Hunting Shadows (Shadow Series #3)

by S. H. Kolee

  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 dismissed 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 him 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 too weak to speak.

  Suddenly, the pain disappeared as if it had never existed and the vardoger exploded into a million pieces, evaporating as if it was being absorbed into the air. I felt dazed and incredibly weak as I collapsed into a heap on the ground. It felt as if I was watching from a distance 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 into 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 apartment. 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 and Ryan responded 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 long 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 fast 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 after 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 before 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 an amazing amount of control on you. It 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 effort 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 just 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 getting 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 pockets 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 turne
d 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 use 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 think 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 said 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, unbeknownst to me, someone had slipped it in my pocket.

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

  I lowered my hand, letting it fall limply on 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.”

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

  “No, there’s no way I would 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 was either, but that didn’t seem to stop 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 in 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, who 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.”

  Simon’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 feeling that I knew what Ryan wanted to talk about. All I wanted to do was go to bed.

  “The palladium coin.”

  I nodded, but I didn’t pull out the coin that I had put back in my pocket. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it. I just thought it was best for less people to know about it.”

  “And how many people know about it?”

  “Just Simon, Grant and Sarah.” I looked at Ryan pointedly. “And now you.”

  “Grant said he didn’t know where it was.”

  I shook my head. “Grant and Sarah knew about it, but they didn’t know where I had hidden it. Only Simon and I knew.”

  Ryan gazed at me speculatively before speaking again. “Do you think that’s significant?”

  “What? That only Simon and I knew where it was?” I frowned when Ryan nodded. “If the point of this talk is to convince me that Simon is untrustworthy, you might as well save your breath. I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”

  I made a move to stand but Ryan stopped me with a hand around my arm. I felt a tingle of electricity from his touch and I abruptly pulled my arm out of his grasp, feeling unsettled. I stayed seated so he wouldn’t have another reason to touch me.

  “What I really want to talk to you about is the palladium. Where did you find it?”

  I sighed and recounted the story of my mother’s death and the scene of her accident. I had a feeling that Ryan could be very persistent when he wanted to be, and it was probably best to just tell him everything. He was silent as I
told him about her car accident at the river and how I had stumbled upon the coin. I couldn’t keep the emotion from my voice as I talked about my mother, and I felt slightly embarrassed that I was revealing so much to a virtual stranger. Yet it felt comfortable, right even, to be talking to him about it.

  “I’m sorry about your mother,” he said quietly when I was finished.

  “Thanks,” I replied simply. I was surprised he hadn’t immediately delved into the particulars of the palladium, instead taking a moment to be sympathetic. He didn’t speak again and as we sat there in silence, I nervously wondered if that was the end of our conversation. Right before I was about to get up to leave, he started speaking again, his voice low.

  “It happened ten years ago. I was seventeen and even though I had grown up knowing the dangers of vardogers, I thought I was invincible. My parents were always constantly telling me that I had amazing powers. I grew up believing that I was special, even among seers.” His mouth twisted in disgust. “I never even realized how it affected my older sister. She was two years older than me and also a seer, but a weak one. She was convinced it was my fault, like I had stolen her powers or something.”

  His voice dropped even lower and I had to strain to hear him. “She had been picking on me all day, telling me that I thought I was better than everyone, and I was getting angry and frustrated. I told her that she was just jealous that I was so much stronger than her. That our parents cared about me more than her.” His voice roughened. “That set her off. It was like something in her broke. She started screaming but she sounded like an animal. Inhuman. We were in my room and my parents ran upstairs when they heard her scream but she slammed my bedroom door closed and locked it before they could come inside. That’s when I saw it. Her vardoger stepped out from the shadows.” Ryan’s breathing became shallow and he seemed to have forgotten I was even there. My heart squeezed painfully as I listened to his story. I was scared of what the outcome would be.