Hunting Shadows (Shadows 3)

“So I should risk your sister rearing her ugly head again? Sorry, I’m not willing to risk it.” Even as I said it, I wondered what the hell I would do without Ryan. I not only regretted losing his tracking abilities, but I deeply felt the loss of someone I cared about. Because the Ryan I had known no longer existed.

“I’ll take measures to make sure she can’t hurt you.” He looked chagrined as he spoke. “I can usually control her but lately she’s been too strong for me to suppress. I have a pair of handcuffs in my car. You can restrain me while I help you find your father.”

“And why do you want to help me?” I asked skeptically. I refrained from asking him why he kept handcuffs in his car. I didn’t want to know the answer.

“Because I think you can help me,” Ryan said. “With your powers, I think you have the ability to draw out my sister’s vardoger and help me put her soul back in her body.” His voice quieted.

“And I care about you. I don’t blame you if you don’t believe it, but I care about what happens to you.”

I ignored his last statement. “You’re just as strong as I am. Why do you need my powers? I saw how you killed all those vardogers at once.”

Ryan grimaced and then pulled something out of his pocket. I felt a slice of white fury go through me when I saw the palladium and iridium disk in the palm of his hand. “It was because of this. Somehow it made me stronger. Strong enough to destroy all those vardogers. I have a feeling that your strength using this will be unparalleled.”

“You asshole. You stole that from me. Or was it your sister?” I spat out the last word as if it was distasteful.

Ryan looked ashamed but it didn’t make me feel any better. “It was me. I got greedy because I thought it could help my sister. I wasn’t thinking much beyond that.”

I didn’t know if I was willing to help him because I wasn’t convinced that his sister wasn’t just plain evil. I had a feeling she would be just as evil in her normal body. It was ironic that I was so worried about vardogers only to be faced with a human soul that was almost more evil than any vardoger I had ever encountered.

I decided I would play along, because no matter what, I needed Ryan’s tracking abilities. I would determine later on whether I would hold up my end of the bargain.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll help you if you help me find my father. But if your sister starts any shit, it’s over.”

Ryan nodded eagerly, looking grateful, and I pushed away the twinge of guilt since I was pretty sure there was no way I was going to help his sister. I held a hand out. “Throw me the metal disk.”

He tossed it towards me and I kept my eyes on him as I caught it deftly. “Now take out your gun, put it on the ground and walk away from it.”

I was relieved that instead of claiming he didn’t have it on him, he took it out of his waistband and did as I asked. I walked towards it, keeping my eyes on him, and quickly bent down to pick it up. The gun felt heavy and foreign in my hand but I gripped it tightly. “Now walk back to the car and don’t look behind you.”

I followed Ryan from a safe distance as I tried to suppress my anxiety. I wondered if I was a fool for not just dumping him and trying to find my father on my own, but I didn’t think I’d have much success without his help.

“Where are the handcuffs?” I asked when we reached the car.

“In the trunk.”

“Get them.” I watched as he opened the trunk and reached in, pulling out a pair of handcuffs along with a key. I took the key without comment when he placed it on top of the trunk after he had closed it. I guided him to loop the handcuffs through a hole in the armrest of the passenger car door and watched as he cuffed himself so that both hands were trapped. I briefly wondered if I should cuff him in the backseat, but I didn’t want any surprises from behind.

I slid into the driver’s seat and looked at him warily. “Can you feel my father’s energy?”

Ryan nodded. “He hasn’t gotten that far away. I have a feeling he knows we’re following him and wants us to catch up. Just keep driving on this road.”

I pulled back out onto the road. We were both silent as I drove. A dozen thoughts were crowding my mind and I tried to think back to see if I had missed any signs of Ryan being possessed by his sister. That is, if I believed it. It was an eerily familiar feeling to what I had gone through with Simon when he revealed that he was actually a vardoger. I felt more than a little bitterness that I apparently couldn’t take people at face value.

“Has your sister taken control of your body any other time besides today since I’ve known you?” I glanced at him. “Tell me the truth. I won’t help your sister if I find out you’re lying.”

“Yes,” Ryan said in a low voice. “I used to be able to control her, but she’s been getting stronger and stronger. The first time she took control was when she slipped the palladium coin into your pocket when Grant’s vardoger tried to overtake him.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Surprised and deeply hurt. All this time his sister had been trying to hurt me and he had let it happen without a word of warning.

“Go on,” I said grimly. I knew what I was waiting to hear. I was waiting to hear if his sister had been involved in Jenny’s death. If she was, I would kill him without a moment’s hesitation.

Ryan seemed to know what I was waiting for. His voice was strained when he spoke again. “She didn’t kill Jenny, I swear. She wasn’t in control of my body when that happened. Jenny’s vardoger was stronger than any I’ve encountered. I don’t know if its strength had anything to do with Simon and I being thrown back like we were electrocuted when we tried to help her, but it had nothing to do with my sister.”

I processed his explanation for a few moments and then nodded my head, willing to accept it at this point. I waited for him to continue.

“She took control of my body for a few moments when we were being attacked in Marie’s apartment.” Ryan rushed to continue when he saw me tense. “But she didn’t attack Marie.” Ryan hung his head in shame before continuing. “For some reason she wanted to get rid of Marie. I think she thought you had too many people on your side. So while you were being attacked, she told Marie she had a flash of premonition that her sister was still alive. She told her that she had to go to her immediately because her sister was about to be killed.” His voice was hoarse. “Of course Marie believed her because she thought it was me telling her all this. She trusted me. She asked me to tell you why she had gone, but I knew I couldn’t without telling you about my sister.”

Ryan’s betrayal just cut deeper and deeper the more he spoke. “Is Marie okay? Where did you make her go?”