Hunting Shadows (Shadow Series #3) (10 page)

I was reli
eved when Ryan followed my plea
and ran after Sarah. “Simon!” I yelled. My heart sank when I realized I couldn’t
see him anymore. I didn’t know whether I should try to find him or follow Ryan and
Sarah. The noise we had heard sounded distinctly like a person, and the most important
thing was to find Grant. So I started off in the direction that Sarah and Ryan had
gone. Unfortunately, th
ey were long gone from my sight
and I soon realized I was completely alon
e with no idea where anyone
was.

I slowed down since I had no idea if I was going in the right direction. “Ryan?” I
whispered loudly
, my breath coming out in white puffs in the cold air
. “Sarah?” I didn’t want to yell in case it would tip off Grant that we were tracking
him, so I kept walking, hoping that I was getting close to them.
I prayed that Sarah and Ryan had found Grant and were waiting for me.
I was distinctly aware of how dark and desolate the woods were now
that I was alone. M
y footsteps crunching dry leaves and twigs, paired with my heavy breathing, were the
only sounds in the night air.
I came to a small clearing and paused, unsure of what to do next.

“Caitlin.” The sound was barely a whisper, and I whirled around since it seemed to
come from behind me.

“Simon?” I called out
, cursing my tremulous voice. “Is that you?”

Terror struck me when I saw a figure step out of the shadows. It was shorter and stockier
than Simon and I knew it wasn’t him. As the figure walked closer, Grant’s face came
into clear view, but it wasn’t just his face I saw. There was a shadow shimmering
next to him, connected but still its own entity. Grant’s face was slack, his eyes
glassy as if he didn’t really see me. But the shadow’
s face, a mirror of his own
, smiled at me malevolently. I didn’t miss the glint of the gun in Grant’s hand.

“Grant,” I said urgently. “Put the gun down. You don’t want to do this.”

As I spoke, I concentrated
on funneling
my energy
, but ins
tead of the familiar thrumming of my forces gathering
together, there was a terrifying emptiness inside me. Grant moved closer, his face
still expressionless, but his vardoger’s face was leering in delight.
I frantically reached up to make sure I still had the iridium charm around my neck,
confusion clouding my mind when I felt it’s cold surface against my hand. I didn’t
understand why my powers were failing me.

“Grant!” I yelled, trying to shake him out of his daze. I tried funneling my energy
again, and panic exploded in me when
there was no answering gathering
of power. I stumbled back as Grant’s shadow moved closer, detaching itself from Grant.
Its face was a mask of horrific glee, the teeth bared in a feral grin.

“Simon!” I screamed
as I scrambled further away from the vardoger’s approach. I desperately tried to
draw on
my energy again, but there was nothing but fear coursing through my body. I glanced
at Grant who was still roo
ted to his spot, staring at the
vardoger as if it was a mildly curious sight. His lack of reaction made the situation
even more terrifying. I was truly alone and my powers were failing me.

The vardoger lifted up a
hand towards me and I moved back quickly until I slammed
into a tree trunk. I wanted to turn around and run, to escape, but I knew leaving
would be sealing Grant’s fate.
As terrifi
ed as I was, I could never abandon
him.

“Grant!” I pleaded, not knowing what else to do
except try to wake him from his trance. Grant was unresponsive to my calls, simply
staring at us.

Pain exploded in me when the vardoger’s hand made contact with my chest. I looked
down and watched in horror as its hand disappeared inside of me
,
sinking deep into me
.
Pain
was radiating through every inch
of my body and I pushed against it, trying to force the vardoger out, but it simply
sank
its arm
i
n deeper
. My body shook as if I
was
having a seizure and
the vardoger looked at me with an expression of surprise.
The surprise was replaced by malicious glee as I felt its energy invading my body,
trying to push me out. Despite my attempts to fight against the pa
in, I felt myself growing
weaker, making it harder to fight
against the invasion. I could barely turn my head when I heard someone yell my name.

Ryan skidded to a stop as he came upon the clearing and saw the scene before him.
His expression darkened and he made a move to come towards me, but Grant stopped him.

“Don’t.” His arm was lifted and the gun was pointed straight at Ryan. Ryan looked
at Grant for a moment, and
I was amazed when he
dismiss
ed
him. He rushed closer
to me
and his face became a study of concentration as his eyes bored into the vardoger.
He was gripping the piece of iridium around his neck and I knew he was trying to destroy
the vardoger.

“Don’t!” Grant said again, but this time it was a scream. His voice sounded inhuman
and I never would
have believed
it came from him if I hadn’t seen h
im open his mouth. His hand holding
the gun was shaking and fear for Ryan started crowding out my pain. The vardoger
was
using its connection to Grant to
influence
his actions
, and
I wasn’t sure if Grant was
strong enough to fight against it. But Ryan ignored him as if he hadn’t spoken, concentrating
on the vardoger.

The pain was still shooting through every fiber of my being, my nerve-endings raw
and exposed. I vaguely wondered how Grant’s vardoger was strong enough to resist the
powers of a seer wearing iridium, and I wanted to yell out to Ryan that it was useless
to
try, to save himself,
but I was to
o
weak to speak.

Suddenly, the pain disappear
ed as if it had never existed
and the vardoger exploded into a million pieces, evaporating as i
f
it was being absorbed into the
air. I felt da
zed and incredibly weak as I collapsed into a heap on the ground
.
It felt
as if I was watching
from a dis
tance as Grant shook
his head
as
if he were
waking from a dream, his expression turning horrified as he saw the gun
in his hand. Ryan knelt
down
beside
me, and
I could hear him speaking
but it was hard to make out what he was saying. I could feel his hands on me and it
felt reassuring to feel a human touch, so different from the cold chill of the vardoger.

“I’m okay,” I was finally able to croak out
, slowly feeling myself come out of my daze
. I heard a crashing in the woods and saw Simon rushing towards me, his face an expression
of abject fear.
He fell to his knees in front of me
as he reached out to grab my shoulders.

“Caitlin.” His voice was rough as his eyes frantically ran across my face and body,
as if he was trying to convince himself that I was really there. “What the hell happened?”

“Grant’s vardoger tried to overtake me. Ryan saved me.” I felt too weak to say
any
more
than that, and I didn’t
try to interpret the hard look Simon gave
Ryan
. I saw Sarah running into the clearing and she attacked Grant with a hug. He still
seemed disoriented
despite having
dropped the gun to the ground, but he enveloped Sarah in
to
his embrace.

“What happened?” she shrieked when she saw me sitting on the ground. She rushed over
and I tried to stand, not wanting her to be frightened.

“I’m okay. Really.” Both Ryan and Simon grabbed an arm as I stood up, both pulling
me in their respective direction. I felt like a wishbone being pulled apart and I
shook both of them off, feeling strong enough to stand on my own. “Let’s go back to
the apartm
ent
. It’s freezing out here.”

Sarah nodded although she looked like she wanted to ask a thousand questions. I didn’t
pull away when I felt Simon’s arm around me. I leaned in closer to him, grateful for
his warmth.
In my peripheral,
I saw Ryan bend
down
and pick up the gun, but I made
no comment. All I wanted right now was to go to
our warm apartment.

We were all silent as we made our way back, but I knew once we reached the apartment,
a lot of questions needed to be answered.

Chapter Eight

Simon was the first one to speak after he had settled me on the recliner and wrapped
me in a blanket.

“We could have prevented all of this if you had told us you had a damn gun.” The accusatory
tone in his voice was unmistakable a
nd Ryan
respond
ed
to it antagonistically.

“I didn’t think there was a need. But it all turned out okay, didn’t it?” Ryan’s expression
turned suspicious. “Where were you anyway? You were gone for a l
ong time before you showed up at
the scene.”

“No, it didn’t turn out okay,” Simon bit out through gritted teeth. “How the hell
can it be okay when Caitlin was nearly killed!” His eyes narrowed. “As for where I
was, I was looking for Grant. I thought you were all behind me until
I lost track of the sounds of his footsteps and
turned around.
I heard Caitlin scream and I ran as f
ast as I could, but
the woods
are
hard to navigate in the dark.
”

Simon turned to me, his expression gentling. “What happened?”

I forced my voice to stay calm and steady as I recounted what had transpired. “We
were right behind you when we thought we heard Grant’s voice from another direction.
Sarah took off running and Ryan went a
fter her. I tried to follow them but I lost track of where they
were and got disoriented. The
next thing I knew, Grant appeared
with his vardoger, and his vardoger attacked me.” I shook my head, trying to get
my thoughts straight. “I tried to destroy it, but my powers weren’t working. I couldn’t
feel anything inside me. No energy, no powers…
nothing. It’s like I was just empty.”

I took a long, trembling breath as I replayed the scene in my head.
“The vardoger was trying to overtake me when Ryan
came and destroyed it. Even though Grant was threatening to shoot him.”
If Ryan hadn’t arrived when he did, there was a good chance I would be dead or overtaken
right now.
It was a sobering thought and I gave him a grateful look. “Thank you.”

Grant spoke befor
e Ryan could respond. His face was
haggard and drawn, making him look
much older than his years. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice raspy. “I barely remember
what happened, and the pieces that I do
remember
scare the shit out of me. It was like I was fighting against myself, trying to get
control of my body.” He looked at Ryan, his voice shaky. “I want to believe that I
wouldn’t have shot you, but every fiber in my being was telling me to pull the trigger.
It took everything I had not to do it.”

“It wasn’t you,” I said gently. “It was the vardoger. It can have a
n amazing amount of control on
you.
I
t just shows how strong you are
that you were able to fight it off, to not do
what
it wanted you to.”

“It also helped that it was distracted trying to overtake Caitlin, so it was only
using a small amount of its energy on you,” Ryan added. He said it matter-of-factly,
not realizing that it was an insensitive comment after I had made an effo
rt to make Grant feel better. Grant
looked absolutely
guilt-
ridden even though none of this
had been his fault.

“I’m sorry too!” Sarah exclaimed, looking shamefaced. “I shouldn’t have run off like
that. I wasn’t thinking. I thought I heard Grant and I was frantic to get
to him.” She looked at me remorsefully
. “I didn’t mean to put you in danger.”

“Everything turned out fine,” I said reassuringly, trying to
raise everyone’s spirits. “The important thing is that we’re all safe and Grant’s
vardoger is no longer a threat. We should be happy.”

No one seemed to respond positively to my words, so I ju
st sighed and leaned back in my
chair. Ryan was watching Grant when he spoke.

“Do you remember taking the key to my glove compartment? It clearly wasn’t jimmied
open, and I have a special lock on it that’s almost impossible to pick since I keep
my gun in there.”

Grant shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea. I don’t remember opening it, let alone
get
ting the key from you. Where do
you keep it?”

“In a hidden compartment in my duffle bag.”

“Great,” Simon said sarcastically. “That’s a fantastic hiding place. Good job.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t think anyone would go
looking through my things
.” He turned to Grant again, studying him speculatively. “I don’t know how you did
it without me noticing. Do you still have it?”

“I don’t think so.” Grant patted the front pocket of his shirt and then the pocket
s
of his jeans. He looked bewildered when he pulled out a small key from his jean pocket.
“Strike that. Here it is.”

Ryan walked over and took
it from Grant’s outstretched hand. “Get a better hiding place for it,” Simon said
harshly. His gaze turned suspicious. “Why do you need a gun anyway?”

Ryan laughed humorlessly as he unclasped his necklace and strung the key on it, a
small clang coming from it hitting his iridium coin. He turned to Simon after he had
refastened the chain. “Just because I’m bound to not kill people, even the ones overtaken
by vardogers, doesn’t mean I won’t us
e a gun
in self-defense.”

I was tired of the bickering, my mind settling on the question that had been whirling
in my head since we had returned. “I don’t understand why I wasn’t able to destroy
the vardoger but Ryan was able to.”

“Maybe he’s just stronger than you,” Sarah suggested.

I shook my head. “I don’t t
hink that’s it. It wasn’t as though
my powers just weren’t strong enough to destroy the vardoger. They were non-existent.
It felt exactly like when my father made me wear palladium. My powers suddenly disappeared.
I just don’t understand why it happened this time.” I looked at Ryan as trepidation
mounted. “Is it possible for a seer to lose their power?”

Ryan studied me
before answering. “It’s very rare and usually due to some sort of severe physical
or mental trauma. I don’t think that’s the case with you.”

“Then what could it be?” I tried to suppress my frustration, but fear was making it
hard. If I didn’t have my powers, how could I defeat my father? Was it somehow connected
to my visions having stopped?

“You s
aid if felt exactly like
when you were wearing palladium,” Simon said slowly. “
Is it possible that you have
some on you now?”

I shook my head. “It’s impossible. There’s no way–“

I had been patting my pockets, like Grant had moments before, although it was just
a gesture
to show I had nothing, but my skin started to crawl when I felt a circular object
in my pants pocket. I dug my hand into my pocket, my heart beating erratically as
my fingers closed around a hard, round object. I already knew what it was before I
pulled it out, but a part of me was praying that I was wrong.

I opened my trembling hand, displaying the round, dull object that seemed to be mocking
me. Simon’s hand on my shoulder tightened but I didn’t look up at him. I couldn’t
concentrate on anything except the palladium coin in my hand.

“I–I don’t understand how it
got
there,” I stuttered, a chill running down my spine. There was no way I had put the
palladium coin that I had found at the scene of my mother’s accident in my pocket.
The last time I had seen it, it had been tucked safely away in my dresser
,
underneath a pile of clothes. No one knew where it was except Simon and
me
.
To make matters worse,
I had believed that I had to be directly touching the palladium for it to negate my
powers, but apparently it was so powerful that simply having it in my pocket was enough.
That fact was almost as frightening as realizing
that, un
be
known
st
to me,
someone had slipped
it in my pocket.

“Where did you get that?” Ryan’s vo
ice was quiet but it didn’t mask
the intensity
of his question.

I lowered m
y hand, letting it fall limply o
n my lap as the coin glinted darkly at me. “I found it when I went home to Philadelphia.
I had it hidden away in my dresser.” I shook my head. “I don’t know how it got into
my pocket. I didn’t put it there.”

“A
re you sure? Maybe you put it
in
there by accident.
Or maybe it fell into the pocket of the pants you’re weari
ng while it was in your dresser.
” Sarah was
grasping for an explanation.

“No, there’s no way I w
ould
have
put it in there, even
by accident. I know how dangerous it is. And there’s no way it fell into the pocket
of my pants
while it was
in the dresser.
I’m more careful than that.” I didn’t add that I had checked to make sure it was
still there after my
conversation with Ryan last night.
I didn’t want to remind him of the fact that I had adamantly denied knowledge of
the whereabouts of any palladium. Based on the expression on his face, he didn’t need
to be reminded.

“Maybe…
maybe it’s possible I put it in there,” Grant suggested haltingly. “
Well, not me, but my vardoger.
I don’t remember taking the key to Ryan’s glove compartment, so I could have just
as easily taken the palladium coin and put it in your pocket.”

“But you didn’t know where the coin was,” I said.

Grant shrugged. “I didn’t know where the key
to the glove compartment
w
as either, but that didn’t seem
to st
op me.”

I was quiet as I digested Grant’s words. I supposed it was possible, although I still
wasn’t convinced. “I don’t know,” I finally said with a sigh. “I don’t think we’re
going to figure it out tonight.”
As frightened as I was, I didn’t want Grant and Sarah to panic.
I gave Grant a small smile. “On the bright side, Ryan and I won’t have to stare at
you
while you
sleep at night and trail behind you during the day
anymore
.”

Grant tried to smile in return, but it looked more like a grimace. “I guess that’s
something.”

We were all exhausted, both mentally and physically, and decided that rehashing the
same questions over and over again wasn’t going to help.
It was better to go to bed and
wait until tomorrow to go through everything again when
I had a clear head.

Ryan stopped me as I was heading to my bedroom. “Caitlin, can I talk to you?”

Simon was a few feet ahead of me i
n the hallway and turned
when he heard Ryan.

“Sure,” I replied, glancing over my shoulder. “Just give me a sec.”

I turned back to Simon, wh
o looked ready to follow me
into the living room. “You don’t need to come, Simon. I can talk to him on my own.”

The corners of his mouth turned down. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We still
don’t know how that palladium coin got into your pocket.”

“I doubt it was him. He’s the one that saved me, after all.”

S
imon’s jaw tightened at my remark
. “Maybe that’s what he wanted. It’s a convenient way to get you to trust him.”

I sighed in frustration. “Simon, please. You’
re grasping at straws
. No matter what, I’m perfectly capable of speaking to him alone. I’ll only be a few
minutes.”

I turned
around and walked back to the living room, relieved when he didn’t follow me. As
much as I appreciated Simon’s concern, his need to always be watching over
me
was becoming a little stifling. I wished he had more confidence in me.
I tried not to think about how much I had failed at being self-sufficient when Ryan
had to save me
.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked. Ryan gestured towards
the cushion next to him
as he sat down
on the couch
. I joined him
,
although I left quite a bit of space between us. I was exhausted and I had
a
fe
eling that I knew
what Ryan wanted to talk about. All I wanted to do was go to bed.

“The palladium coin.”