Rafe pushed off the steps and stood, towering over me. “Gabi, I could never be angry with you. None of this is your fault. It’s mine.”
“But don’t you see?” I cried. “You’ve been blaming yourself since you were twelve, and now we’ve found out it wasn’t your fault and you’re still blaming yourself! Why, Rafe? Why aren’t you angry at them for destroying your family?”
Rafe curled his hands into fists, and when he spoke, it was to a spot over my left shoulder, and not to me. “Because it’s still my fault. If I’d been born with the Sight, they never would have felt the need to test me. And if I’d listened to them and quit being a hunter, they never would have killed my parents for disobeying them.” He sat down heavily on the bottommost stair, as if suddenly drained by our conversation, and ran his fingers through his hair again.
I crouched down in front of him. “That’s really shitty reasoning, you know.”
“Gabi—”
“No, it is.” I put my hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at me. He had the slightest bit of stubble on his cheeks, and it scratched against my palms. “You can’t blame yourself for their evil actions. I know they had a prejudice against you because they were afraid your Sightless eyes would kill their kids, but that is bullshit.”
“But they were right! I let a demon into the apartment and it killed my parents!” Rafe’s eyes flashed. “If it hadn’t been then, it would have happened some other time, on the battlefield—”
“Oh, really?” I asked hotly. “And how many times have you not Seen a demon since you’ve been hunting, Rafe? How many times have you let one slip by and hurt you or Evan?”
He flinched at the casual mention of his former best friend’s name.
“How many, Rafe?”
“None,” he whispered.
I nodded triumphantly. “Exactly. And I bet you wouldn’t have missed this one, either, if Silver Moon hadn’t set you up. Isn’t it obvious? They wanted you to fail, Rafe. They wanted to punish you and your parents for keeping you in the organization.” I wound my fingers through his. “I know you said your dad didn’t want you to train in the beginning, but your mom convinced him to let you. Do you remember this pissing anyone off?”
Rafe shook his head. “I was really young, so I don’t remember it that well. I remember my parents arguing, and… I cried a lot because I thought my dad hated me for being broken.”
My heart ached at the word “broken.”
“But then Dad came into my room and sat down on the bed next to me,” Rafe said, a distant look in his eyes. “He knew, without me even having to say anything, what I was thinking, and he told me that he loved me, no matter what.” He scratched the back of his neck. “My dad wasn’t really affectionate; that might have been one of the few times he ever told me he loved me. That must be why I remember it so clearly.”
“Then what happened?”
“He gave me a present.” Rafe surprised me by smiling fondly. “A baseball glove.”
“Ah,” I said. “That’s how that obsession started.”
My boyfriend nodded. “He told me I had a choice. I could start training to be a hunter, but it would be very difficult, he warned. People would be opposed to me fighting without the Sight, and I would always have to prove myself to them, no matter how well I did. Or,” Rafe continued, “he said I could forget all about that and play baseball.”
“And what did you tell him?” I asked, sitting down on the step next to him.
“I told him I wanted to do both.” We laughed at that. “Dad was pretty happy with that response, actually. He always loved baseball, but because he was so obsessed with hunting, he never had a chance to play. But when I said I wanted to play, he made time to help me practice. And he came to all of my games, no matter what.”
“He was a good dad, wasn’t he?” I asked quietly. I wish I’d been able to meet both Liam and Rosa Fitzgerald. They’d raised an amazing son, and it was so unfair that they couldn’t see the young man he’d become.
“He was the best.” Rafe’s voice caught. “We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, and he was prone to bad moods in those final months, when he was running for the director position against Charles, but he was still…” He took a deep breath and I gripped his hand for support. “The best. They both were.”
Which was why I didn’t understand why someone would want to kill them just to prove a point. How freaking evil did you have to be to do something like that? “I’m sorry I made you relive all of this stuff tonight.”
“No, it’s okay,” Rafe said. “I should talk about them, shouldn’t I? So I don’t forget?”
“You’ll never forget. The good and the bad—it’s always with you.” I was speaking from experience. Mom was gone, but I’d never forget her, even on the days when I wanted to.
Rafe tapped his foot against the floor. “The truth is, I’ve been thinking about this ever since that day in the hospital. Even though I don’t want to. Even though I want to forget what you told me, I know I never will. But I can’t help but wonder: If I do find out who’s responsible, will I be able to move on?”
“Whatever you choose to do—pursue this or leave it alone—I’m with you, one hundred percent.” I leaned over so I could kiss him on his cheek, but paused when I saw an odd expression on his face. It was like he was struggling over whether to tell me something or not. My heart started racing. “Wait—do you know something?”
“It’s just a feeling—I could be wrong. Actually, I hope I’m wrong,” he added darkly.
I waited, my body tense with fear.
“There was this hunter. I haven’t seen him since I was a kid, but he hated me and my dad. The last time I ever saw him, he was arguing with Dad about something.” Rafe shook his head, looking frustrated. “I never found out what, just that Dad was accusing him of doing something and how he wouldn’t be able to get away with it. I didn’t ask Dad about it because I didn’t want him to know I’d been listening when I shouldn’t have been. Those days, even the smallest things set him off, and I didn’t want to piss him off. But now I’m wondering if I should have asked…”
I placed a hand on his knee, leaning closer. “Who was this other guy? This hunter?”
“His name is Collins,” Rafe said. “He’s not a nice guy, Gabi. He used to say stuff about me, and he tried to force Evan to become his apprentice, even when Evan said no. Dad told me to stay away from him, and all these years later, I still want to listen to him.”
This Collins sounded terrifying. “Do you think he could summon a demon and send it after you and your parents?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I really don’t know, but I can’t stop thinking about the last time I saw him, and how mad Dad had been. What if Dad discovered something, and Collins used the demon to shut him up, all the while pretending it’d been a test for me?”
My mouth dropped open. “God, Rafe, do you think that’s possible?” I frowned as something occurred to me. “But I thought a person who summons a demon is marked somehow? That’s how you find sorcerers who’ve summoned one before, right? Wouldn’t Collins have that mark, that stain on him?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Rafe said. “I can’t See the mark, but others would have been able to.”
“Could he hide it?”
Rafe and I exchanged a look, and I could see the fear in his eyes. “If he can do that, Gabi, then I’m scared to find out what else he can do.”
I pressed my body closer to Rafe’s, shivering a little. The thought of someone that strong and evil frightened me. “We should tell the others. Tomorrow. We’ll invite everyone here.” I tapped him on his knee. “I don’t mean just Phil and Kain, you know.”
Rafe stiffened. “But—”
“No buts,” I interrupted. “I can’t believe you’ve been ignoring Alex all this time! And when are you going to make up with Evan?”
“I’d rather kiss a demon,” Rafe said flatly.
I gave him a look. “That can be arranged,
Mr. Pessimistic, especially if you continue to be so stubborn!”
“Gabi, he—”
“I know what he did,” I interrupted. “I was there, remember? But I’ve already forgiven him. Why can’t you?”
He set his jaw stubbornly. “You know why. Tomorrow is going to be a giant waste of time if you invite Evan over.”
“We’ll see about that.” I stared him down. I could be just as stubborn as my boyfriend. I knew I was right. Something would happen tomorrow.
Hopefully it wouldn’t involve Rafe murdering Evan the moment the blond stepped foot inside my house.
Chapter Five
An hour later I was curled up in bed, flipping through one of Chloe’s fashion magazines, when I heard Dad’s car pull up into the driveway. Rafe had left shortly after agreeing to see Alex and Evan, even though I’d been sorely tempted to ask him to stay until Dad showed up. After being kidnapped, I didn’t enjoy being home alone, and now that I’d found out about Collins, I was really jumping at every little noise.
But Rafe had looked exhausted, so I let him go. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and we all needed as much rest as we could get. Despite what Rafe said, I knew he missed Evan. You can’t grow up with someone, share everything with that person and then bam, one day part ways without even saying goodbye. Not when you felt emotions as strongly as Rafe did. He could pretend he didn’t care, which is what he’d been doing for the past two months, but he wasn’t fooling me. I knew Rafe. I knew how much he wanted to see his best friend again.
I listened to Dad climb the stairs and called out a greeting as he paused in my doorway.
“Hey, sweetheart. How was work?” he asked.
“It sucked,” I said without skipping a beat. “But I went out to eat with Rafe, Phil, and Kain, so at least the entire night wasn’t ruined.”
“Phil and Kain came to visit again?” Dad had met the two shortly after the disaster in New York City. As far as he knew, they were old friends of Rafe’s from when Rafe used to live in the city. Dad liked them, and, bizarrely, Kain and my dad got along. Like, really got along. They watched football together, and there was even one time when they went bowling with Dad’s friends from the lodge. And Philip and I stayed home, watching TV. Wasn’t that weird? It was weird to me, but I seemed to be the only one who thought it was, so I shut up and let them have their male bonding time. I still thought my boyfriend should be the one going bowling with Dad (okay, no, that would be strange, too), but what did I know?
“Yep, they’re here. Guess Manhattan is too boring compared to upstate New York,” I cracked weakly, hugging one of my pillows to my chest. I hated lying to Dad, but what was I supposed to say? “Oh, they’re here to make sure no one tries to kill me because of this strange power that’s inside of me, and they’re also keeping an eye on my still-recovering boyfriend?”
Dad knew Rafe had been injured, though. Things had been so crazy after I’d been kidnapped, and I still don’t know how we managed to pull off the lie of the century. It helped that Evan had used manipulation magic on Dad and Chloe to make them think I was stuck home with a cold while they visited Vermont without me. At least then I hadn’t had to come up with a cover story explaining my sudden absence. I’d spent a few days in the hospital, completely drained after healing Alexandra and refusing to leave Rafe’s side, but the doctors took forever to release him, so eventually I’d had to head back home without him. Not alone, though. Philip and Kain had come with me, spending the nights in my house until Dad and Chloe returned after New Year’s. Dad had been pretty shocked to find me with not one but two guys, and strangers at that, but Kain had smoothed things over with a little bit of subtle magic. That was something he still felt guilty about, especially now that he’d grown close with Dad, but we didn’t have any other choice. Then again, once we’d told Dad Rafe had been involved in a car accident, any reservations he’d been feeling had flown out the window. Lying sucked, but we had to tell him something to explain Rafe’s injuries.
“And how’s Rafe doing?” Dad asked, stepping into my room. He sat down on the edge of my bed, my mattress sinking under his weight. I put aside my magazine and crawled over so I could sit next to him. “Is he feeling better?”
Even though Dad was super overprotective of me, he still had a soft spot for Rafe. I think it was partly due to the fact that Rafe was an orphan, and partly because he saw how happy I was with Rafe. Dad knew Rafe treated me right, which to him was the most important thing a guy dating one of his daughters could do.
Well, that and keeping his hands to himself, I thought dryly. God forbid we gave Dad a reason to pull out those kitchen knives, right?
“He’s…coping,” I said in response to Dad’s question. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Can I have everyone over tomorrow?”
“And who is everyone?”
“Rafe,” I said. “Obviously. Phil and Kain. And then Evan and this other girl… You haven’t met her yet.” And neither had I, not officially, anyway, but I kept that to myself. “She used to be Evan’s girlfriend, but they’ve been having problems.” Problems. As if it were something simple, instead of, you know, Evan betraying me and Rafe to bring Alexandra out of her coma. “I was hoping if the six of us got together, we could work through some of our issues.” And try not to bring the house down in the process. I winced, thinking about how each individual I was inviting had a problem with someone else in the group. Alexandra blamed Philip for the death of her brother, Evan and Kain couldn’t stand one another, and the last time Rafe had seen Evan, he’d promised to kill him. Tomorrow is either going to be a horrible mess or a dangerous disaster. Should be fun!
Dad hesitated, and for a moment I feared he was going to say no. “I’m going to the office tomorrow to catch up on some work, and normally I’d say no, but…” His eyes searched my face, and I wondered what he was looking for. “Next month you’re going to be seventeen, nearly an adult, and I guess it’s time I started treating you like one.” Dad leaned forward, his brows narrowing slightly. “I won’t come home from the office and find a booze-filled party and orgy going on, right, Gabi?”
“Just an orgy,” I quipped, grinning when he made a face. “Come on, Dad, you know us. You can trust me.”
Serious, he said, “I do trust you. You’ve always been good. Your sister, on the other hand…” Dad spread his hands helplessly. “She has gotten better, though.”
“I know. It sucks. When she was bad, I could get away with a lot more.”
“Gabi.”
Laughing, I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Thanks, Dad. What you said means a lot to me. Sorry if I don’t always show it.”
“You’re welcome.” Dad patted me on the shoulder before standing up. “I hope this helps Rafe. He’s a good kid, and I hate to see him sad.”
“You and me both,” I murmured. “You and me both…”
***
I waited until Dad retired to his bedroom before reaching for my phone. After typing out a text, I paused, my finger hovering over the send button. I frowned. This wasn’t the sort of message someone should casually send via text. Screwing up my courage—although I didn’t know what, exactly, I was so nervous about—I deleted the text and hit the call button instead.
Half a ring later, Evan picked up. “What’s the matter? Did something happen to Rafe?”
I was taken aback by the frantic tone of his voice. “What? No! Why—”
“Why would I think that? Oh, maybe because I haven’t heard from either of you in two months.”
“Excuse me,” I snapped. “You’re the one who’s been avoiding us!”
“No I haven’t! I just figured Rafe needed some time to cool down, and I was giving him his space until he came around.”
Came around? I resisted the urge to smack myself in the forehead. Two seconds into this conversation and I suddenly remembered why talking to Evan was always such a chore. “Okay, first of all, that’s called avoiding him. Second of all, what about me
? I told you I forgave you for the crap you pulled, but you’re not talking to me, either!”
“Yeaaaaaah.” Evan extended the word, making it seven syllables long. “The thing is, I was afraid to call you. What if Rafe was with you and saw my name come up on your screen?”
I stretched out in bed, trying to find a more comfortable position as I readjusted my pillows. “And what, you were afraid he was going to jump into my phone and magically transport to wherever you were and kill you? God, Evan! I never knew you were such a coward!”
Silence. I knew he was still there because I could hear him breathing, but when he didn’t answer, I realized I’d hurt his feelings. “Look—”
“You’re right,” Evan said. “I am a coward, all right? I screwed everything up with everyone, and now I won’t even try to fix things because I don’t know what I’ll do if they tell me to go to hell.”
“Really?” I wished I could see him in person so I could shoot him a fierce scowl. Or punch him. Maybe both. He deserved both! “Since when do you give up that easily, Evan? You risked everything to bring Alex back, and now you’re going to curl up into a ball and die?” Holy crap, what the hell was wrong with everyone?
Over the line I heard a car honking, and I wondered where Evan was. Had he gone back to Manhattan? Hell, he could be in California with his parents for all I knew. I doubted that, though. There was no way he’d put an entire country between him and Alexandra, even if she wasn’t speaking to him at the moment.
When Evan spoke again, his voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear him. “I don’t know what to do.”
He sounded so pathetic, so heartbroken, that I felt a sharp ache of pity deep in my chest. Gripping my phone tighter, I asked, “Are you still in New York? The state, I mean, not the city.”
Evan laughed bitterly. “Yeah, still here. Don’t know why, since I’ve managed to piss off everyone in the state.”
“Can you make it to my house tomorrow?”
“Why?” he asked warily.
“Because I’m having everyone over so we can talk.” I paused, wondering if I should tell him about Rafe now or wait for him to see him in person tomorrow. Then I remembered how panicked he’d sounded at the beginning of the call, when he thought something had happened to Rafe. Evan deserved to know the truth. “The thing is, Rafe hasn’t been himself since that day. He’s still in pain from Nina’s spell, and—oh crap. You don’t know about the thing with his parents, do you?”
The Shadow Stealer Page 3