Shadow Stalker (Revenant Book Book 2), page 6
Caylin reluctantly moved over to the chair across from the couch and sat down on it. While Lyssa had gestured to the couch, she did not feel all that comfortable mixing her energy with anyone else’s at the moment. It was far better for her to sit here away from the rest of the world. That way, she could start the process of shutting down. She would listen to what the woman said, but that did not mean she had to care about the message she relayed. Caylin let her stone wall rise up inside her, not knowing what might happen next.
“I was young, in college, when they first found me—the shadows. Although I feel they must have been there most of my life, controlling and manipulating those around me. But that is another story entirely. When I finally liberated myself from my circumstances, I found myself in a world I never imagined, with abilities that did not make sense—”
“I never questioned my abilities. They’ve been here forever,” Caylin interrupted her, almost defensively.
“You are fortunate then to remember what the universe had planned for you. I had to discover it one step at a time. As I delved into the world of Wicca, I learned about the magic in the world around me, and that I had powers within me that had been dormant. I foolishly used those to vanquish a few shadows. In doing so, I was put on the Revenant’s radar, as well as the Watch Tower’s.”
“What is a revenant?”
“I’ll get to that. First, I need you to understand that I know what it is like to leave the world behind and put your trust in strangers who proclaim they are trying to protect you. You’re probably feeling pretty used right now.” Lyssa smiled softly.
Her words hit home. She was right; Caylin was feeling like everyone in the entire world was out to manipulate her for their own personal gain, whether that benefitted the rest of the world or not. No one seemed to care about what she needed, not that she was trusting enough to let them see her weakness.
“I was whisked away to the Watch Tower and recruited to be a Guardian in Sector Four. I had an inane ability to locate the shadows and was the first person that figured out how to mask my aura so I could walk amongst the shadows. I also learned one of their weaknesses.”
“Which is?”
“Love.”
“Excuse me?” Caylin fought the urge to laugh. She had to be kidding. Love?
“I know, it seems like a far fetched notion that something that can make you feel so weak could also be powerful. We discovered that the shadows were being powered by the souls they devoured in the Land of the Shadows.”
“Land of the Shadows?” Caylin bit her bottom lip. “What does it look like?”
“When darkness falls, the shadows rise from the ground, but the world beneath our feet isn’t made of fire and brimstone, as many zealots predicted. It takes many forms, as it is many extensive dimensions.”
“So, the shadows come to our world from their own portals??”
“Yes, invisible to the normal human eye. We’ve found them by locating powerful vortexes around the world. That’s been part of what I’ve done since I first came here. We’ve located close to three hundred portals so far, each one leading to a different part of their dimension.”
Caylin looked away from her. Could she believe what Lyssa was telling her? It was absolutely crazy, the more she let it register. A land beneath their feet? But then again, she was currently hovering in space somewhere, and she knew the shadows were real entities. She’d been fighting them for years now. Why did she suddenly have all the attention on her?
“My curiosity took me too far in, alerting them to my presence. The Revenant almost got his claws in me too. I still feel him inside me.” Lyssa held her hand up to the back of her head. “Mine was caused by a physical injury; yours is more complicated.”
“What do you mean?”
“He is drawn to the darkness inside you. You take pleasure in your own destruction.”
“I may be dark and twisted, but I am not in self-destruct mode.” Caylin crossed her legs and arms before glaring at Lyssa.
“Aren’t you, though? You would rather destroy than trust.”
“I have no reason to trust any of you.”
“But you trusted Remie,” Lyssa interjected.
“And look where that got me.” Caylin rolled her eyes.
“You didn’t have to come here.”
“Like I really had a choice,” Caylin deflected. She didn’t want to admit that she was intrigued by any of what Lyssa had told her. So what, she was the Shadow Walker. Walking among shadows was nothing. That was where Caylin spent her life. The darkness was a salve to her wounds, wounds that were buried so far deep inside that they would never be repaired.
“You could have stayed and fought. You might even have been successful,” Lyssa challenged.
“I may be a hothead, but I am not an idiot, Lyssa. I know my limits,” Caylin argued.
“Good. You’re going to need to know your limits. Even the Stalker needs to be able to regulate herself.”
“Stalker…you keep using that word.”
“Because you can track them.”
“What? I don’t track them. Not really. They usually just come to me.” Caylin never went looking for them, not really. Did she have an idea where she could find them? Yes, because they were creatures of habit. The ghostly ruins of the city filled with dark decay was a breeding ground for their kind. The streets were filled with people in the throes of despair. When Caylin walked them, she felt the depravity around her. The drugs, the violence, the abuse. The back alleys were filled with enough darkness to fuel even the hungriest shadow.
“You just need the right tools. It’s in you. I can feel it, and I’ve seen it.”
“Let me guess, you rubbed a crystal ball?” Caylin rolled her eyes and snorted.
“You have them too. The dreams.”
Caylin uncrossed her legs and put her elbows on her knees. “So what, I have dreams.”
“Did he mark you?” Lyssa asked her.
“Mark me? I don’t think so.”
“Really?” Lyssa stood up and walked over to the chair. She waved her hands over Caylin’s body.
“What are you doing?” Caylin felt the hair start to rise on her back as Lyssa probed her aura.
When she stopped over her mouth, Lyssa jerked her hands away. “There. Tell me what happened in your last dream.”
“I followed the shadows to what looked like a meeting ground. There was a large black prism in the middle of a large park. They were all gathered around it.”
“And then what happened? Any piece of information could be helpful.”
“When Griffin blocked the dreams out, there was a voice that still called to me. He was like the shadows, but he was a solid figure. He touched me and told me he wanted me to be his. Then he kissed me.” Caylin shivered. “It was like a million screams erupted around me at once. This thing, it collects souls.”
“Yes, it does. It feeds on them. And we want to take him down, or at the very least, stop him from getting his reaches into our world. Our first goal is to destroy as many portals as possible. We believe you might be a key to tracking him.”
“You want me to track that thing?”
“Not until you are ready. There is much training to do. But first, you should get some rest.”
“Rest?” Caylin imagined sleeping would be easier for the rest of them to do. Right now, Caylin was nowhere near ready to go to sleep, especially if that thing had attached itself to her.
“You are safe here. Sector Fifteen has created a safe space for you to sleep. If you want a dreamless sleep, we do have a few tonics for that,” suggested Lyssa.
Caylin wasn’t sure if she should believe her. Everything the Shadow Walker had told her was so farfetched. Not that Caylin was grounded in reality. Virtually everything around her was like something out of some crazy person’s imagination. Who knows, maybe Caylin was already asleep or a figment of someone else’s imagination. The product of bipolar disorder? As much as she wanted to sit here and debate this, what she wanted more than anything was some peace and quiet to collect her thoughts. “Quick question.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if I leave through the door right there?” Caylin nodded to the exit.
“You’re welcome to try, although no one ever has,” Lyssa answered her with a serious expression on her face. “Give us a chance, Caylin. We may not look like much, but we are a family here. The Guardians take care of each other.”
“I don’t need a family,” Caylin argued.
“Well, seeing as how you don’t actually know how to portal out of here yet, you are at our good graces.” Lyssa seemed to be losing patience with her. “Your room is upstairs on the fourth floor—room 406. Go get some rest. Give yourself time to think.”
“And if I leave?”
“The world will have lost one of its greatest champions.” Lyssa rose from the couch and snapped her fingers, disappearing from sight.
Caylin snapped her fingers and grumbled when nothing happened. “Show off. Guess I’ll stick around for a little while.”
“Good choice,” a voice interrupted from behind her.
“You!” accused Caylin. She was still very upset with him.
“They’ll take good care of you here, Caylin.”
“I can take care of myself, Remie.” She wanted to throttle him.
“Yes, but they can help you grow more than I ever could. I’m not the best role model,” he grinned.
“No, a role model you aren’t. Are you staying?” Caylin asked him.
“No, unfortunately, my job is fulfilled. I need to return to the Ghost District.”
“Protect them…,” she whispered. She thought about all the lost souls of the women who depended on the dark angel to protect them. If she was not able to be there, someone would have to be.
“As if they were my own,” he promised.
“Will I see you again?” she asked him.
“Here and there.” He nodded to her and raised his hand to snap his fingers, but Caylin stopped him before he could.
“Remie, wait!” Caylin jumped up from the chair and raced over to him. She flung her arms around his shoulders and kissed him like a woman might kiss her long lost love. When she felt nothing, her shoulders were deflated.
“Don’t worry, love. I always knew you were destined to be with someone else. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find him here.” He winked at her before kissing her on the cheek. He stepped back from her and snapped his fingers.
Caylin looked down at the floor and a few tears formed in her eyes. She had the distinct feeling that she would never see him again. He had been the only man who had taken the time to understand her without judging her. She resigned herself to see where this road would take her, if only for the moment.
Chapter 9
Caylin stood outside room 406 with a slight trepidation. Not quite sure if she should trust the people here at the Watch Tower, she was almost afraid to open the door. What if it was some kind of dungeon? Not that it would have been much different from the world of the Ghost District. Caylin had been thankful for her place with Remie. It was far better than the cold streets, but it had been lackluster and hardly what she would have wanted for herself years ago.
Years ago…there had been an innocent girl in there somewhere, hadn’t there? Caylin found it hard to imagine anyone but the woman she was currently. She barely remembered that part of herself. As long as she could remember, Caylin could feel the darkness surrounding her, even amidst the rainbow and unicorn dreams that had budded deep inside her as a child. Over the years, those magical things were replaced with the things that went bump in the night.
Twisting the doorknob, Caylin took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” When she entered the room, Caylin was actually surprised. “Okay, so not a dungeon.”
That was only a small relief because Caylin knew better than to trust the charity of others. When she had first left home, one of the pimps on the street had offered her a place to stay. This was after she had spent a few months on the streets trying to survive without any comforts whatsoever. At the time, Caylin had not known that Gregory wasn’t offering her a place out of the goodness of his heart. She shivered, just remembering the year of her life spent in that hellhole. Sure, it had looked like a well- established place, but the depravity of the depths below was enough to give her nightmares even now. Heaven help him if Caylin ever got her hands on that cretin.
Caylin took in the room around her. It was like a hotel suite, with separate living and sleeping quarters. The walls were blank, white with nothing to make them stand out. The furniture was all shades of brown. “Blah.”
“Not to your liking?” a voice called over her shoulder. Griffin was standing in the doorway, watching her every move. Did he think she was going to steal something?
“What are you doing here?” Caylin realized at once that she had forgotten to close the door. “Don’t you have any manners?”
“Forgive me. I just wanted to make sure you were settled.”
“I may be here, but I haven’t settled on anything.” Her nose twitched slightly, a precursor to the irritation that was growing inside since the minute he stepped into the room. She had no idea why he made her feel this way.
“I see. Do you have everything you need?”
What did he care? “I’ve barely looked around.”
“Right. Well, let me give you the tour,” he offered. He gestured to the small room to the right. “This is your kitchenette, which we try to keep stocked each day. You are welcome to join us in the dining room downstairs.”
“Doubtful.” Caylin didn’t think she would be trying to make nice with any of them any time soon. She would be civil, but outside of that, everything else was off the table.
“If there is something you need, just ask, and we shall provide.”
Caylin wondered what strings would be attached to it. Everything had a price in the real world.
“No strings, Caylin,” Griffin said gruffly.
Damn it. She had meant to keep her thoughts on lockdown. “Didn’t your mother tell you it’s not polite to read people’s minds?”
“She might have if I ever met her,” he answered curtly.
“Is this where you are looking for sympathy?” Caylin rolled her eyes.
“The world only offers sympathy to those who don’t deserve it.”
That was something they could both agree on. Money, power, status, those were all things that solicited any kind of human empathy. For those who were not born with any of those things the rest of the world saw them as expendable. The streets were filled with lost souls who had no place to rest their weary heads. No one gave them a second glance, really.
“As you can see, this is your living area, couch, table, and television if you care to watch something.”
“You get cable here?” Caylin asked curiously. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d watched anything on cable. The Ghost District didn’t really have many cable providers willing to walk anywhere near those streets.
“If you wish.” Griffin picked up the remote from the coffee table. “Just push the button here and ask for the kind of show you want. Kickboxing.”
The television pulled up the top shows related to the topic he had picked. Caylin tried not to be visibly impressed. Technology had sure come a long way for those that could afford it. She nodded. “A little blood sport never hurt anyone.”
“My thoughts precisely.”
So, he liked violence. Or was it the action that thrilled him? Not that she could tell. His thoughts were definitely on lockdown. The way he looked at her told her that he knew she was trying to probe him. “The bedroom is right here. Like a master bedroom and bath, really.”
“I see.” Caylin looked around her and saw a large four poster bed with a simple white bedspread. “Not much color, is it?”
“You are welcome to change the décor. We like to keep it neutral for those who are new to Sector Fifteen.”
“How many are there in Sector Fifteen?”
“Five Guardians—six if you make this your home too.”
Caylin checked out the bathroom and her heart almost did flipflops. The garden tub was large enough for her to take a bubble bath in. The bathroom at her apartment barely worked, so she was lucky to do a quick wipe down. Sometimes she would steal a quick shower at one of the gas stations that was a truck stop. This place was more luxury than she’d seen most of her life. That in itself almost convinced her to stay, but she wasn’t making any guarantees.
“Well, that concludes the tour, right?” Caylin turned to face him. When his eyes met hers, she felt some message was hidden deep inside them. She was too tired to try to translate it.
“Yes. Unless you would like to take a tour of Sector Fifteen.”
“Maybe later. Right now, I have other things to do.” Like, take a long soak in that tub.
“Just use the buzzer in the kitchen if you need any of us.” Griffin pointed to the black console on the wall. He waved his hand and disappeared from sight, almost as if he had evaporated.
“Show off.” Caylin shook her head.
She walked to the tub and turned the water on as hot as she could. Even if she burnt her skin, it would be worth it. Looking around at the toiletries, she found bubble bath and opened the lid to smell it. Lavender. Caylin poured in half the bottle and smiled as the bubbles started to rise. Before long, the tub was filled. She stepped into it and sunk into the bubbles.
“Ahh!” For the better part of an hour, Caylin soaked in the tub, only getting out when her fingers and toes were wrinkled past recognition. The towel was plush and warm against her skin. Looking down at the pile of clothes, she realized she didn’t have any of her own things to wear. Not that she wanted to put them on after cleaning off all the excess grime.
