The Soul Healer

by Melissa Giorgio

  “Hey, babe,” he said to me, winking. “Did you miss me?”

  “Gabi, run!” Philip said. I paused only for a moment (I was going to get so lost!), then took off in the direction we were heading, hoping the subway was close by (not that I knew which train I needed to take). I got about ten feet before another figure—Scott—emerged from the shadows and grabbed me. I screamed as loud as I could, but when none of the pedestrians reacted, I knew someone from Silver Moon had thrown a veil over us.

  No wonder Philip had looked so sickly! If magic made him sick, then veils must, too! And without the ability to use magic, he hadn’t been able to sense it. We had walked straight into a trap!

  As Scott dragged me back the way I had come, I bleakly wondered what had happened to Nina. I didn’t see her, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been captured.

  I hoped she was okay.

  Philip and Jonathan were currently duking it out, looking more like two pro boxers than teenage boys. For every punch Philip threw, Jonathan returned with one of his own, smirking. I felt a flash of rage. They were cheating! If Philip was at full strength, he wouldn’t have had any problem destroying both Jonathan and Scott. “Jerks,” I muttered.

  “What was that?” Scott said, pulling me closer. “You’re in big trouble, Healer. Director Adler isn’t happy with you, not one bit.”

  “Screw him and screw you,” I snarled.

  He ran a hand down my cheek and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Is that a promise?”

  God, he was so stupid. Hadn’t he learned anything from our first encounter? Rolling my eyes, I lifted up my foot and slammed it down on his. This time I was wearing sneakers instead of slippers, so it only hurt him and not me. As Scott howled and hopped on one foot, I turned around and kicked him right between the legs.

  “Touch me again and I’ll throw you into traffic,” I said, balling my hands into fists. “And that’s a promise, you asshole.”

  A hand clamped down on my arm and I whirled, ready to punch Jonathan in his stupid, smug face. But it was Philip, not Jonathan, and he shouted, “Come on!”

  We raced down the street, away from the two hunters. “How many more blocks?” I panted.

  “The subway is on the corner of the next one!” Philip pointed and we increased our speed.

  “How did they find us? And where’s Nina? Did they get her, too?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know! The only thing we can do is keep—” He broke off with a curse, suddenly yanking me into traffic. We narrowly avoided being clipped by a taxi as we crossed the street. The driver hadn’t seen us, thanks to the veil, no doubt.

  “Are you trying to get us killed!” I tried to dig my heels into the pavement, but Philip was way too strong for me. “Wait! I may not be a city dweller, but even I know we’re walking right past the entrance to the subway!”

  “Jerome,” Philip said, as if that explained everything.

  “What?”

  “Jerome was there, waiting by the subway entrance! That means they knew we were planning on taking that train, and there are probably more hunters downstairs. I’m not fighting anyone on a subway platform—one wrong move and…” Philip trailed off to curse a few more times as he brought us down another street. We dove into a darkened doorway of a closed restaurant, my back pressed against the steel door as Philip peered out into the street. Our gasping pants filled the air as we tried to catch our breath. I struggled to process what he had just told me. The hunters had been lying in wait for us. How had they known?

  “Did Jerome see us? He had to have seen us,” I said. We had been so obvious, racing straight into traffic!

  “No.” Philip hesitated. The grave look on his face froze the blood in my veins. “Nina…was with him.”

  “What do you mean, with him? Was he fighting her? Hurting her!” I made to take a step forward, to see what he meant, but Philip grabbed my shoulder, yanking me back. “Phil!”

  Philip’s voice was pained. “I don’t want you to see.”

  “But—”

  “Please, Gabi.” He took a shuddering breath, shaking his head. “He was fighting her, and she wasn’t winning.” Philip swallowed hard, and I could see the conflict on his face. “We made a promise, Nina and I. If one of us got caught, the other would keep going, with you.”

  I felt a flash of irritation. “Which one of you idiots came up with that stupid plan!”

  “If we go back for her, there’s a very good chance you’ll be recaptured,” Philip said. “We’re not letting that happen, not after what Kain said could happen to you if you healed again. It’s killing me, leaving her with Jerome and the others, but I can’t risk your life. I won’t.”

  I felt like crying and screaming at the same time. Nina was injured, or worse, and we were just standing there, unable to do anything to help her. Because of me. A few tears trickled down my cheeks, but I swiped them aside impatiently.

  “Did Scott hurt you?” Philip asked, watching me.

  “I’m okay. What about you?”

  He patted himself down, checking for injuries. “I’m fine. Just give me a second to think.”

  An awful thought occurred to me, and I swallowed a few times before voicing it. “Phil, they were waiting for us.”

  Philip’s face darkened. “I know.”

  “But how? How did they know that was where we were going to be?” I asked. “What if Kain—”

  “No.” Philip’s eyes flashed as he angrily cut me off. “Absolutely not.”

  “But he knew,” I insisted. “And he was the one who said we should wait, form a plan—”

  Philip angled his body so his face was inches from mine. That close, I could see just how angry he was. “He’s also the one who warned you about your powers! Why would he tell you that and then keep you trapped at HQ? It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “I don’t know!” I threw my hands up in the air. “Maybe he’s working with your dad—”

  “They hate each other!”

  “But—”

  “No, Gabi,” Philip snapped. “Kain didn’t betray us. I don’t know how they knew we were going to escape, but Kain wasn’t the one who told them.” He looked so pissed I thought he was going to punch a hole in the door behind us, so I wisely let the subject drop, holding my hands up in surrender. It sickened me to think of Kain betraying us, but if it wasn’t him, then who?

  It sucked, not knowing who I could trust.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Philip peeked around the doorway once more and let out a long sigh, his face narrowed in concentration. “We can either try another station at Seventh Avenue, or try to hail a taxi…”

  “Which option is better?” I asked, clueless as ever, but glad he was still talking to me after I had accused Kain of betraying us. I knew we had been walking down Eighth Avenue, but I had no idea which way we needed to go to get to Seventh. I did know, however, that avenues were a hell of a lot longer than streets. I did not relish the idea of racing through the city again. And would people see us this time? I wasn’t sure how far the veil Jonathan had cast extended, but it couldn’t be that big, could it? I asked Philip, but he shook his head, telling me he didn’t know either, since he couldn’t even sense it to begin with.

  “It could be a few blocks, though. The endpoint is wherever I stop feeling nauseous.” Philip seemed to come to a decision, nodding to himself. “We’ll keep heading down this block, and if we can get a taxi at the corner, we’ll take that. But I don’t want to stand around too long, giving the others a chance to find us. Be prepared to suddenly run to the station, Gabi.”

  At least he was warning me ahead of time. After nearly getting hit by that taxi, my heart still hadn’t slowed down. I squared my shoulders, preparing myself. “Let’s go.”

  We walked down Sixteenth (I only knew it was Sixteenth Street because Philip told me it was) in a tense silence. The street was deserted, and I wondered if it was because the veil was deterring people from walking down it. I knew in lesser
populated areas, like where I lived, that’s exactly what the veils did. But in a place like Manhattan, with millions of people, you couldn’t exactly close off a block and expect people not to notice. Maybe their veils were more like Kain’s spell (if he had even placed a spell on us), preventing a person from seeing what was going on right in front of their faces. That would be crazy, if that were true. I couldn’t even imagine a hunter fighting a demon while people went about their daily lives. How did they prevent people from being injured?

  Of course, now was not the time to bug Philip with questions. Maybe once we were safely on the train home, I would ask him. For now, we just needed to worry about getting to the train.

  We were halfway down the block when Philip started chuckling. Worried, I glanced at him, wondering if the stress from our escape and the battle with Jonathan had sent Philip over the edge. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  He grinned, showing his teeth. “I keep picturing you kicking Scott in the balls. That might go down as one of my favorite moments ever.”

  Despite the serious situation, I couldn’t help myself and grinned back. “Yeah, that was pretty awesome, if I do say so.”

  “If you hadn’t already asked to be my best friend the moment we first met, I would have been begging you right now to be mine.” He laughed again. “Dammit, I wish I could have taken a picture of his expression. I swear he went all cross-eyed!”

  “Hunter or not, if you’re an ass, you deserve a swift kick between your legs,” I said wisely. “So everyone better watch out because…” My words trailed off as I heard footsteps rapidly approaching us. Philip must have heard them too, because he pushed me toward a storefront, away from the street, and whirled around to meet our attacker.

  Except it was just some random homeless guy, who stuck out his hand and mumbled something about sparing a dollar for a burger. Philip shook his head and shooed the guy away. So much for the veil still being active, I thought, wondering if that was a good or bad thing. If it didn’t stretch this far, then that meant they didn’t think we’d go this way. Right? I swallowed hard, hoping that was the case. My poor heart continued to work overtime, and I struggled to control my breathing.

  Philip and I glanced at each other. “I honestly thought…” I began.

  He nodded. “Me too. Let’s go before—”

  “Before what?” Jonathan stepped in front of us, scaring the crap out of me. Where the hell had he come from? Was invisibility one of his abilities or something? There was a sound of a scuffle behind us and I whirled around to see Jerome with one arm locked around Nina’s neck. He held a deadly and incredibly sharp looking knife aimed at her chest. Behind him lurked Scott, who eyed me warily and kept his distance (the loser had finally learned his lesson).

  “Nina!” I gasped. There was a cut over her right eye, and it bled freely, coating half of her face in the dark, sticky liquid. I glared at Jerome, but kept my distance, afraid of that knife only inches from her chest.

  She tried to give me a smile, but it came out as a grimace. “Sorry, Gabi, I got caught.”

  I wanted to tell her it was okay, but how could I? This was the furthest thing from okay. We were totally and completely screwed.

  “So here’s how this is going to go down,” Jonathan said, speaking to Philip. “You’re going to—”

  Punch Jonathan in the face, apparently. One moment, he was talking, and in the next, Philip’s fist was colliding with his jaw. There was a sickening crack, and Jonathan stumbled backwards, but somehow managed to keep his balance. With a roar of fury, he threw himself at Philip, and they began fighting once more.

  I wanted to watch Philip wipe the ground with Jonathan, but it probably wasn’t smart to turn my back on Jerome and Scott. Belatedly, I wished for Rafe’s knife; I was no expert, but he had started training me on how to correctly wield it, and its weight in my hands would have been a comfort right about now.

  “Grab her,” Jerome said to Scott.

  “Hell no,” Scott said. Wow. That might have been the smartest thing he’s ever said, I thought. I gave him a feral grin, and he grimaced. “How about I hold on to Nina and you grab her.”

  “What are you so scared of?”

  “Yeah, Scotty, what are you so scared of?” I taunted. “Little old me? What could I possibly do to you? Oh, wait.” I picked up my foot, acting like I was going to kick him in his special place again. Scott blanched and backed away, actually covering the area with his hand. I grinned.

  Cursing, Jerome hurled Nina at Scott and came at me, waving his knife. My good humor evaporated instantly as the blade flashed closer and closer. Then, realizing I was an idiot for just standing around, waiting for him to stab me, I turned to flee.

  Only, at that moment, Jonathan, with blood dripping from his chin, waved a hand and a flash of light shot out, hitting Philip squarely in the chest. He went careening into the door of an apartment building before crumpling to the ground. Screaming his name, I changed directions and fell to my knees next to him, shaking him. “Phil, wake up. Phil!” He didn’t move or groan or anything, and the blood froze in my veins as I tried to turn him over, onto his back. If—

  If Jonathan had—

  I couldn’t even finish the thought. Feeling like I was going to puke, I faced Jonathan. “What did you do, you asshole! He can’t handle magic! Why would you do that!”

  He didn’t reply. Instead, looking like he didn’t even care that Philip was unconscious, he seized me by the elbow and pulled me to my feet. I tried to kick him, but he nimbly dodged out of the way. Frustrated, I began beating at him with my free hand, but that had zero effect on him whatsoever. “I wish you had died that night. I wish I had been able to heal you, but refused to, and you had died!” I snarled.

  That got a reaction out of him. His face darkened, and he lifted his free hand, forming a fist as he swung it in my direction.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  “Enough,” a voice snapped, echoing down the street. My eyes, which I hadn’t even remembered closing, popped open to see Charles standing before us. Jonathan jerked to attention, dropping his fist and looking abashed. Charles glanced from me to his son, and his brows narrowed in distaste. “We will discuss this transgression later, Jonathan.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jonathan said quietly. I stared at him in amazement. How could he still follow Charles’s order like an obedient puppy when Charles had stabbed him, only days ago? Was he brainwashed or just incredibly stupid? Noticing my incredulous look, Jonathan twisted my arm behind my back, causing me to cry out in pain.

  “Easy, we don’t want her damaged, only subdued,” Charles said. “In fact…” He paused, looking at me again before coming over and raising a hand. I knew seconds before it happened what he planned to do, but between Jonathan’s unrelenting grip and Charles’s powerful magic, I blacked out before I could even attempt an escape.

  ***

  “Really, Gabiella, what am I supposed to do with you?”

  That’s what I woke up to. Charles’s stupid voice and his stupid question, as if he actually expected me to answer it. Wait, maybe he did expect me to answer it. Pulling myself up into a sitting position, I pushed strands of my hair out of my eyes and spat, “You could let me go.”

  We were back in his office, oh joy. I had been dropped down in one of the uncomfortable chairs, and he sat across from me, his elbows on the desk and his head propped up on his hands as he studied me like the creeper that he was. “And why would I do that?”

  “Because…” I trailed off. Philip had been convinced his dad wouldn’t do anything bad, but allowing the other hunters to attack us? I closed my eyes, stifling a moan. Had I just doomed my family?

  “Because you’ll die if you use your ability?” Charles supplied, surprising me. He noticed my expression and nodded. “Yes. Philip informed me of what Kain told you about Soul Healers.”

  “Phil’s okay?” I blurted out.

  “Of course he’s okay. He’s being punished for his indiscretion, and you
will no longer be allowed to see each other, but despite what you think, I am not a monster,” Charles said.

  I laughed bitterly. Not a monster? Was this guy completely delusional? I doubted he had ever done something that wouldn’t be considered evil. “I find that hard to believe,” I told him, in case my skeptical snort hadn’t clued him in.

  Instead of getting mad, like he usually did, Charles just sighed. It was actually weird seeing him so…unemotional. He looked exhausted, even, which made me wonder if something else besides my failed attempt at escape was going on.

  But you know what? Who cared! Silver Moon-related problems were not my problems! “Are we done here?” I asked bitterly. “Because if you’re not going to let me go or torture me or throw me at Alexandra again so her parents can scream at me for being useless, then I’d really like to get some sleep. It’s been a long day, what with finding out I’m probably going to die soon and all.”

  “That is troublesome,” Charles agreed, surprising me further. Why was he being so pleasant? I wasn’t going to fall for it, though. Not after everything I knew about him. He was a viper, and all the kind words in the world couldn’t hide his true nature from me. “I wish you four had brought it to my attention rather than try to take matters into your own hands. We could have figured out what to do together.”

  I shook my head. “You want me to use my powers to help bring people back from the dead! I’m sure that’s not going to change just because you found out I may die from it!” Glaring at him, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Admit it, you hate me. Me dying after doing your bidding is probably the greatest news you’ve heard all year.”

  Charles’s mouth parted slightly. “Is that truly what you think of me?”

  “Yes,” I said without hesitation. I pointed an accusing finger at his face. “You may not think so, but you are a monster, Charles. You killed Rafe’s parents, no problem, so excuse me if I don’t believe you about trying to help me.”