Page 47 of Dark Flame

It was quiet in the car as they drove up the Baja peninsula toward California and onward to Wyoming. Adam listened intently, trying to ‘hear’ Kane’s thoughts. When there was nothing but silence, he leaned forward from the backseat.

“Are you blocking your thoughts?” asked Adam. Kane looked at his friend in the rear-view mirror and then to Garrett beside him. “I can’t hear you. I can’t hear anyone.”

“I was trying to make sure I could stop it.” Kane was never nervous, but he was nervous now. “I’m using a technique they taught me while I was in recovery at Walter Reed. You clear your mind and compartmentalize your thoughts. Bad ones in this room, good ones in that room, like that. I figured if it worked for pain and emotion, then it could work for thoughts. I placed all my thoughts into one big room and pretended to lock it.”

“Shit!” said Flip. “You really are the strongest of the group. Mary and Regan were right.”

Kane shook his head. He wasn’t the strongest. He was just the one that might be able to control the noise for everyone, to give them all something they desperately wanted – normalcy.

“I don’t think it’s that,” he said quietly. “I just think I have a different set of gifts that align with all of yours. I don’t want anyone to lose their shit because of what was done to us. The gifts that were given to us. I think we can learn to enhance them and maybe even figure out something along the way we didn’t know we possessed.” He looked at Flip once more, his friend’s face showing his understanding.

“You mean like what I did back there? Splitting the earth?” said Flip. Kane nodded.

“Yea, like that,” he said. “I’ve never seen you do that before, Flip. It’s pretty fucking amazing if you ask me. If you’re able to control the earth, to create seismic activity, and the ability to move large objects, we’re talking abilities beyond our imaginations.” Flip nodded again, looking down at the face of his beautiful mate.

“That could mean bigger things for everyone,” said Nat. “I mean, maybe we’re just now discovering all of this because we’re together and because you’re here, Kane.”

“Can we stop for snacks?” asked Kelly. Her teenage smile made them all look toward the far back row.

“Sure, we can, honey,” said Nat.

“Border crossing. Kelly? You think you can mask those weapons?”

Kelly nodded, using her body to hide the weapons beneath her stealth. It was amazing! Normally, Kelly would blend into her surroundings, but now she was doing the reverse, allowing the items to blend to her simply by touching them.

Crossing the border into southern California, Kane pulled into a small convenience store and gas station. It was early evening, the dusky rose colors covering the sky. In the distance, they could see the bridge to Coronado, the airplanes landing at Lindbergh, low in the sky.

No one else was in the small store as Nat and Kelly purchased two large bags of snacks. She was certain her mother would not approve. They all wanted to get home, so the guys agreed to take turns driving through the night.

The group stood outside the vehicle, stretching their legs, enjoying the still-warm late fall breezes of southern California.

Kelly reached into the bag and pulled out a soda. Looking up to speak with Nat, she squealed, dropping the soda in a spray of sticky wetness. Kane turned quickly, Garrett and Griffin pushing her behind them in a protective stance.

“Holy fucking hell!” whispered Nat.

Her face flushed red, and she looked at the naked man in front of her. His brown skin glistened in an almost ethereal way, muscles flexed and relaxed as he pushed back his dark hair. A golden glow appeared around his body, fading in and out and then disappearing completely.

Kane stepped forward, casually stripping off his jacket, and handed it to Juan.

“How the… What the… Talk,” he finally said.

Juan stared at Kelly, his face filled with concern and love for the young woman. Kane looked into the man’s eyes and back at the teenager.

“Juan?” He gripped the young man’s shoulders and turned him away from Kelly, walking to the other side of the car. In the backseat, he pulled out his own bag and handed him an extra pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. His shoes would be too big, but everything else would fit until they got home.

“Tell me how the hell you ended up here in San Diego, naked,” said Kane.

Juan looked up at the big man and then back down at his bare feet. Peeking over the top of the large SUV, he spied Kelly’s sweet face, and he let out a long slow sigh. She was safe. It didn’t matter any longer that they knew about him. Kelly was safe.

“I could feel her fear,” he said quietly.

“You could what? You could feel her fear? From Wyoming?!” he yelled. Juan nodded. “How long have you known that you were one of us?”

Juan said nothing at first. He didn’t want to admit that he’d been one of them nearly from birth. It’s why his parents dumped him on the streets of Mexico City. Frightened by him, they left him on the streets to survive on his own or die. Over the years, he’d learned to control his powers and made sure no one, not even Ben knew.

“Always,” he said quietly.

“Always?” Kane repeated. “And you were able to hide it? How?”

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