He could sense them approaching too.
Soon Terk knocked on his mind. We’re here.
Damon immediately stopped sending the energy. Feeling the vibration, he turned, opened the door, and they bolted inside. He immediately slammed it shut and set the energy moving again. Then he detached himself from it. “That should keep going for several hours or so,” he stated, “but I’ll have to reinforce it after that.”
Terk nodded at the groceries in his arms. “Dinner.”
Damon rolled his eyes, then looked at Tasha, staring at him, her eyes wide open, and her pupils gone black.
He opened up his arms, and she rushed into them. He closed his arms securely around her and whispered, “You’re safe.”
She leaned back. “I’m safe?” She raised her voice in outrage. “What about you? You turned off your tracker.”
He nodded. “And you can turn it back on again now.”
“I will, and, if you ever try something like that again, … ugh …” she murmured, leaving the empty threat hanging.
He grinned, kissed her on the forehead. “What’s this about food?” He looked back and forth between the bags that Terk held and the woman under his arm and asked, “Do you do anything but eat?”
“Are you saying I’m fat?”
“Are you kidding? You haven’t got any body fat to spare.” He shook his head. “I’ve often worried that you were anorexic.”
She snorted, grabbed one of the bags from Terk’s hands. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, I hope not.” Damon frowned. “I would hate to think that you had an eating disorder.”
“The only eating disorder I have,” she said, “is that there’s not enough food when I’m hungry. I’ve always had a very high metabolism, and I can go through calories like nobody else.”
“We’ve noticed,” he quipped, but the return to light teasing was a joy. He looked over at Terk and asked, “You doing okay?”
“I am, but I—” He stopped, shrugged. “Well, you know. I was burning down, trying to keep this place protected in darkness while searching.”
“And you’ve still got healing lines into all the team?”
He nodded. “But honestly, Brody worries me at the moment. He’s in the worst shape, and he doesn’t seem to be accepting any of my energy.”
Damon sucked in his breath. “I hope not. I really don’t want to lose anyone else.”
“I know. None of us do. Maybe in some ways he prefers it. But he’s on a 100 percent burnout. I’m not sensing any energy around him at all, except the tiny flat white aura stuck up to his body. And even then, the cord is fading.”
“Shit.” Damon glared at Terk. “Is there nothing you can do?”
“I’m doing it all.” Terk sighed. “That’s why I can’t do much else. I can’t do my usual channels because I’m funneling all the available energy I have to him. And it sucks because, at the end of the day, it’s still not enough.”
“Can I help? What about the others?” Damon asked.
Terk frowned. “You said you heard from Wade?”
Damon nodded. “Yes, and I told him to get his ass out of my head and to use the energy to heal, but he said he was doing better. Although tracking the spore, logging it in, then putting the tracker on it again so he’d recognize it later, all wore him out, so he’s gone and crashed.”
“Good,” Terk muttered. “We all need food, and we all need rest.” He looked at the bag in his hand. “Let’s go eat.”
They opened up the second room, and Terk put down his bag of food. Tasha immediately snatched it closer to her, opened it up, brought out the dishes, and looked at Damon. “I hope you like curry.”
“I eat anything when it comes to food for energy,” he replied calmly. “But it just so happens that I adore curry.”
She handed him a takeout container heaped with rice on the bottom, vegetables in the middle, and a spicy chicken dish on top.
He looked at it and nodded. “This smells heavenly.”
“Just because we’re constantly under attack and in danger doesn’t mean we shouldn’t eat well,” she stated, as she took another container and handed it to Terk. “You wanted beef, right?”
“I did.” He nodded and sat down and proceeded very methodically and forcefully to eat, clearly intent on getting the entire meal down in short order.
Chapter 12
When she was halfway done, Tasha looked at Terk and asked, “Are you actually enjoying what you’re eating?”
“It doesn’t matter if I am or not,” Terk murmured. “I need to recharge, and, in order to recharge, I must have sustenance.” He finished his meal, looked at the other two, and said, “I need to go crash.”
“I’ll be right after you.” Damon nodded. “We’re okay for the moment, since we have safeguards up.”
“I’ll stand watch,” she offered immediately.
The two of them looked at her, shared a glance, and then shrugged.
“Because of the safeguards in place it’s probably fine,” Damon nodded. “So you can do first watch.” And he went right back to shoveling food into his face.
She ate at a much slower rate. She did eat a lot, and she’d always known that, but it was a little more uncomfortable to have it be noticed all the time. It typically wasn’t obvious because she didn’t spend every waking moment with someone, but, in this scenario, well, it was pretty hard to hide. She watched as Damon ate and noted, “I hope you’re at least enjoying it.”
He nodded. “I am. It’s really good. One question though,” he said. “Why did you choose chicken for me?”
“Instinct.”
His eyebrows shot up.
She shrugged. “Anytime we ever ordered sandwiches, you’d always go for roasted chicken. So I figured it was probably a safe bet.”
“It is a safe bet, but, just for future reference, I love beef too. Hell, really not much I don’t like.”
“Good. For the record, I can’t stand eggplant.”
He stared at her. “Those purple-looking things?”
She nodded and smiled.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever had them,” he noted.
“You probably have and didn’t even know it.” She shrugged. “I’ve always found them completely tasteless.”
“Like a zucchini, huh?”
She smiled. “Those at least you can grill or roast, and they have some taste.”
“I imagine people who love eggplant would say the same thing,” he added.
“Maybe.” He got up, and she watched as he stumbled. “Are you okay?” she asked in a low tone.
He nodded. “I am. You’ve seen this before though, I’m sure.”
“I have, just not quite this bad.” In fact, she hadn’t seen Terk this bad either.
Damon made his way to the bathroom, and, when he came out, his face had been scrubbed, teeth brushed, and hair combed. He’d probably feel better if he had a shower.