Immediately Dad sat down next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. I leaned against him, the way I used to when I was younger and had had a bad dream. “Honey, I’m sorry. But I’m sure it’s nothing. I see the way Rafe looks at you. It scares me, you know.”
I let out a surprised bark of laughter. “Why does it scare you?”
“Because I see how much he cares, and I know I’m going to lose my little girl to him.” My mouth dropped open because that was the last thing I expected my dad to say. He chuckled softly at my stunned expression. “Despite what you may think, I do want you to be happy, Gabi.”
“And you think I can be happy with Rafe?” I can’t believe I had just uttered that sentence. Until the big blowup tonight, I had been happy with Rafe. Stupidly, madly, happy.
“I know so.” He patted my knee before getting up. “And that’s why I’m not too concerned about your fight. I know tomorrow you’ll be on the phone with him while I’m struggling to read the map and drive the car at the same time.”
“That’s why I bought you a GPS!”
He raised his brows. “So you could ignore me and talk to your boyfriend?”
“Exactly.” I smiled, feeling infinitely better. Dad was right. I would call Rafe tomorrow, and we would fix things. Wait a week? Was he crazy? There’s no way he could go that long without talking to me. “Thanks, Dad. I feel better now.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” He pointed to the half-empty carton of ice cream. “Can I put this away now?”
I clutched my stomach, making a face. “Yes, please. I ate too much!”
“I hope it doesn’t keep you up tonight,” he called over his shoulder. “Remember, early morning tomorrow!”
“Stop reminding me!”
A few minutes later, Dad went upstairs. Still I sat on the couch, staring into space, waiting for…what, exactly? I wasn’t sleepy, which sucked because tomorrow I was going to be in full pissed off zombie mode. (Seriously Dad, why did we need to get up so early!) Maybe I’d goof off online for a bit before trying to fall asleep.
As soon as I stood up, I heard a quiet knock at the door. I paused. It was 11:30. No one should be coming here this late. I felt an icy trickle of fear. What if it was a demon? Holy crap, what if it was a demon who had come to get me right after I told Rafe I didn’t need him to protect me?
Or maybe it’s Rafe, you stupid girl. Why do you automatically think demon?
It had to be Rafe! He realized we were both being stupid and had come to apologize. And I’d gratefully accept his apology and tell him I was sorry myself, and then we would do some kissing and—
I ran to the door and threw it open. “I knew you couldn’t stay away!”
But it wasn’t Rafe on the other side—it was Evan. He looked at me sadly as he lifted his bandaged right hand. “I’m really sorry about this, Gabi.”
There was a flash of silver light, and everything went black.
Chapter Seven
Cold, cold, cold. Why was I so freaking cold? Had Dad turned the heat off? Was this his way of getting us out of bed at such an ungodly hour? I groaned, fumbling for my blankets.
“This is the one?” an unfamiliar male voice asked.
My eyes shot open. Who the hell was that?
No, better question. Where the hell was I?
Instead of my nice, comfy bed, I was sprawled across a hard, ice-cold cement floor. Scrambling to my feet, I discovered I was in the middle of an empty warehouse. There were no windows, but bright, white lights lit the interior, hanging underneath the gray beams that crisscrossed across the ceiling.
Crap. I hugged myself, realizing I was in trouble. Big trouble.
In front of me stood the man who had spoken, flanked by Evan and another unfamiliar guy, probably a few years older than Evan. I ignored him, my gaze homing in on the first man. He was dressed in what appeared to be an expensive black suit, complete with a blood-red silk tie. Thrown over his shoulders was a long, black coat. Well, the guy had good fashion taste, I had to give him that. No manners, though. Here I was, freezing to death in my pajamas, and he hadn’t even offered me his coat. He wore his brown hair short, and his matching brown eyes, currently locked on me, were cold, dangerous. I didn’t like him. He obviously had absolutely no problem with kidnapping a sixteen-year-old girl in the middle of the night, and that scared me.
When Evan took a step toward me, I jerked backwards, crashing into a gray pillar. Pressing my back against the cold steel, I gave him my best death glare as memories of Evan magically knocking me out came flooding back. “Stay the hell away from me, Evan.” I couldn’t believe I had risked my relationship with Rafe by protecting Evan, and this was how he was repaying me! I should have let Rafe choke him!
He paused, one eyebrow raised. “I was just going to give you my jacket, Gabi. Thought you might be cold.”
I crossed my hands over my chest. “No, I’m fine. I’m hot, actually. You don’t feel hot? Man, I’m almost sweating to death here!” Never mind that my teeth were chattering so badly Evan was probably having a hard time understanding what I was trying to say.
Evan sighed. Peeling off his jacket, he tossed it at me. I let it drop to the floor. Rolling his eyes, he said, “Put on the jacket, Gabi.”
“No.”
Evan looked annoyed, but he didn’t press the issue.
Wise move, that.
“So,” I said. “Anyone want to clue me in on what I’m doing here? Or are we just going to stand around staring at one another?”
Creepy Suitman cleared his throat. “A few months ago, I received a very interesting phone call from Evan, someone I never expected to hear from ever again. He had written us off, wiped his hands clean long ago, you see.
“But it wasn’t the phone call that was interesting. It was what he had to say.”
My heart was pounding fast enough that I was worried I was going to have a heart attack and drop dead right then and there. Because if this guy was who I thought he was, I was so screwed.
I hoped I could kill Evan before I died of my heart attack, though. At least then I could die relatively happy.
Creepy brushed imaginary lint from his coat (he probably practiced that super villain move in the mirror) before continuing. “Apparently, Evan had nearly died that night, and you, Gabriella Harkins, healed him.”
“Gabiella,” I corrected automatically.
Creepy frowned. “Excuse me?”
“My name is Gabiella. There’s no ‘r.’”
“That’s a strange name…” He looked thoughtful when he said that, like he was trying to remember something important.
“Well, you’re a strange guy, so I guess we’re even.” I shook my head. “Who are you, anyway?”
He pulled himself up to his full height. (He was about my dad’s height, so nothing too impressive compared to Rafe the Giant.) “I am Charles Adler, director of the New York branch of Silver Moon.”
Trying not to let my fear show, I sneered. “Woop-de-doo. Is that supposed to impress me?”
Charles shot Evan a disapproving look. “You didn’t say she would be difficult.”
“Actually, that’s exactly how I described her,” Evan replied. “I told you she wouldn’t be agreeable if you made me kidnap her.”
So if you knew that, then why did you do it, Evan?
“I needed to know if you were telling me the truth, or just wasting my time.” Charles directed his next question at me. “Is it true?”
I decided to keep being difficult. “Is what true?”
His dark eyes flashed with annoyance. “Are you a Soul Healer or not?” His raised voice echoed across the warehouse. I wondered if anyone out there would hear him shouting, but I doubted it. It was late, it was snowing—all the sane people were indoors, sleeping.
I bit my lip. “Okay, I still hate you and want to make your life a living hell, but I’m telling the truth when I say I have no idea what a Soul Healer is.”
“Did you or did you not heal Eva
n?”
“No clue.”
“Excuse me?” Again Charles turned to glare at Evan.
“Hey, man, she goes into a trance and passes out and doesn’t remember it after waking up.” Evan shrugged. “I told you all of this. Multiple times.”
“Yes, but I want to hear it from her.”
“I’m not telling you anything,” I cut in. “Except that I want to go home. Take me home. Now.”
Charles smiled and it was so creepy, ugh. Nightmares forever. “Home? You’re not going home, Gabriella.”
“IT’S GABIELLA, YOU STUPID—”
“Whoa,” Evan broke in, waving his hands. “Came down, Gabi.”
“Calm? You want me to be calm after you kidnapped me!” Who the freak was Evan kidding? I thought he had been acting all this time, but I guess he really was that stupid.
“Enough!” Charles said. He walked up to me, and I made to run away, but his hand snaked out, clamping around my wrist. I struggled, although I don’t know why I bothered. It wasn’t like I was going to get out of his ironclad grip anytime this century. “If you’re not going to behave, then I will just have to force your hand.”
And on that particularly frightening threat, he began dragging me across the warehouse.
Chapter Eight
“Let me go!” I exclaimed through gritted teeth, trying to kick at Charles’ legs with my slipper-clad feet. He ignored me, steering me toward the other guy in the warehouse, the one who had been watching silently the entire time. He was probably around twenty, with reddish-brown hair that could use a good cut. His eyes were a very pale blue, almost gray, and he wore a bored look on his face as he observed poor me getting my arm wrenched out of its socket by mean Mister Charles. Obviously, I couldn’t look to him for help.
I sent him a death glare. He responded by winking.
Ugh.
“Gabri—” Charles paused and cleared his throat. “Gabiella, this is Jonathan, a member of Silver Moon.”
“Wonderful,” I deadpanned.
Charles yanked me over so I was standing directly in front of Jonathan. He raked his eyes up and down my body and sneered. Double ugh. This guy was disgusting. Reminded me of Christian, actually, which was definitely not a compliment. “Cute pajamas,” he said. “That whole flannel look is dead sexy.”
“Come a little closer and I’ll show you how dead sexy I can be—”
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” Charles interrupted. “Are you or are you not a Soul Healer?”
Was this guy a little slow or something? “I told you, I don’t know what that is!” And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell him anyway.
He pursed his lips together in discontent. “You really won’t tell me? You won’t admit to healing not only Evan, but Rafe, too?”
I aimed my glare toward Evan. The blonde shrugged in response. God, I couldn’t believe he had told the director of Silver Moon all of my dirty secrets. Did he know I possessed the Sight, too? Probably, since Evan obviously had a freaking big mouth. My eyes still on Evan, I said, “I’m not telling you anything, Mister Director.”
“That’s a shame,” he said quietly, turning to Jonathan, his movements too quick for me to catch. At first, I thought Charles had punched the other hunter in the gut for some reason, but when Charles moved away, I saw a knife protruding from Jonathan’s stomach. Jonathan let out a strangled gasp and took a few, stumbling steps backwards. My mouth dropped open. Wait, what was going on? I thought he said Jonathan was a hunter? As in, you know, his ally? Didn’t they work together to stab demons, and not each other?
Jonathan dropped to his knees, his hands around the hilt of the knife. He looked up at Charles, the agony apparent on his face. “Sir?”
“Sorry, Jonathan, but I needed to see if Evan was telling the truth.” Charles nodded to me. “Heal him, Gabiella.”
“You are batshit crazy!” I cried, crouching in front of Jonathan and waving my hands in the air frantically. Did I take the knife out, or leave it in? What the hell, I wasn’t a nurse, how was I supposed to know what to do?
“No, I’m not crazy,” Charles said.
“You stab your own associates for the fun of it, then?” I leaned forward and applied pressure to the area around the wound, Jonathan’s hot, sticky blood staining my fingers. He groaned and pulled away from my grasp, glaring at me. Oops, guess I wasn’t helping.
“I want to see you in action.”
Tears sprung to my eyes and I whirled on him. “It doesn’t work like that!”
“Then I guess Jonathan will die.” He didn’t even look sorry when he said that. What kind of monster was he!
I let out a scream of frustration, watching as Jonathan paled, his blood dripping onto the concrete floor. I didn’t know him, and he had acted like a jerk to me, but I couldn’t just sit around and watch him die. I squeezed my hands into fists, willing my powers to work, to heal him.
Come on, come on!
Nothing happened.
Evan stepped forward. “Sir, he’s—”
“Stay out of this, Evan.”
“But he’s going to die!” Evan exploded, rushing forward and shoving me aside. He pulled out a small bottle from his pocket and I recognized it as the same stuff I had used to heal the deep scratch Fishface had given Rafe. It had worked on Rafe’s arm, but would it heal a much deeper knife wound?
“Evan, I told you—”
“I can’t do it!” I snapped, jumping to my feet and shoving a bloodstained finger in Charles’ face. “I can’t heal him, all right? I may have healed Rafe and Evan when they were dying, but this isn’t the same!”
His face practically glowed with excitement as he asked, “What’s not the same?”
Belatedly, I realized I had just admitted to healing before. You are such a moron, Gabi! Closing my mouth, I shook my head a few times.
To my surprise, Charles began laughing. “I knew it. You have the power… Such a rare power… A Soul Healer.” He put his hands on my shoulders, clamping down hard so I couldn’t squirm away. “I never thought I’d live to see one.”
And still I had no idea what a Soul Healer was. “I don’t care what you think I am, but I’m not helping you or Silver Moon or doing whatever it is you think I’m going to do for you.”
“Oh, I think you will,” he said, still smiling. It was a super creepy smile, too, promising me I wasn’t going to like whatever it was he was about to say. “Unless you want something to happen to your father or sister…”
I went cold all over, like I was outside in the blizzard again. He knew about my family, too? Was there anything he didn’t know?
“You c-can’t,” I sputtered. “Leave them alone—”
“I will, if you promise to cooperate. If not…” Charles let his threat hang in the air between us. I glanced again at Jonathan, pale and sprawled across the floor. If Charles had no problem stabbing him, a loyal hunter, then what would stop him from hurting my family?
I thought of Chloe being lured away by Davenport, and how scared I had been, thinking I was going to lose her forever. Now I pictured Charles entering my house, killing both her and Dad while they slept.
Because of me.
“What do you want me to do?” I whispered, shaking. I met his gaze, then quickly looked away, afraid of the blaze of triumph that flashed across his face.
“We’re going back to Headquarters, where we will figure out this gift of yours,” he said.
“But my family—” I swallowed hard. “They’ll know I’m missing!”
“Not if Evan works a little magic on them.”
My stomach clenched. They had this all worked out, didn’t they? Evan would brainwash my family, and Charles would take his shiny new gift back home with him. And Rafe—
Rafe wouldn’t even come looking for me, because of the stupid things I had said. For all he knew, I was getting in the car tomorrow and spending the next week in Vermont. Evan wouldn’t even have to waste his magic manipulating him, because he wouldn’t e
ven miss me.
You stupid idiot, I thought fiercely. Thought you were so brave, telling Rafe you didn’t need him. And look where that got you!
In a gigantic hole, with no way out.
Chapter Nine
“How can I even trust you?” I demanded of Charles. “You say you won’t hurt them, but how do I know that’s true?” I mean, this guy was obviously psychotic. I could definitely see him hurting people just for the fun of it.
“I have no interest in your family, Gabiella, only you,” Charles said. “As long as they’re alive, I know I can keep you in line. But if you decide to rebel against me, then I will harm them.”
I gritted my teeth. So, what, this guy was going to keep me in Silver Moon’s HQ for the rest of my life? Was he going to dissect me, pick at my brain, try to figure out what made me tick? Or, more accurately, what made my hands glow and heal?
And what if he found nothing? Would he kill my family in retaliation?
This can’t be it for me, I thought frantically, my gaze sliding toward Evan, who still crouched next to Jonathan, his back to me. Any moment now, Evan would realize what he had done and fix this. He would beat the crap out of Charles and whisk me away—
And then what? Silver Moon knew about me. They knew about my family, too. I wasn’t safe anymore.
How ironic. The one who warned me about Silver Moon was the one to betray me in the end. Why?
“Her parents are moving her back to Manhattan.”
“Since when?”
“This week. A few days ago. I don’t remember. Does it matter? I screwed up, man. Now she’s gone, gone, gone.”
I froze. Of course, of course. Alexandra. Evan wanted me to heal Alexandra.
“Evan,” I said quietly, watching him stiffen. I made to move toward him, but Charles caught me in his strong grip again. “Evan, this is about Alexandra, isn’t it? You think I can heal her? You betrayed me for her?”
The Soul Healer Page 4