The Soul Healer

by Melissa Giorgio

  Kain stilled. “And why would he believe that?”

  “He thinks I’m a Soul Healer…” I shifted uncomfortably.

  “And are you?”

  I pointed to the books. “That’s what I’m here to find out. Do you know anything about Soul Healers?” I asked, watching for his reaction.

  He shrugged, looking unconcerned. “Very little, unfortunately.” Kain picked up one book, thumbed through it, then snapped it shut and placed it back on the shelf. “It’s a legend, a bedtime story. Bringing back the dead?” He laughed bitterly. “Impossible.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure if I should feel relieved or disappointed. I wanted to help people, but I didn’t want to help Charles. But if I couldn’t help him, what would he do to my family? To me? I highly doubted he’d show me the front door and tell me to have a nice day.

  “If there’s anything on Soul Healers, it’ll be here,” Kain said. He crouched down and pulled a whole shelf’s worth of books off. “Start looking at that bookcase, and I’ll check this one.”

  I went over to the case he indicated and paused. “What am I looking for, exactly?”

  “Anything on healing…” Kain trailed off, already engrossed in the book he was flipping through. I rolled my eyes and selected a book at random, pretending I knew what I was doing.

  A half hour later I was slumped on the floor with a headache, surrounded by a pile of discarded and useless books. “This isn’t working,” I told Kain, who seemed to be faring just as well as I was.

  “I found a few books on healing magic.” He indicated a small, neat pile he had built. “Let’s take a closer look at those, and forget about the Soul Healing for now.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I agreed. “In fact, if I never heard about it again, it would be too soon.”

  He shot me a sympathetic look as we began cleaning up the mess of books I had made. “How did Charles find out about your powers?”

  “Evan.” I scowled, still torn between wanting to punch him in the face, and wanting to move on so we could be friends again. I wasn’t sure if the last part would ever happen, but if he held up his end of the bargain and got me out of here…

  I doubted Rafe would ever forgive him, though.

  Thinking about Rafe made my chest squeeze uncomfortably. I missed him… I had thought being away from him for a week would prove the ultimate torture, but at least we would have talked and texted and emailed like crazy. This silence was insane. Since the night he had come bursting into my backyard, swinging his sword over his head, we had never let more than a few days at a time go by without speaking. I mean, once we started officially dating? Forget it. We saw one another or talked on the phone every single day. Yes, we had somehow become that disgusting couple that everyone hated (not that we cared). And now, this. Nothing.

  It sucked. It really, freaking sucked.

  I pulled my necklace out from under my sweater and squeezed the rose tight as I filled my mind with an image of Rafe. Not from the last time I had seen him, when he had been so angry he couldn’t even look at me when we said goodbye. But from earlier, when we had gone to the winter formal, and he had been so handsome in his suit and tie. I would give anything to go back to that night, when everything had still been perfect.

  “How does Rafe feel about you being here?” Kain asked, watching me.

  I dropped the necklace, wondering if I was that easy to read, or if Kain was just extra perceptive. “He thinks I’m in Vermont, with my family. Evan tricked us, and Rafe has no clue.” My eyes began burning, and I blinked quickly. I had said no more crying! “He doesn’t even know I’m here…”

  “Oh, I think he’ll find out soon,” Kain said softly, glancing at my necklace once more. “That’s very pretty. Looks expensive, too. I think you’ll find it wise to keep it hidden from sight, however. You don’t want someone to take it from you.”

  While I would claw someone’s eyes out if they dared take my precious necklace, I decided to listen to Kain and slipped it back under my sweater, where it safely rested against my heart. I hoped Kain was right. I hoped Rafe would find me, and soon.

  “So now I’ve learned why Underwood was so keen on helping you,” he said, putting the last book away. “He helps you learn about your powers and you heal his girlfriend.” Kain leaned against the bookshelf, crossing his arms over his chest and arching his brows. “But what is in it for you, Gabiella?”

  “He said he can make everyone forget about me. With magic.” I took a step closer to Kain and lowered my voice. “Is that… Is that even possible? Or was Evan lying to me?” Again?

  His mouth twisted into a cynical smile. “Ah, so you don’t fully trust him.”

  “He hasn’t given me much reason to recently.”

  “It is possible,” Kain said, looking thoughtful. “It requires a great deal of magic, however.”

  My stomach dropped. “And you don’t think Evan can do that.”

  “I never said that.” He pushed himself off the bookcase and leaned down to scoop up the books he wanted to take a closer look at. “Underwood is very skilled. I’ll be the first to admit it.” He smiled. “Not that I would ever say such a thing to him, mind you. I can’t stand the bastard, but he is good at what he does. If he says he can manipulate everyone into forgetting you, then yes, I believe he can.” Kain paused, suddenly serious. “But tread carefully, Gabiella. Do not give away something you can’t take back.”

  Okay, that was cryptic and creepy, all rolled into one. But I appreciated it, all the same. I had had my doubts about Evan, and had felt guilty for thinking them. But having Kain tell me to watch out confirmed what I had already known: I needed to trust myself.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  We were about to rejoin Philip when the door to the library opened and my two favorite people, Jerome and Scott, waltzed in. “Hey, Phil, whatcha doing?” Scott asked loudly, thumping his fists on the table Philip was currently resting his head on.

  With a groan, Philip picked up his head; his back was to us, but I imagined he was giving Scott a death glare that rivaled my own. “What do you want?”

  I looked at Kain, asking with my eyes if we should go over to Philip, but he seemed perfectly content to just watch.

  “Just wondering what you’re up to. It’s rare to see you in the library,” Jerome said. “Usually you’re in the weight room, showing off.”

  “Whatever,” Philip said. “Try and piss me off all you want, it’s not going to work today. Just go away.”

  “Huh?” Scott grabbed the table and shook it. “This isn’t bothering you? This isn’t pissing you off, Philip? Because let me tell you, I’m still pissed off about yesterday.” He reached up and touched his nose. “You almost broke this!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Philip said. “I meant to break it. Want me to try again?”

  Kain chuckled softly next to me.

  “What I want to know,” Scott said, “is where you’re hiding the Soul Healer. Rumor is, she was found in your bed this morning? What’s that all about?”

  “Yeah, Philip, don’t you know she’s a girl?” Jerome piped up.

  Did these two have any other settings besides GIANT STUPID MORONS?

  Philip had gotten up from his seat, leaning his hands on the table as he faced Scott and Jerome down. “Leave her the hell alone.” His voice had deepened into almost a growl and I shivered. Philip could be scary when he wanted to be.

  Except Scott and Jerome weren’t even fazed. “Oh yeah, you’re going to do something?” Scott said. He waved Philip over. “Try it. I so owe you for yesterday.”

  Wow, Scott was like, the dumbest person I had ever had the honor of meeting.

  “This is an absolute waste of time,” Kain muttered under his breath. He waved a hand and Scott’s feet slipped out from underneath him, causing him to land hard on his butt.

  “Ow!” he howled. “You bastard!” He went to get up, but slid again, this time doing a pretty impressive face plant. I heard his face smacking the mar
ble floor all the way from my hidden corner.

  Kain smiled, looking highly pleased with himself.

  Jerome started howling with laughter, while Philip asked pleasantly, “Have you forgotten how to stand, Scott?”

  “You bastard, you put an ice spell on the floor!” Scott accused.

  “Uh, Scott, Phil can’t use magic, remember?” Jerome said. He pointed to the circle of ice that had formed around Scott. “He couldn’t do that.”

  Scott started crawling away from the ice. “Then who did?”

  “I dunno.” Jerome stared at the ceiling. “Maybe there’s a leak?”

  “You’re an idiot,” Scott said, and I had to bite down hard on the inside of my cheeks to stop from laughing. “Ow, shit, I think I broke something!” He finally stumbled to his feet and shook a fist at Philip. “Next time, Adler, you are so getting it!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Philip said. “That’s what you said last time, too.” As soon as the two hunters left the library, he turned around and called, “Okay, you guys, you can stop hiding and come out now.”

  Kain smugly asked, “And how was that? Did I repay you for taking that fireball for me earlier?”

  “Oh, hell no,” Philip said. “There’s no way. I could have taken those two idiots on, even with this wound. I’m not giving up a favor from you that easily, Kain.” At my questioning look, he explained, “You have to watch out for him, Gabi. He makes a habit of collecting favors, and then you end up owing him the stupidest things. Don’t make him any promises, okay?”

  “But, he’s helping me with the research…” I nervously wondered what Kain would want in exchange for that.

  Kain carried the stack of healing books over to the table and set them down. “No, Gabiella, you don’t owe me for helping you with this. I chased Underwood away, remember?” He pulled out a chair and sat down. Philip followed suit by quickly occupying the chair next to Kain’s, ignoring me when I sent him a very pointed look.

  I took the seat across from them. “Thanks, then, for helping.”

  “So did you find anything?” Philip asked, taking a book and flipping it open. He winced and slammed it shut, releasing a cloud of dust that made him sneeze. “I’ve forgotten how horrible these things were.”

  “Nothing yet, but these seemed the most helpful.” Kain passed two books to me, and got to work on the ones in front of him.

  Philip and I exchanged looks before he shrugged. “It’s better than having my dad scream at you, right?”

  “Tell that to my throbbing head,” I replied miserably before opening up my book to the first chapter.

  Within five minutes, Philip was back to resting his head against the table, and within ten minutes, I had joined him. After fifteen minutes of silence, Kain looked up from a page of notes he had already managed to accumulate and said, “The two of you are lousy students.”

  “I’m tired,” Philip whined.

  “I have a headache,” I whined. “And I’m starving.”

  Kain sighed and put his pen down. “I suppose we could break for lunch—”

  The library door opened and I stiffened, preparing myself for another encounter with Scott and Jerome.

  Except, instead of the Two Idiots standing there, it was Evan and Nina.

  Great. I could see this going all of one way, and with my throbbing head I was so not in the mood. “Evan—” I started.

  “I brought a peace offering,” he interrupted. “To apologize for this morning. Here.” He walked over to us and plopped a big, white box down on the table.

  I froze. I recognized that type of box. There was only thing that came in a box like that. “Is that—”

  Evan gave me a toothy smile. “Open it up and see.”

  I tore off the tape holding the top flap down and lifted it up to reveal a giant cake dripping with chocolate icing inside. “OH MY FREAKING GOD.”

  “It’s chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate chips baked into the cake,” Evan said. “You like?”

  I had just died and gone to a chocolate-filled heaven.

  “That is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen,” Philip declared, his scorn popping my happy chocolate daydream. I sucked in a sharp breath, picked up the box, and marched over to another table.

  “Anyone who wants to admire my beautiful cake can come over to this table.” I glared at Philip. “Heathens can stay over there.”

  “Whatever,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

  “Clearly you’re not human,” I continued. “What human looks at this and thinks it’s disgusting?” I seriously wanted to shove my face into the cake, that’s how delicious it looked. “It’s chocolate. There’s nothing wrong with chocolate, Phil!” I looked at Evan. “Fork? Knife? Plate?”

  “What, you forgot how to speak in complete sentences?” Evan laughed, placing a plastic bag on the table. He handed me a fork and knife along with a plate, and I got to work cutting the cake. I nearly swooned when I saw how many layers there were, each separated by a thick helping of chocolate frosting. “Ahhh, I love you!”

  “Glad to hear it,” Evan said, thumping himself proudly on the chest. “I am very lovable, you know.”

  “I was talking to the cake, not you,” I snapped. I sat down and shoved a huge mouthful of cake into my mouth—holy crap. It was a good thing I was sitting because I probably would have fallen over from how amazing it was.

  Evan made a noise of disgust. “You’re not going to cut a piece for anyone else? Rude much, Gabi?”

  I grabbed the knife and pointed it at his face. “Who said I was sharing?”

  Kain and Philip started laughing at that, and then Evan and I joined in. I waved him over, cutting a (smaller) piece for him before offering another slice to Nina. She had been hovering by the doorway, an uncertain look on her face. I knew she was the one who had told Evan about my desire to eat desserts all the time, and I wanted to thank her for that. Also, I wanted to know how Mr. Snuggly was doing, but I was afraid to ask.

  I waited until after we had finished eating—everyone but Philip had a slice—before asking Nina. Her face clouded over. “I had to take him to the vet. I don’t know how long he’s going to be there or if he’s going to be okay…”

  “I’m sorry.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “I wanted to help him, but Charles never should have done something like that in the first place!”

  She shook her head, playing with the strap of her pink and white polka dot dress. “It’s too late now. What’s done is done.”

  “But if I could make it up to you—”

  Her face brightened. “Do you want to have a sleepover?” Nina grabbed my hands and shook them up and down. “Please, oh, please? I’m going to be so lonely without Mr. Snuggly, but if you’re there, I’ll be okay!”

  “Yeah, Gabi,” Evan said, picking at the crumbs on his plate. “Have a sleepover! You can braid each other’s hair and paint your toenails pink!”

  If he didn’t shut up, I was going to paint his face pink.

  But still. I had been pretty mean to Nina and for some reason she still liked me, so I agreed to her request, covering my ears when she squealed loudly.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  After a few more hours of finding nothing of value in the books, Kain declared the day a bust and our little group disassembled. Nina, Philip and I rode the elevator back to the sixth floor. We said goodbye to Philip, then headed to the Pink Palace for our slumber party. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was actually pretty normal. Nina pulled out some junk food and soda, turned on the TV, and we sat on her bed in a comfortable silence, munching on our food.

  One crappy reality show ended, and another was about to start when I rolled over to my side to ask her, “How long have you been here?”

  “At HQ?” she asked, popping a chip into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before answering. “All my life. I’m an orphan. Demons killed my parents.”

  My mouth fell open, and I instantly felt like the worst person in the world
for asking such a stupid question.

  She noticed my reaction and shook her head. “It’s okay. I barely remember them. They were killed when I was four. After that, my brother and I moved here, and Charles and the other hunters raised us.” Nina picked at the hem of her dress. “I owe Charles so much…”

  Which is why she didn’t want to betray him by trying to contact Rafe. Made sense, although it was creepy that she thought of Charles as a father figure, especially when I saw the way he had looked at her. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

  “Where’s your brother? Is he here, too?”

  “No, he lives in California,” she said. “Goes to college there. He didn’t bother coming home for winter break because he’s taking some extra classes.”

  “Aren’t you…lonely?” I couldn’t imagine being all alone like that. And were there any other female hunters living in HQ? Actually, the whole place seemed deserted. Were they gone for the holidays or something? Hmm, that made sense. If I was a Soul Healer, and if they were as powerful as Charles claimed, then he’d probably want to bring me here when HQ was empty. That way, he could keep me all to himself…

  “It’s not too bad,” Nina said, answering my question. “I talk to my brother on the phone, and there are the other hunters… And I go out—Manhattan is super fun, you know? I wish I could take you places!”

  And I wish you could bring me home. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “Who knows? Maybe after you heal Alexandra and help Charles get his wife back, he’ll let me take you out!” Nina clapped her hands in delight. “We could go shopping and see a play and oh, I know this great restaurant…”

  I tuned out her endless rambles. I wished I could be as optimistic as her. But what little Kain had found today in the books had applied to actual sorcerers who could wield actual magic. People who studied the craft and used crystals and other magical paraphernalia to cast the spells. In other words, not me. Tomorrow we were going to try to find any mentions of Soul Healers, but again, was that me? It was weird, but despite knowing next to nothing about any of this stuff, my gut told me no. I wasn’t a Soul Healer. And I wasn’t a sorcerer.