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still had my arms pinned behind my back. I struggled to free myself, but that only caused him to wrench my arms further back until they felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets.
“What did you see?” Before I could open my mouth to answer my father’s question, Cecelia spoke.
“It was her friend Jenny. They talked about mixing palladium and iridium together. It’s how you’ll be able to overtake any human body you choose. But be careful because Caitlin can use it to destroy you too.” Cecelia continued to direct her comments to my father but she swung her gaze to me with a satisfied smile. “She said that she’s already melted some down together. She must have it on her.”
I was horrified by the realization that Cecelia had been able to see and hear everything I had experienced while under hypnosis. I moaned in pain when my father shook me, causing my arms to bend back even more.
“Where is it? Give it to me!” He sounded unhinged and didn’t wait for me to answer. He started searching through my pockets and my heart sank when he pulled out the palladium and iridium disk. He threw me to the ground and I tried to brace myself with my hands as I hit the floor. I scrambled to stand up and backed away from my father, but he stepped closer to me, his eyes looking unnaturally bright.
“I’ve finally found the answer.” He advanced on me slowly, a feral expression on his face like he was stalking his prey. “And my first test will be on you. I’m hoping some remnants of your powers will remain once your soul is expelled. It’ll make me even stronger.”
“Caitlin! Use your powers! You’re stronger than him!” I focused on my father but Simon’s words renewed my courage and I swore to myself that I would never give up until the last breath left my body. I reached up and ripped the palladium necklace off my neck. Even though I no longer had any iridium on me, I would try as hard as I could to ward off my father’s attack.
I started gathering my powers but I was slammed to the ground by a force that knocked the breath out of me. My father’s energy was oppressive and felt nothing like when other vardogers had tried to possess me. Pain wasn’t the right word for what I felt. It was a lack of being. Instead of my soul being pushed out, I felt as if it were evaporating right inside my body.
It would be so easy to just let go, but I resisted. I could feel my body trembling but I felt disconnected from the physical part of me. Even when my body started to shake uncontrollably and levitated almost a foot off the ground, I watched it happen as if I were an outside observer instead of the one experiencing it. I gathered all the energy I had left and tried to use it to push my father out, but it barely made an impact on the force invading my body.
I was fading rapidly and panic gripped me. My father was winning. He would become unstoppable with the palladium and iridium disk and I was the one who had handed it to him.
Fury and desperation drove me to try again and I funneled together every essence of my being that was left. It was nothing but a flicker of energy, but suddenly that flicker exploded into a fiery ball of power that burned brighter and hotter than I had ever experienced. I wasted no time in slamming it against my father. My body abruptly fell back to the ground as his energy collapsed onto itself. My soul rapidly filled my body and I was barely able to see my father’s spirit burst into the air and then shatter like tiny shards of glass before I started to lose consciousness.
The last thing I was aware of was a voice inside my head that sounded like Jenny.
“I knew they would be listening,” she told me gleefully and then I blacked out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I groggily opened my eyes only to find a gun pointed at me. I looked beyond Philip and his gun to see my father’s lifeless body on the ground. My attention turned back to Philip when he spoke.
“You killed him!” He sounded like a plaintive child but the murderous look in his eyes told me that he was capable of far more dangerous behavior. Cecelia walked up next to him, no longer looking amused but furious.
“Don’t think you’re safe just because he’s dead,” she spat out. Her look of fury was slowly replaced by a smile. “Actually, this works out perfectly. A seer should be in charge of this world, not a damned vardoger. You thought you were so smart to have your father use the palladium and iridium to destroy himself when he tried to overtake your body. Sure, it worked against him because he was a vardoger, but I’m not.” Her sinister smile grew wider. “I’m a seer and I think I’ll be able to wield its power.”
“Shut up,” Philip spat out, glowering at Cecelia. “You’re not in charge of anything. This world is for vardogers, not seers. We’re only using you because you’re useful.”
Cecelia laughed at Philip and I could see his rage growing. “You’re just a lackey; a follower. You did everything your leader told you because you can’t think for yourself. I was like that once, but never again. I’m the leader now and you’ll follow my orders.”
The look of surprise on Cecelia’s face when Philip turned the gun on her and shot her in the chest would have been almost comical if it wasn’t so gruesome. She fell to the ground and Philip turned the gun back to me.
“You’re next,” he said but before he could shoot, Simon crashed into him and they both fell to the ground. I heard grunts and the sound of flesh hitting against flesh. I tried to stand, to get up to help Simon, but my body felt like it was boneless. I was so weak that I could barely lift my head to see Simon slamming Philip’s head into the ground. I looked away when I saw Simon grab the gun. Despite my hatred for Philip, I didn’t want to see another death and the crack of the gunshot was enough to tell me that he was dead.
Before I knew it, Simon was crouching over me. I winced when I saw his neck. It was badly abraded, the skin almost shredded where the rope had cut into him and blood was dripping from his wounds. But seeing him leaning over me, bloody yet alive, was a beautiful sight.
“Caitlin.” His one word was strained and I imagined that it must be excruciating for him to speak.
“I’m okay,” I rasped. “Help me up.”
He grabbed my arm to support me as I started to prop myself up. His hand gently touched my face but his expression was pained. “What the hell happened to you? Who hurt you?”
I had forgotten how bloody I was from Ryan’s earlier attack, but I didn’t want to get into it now. I just shook my head and said, “I’ll tell you later.”
My gaze went to my mother who was still tied to the barn wall. Her eyes were closed as if she couldn’t take the brutal scene. I didn’t blame her. Four bloody bodies littered the floor and only the desolate location of the barn saved us from having the police breaking down the door. The two nameless seers were gone. They had probably run off the first chance they got, since their cooperation seemed to have been coerced.
I struggled to stand, grateful for Simon’s support. It was amazing how strong he still was despite what he had been through. Questions of how he escaped the noose ran through my mind, but first I had to free my mother.
“Easy,” he warned as he helped me walk. I doubted I would have been able to make it across the barn by myself in my weakened state.
My mother’s eyes opened when she heard us approach. The glazed look of fear transformed into relief when she saw me. Simon gently helped me down so I was kneeling next to her before he started working on untying the rope around her wrists.
