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I was surprised that Simon hadn’t been the one to object to Ryan staying at the apartment, but he cleared that up with his response. “It’s better to keep him close where we can keep an eye on him.” He raised an eyebrow at me as he spoke. “And you can damn well be sure that I’ll be staying here too.”
I nodded. The last thing I wanted to be deprived of was Simon’s presence. As much as I believed Ryan was trustworthy, I felt safer with Simon around. I turned to Grant. “You should stay here too. We have no idea when your vardoger is going to attack, so we need to keep watch even when you’re asleep.”
Grant grimaced. “I doubt I’m going to get any sleep, but you won’t be hearing any objections from me. My macho bravado went out the door once I heard about being shot in the head by my vardoger.”
Our conversation was halted by the return of Ryan who had a bag slung over his shoulder. It was obvious that we were discussing him by our sudden silence, but he pretended not to notice.
“What are the sleeping arrangements going to be?” Sarah asked. “We can’t all sleep in one room.”
“Ryan and I will take turns keeping watch,” I answered. “You and Grant can sleep in your bed.” I glanced at Ryan. “Do you mind taking the couch?”
Ryan nodded agreeably. “That’s fine with me.”
Sarah wrinkled her nose at my pronouncement. “I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep being watched. I doubt I would get any sleep even without being watched.”
“We don’t know how long it’ll be until Grant’s vardoger attacks,” I warned. “It could be tomorrow or it could be next month. We have to prepare for the long haul.”
Sarah nodded, and despite the sleeping arrangements having been determined, no one made a move to go to bed. We were all too wired by everything that had been revealed, and the last thing anyone seemed to want to do was sleep.
We were lost in our own thoughts when Sarah broke the silence. “Screw sleep. I need a drink. Anyone want a beer?”
Everyone took her up on her offer, even Ryan. Grant went with her to help get the drinks, and once we were all settled back in the living room with our beers, the silence was punctuated with sounds of drinking. An outsider would have thought we were just an ordinary group of friends hanging out, but nothing about our situation was ordinary. I leaned back in the recliner with a sigh, feeling the comforting warmth of Simon’s body next to me.
“Where are you from, Ryan?” I asked, trying to fill the heavy silence with conversation.
“I’m originally from Seattle, but I’ve been living in Boston for a while.”
Sarah leaned forward, seemingly eager to know more about Ryan. “When did you realize you were a seer?”
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“I’ve known ever since I can remember,” he replied, not put off by her curiosity. “My mother was a seer, and she believed in raising me with the truth.”
“I didn’t even realize guys could be seers before we met you,” Sarah confessed. “I thought it was strictly a chick thing.”
Ryan smiled faintly, making him look a lot younger and more innocent. The rest of us stayed silent, content to just listen to Ryan and Sarah’s conversation. I learned that Ryan lived off some investments he had made from an inheritance, leaving him free to track vardogers without being encumbered by a day job. It was fascinating to hear him talk about his life as if it were completely normal; as if tracking and killing vardogers was just another activity of life.
Now that my body had been drained of adrenaline, I felt a heavy fatigue creeping in. The others must have felt the same because no one objected when Sarah yawned and pronounced that it was time to go to bed.
“I’ll take the first shift watching Grant,” Ryan volunteered.
“It’s okay. I’m not tired at all,” I lied. As much as I believed I could trust Ryan, I was still a little wary leaving him alone with Grant and Sarah, just in case my instincts were wrong. “I’ll take the first watch.”
Ryan studied me for a moment, and then shrugged. “Okay. Just wake me up when you want to switch.”
I left Ryan to arrange the sheets and pillow I had given him for the couch, and followed Sarah and Grant to her bedroom.
“Um, do you mind giving me a minute?” Grant asked. “I need to change.”
“Oh, sure,” I said, reddening. “I should go change too.”
Simon was close behind me as I went to my bedroom. He didn’t say anything as I changed, and I wasn’t sure if his silence was better than a show of anger. I sat next to him on the bed when I was done and took his hand in mine.
“Simon, don’t be angry. We have no other choice. We should be relieved that Ryan is here to help us. We don’t have to worry about my father surprising us anymore.”
His grip suddenly tightened as he looked at me with a troubled expression. “I have a bad feeling about this, Caitlin. Something doesn’t feel right. I’m starting to think it’s a mistake to let him stay here.”
“It’s just because you’re worried. At least now we can do something besides just sitting around the apartment waiting for my father to attack. Please just trust me on this.”
