Page 119 of Darkness

“Leary tried to force us all into the basement.”

Morrisey arched a brow. “The clinic?”

“We currently have two bodies there available for any member of the team who needs one. But there’s also a containment unit. While Leary can’t banish us, if you kill our bodies and we can’t get new ones, we’ll die. Same difference.”

“I see.” Morrisey chewed his lower lip. “Well, I learned a thing or two on the other side. One of the elders did this mind-meld thing with me, but instead of trying to possess me, he shared knowledge.”

“Like what?”

“Watch.” Morrisey nodded toward the man pretending to study his laptop. He looked up, glancing around. He struggled to his feet, still turning this way and that.

“What’s he doing?” Farren asked.

“Humans see what they want to. I’ve hidden us from his view.”

“What? Can you hide us from just him or all humans?”

“I don’t know. I just practiced on a few random folks on my way here. Some nearly knocked me down.” So weird, Morrisey acknowledging he might not be human. If not for the new powers, he’d have trouble believing himself.

Later he’d wonder about his parents, what life might’ve been like for him on Domus.

The server approached with a coffee pot, pouring them both a cup before walking away. So apparently, he could still see them. Their tail gave up, made a phone call, and left. Handy trick, as long as the tail didn’t see the server pouring coffee at an empty table.

Farren watched the man leave. “We have to talk to Leary.”

Not what Morrisey wanted to hear. “We need to talk to someone with an open mind.”

“I’ve worked with Leary for years now. We'll approach with caution, but he has information we don't.”

Morrisey didn’t want to risk a whole species on this assumption. All the travelers who could escape were now in the human realm. Not only in the US, but worldwide. If they wanted to declare war, they could—and most likely, win. But like Farren said, most just wanted to survive, having lost their homes, their families…

But they’d fight for survival if they thought themselves threatened.

A burning question played on Morrisey’s mind. “Do travelers lose powers after they’ve been here for a while?”

Farren shook his head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Nearest I can tell when a traveler inhabits a human body, our energy remaps brain processes. It’s still a human brain, just more efficient.”

“What about travelers’ kids? Can the powers pass to the next generation?”

“Not that I’m aware of. But travelers can live a long time in a body. We also make metabolism and cellular construction more efficient.”

“Why didn’t that happen to me? Your body is thirty-seven but looks twenty-seven. Me? I’m forty-two and look fifty-two.”

Farren rolled his eyes. “No, you don’t. But you didn’t know what you were. The remapping isn’t an automatic function of what you… I mean… humans call possession. It’s a conscious process.”

“Where do we go from here?”

“First, we gather all the travelers we can trust. Keep ‘em safe. We have to see what you’re capable of, for like it or not, by our old hierarchy, you’re our leader.”

“I don’t want to be. You don’t need me.” No way, no how was Morrisey planning on taking responsibility for an entire species, even though the elder told him to. There had to be someone better. Hell, anyone would be better.

“Yes, we do. Until we can negotiate a lasting peace with humans. Or at least the ones in this country. Now, let’s get out of here.”

Farren paid the bill, then ushered Morrisey from the diner with a hand to the lower back. Heat radiated through Morrisey’s shirt to his skin.

“How do we get to the safe house?” he asked once they cleared the parking lot.

“I’ll call for a ride.”

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