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

“He’s
not
a person,” Sarah hissed. She shot up from the floor and grabbed my hand, pulling
me to the corner of the room. She kept her back to the wall so she could keep an eye
on Simon and Grant, but her voice was low when she spoke so they couldn’t hear. “Caitlin,
have you lost your mind? We can’t trust Simon!”

“Sarah, I’m sorry,” I answered haltingly. “I’m so sorry about
all of
th
is. But I know Simon loves me. You probably won’t believe it now but h
e loves Grant too. He won’t hurt us. He wants to help us.
” I took a deep breath, t
rying to calm my racing pulse
. “I understand how you feel. I know you must hate me now
, but I need Simon. Not just to help
me defeat my father, but because I love him. I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t
help it.”

Sarah grabbed my hands, squeezing tightly, her eyes fierce. “Don’t ever say that!
I could never hate you
. I’m just so confused and angry and scared. I’m sorry about what I said about you
not knowing about your father. I was just frustrated. Now that I know Simon’s a vardoger,
I can see how eas
y it is
to be
fooled.
I never would have guessed
in a million years that he was one.
” She pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, Caitlin. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

A wave of relief came crashing over me, and I was no longer able to contain my emotions.
The
weight of the
stress and fear from the pa
st few days had been crushing
, and
I let it
loose as I sobbed, crying for what had happened and what was waiting for us.
Sarah held me as I cried, and I was
vaguely
aware of some words being spoken, and then I was transferred to a warm embrace that
I knew was Simon’s.
I don’t know how long I stood there and cried, but it felt cathartic to let it all
out.

I didn’t speak for a while after the last shudder left my body as I tried to gather
my strength. I hadn’t been able to control the overflowing of my emotions, but I knew
I couldn’t
break so easily. I
could indulge in crying
later, when we were all safe.
Right now I had to be stronger than that.

I lifted my head to look up at Simon, and he wiped the wetness from my cheeks tenderly
but I could see the pain in his eyes. I looked around the room to find that we were
alone.

“
Where’re
Sarah and Grant?” My voice was husky from all the tears I had shed, but it seemed
to fill the silent room.

“They’re in Sarah’s room.” Simon’s lips thinned. “I think Grant needs some time away
from me, but I told them that it’s too dangerous to leave the apartment right now.
Despite their reservations about me, they heeded my warning.”

“They just have to get used to the idea. They’ll accept you eventually.”

His mouth twisted. “Will they? I don’t expect them to and I don’t blame them. Sarah
is right. I’m a murderer. The only thing that’
s changed is the
side I’m on.”

“Stop. Don’t talk like that. I can’t handle it.”

Simon closed his eyes briefly and then sighed. “I’m sorry. As painful as their rejection
of me is, I can handle it. My real fear is that, deep down, you feel the same way.”

His eyes were studying me intently and I decided to be completely honest. “I love
you. Nothing is going to change that. But I’m not going to lie. I’m still struggling
with all this. It’s not something I can absorb in just a day or two.” I saw a flicker
of fear in his eyes, so I reached up to stroke his jaw. “But I promise you, my feelings
for you will never change.”

Simon’s eyes darkened and he leaned his head
down
, slanting his mouth over mine.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned up, wanting to forget everything for
just one moment an
d lose myself in the
sensual
warmth
of his mouth. His kiss was fierce, as if he
was
branding me, and I eagerly met his passion, whimpering with pleasure when his tongue
invaded my mouth. I met the thrust of his tongue with mine, laving against the velvety
wetness as I felt a tide of emotions swelling inside of me.

“Caitlin,” he whispered against my mouth. “I love you so damned much. I’ll do anything
for you. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

I pressed my lips harder against his, not wanting to hear any more words, wanting
to blot out reality. It was a while before we finally broke apart, and I was a little
chagrined that it was Simon that p
ut a stop to it. I
t probably wasn’t the best place
to make
out since
Sarah and Grant c
ould come in at any moment.
I wa
sn’t sure how they would react to
seeing
Simon and I
in an embrace
after everything
they
had found out.

It was about an hour later when Sarah and Grant finally came out of her bedroom.
They were still watching Simon warily, but they seemed more resigned than angry.

“We’ve been talking in circles, and we’re not sure what the best decision is,” Grant
started. “But we know a hell of a lot less than you do, so we’re going to go along
with whatever you ha
ve planned.” His eyes narrowed as he glared at
Simon. “But don’t think this means that I trust you. You
still
killed my cousin. I just don’t have any other option
s
right now.”

“And we trust you, Caitlin,” Sarah
piped up. She tried to smile at me but it faltered
. “We trust your judgment.”

I appreciated Sarah’s effort to make me feel better, but I had
my own questions about my
judgment. But I pushed my doubts to the side.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” I bit my lip as I considered my next words. “We don’t
really have a plan right now, besides waiting for my father t
o show up. I’m hoping that I’ll
have some dreams
to guide me, but what I really need are other seers that can put me under hypnosis.”

Simon shook his head. “That’s too dangerous. It’s dangerous enough to put you under,
but it’s even more dangerous because even if we were able to get in contact with other
seers, we don’t know if we can trust them.”

I opened my mouth to object when
the doorbell rang
. We all stared at each other as the sound reverberated through
out
the apartment
.
Sarah
covered her mouth with her hand, as if she was afrai
d she was going to make a sound to tip off the person, or
thing
, on the other side of the door.

The
doorbell rang again, paired with a
knock
that was loud and
insistent, demanding to be answered.

Chapter Three

The second
knock was hard enough to shake the doorframe
, but the voice that called out along with it made me relax fractionally, although
I was still on guard.

“Hello? Why aren’t you answering the door? I know you’re inside, I heard you talking
in there.” Marcus’ voice sounded uncharacteristically irritated. “Is this some sort
of joke? It’s freezing out here!”

Sarah moved towards the door but I stopped her.

“Wait!” I hissed quietly. “We don’t know if it’s actually Marcus.”

“It sounds like him,” Grant said although he looked hesitant.

“Do I sound like your cousin?” Simon asked. Grant flinched at the reminder, but he
seemed to get the message.

“So what do we do?” Sarah looked panicked. “We can’t just not answer the door. He
knows we’re in here.”

Simon took charge. “We’re going to answer the door. But we can’t tell Marcus anything.
We just need to get him out of here as soon as possible.
Even I can’t tell whether someone’s been overtaken by their vardoger or not. Just
be on guard for anything to happen.”

Simon indicated for
Sarah to
go ahead and
open the door, and she walked over and unlocked it
tentatively, like she was afraid it was rigged with an explosive
. She slowly opened the door and Marcus, looking perfectly normal besides the disgruntled
look on his face, walked in.
He glanced at all of us before speaking.

“Why do you guys look so weird? And why did it take you so long to answer the door?”

“Sorry about that,” Sarah said with a forced smile. “We didn’t hear
the doorbell at first. There must be something wrong with it.”

Marcus looked at her askance before his gaze settled on Grant. “
I just got back from New Jersey and
wanted to check in before I headed over to Jenny’s dorm
.
I figured you would be up here.
”

Grant
tried to smile naturally as he spoke
. “You figured right.”

“We were just about to go out,” I blurted out, trying to move things along.
“Simon and I are going to the library
, and Grant an
d Sarah are going shopping
.”

Marcus shrugged. “Okay,
I already have plans with Jenny anyways.”
No one spoke
and Marcus furrowed his brows. “Well, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. See
you later.”

The silence was awkward as Marcus looked at all of us again
before leaving, clearly befuddled
by the unexplainable tension in the room.

“Oh, God,” Sarah groaned after he had left. “I feel like such a jerk. It was so obvious
that we were trying to get rid of him. He seemed perfectly normal, except for his
confusion, which doesn’t surprise me. I’d be confused too if my best friend
s were trying to get rid of me
.”

“It’s for his own good,” Simon said. “If he hasn’t been overtake
n, he’s better off keeping his distance from
us. We’re the main target, and being close to us is dangerous.”

Grant crossed his arms against his chest, looking combative. “So what are we supposed
t
o do? Hole up in the
apartment until Caitlin
’s father comes knocking on the
door?”

I answered before Simon could, not wanting another argument to start. “
Marie is trying to find seers we can trust so that I can be p
ut under hypnosis. My father is convinced that I ho
ld the answers to
how vardogers can become immortal. Maybe I also unknowingly hold the answers on how
to destroy my father.”

“And until then?” Grant looked skeptical as he raised an eyebrow.

“Until then we try to stay alive.” Simon’s voice was flat, his face expressionless.
Grant opened his mouth, looking ready to argue, but I put a hand up to stop him
from speaking
.

“Let’s just take this one step at a time,” I said, trying to sound reasonable. “We’ve
told you everything we know. My father will come for me and I’ll deal with him. Until
then, we stay here.”

“What about classes?” Sarah looked concerned, and I wo
ndered if she understoo
d
the depth of danger we were facing
. Missing classes was the last thing on my mind.

“I’m sorry, but it’s just not safe. No classes and no going anywhere alone. We’re
the safest in this apartment.”

Sarah frowned but she didn’t argue, and I was relieved that Grant didn’t make any
further objections.

Being tightly wound
up
and
waiting for someth
ing to happen
is even more tirin
g that
facing
actual
danger. We got into a routine the nex
t couple of days, which
consisted of eating, watching television, and talking endlessly abo
ut what could happen. Sarah
called Jenny with the ludicrous excuse that we had all caught a virus from each other,
and that she and Marcus needed to stay
away until we got better and were
no longer contagious.
Jenny protested at first, saying that she didn’t care and wanted to check up on us,
but Sarah was finally able to convince her not to come over.

By Wednesday
we were
all on edge, having spent three
days waiting to be attacked
,
only to be faced with another day of being trapped inside the apartment.

“That’s it,” Grant bit out, standing up from the couch where he had be
en watching TV for the past two
hours. “I’m going stir crazy tra
pped in here. I can’t take
this anymore.”

He
paced the length of
the living room, running his hand through his hair. “We’re like animals just waiting
to be slaughtered. There’s gotta be more that we can do.”

Sarah remained seated on the couch, but she looked over at me on the recliner.
“I’m sorry, Caitlin, but I agree. I don’t think I can take being trapped in here
any longer
either
. Can’t we just go to our classes?
”

Simon walked back from the kitchen where he had gone to get a drink, obviously having
heard Sarah and Grant. “
That’s what Caitlin’s father wants. For us to get fed up and have our defenses down.
Once we separate, we’ll be even more vulnerable.” He gave Grant a hard look. “If he
can’t get Caitlin, Sarah is his next choice.”

“Maybe we can compromise,” I spoke up, not wanting a fight to erupt. And I had to
admit that I was going a little crazy trapped inside the apartment as well. “I’ll
go with Sarah to her classes so she’s never alone. You can stick with Grant.”

“I do
not
need Simon to defend me,” Grant spat out. “I can take care of myself.”

“Grant, be reasonable. These vardogers are powerful.
I know you can normally take care of yourself, but these aren’t normal circumstances.”

Simon spoke before Grant c
ould respond to my entreaty. “No
.
That’s not a good idea, Caitlin.
There’s no way you and Sarah are going off on your own.”

“We’ll just be going to class. It’s not like we’
re going far away
.” I sighed heavily. “Are we just going to move around like a pack, doing everything
together like we’re joined at the hip? My father has controlled me enough. I don’t
want him controlling me now, making me too afraid to venture out in
to
the world. Honestly, I’m sick and tired of being stuck in here
,
too. I can’t take it anymore!”

I realized my voice was becoming loud, but the frustration and stress was taking its
toll on me.
Simon frowned and
studied
me for a few beats before responding.

“We’ll both go with Sarah to her classes. There’s safety in numbers.”

“Wait a second.” Sarah
put up her hand in protest
. “I can’t have you two following me around to all my classes. It’s one thing fo
r you to show up to my lectures
where
there’re
so many people that you won’t be noticed. But what am I going to say to the professors
in my smaller classes? That you’re my bodyguards?”

“I should be the one protecting Sarah,” Grant interjected. The argument swelled as
everyone put in their two cents about the best way to proceed, and soon we were just
talking over each other.

“Stop.” Simon’s voice was qui
et but authoritative, cutting
through all the bickering. We all automatically looked at him. “This is ridiculous.
No one’s going to any classes. Period.”

Simon’s command riled up Grant and he stalked over to him until they were just inches
apart. “Who put you in charge? We agreed to follow your plan, but you have no plan!
You don’t know what to do any more than we do!
Hell, how do we kno
w you’re not a part of the trap?
You could still be working with Caitlin’s father. You guys are two of a kind, after
all.
”

Simon’s jaw tightened but his voice was calm when he answered.
“I’m just trying to keep everyone alive. Sarah and Caitlin are in the most danger.
Do you want to risk their lives just because you’re tired of being in this apartment?
This is nothing compared to what we could be facing.”

Sarah walked over to Grant and put a hand on his arm, her tone coaxing. “It’s okay,
I don’t need to go to class. It was a stupid thought anyway. Simon is right. We need
to stay here where it’s safe.”

Grant took a deep steadying breath, and then backed away, allowing Sarah to lead him
back to the couch. He sat
there silently
, watching
the television
, but I knew he wasn’t really paying attention
to it
. His
hands kept clenching and unclenching into fists
and I knew he was trying to control his anger.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of Sarah’s cell phone ringing. After she
answered it, she listened for a few moments and then held out the phone to me. “It’s
for you. It’s Marie.”

I had given her Sarah’s cell phone number since neither Simon nor I had one
anymore
, but this was the first time I had heard from her since we left
Connecticut.
I took the phone from Sarah eagerly.

“Marie?”

“Caitlin, I have someone that I think can help you. He’s a seer
with incredible powers and I believe he’s going to be
a pivotal force in the movement to eradicate not only vardogers, but seers who have
betrayed us.”

“
He
?
” I asked in confusion. “I thought all seers were women.”

Ma
rie seemed amused by my response
.
“The majority of
seers are
women, but it’s a not a hard and fast rule. There are male seers as well. They’re
just not as common.”

“Is he someone we can trust?”

“
I believe so. And he’s the only one willing to help.” Marie paused before continuing.
“A lot of seers are afraid of your father. They’re afraid to help you. He’s been responsible
for a lot of seers’ deaths, and they don’t want to meet the same fate.”

I took a deep breath as
I process
ed
Marie’s words
.
“Okay, so how do I meet him? Where is he?”

“He’ll come to you. His name is Ryan Wisters. I just wanted to wait until I spoke
to you before telling him where you were. Have you seen any sign of your father?”

“No, and it’s driving me crazy. I don’t know what he’s waiting for
.”

“
I didn’t think you would have. Ryan
has the ability to track vardogers, and it’s what makes him so valuable
.
Once I told him what happened, he started to track your father but he doesn’t seem
to be headed towards you.
”

Hope bloomed inside of me at the thought that
there was another seer
willing to help me. A powerful seer that could help me defeat my father. Marie told
me that Ryan would arrive by this evening and gave me his phone number. Everyone looked
at me expectantly when I hung up the phone.

“There’
s a seer who
’s willing to help us. A powerful one that can track vardogers. He’ll be here tonight.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows. “It’s a guy?”