummed his fingers on the chair arm again, seemingly lost in thought. “This is a very strong Belian. It’s got some solid blocks in place. It’s going to be a challenge to identify it.”

  “I have a feeling you’re used to challenges.” She tried to stifle a yawn. How could she suddenly be sleepy when she was still sexually wired and had a four-ibuprofen headache working?

  “I don’t object to a challenge, but any delay could result in more deaths. How are you feeling?”

  “I feel great,” she lied, swinging her legs to the ground and trying to get her body vertical. Her head protested violently, forcing an involuntary groan.

  He was instantly up, moving like a great cat. “What’s wrong?” He sat on the couch beside her.

  She didn’t want his concern, or his disconcerting touch. She was ready to be away from him, to be alone with her pain and grief. “Just a small headache. Some drugs and sleep and I’ll be as good as new.”

  “Let me help you.” His hands slid upward, one possessively grasping her neck, the other cupping her forehead.

  “No, really, I don’t need—”

  “Just hush and be still.”

  A soothing warmth penetrated the tension in her neck and drifted inside her head. Immediately the pain eased. She relaxed, and for a moment, savored his trademark sandalwood scent and the stroking of his fingers along her neck. Until she felt the subtle mental push.

  “Stop that!” She tried to squirm away.

  “I said be still.” He slid closer, pinning her against the side of the couch while he continued massaging her neck and sending the warmth into her head. “What is it you want me to stop?”

  “I can feel your mental manipulation, and I don’t like having my mind invaded.”

  “I’m merely calming and relaxing you, nothing more. And you object to this after the mental intimacy of a third-eye meld in a conduction?”

  “Well…yes.”

  He dropped his hands. “Fine. Some aspirin or ibuprofen ought to be sufficient to keep the pain from coming back. If you’d allowed the conduction to be completed properly, the energy would have been fully dispersed, and you wouldn’t have a headache.”

  “Spoken like a typical guy.” She rubbed her neck, marveling that the pain was gone. “Most men think sex is the solution for everything.”

  “I wouldn’t disagree with that.” The silky seduction in his voice sent a shudder through her. She wasn’t sure if it was the human or Sentinel side of him, but the man oozed raw, animal magnetism.

  He rose from the couch and stared down at her. “And in this particular case, with such a powerful Belian, sex might be a necessity. It all depends on how badly you want to help me track it down.”

  He strode to the dining room to retrieve his duster from the back of a chair. He slid into it, picked up his suit coat. “I need to spend some time with Alex this weekend, especially after this latest occurrence.”

  Alex. A sudden memory shot through her. “He felt it.”

  “Who felt what?”

  “Alex sensed the energies when we went inside Doris’s house this afternoon.” Kara stared blindly at the fireplace, reliving the horrendous events of the day. “He said it felt really bad in the house. He was frightened.” She looked back at Damien. “I think it was the Belian he sensed.”

  “I have no doubt of it. This is another example of how quickly Alex’s powers are developing, with or without direction. It drives home how important it is that Alex gain total control of his abilities, so he can manipulate them, rather than the other way around.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “You’ve made that point quite clear. But I still expect you to keep his exposure to the Sentinel existence to a minimum.”

  “He chose this,” Damien said quietly. “His soul exercised its free will, and came into this Earth plane, choosing the path of a Sentinel.”
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br />   “He’s just a boy! He’s not old enough to choose anything. I’m his mother, and I have to make decisions for both of us. He’s too young to fully understand being a Sentinel, and I intend to protect him as long as I can.”

  “You can’t control the unfolding of his powers, Kara. Nor can you control what Alex senses, or his natural instincts. Better he learn to master them.”

  She could find no reply as he walked to the front door and opened it. He cocked his head toward her. “I’ll call you tomorrow to arrange a time to come over. Think about what I said about tracking the Belian. I know it took a lot of guts for you to agree to a conduction, in light of your previous experiences. But what we did tonight may not be enough. The safety of Zorro’s residents could well depend on your willingness to have sex with me.”

  * * * *

  Ah, the power coursing through me! It is like the nectar of Belial, giving me new vitality. The old woman had more life force than I expected. Why did I wait so long to again feel the glorious rush of claiming a life to strengthen my own existence? There is no need to be so cautious—they’ll never know. Not even the Sentinel can identify me; I’m far too powerful.

  But he tried, oh yes, he did. I could feel the surge of power, and a sexual surge at that. So, there is a conductor involved, as well. Very intriguing, and much to consider. A Sentinel and a conductor working together will pose more of a challenge, but I have the supremacy of Belial behind me. I am more than a match for them. I will watch and listen carefully, so I can determine the identity of my enemies and destroy them.

  To prepare for battle, I will need more power. To that end, I will experience the rush of the kill again soon.

  Very soon.

  * * * *

  Kara locked the door after Damien; she also checked the back door and all the windows, although nothing could keep out a Belian. She didn’t get much rest that night, plagued by vivid images of Doris’s stiff, cold body and the sense of evil that had permeated her house. Those images led to Kara’s firsthand memories of the terrors a Belian could unleash on an unsuspecting human population.