I tracked him for about a mile, then he rode into a creek and I couldn't find where he came out. I guess part of that is my fault, since I taught him ... lot about tracking and the like over the last couple of winters." Well, he's fourteen. I'd expect he can make it on his own. It's a shame he felt he had to steal from you to get a start though. We'd have all pitched in and given him what he needed to make it on his own." Well, if you remember, when you brought him over to our place, Pris said. Tom didn't want to leave it. But something alien swooped around the fringes of his consciousness, driving the shadows back. Unwillingly, he was herded up into the light.As he came to awareness, he was nearly overwhelmed by the sensations that poured in from his abused body. His head throbbed with pain. Idly he wondered if he had gotten away with a concussion or if his skull was as fractured as it felt. He was lying on his side in what seemed to be rubble; hard, sharp things pressed and poked. At Skipper’s bidding I followed him into one of the cubicles, the one closest to the shower, and facing the wall rather than the interior of the room. He fumbled around on the bench, then hissed at me to turn round. His voice left no room for contradiction, and within seconds my hands were freshly bound behind my back. He spun me round to face him and kissed me once, quickly, on the mouth.“Sorry,” he whispered. Stupidly I opened my mouth to ask why, and that was all he needed to force a gag. He was there, but I didn’t even know he was at Vanderbilt! It’s not like we had classes together or something,” she protested.“Jesus Christ! Candy Pants was at that party?”“I swear, Grim, if I’d have known, I’d have never gone! I’d have left as soon as I saw him!”“Jesus!” I muttered. For years I had wondered what had ever happened to Randy Holden, what rock he had slithered under. Now I knew.Kelly wasn’t finished, though. “As soon as I saw him, I knew it was his fault. He had this smirk on his.