Chapter Ten

Renee surveyed their temporary living quarters at the Institute: a living room, small kitchen, a master bedroom for her and a bedroom with a twin bed for Charlie. Utilitarian, but it was a big, open space. Thor and Loki obviously liked it. They settled down on the big soft rug of the living area.

Best of all, Charlie seemed to like it too. He sat on the stool at the kitchen counter, happily eating ice cream with his new best friend, Beth.

Charlie finally had a psychologist he liked. Beth had confirmed his diagnosis and, what was more, had a plan that seemed like it would be effective treatment for him. All this was almost too good to be true, and Renee kept glancing around, wondering when the other shoe would drop.

But maybe it already had, with the news that someone was stalking their son. That was in Daz’s hands now. She trusted him to do his job but she was too restless to sit or relax. It seemed like she should be doing something, anything, other than just waiting.

“Ma, chill,” Charlie said.

The irony of Charlie telling her to relax wasn’t lost on Beth, who smiled. “Your mother is just used to being in motion, Charlie. Give her time.”

“Okay.” Charlie finished his bowl of ice cream and put his head down on the counter. “I’m tired,” he announced.

“Really? This early?” Renee walked around behind him. It was only six p.m.

“Using psychic abilities takes a physical toll. That’s why he’s tired. We did a lot of work together today.”

Renee was going to have to get used to Beth speaking to her telepathically, though it was easier to accept because Beth’s telepathic voice sounded so much like her real voice.

“If I put him to bed now, he’ll wake up in the middle of the night, Beth.”

“I can give him a telepathic suggestion to sleep until morning.”

Renee rubbed her son’s back. His eyes were already closed. She wanted to ask Beth if that was safe. But safe was a loaded word right now. It seemed there were choices between one kind of risk and another. On the one hand, Beth would order Charlie to do something. On the other hand, if Charlie got up in the middle of the night, half-asleep, he might panic and injure himself.

“Will there be any side effects if you order him to rest?”

“No, what will happen is that he’ll get a suggestion to go back to sleep if he wakes up when his body is still tired.”

Renee nodded. “Do it.”

Beth curled her hand around Charlie’s wrist. “You’re exhausted. Let’s get some rest.”

“Okay,” Charlie mumbled.

Renee put out her hand and the two of them led him to the bedroom.

“Will you sing to me, Mom? You forgot last night.”

She sat next to him on the bed. “I didn’t forget, silly. You fell asleep before I could do that. Both times.”

“I guess.”

She cleared her throat and sang to him, his special song that she’d made up when he was little. He’d grown out of needing a lullaby, but this was their ritual and Charlie loved rituals. This was one of her favorites too.

She kissed his forehead when she was finished. All too soon, he’d not be her little boy any longer. If she could just give him the tools to cope with his autism by then, she’d count things a success.

Beth watched quietly and followed Renee back out to the living room. Renee collapsed onto the couch, now feeling the exhaustion.

“Thank you,” she said.

“I should thank you. Charlie’s a good kid,” Beth said. “But things have a habit of speeding up around here, so I wondered if you’d mind taking the time now, while we have it, to answer some questions so I can treat Charlie better.”

Renee opened one eye. “Like what?”

“Well, I noticed some tension between you and Daz earlier but also a connection. It would help me to know if you and he are together.”

“You can’t read my mind about it?” Renee asked.

“Not without permission, I won’t.”

Beth’s answer sounded a little long-suffering. “You get that question a lot, don’t you?” Renee asked.

“Yes. People are rightly paranoid about someone rifling through their minds.” Beth cleaned up the dirty bowls in the kitchen. “If you’d rather not talk about Daz, I understand.”

“If I knew exactly what to say about Daz, it would be easier to talk about it. It’s complicated. But we both want what’s best for Charlie.”

“That part’s easy to see.” Beth sat down in the living room at the edge of her chair cushion, assuming what Renee was coming to think of as her “listener position”.

What the hell. Beth obviously knew Daz well. She might have good advice. And talking about it might help Renee sort through it all.

“I was in love with Daz once. He didn’t feel as strongly. And now? I’m worried he only wants to be together because I’m Charlie’s mother and he feels protective.”

“Ouch,” Beth said.

“Yeah.”

“What do you want?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know.” No, she did know. She wanted Daz. No, scratch that.

“What I want is for Daz to feel as strongly about me as I do for him.”

“And if he does feel that way, how does he prove it to you?”

“The hell if I know. How did Alec prove it to you?”

Beth smiled. “Alec’s an open book in a lot of ways. He doesn’t hold back. Besides, I could read his mind. What surprised me is that he never questioned how I felt for him. He thought my telepathy was cool.”

“You two trust each other,” Renee said.

“So do you and Daz,” Beth said.

“You’re sure about that?”

“I’m sure.”

Renee cocked her head. “Is that from reading us?”

Beth smiled. “No, it’s from watching the way the two of you are together. You handle Charlie as a team. That requires trust.”

“Daz let me down,” Renee whispered. “I need to know he won’t again. But I don’t know if he’s changed or even if he can.”

“People can change.”

The soft voice came from a man standing in the kitchen. Thor and Loki raised their heads but otherwise didn’t react. Huh. Unusual for them to let someone walk into a room without reacting.

“Dad!” Beth stood, walked over and hugged the new arrival. “Thank you for coming.”

“You call, I come.”

“Philip Drake, this is Renee Black. Renee, Philip.”

Renee shook hands with Philip Drake. The man carried himself well, lean and fit, but he wasn’t as blindingly handsome as Alec, nor as tall, which was a relief because she didn’t know if she could take more of these godlike people.

“Excuse me for saying this, but you look a little young to be Beth’s father.”

Philip smiled, a quiet, reassuring smile. “I’m her foster father. It’s a long story.”

“Philip is here for two reasons,” Beth said. “One is to go over the details of your home so he can prepare a security system.”

“Thank you, that would be a huge load off my mind.” Renee nodded. She was more than a little wiggy about going back knowing someone was spying on her and Charlie. “What’s the other reason?”

“You two have something in common,” Beth said as they settled back into the living room. “You both have children with psychic gifts.”

“Really? How old is your—”

“Son.” Drake held up his smartphone and displayed a picture of a cherubic baby that looked to be about eight months old.

“He’s adorable.” Renee said. “What kind of psychic ability does he have?”

Most of the parents she knew never had to deal with an autistic child. It made things awkward with them. She’d never expected to find another parent of a child with psychic gifts. A support group of two. Hah.

“Hmm…” Philip stretched out on the couch, relaxed, and glanced over at Beth. “How much have you told Renee about how my psychic abilities work?”

“Only the basics. Nothing about you specifically, not without your permission.”

“I appreciate that.”

He studied Renee. For a moment, he seemed to transform into something darker, more dangerous. It was as if Philip Drake was a chameleon, changing his entire body language based on what he needed to project.

“He used to do a lot of undercover work for the CIA.”

These little telepathic asides from Beth were coming in handy.

“Beth’s probably told you how telepathy works,” Philip said. “Telekinesis is another matter. It’s basically shifting objects or even molecules with your mind. You’ve seen Alec in action?”

“His TK, yes, though not the firestarting that Daz talked about.”

“Alec is a high-level telekinetic. That means he controls his ability with conscious thought. But as my daughter will tell you, many psychic gifts work unconsciously. My own telekinesis used to be like that. You mentioned I look young to be her father. That’s a result of my healing ability.”

She leaned forward intently. Beth had mentioned that immortals had an unconscious healing ability but she’d been too focused on Charlie to think about anything but him. “You can make yourself younger?”

“I can make my body not show signs of aging, and I can heal from all but the most grave injuries,” Philip said. “This psychic ability existed for most of my life at a subconscious level. I wanted to get better, so my TK manipulated my body and repaired me. Only recently have I learned to have some conscious control over it.”

“And you made yourself look younger?”

He grimaced. “I was experimenting. I didn’t realize I couldn’t change back. Anyway that brings me to my son, who can heal himself and heal others. The last gift seems to be an extremely rare ability.” Philip speared her with a glance. “None of this information leaves the Institute, of course.”

“Of course. A baby who can heal.” She smiled. “I bet that comes in handy when he’s teething.”

Philip laughed. “So far, it has, though we had to have Beth convince him telepathically not to prevent his teeth from coming in. He didn’t understand why they had to break through the gums and hurt him.”

“I just told him he needed teeth to eat cookies,” Beth said.

The two of them were so easy with each other and spoke so honestly about psychic abilities. It gave her hope that Charlie would have peers who would accept him as he was. “It sounds like I’ve come to the right place for my son.”

“You have,” Beth said. “Daz and Alec do some security work and we have enemies, as you know but, to me, children like Sam and Charlie are the heart of what we hope to accomplish. You’re not alone, Renee. You have friends here. I also have some clients I’m working with very quietly off-site. I’m hoping once we eliminate Rasputin’s threat that we can bring them on-site and make this a fully functioning program. Charlie won’t be alone, either.”

Beth’s eyes unfocused again.

“She’s talking to Alec,” Philip said.

“I’m beginning to recognize the signs.”

“You’re taking all this very well. I know it can be an adjustment to accept a new reality. My wife took it somewhat in stride once the initial shock wore off, even though she’s not a psychic. Maybe you’d like to talk to her and compare notes?”

“I’d like that. Just give me time for the initial shock to wear off too.”

Beth blinked and came back to them.

“Trouble?” Philip asked.

“Yes. The good news is that they have the cat. The bad news is that they were attacked at your home.”

Renee stood. “Are they okay?” Daz.

“They’re fine but we need to discuss what to do next. Renee, I know you need quiet but would it be all right if they come to this room?”

“All right? Of course it’s all right.” Daz attacked? Renee glanced back at the bedroom. “You’re certain Charlie will stay asleep? He doesn’t need to hear all this. It’ll scare him.”

“Yes,” Beth said.

“Good.”

What she didn’t say was that all this scared her too.