Seeker (Shadows) (17 page)

“Micah.” He turns toward her. “There was a night when we were fighting.”

And it’s like the words hurt coming out of his mouth, and not because of how scratchy his voice is, but because of the emotion behind it. Micah’s whole presence changes, and I know she knows exactly when he’s talking about.

I’m holding my breath waiting.

“And I yelled at you on the dock,” she whispers.

“That’s the one.” He pauses as if he’s trying to formulate the thought into words. “You chased a shadow that night, which led you to me.”

Micah nods, but it’s so imperceptible, that no one would notice if they weren’t watching. She’s in shock.

I’m a little in shock that he’s back. And instead of letting my brain run away with me, I’m waiting like everyone else to see what he’ll say next.

“And we talked that night and it’s the night that made me realize how stubborn I was being and how much I missed you.” His head tilts to the side as he studies his face with every bit as much love as I’ve seen my dad look at my mom. “How it was stupid for me to be angry with you and how much I wanted to be a part of your life.”

Micah shakes as if she’s going to cry as her hands leave Landon and hold her mouth.

Overdramatic much?
There are a million other explanations for that. The shadows just gave Landon the reasons that’ll help their cause.

“And with your mom. Up the hill. It was terrifying, but we went so fast. And then, at the end, when they took Ethan away. They watched you again, to make sure you were okay.” Landon takes another deep breath, which puts him into another fit of coughing. “This couple. Edward and Marie. They’re shadows now. His doll was commissioned by her father to keep him away from his daughter, and his daughter was commissioned into a doll by the soldier her father wished her to marry in hopes of forcing a wedding the soldier knew she was wary of.

“It was that soldier who made the order to burn down the woman’s shop when he saw the two together, and they’re both shadows now, together. But the smoke.” He coughs again. “I just…”

“Landon. Why don’t you rest?” Micah wraps her arms around him, tears running down her cheeks.

He shakes his head, and I wonder how far around our circle he’s going to go to explain the shadows’ actions because I’d be really curious as to how they explain away my burn.

“Addison.” Landon’s eyes rest on her. “The night you left your father’s house.”

Her face drains of color, and I wish I knew the story there.

“There was a shadow in your room. She used to be a servant woman who knew too much about how the affairs of the British crown were being run. She went to help you. You were afraid that night. You ran into your closet to escape her, enabling you to pack a bag and get your money. And then later, when you were with Dean.”

Dean’s arm tightens around Addison and part of me aches for the kind of comfort Dean and Addison find in each other and Landon and Micah find in each other. I glance at Ocean, but he’s watching them the same way I am.

“When you were going to see Dean’s brother, you turned around. The shadows were there. You ran. You weren’t seen. You made it here. And the night when you picked t
he hotel that the shadows knew The Middle Men would search first, they sent you to the other one.”

Dean’s nodding slowly as he takes deep breaths.

They’re totally buying the stories. Don’t they realize they were simply being herded to help the cause of the shadows?

“We’re really going to do this,” Dean says.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I can’t stay quiet any more. “Don’t you realize this is all them just gathering you together to come down here and set them free?” Come ON.

“That’s part of it,” Landon agrees.

Wait. He’s agreeing? I’m so stunned that my brain stops, and I’ve lost words.

Landon can’t seem so reasonable to everyone else when he’s talking about things that are so clearly fake and ridiculous and manipulative on the part of the shadows. My heart starts racing in fear as I begin to understand that I might be right here and with them and telling them all the truths I know, and they still won’t listen to me and will set the shadows free.

Micah gasps in as her eyes hit mine.

“See?” I point to her and resist the urge to stand. “You’ve seen something. What are you seeing?”

“I feel what you’ll feel,” Micah says.

“When?” I ask.

“I don’t know.” She shakes her head but then she looks at Landon, and I’m suddenly sure she does know because they’re going to decide to do this even though she knows how honestly afraid I am. How I know that they’re making a huge mistake. I bet just her vision of them working on this will be enough to convince the others. The weight of defeat begins to press on me again.

Micah’s eyes go between Ocean and I a few times making me wonder what e
lse she sees between us. I don’t want any kind of a relationship that’s manipulation by visions or magic or energy.

“And what kind deed was one of them doing when they burned my leg?” I demand.

“Not everyone with a doll burned in the fire that night was nice.” Landon sighs.

I stare him down. I don’t care how tired or weak he feels. Serves him right jumping into that world again. “Convenient answer.”

“I don’t know why you were hurt.” Landon looks inexplicably sad, but I’m not going to let him sway me. Not now.

Landon scratches his forehead. “I did ask about you.
It’s hard. The words we speak there sound like they’re crackling with fire, and sometimes it sounds like we’re talking underwater. Some shadows work directly for The Middle Men to try and convince people that the shadows are evil, so the Middle Men can keep their members with a healthy dose of fear. At least that’s the best guess was from the rest of them. They only half exist, so the ones who don’t get along, don’t stick around in the same places as the others.”

My brain spins around his words trying to figure out a way to respond to him.

“Wait. You’re saying that The Middle Men asked one of the shadows to burn me?” He only says this because he doesn’t know who my parents are. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know some things.” Landon finds a way to give me a tired half-smile. “But, in simple terms, yes. Someone from The Middle Men asked that you be burned. Or maybe not you specifically, but there sometimes has to be a show of power.”

I laugh a harsh laugh. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Your burn looks like it healed pretty well,” Landon says.

I don’t know him well, but I do know how to question people, and he’s leading me to where he wants me to go.

“We’d just dropped off a friend at the hospital. It was late at night, and I’d forgotten my taser.” It was not long after a few of The Middle Men were killed trying to set the shadows free the last time. I was ten. Mom’s bodyguard had gotten hurt somehow so we were at the hospital. Or… Maybe we weren’t there, but we were close. I think. That whole night is tainted by the feeling of my leg burning and knowing in that moment I could die.
Maybe we were just near the helicopter...?

“So.
Why didn’t you have your taser?” Landon asks.

“My mother was carrying it in her purse…” Oh. Nice. Now he’s trying to bring my parents into this.

Landon’s eyes don’t waver.

“Don’t you
dare
.” Anger spreads as my body tenses and I think about what Landon’s implying. “Don’t you dare blame my parents for what happened to me. They lost sleep for a week over this dressing my burn in the middle of the night. There’s no way.” I shake my head. “Some of their best friends turned away from The Middle Men to save the shadows, and the shadows killed them trying to escape.”

“I’m sorry you lost friends.” Landon’s still relaxed, but I’m sure hoping that it sinks in. The shadows have killed before. And they’ll do it again. They have no love for us, and I can see why. For generations we’ve been
using the energy that could set them free.

“And who exactly are your parents if you think they’re up high enough to get the shadows to do something for them?” Landon’s voice is even more quiet now.

We’re not doing this. No way.

“Let me out of
here!” I stand up but the table doesn’t move so I’m still trapped on the stupid bench seat. “I want back in my room. You are all looking at this in exactly the light the shadows want you to! You have to take a moment to look at them the way I’ve known them my
whole life
!”

They trust me enough to keep me prisoner without a lock or cuffs, but can’t listen when I’m sharing reason? Who the hell do they think they are? I’ve been part of this world
since I was born, and now they’re going to just come in and tell me how things should happen? And Landon thinks my parents did this to me?

I crawl past Ocean, Dean and Addison, all of whom let me go. I run down the few steps and slam the door of the tiny room I share with Ocean. Sucks that I feel like I’m being overdramatic and ridiculous when this is the kind of reaction they should all be having when we’re talking about setting people free. They should be terrified, and I have no idea what to do to convince them.

“Thank you for going in.” Ocean’s voice carries to my room. “Micah worried about you.”

“Brother. I…” Landon’s voice this time. “I can’t wrap around it yet.”

“I know. Me either. I’m going to check on Kara. I’m new to all of this, just like the rest of you, but she isn’t. At least think about looking at this whole scenario the way she is. Try to see the shadows through her eyes. You’ve got to weigh the options before jumping in and doing something stupid.”

My whole body relaxes in relief at his words. I hate admitting that I’m glad he’s along, but he definitely helped get them a possible step in my way of thinking.

“No matter what happens,” Ocean says, “I’m glad we met up with you guys. Thanks for being nice when you don’t have to be.”

Landon coughs a few times, and I’m straining to hear more conversation.

“Storm’s supposed to clear tomorrow,” Dean says. “But there’s no cell or satellite service outside of the weather broadcasts.”

Ocean’s footsteps come down the stairs and I roll onto my back, tears still flowing, wondering how I’m going to stop this.

TWENTY-ONE 

Ocean

Kara’s staring at the ceiling when I step in, her whole body tight.

“How can they think that my own parents would ask for this to be done to me?”

All I can think is that the whole situation is pretty coincidental, but I’m not about to tell her. I don’t dislike Kara’s parents, but I’ve never seen them treat her like a daughter, and everyone at the house says that she’s just like everyone else, and no one worries about preferential treatment. Special treatment would definitely cause dissension, and that’s something The Middle Men can’t have. Not when the people they deal with have talents.

I’m curious about me and Landon again.
Why were we separated? Why did we have to grow up in different places? How did his dad and my mom get together?
Maybe some part of where Landon and I came from had to do with nothing more than keeping The Middle Men strong. They’re really asset managers more than anything else. And maybe a lot colder and more calculating than I guessed from my brief stay at The Middle Men house.

And then it almost makes more sense that they’d do this to their own daughter because it would make the threat of the shadows seem more real to the others. And then it hits me that it happened just after the last time that Kara said people tried to help the shadows, only
I think those people died—or at least some of them did. And that’s exactly when her parents would need or want someone to be hurt by the shadows so everyone else would see that the threat from them is real, and not continue where the others had failed. Though—the deaths should have done that, so maybe there’s something I’m not following here.

I sit down on the bed, and rest my hand on her calf, glad I spent so much time with my mom, and that I’m not one of those idiots who’s afraid of crying girls.

The whole thing, though. I see both sides. I can see what Landon’s saying about how the shadows helped them, but in the end, the shadows helped them get here, so it’s entirely self-serving.

Or maybe it’s not.

And the shadows could have been punishing The Middle Men for stopping the people who tried to help them by burning Kara. Or maybe they did it out of pure malice and anger. Or maybe, after some of The Middle Men broke off to help the shadows, Kara’s parents had to make sure that no one else tried to help the shadows, so they had to prove the shadows were wicked, and how better to show that than have their own daughter hurt. Only it happened to be near somewhere they could get her help… My thoughts are starting to circle back to the beginning.

Kara’s burns are cold and callous, no matter how you look at it. I feel like my brain is just wheels spinning in the sand, and I’m not sure how I’m going to figure out which side the shadows are on, or even if I will.

“I don’t want this assignment anymore. I’m not a quitter, Ocean. But I just want to go home. That’s all I want.” She sniffs a few times, and she’s so tough and so determined that I’m starting to get an idea of how catastrophic this situation is for her.