Page 94 of Darkness

“I loved Kele, you know.” Another reason to avoid Colm. Though he appeared vastly different in human form, his aura brought Kele to mind. A family resemblance.

"Not enough to stay together," Colm muttered, venom in his words. “I should have brought Kele with me.”

Farren met the gaze of the one humans could call his father-in-law. "If you hate me for not being there when it mattered, why did you pull me into this realm?" He lifted his chin in defiance. Once more, anger seethed, though, at Colm or himself, Farren couldn’t say.

Colm said nothing, staring at his hands. Voice raspy, he finally said, “One, because my spawn would have wanted me to, and two, because I’m bastard enough to want you to suffer without them too.”

Yes, Kele had a good heart. In time, they would’ve gotten over whatever they’d fought about and reunited—after a fair amount of groveling from Farren.

“You haven’t taken another mate.” Colm phrased his words as a statement of fact, not a question.

“No, I haven’t.”

Colm’s bushy gray eyebrows shot towards his hairline. “Why not?”

“Work keeps me busy.” Why did Colm want to know when he’d spent over ten years blaming Farren for Kele’s vanishing? Or blaming Farren for not vanishing, too, rather.

“You should find someone.”

What? I may have. Farren didn’t say so out loud. How foolish to develop feelings for someone he could potentially have to banish. This world’s rules weren’t the same as he’d been taught since childhood. He couldn’t simply banish someone for their tier in society or what they might do in the future.

Colm paused nursing his beer. “Why are you asking about a spawn?”

Might as well tell everything. At one time, they’d gotten along well, and Farren had sought the elder’s advice. “I’ve been assigned a human work partner who can see travelers in a human form.”

“Don’t you mean demons?” Yes, Colm had spent a sufficient amount of time on this plane to hear many insults.

Farren enunciated clearly, “Travelers.”

“Damned political correctness.”

The man's penchant for being ornery just for the purpose of orneriness hadn't changed. “The bureau found evidence to suggest he could be a changeling.”

Colm set his beer beside the couch, a new water ring in the making starting on the hardwood floor. He leaned in, resting spindly forearms on his knees. “Changeling. Now, there’s a term I haven’t heard in some time. Those were extremely rare.”

“Yes.” In order for a changeling to work, the human and traveler children had to be at similar stages of development. Adult travelers had tried before to occupy the bodies of children but never survived.

“Does he know?”

Morrisey couldn’t possibly have a clue. “I don’t think so.”

Colm ran his fingers through his beard, staring off at the wall for a time. “The only way for a child to get from Domus to Terra is by summoning. They never stumble in on their own.”

“He was summoned.” Farren studied Colm for tells. Travelers were usually only summoned to be used in some way. Which backed up the faith healer story. Better not say too much.

Colm raised both hands defensively. “I haven’t brought anyone over but you. It’s part of the agreement I made with the government. No summoning.” Of course, Colm kept his word. He’d not totally changed from the honorable man he used to be. Just grown more bitter. Yet he had told no one about bringing Farren to Terra.

“Someone did. And there’s more.” Farren bought time with a deep inhale and exhale. "I suspect he’s Tenebris."

No mistaking the alarm on Colm’s face. “The child or the summoner?”

“The child.”

“Oh, shit. You know what that means, don’t you?”

“What?” The gut-wrenching sensation in the pit of Farren's stomach said he already did.

“If he doesn’t know what he is, wasn’t evaluated and taught how to wield his power or what he’s capable of, he’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

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