The Soul Healer (28 page)

“And then Kain showed up with that stuff about Soul Healers dying if they used their powers too much,” Nina continued. “And you were all in such a tizzy that you didn’t even bother doing any further research.”

“Because I didn’t want to die,” I said hotly. “Did you actually expect me to sit around and wait like a good little girl? Give myself up for the greater cause?” This time I was the one to laugh sarcastically.

“You were going to believe
what you read from
one
single book? Take that as the absolute truth and leave it at that? How stupid can you be?” She gave me a pitying look and I scowled in response.
This girl needs to stop calling me dumb or I swear I’m going to snap.

“You found something else, didn’t you?” Rafe asked quietly. “About Soul Healers?”

Nina nodded. “Yeah, I did. Gabi took a nap, so I went to the library and found some interesting things. A quick call to my brother confirmed it…” She tilted her head, giving me a mocking smile. “You want to know why Soul Healers are always dying? It’s not because they’re overexerting themselves. It’s because they’re evil demon spawn that need to be terminated immediately.”

Chapter Forty-three

I felt the floor drop out from under me. If I hadn’t grabbed onto Rafe’s arm, I would have fallen over because my shaky legs suddenly couldn’t support me. Out of everything she could have said, I never in a million years expected those words to come out of her mouth. Rafe shook his head and spat, “You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Nina raised her eyebrows innocently. “Do you really want to risk that, Rafe? Have you forgotten the edict already? You haven’t been gone from Silver Moon that long.”

She paused and shot me a very pointed look. “Humans who possess demon blood must be put to death. No exceptions.”

“Screw the edict,” Rafe snarled. “I don’t care what books you read or what your brother told you—she’s a human, not a demon. I don’t care who you are, Nina, and how we used to be friends. If you threaten my girlfriend, you deal with
me
.” Scary Rafe was back, but this time, I didn’t mind one bit. Her words had shaken me to my core, and a little voice whispered,
What if, somehow, she’s right?
I mean, it was unbelievable (last time I checked, my parents were humans!), but it would explain so much about my weird, unnatural powers.

“She’s a demon,” Nina hissed. “Humans don’t heal, not without demon blood running through their veins! You k
now this, Rafe! Don’t be a fool! You already let one demon escape; don’t let this one go, too!”

I knew, at that moment, that I would lose Rafe to the rage. His green eyes were burning with fury as he threw himself at Nina, swinging his sword. She lifted her hand and a pink laser beam shot
toward him. I screamed his name, reaching for him.

The beam stopped, inches from piercing his chest, and vanished with a silent pop.

“What the hell is going on?” Evan, dressed in a long gray winter coat, walked up to us, taking in the scene with bugged-out eyes. I had been so involved with what Nina had been saying that I hadn’t even noticed him enter the lobby. “Why is everyone trying to kill one another?”

Nina pointed
at me. “She’s a demon!”

His mouth opened slightly
. “Okay, when did you start taking crazy pills?” Nina made a noise of frustration and Evan held up his hands. “Just listen to yourself. That’s Gabi! Our Gabi! She’s a human. Sure, she has the Sight and her hands glow in the dark, but she’s still a human.” Evan paused and lifted his brows. “Oh hey, Rafe. Long time no see.” Rafe let out a string of curses in response. “Oookay, guess you don’t want to thank me right now for saving your ass. That’s fine, you can thank me later.”

“Stop talking!” Rafe barked.

Nina grabbed at her hair and tugged. “Are you listening to yourselves? You’re hunters! You swore oaths to Silver Moon, and now you’re going to allow an evil spirit to exist amongst us? You’re a disgrace, both of you!” She summoned her pink magic again, and both boys went into battle stances. “If you won’t kill her, then I will.”

“I’m going to speak for both of us—even though Rafe clearly has an issue with me right now—and say, yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Evan said. “Besides the fact that I need her to bring back my girl, Gabi is my f
riend, and no psychopathic pink-haired nut job is going to hurt her.”

“Then,” Nina said, now holding the pink light in both hands as she
lifted her arms, “I guess you’ll die, too.”

Both boys launched themselves at Nina simultaneously. They moved as one, their years of training together as best friends very obvious despite the fact that after he finished with Nina, Rafe’s next target would be Evan. I was glad they could put aside their differences of the moment to work together, and hoped it would be enough to take down Nina.

I had never seen her fight, so I didn’t know what she was capable of. As Rafe swung his sword and Evan summoned one of his flaming blue fireballs, she twisted, slamming her hands into the floor. The entire building shook as the floor cracked loudly, and both hunters had to duck and roll as pieces of the marble flooring shot up as giant, sharp spikes. I stumbled and lost my balance, and Nina saw her chance, bringing up the flooring behind me. I teetered in slow motion, my arms flailing as I tried to stay upright and avoid being impaled.

“No!” Rafe shouted, reaching for me.

But it was Evan who came to my rescue, hitting me with a blast of wind that sent me flying across the room. I crashed into the wall, hitting my head hard, and slumped to the floor, momentarily dazed. I could hear Rafe shouting my name, and I shook my head a few times, trying in vain to clear it. The lobby danced around dizzily and I shut my eyes, fighting the urge to retch.

Hands gripped my shoulders, and I stiffened, wondering if it was Nina, come to kill me. But when I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, I saw a familiar pair of green eyes staring at me worriedly. “I am going to
kill
him,” Rafe growled, helping me to my feet and securing a strong arm around my waist as I wobbled drunkenly.

“Crashing into a wall is better than being turned into a shish kebab,” I said, laughing slightly, even though it wasn’t funny at all. The only reason I was laughing was to prevent myself from crying, which was
what I felt like doing at the moment.

In front of us, Evan and Nina fought, throwing spells at one another like a magical duel. The lobby flashed blue and pink, and I shut my eyes again, my head throbbing.

Rafe planted a quick kiss on my forehead. “Do you think you can walk? We’re getting out of here.”

Even with a muddled brain I could still tell something was wron
g with that statement. “You’re…going to leave Evan?” I opened my eyes to see Rafe watching the battle, his expression pained. But when he glanced down at me, I could see he had already made up his mind about leaving Evan.

“He owes me,” was all Rafe said. I opened my mouth to protest, but he started moving, and I was forced to follow, my limbs heavy and slow. Rafe ended up more or less carrying me as we inched along the wall,
toward the exit. I kept my eyes on Evan, wincing when Nina burned his arm with one of those pink laser beams. I tried to tell Rafe to stop, but my head was so fuzzy that I had trouble coming up with the words.

Concussion
, I thought.
I probably have a concussion.

“Still with me?” Rafe asked, shaking me slightly. “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep, Gabi. You hear me?” His grip tightened and I tried to nod, but I’m not sure if my head moved. “Gabi!”

“Here, I’m here,” I told him. “But you should stay. Evan needs you.”

“He’s fine—” At that exact moment, Evan let out a loud yelp as Nina burned him again. He fell to his knees, hugging his abdomen. Nina loomed over him, brandishing a cruel-looking curved dagger. She raised it over her head and Rafe released me, cursing as he crossed the room in two strides, throwing himself at Nina and knocking her away from Evan. Her dagger went flying across the room, and I knew I should go after it to prevent her from using it, but the moment Rafe let go of me, I sunk to my knees and couldn’t move. The world needed to stop spinning first.

“Woohoo, Rafe saved me,” Evan said, struggling to his feet. “I knew he still cared!”

“Don’t make me regret it!” Rafe shouted from the other side of the room, where he was wrestling with Nina on the floor.

Evan smiled fiercely. “Just hold her nice and tight and I’ll finish this thing—” He cursed as Nina sent more magic flying toward him, narrowly missing his head. “I told you to hold her! What part of ‘nice and tight’ don’t you understand?”

“I’m a little busy!” Rafe let out an oomph as Nina elbowed him hard in the stomach.

“Oh, come on!” Evan said. “You’re going to let Little Miss Pinkie defeat you? What have you been doing since I last saw you? Sitting on the couch all depressed and pigging out on junk food while you watched Desperate Housewives?

“Shut up!” Rafe said as he threw a punch at Nina. It connected with her shoulder and a loud crack echoed throughout the lobby. Paling, she backed away, holding her shoulder with one arm as she glared at Rafe.

Evan started laughing. “Even from here I can see the blush on your face. Can you believe him, Gabi?” When I didn’t answer, he glanced at me and cursed. “Sweetheart? Rafe, your girl doesn’t look too good—”

Time slowed down, and despite my dizziness, I saw everything that happened next clearly. Rafe, alerted by Evan’s warning, stopped battling Nina to come to my aid. Nina, with her left arm dangling uselessly at her sid
e, flashed a smile of triumph as she lifted her good arm and aimed a pink spell at Rafe. Evan shouted a warning and Rafe turned, but it was too late. The light pierced his side and he stumbled backwards, clutching the wound as he gasped in pain.

Without warning, time sped up, and I was on my feet and rushing to his side before I even realized it. A familiar buzzing sounded in my ears, and I knew without looking that my hands were glowing silver.

Concussion or not, my body was determined to heal Rafe.

Evan had hurled himself at Nina, and the two were
sparring with magic again, their sparks of light burning spots into my vision like the flash from a camera. I ignored them as I calmly walked over to my boyfriend and knelt by his side, extending my hands over the wound. I closed my eyes, knowing exactly what I had to do—

Hands grabbed me from behind, yanking me away from Rafe. I screamed as our connection was broken and my hands continued to glow with magic that now had no place to go. It felt like a knife slashing across my stomach, and the farther I was pulled away, the more it hurt. My entire body was on fire as I struggled with my assailant. I had to heal Rafe, I
had
to. It was a physical need that threatened to overtake me, and if I didn’t expend the magic, Rafe wouldn’t be the only one to die today.

But I couldn’t fight back. Between the crippling agony and my concussion, I was a deadweight in my captor’s hands. He or she dragged me to the elevator and tossed me inside the already open doors. I crashed into the wall and slid to the floor, sobbing in pain as I struggled to lift my head. I needed to know who would do such a thing—who would sentence Rafe to die.

“You,” I croaked.

Mrs. Chen punched the button for
the eighth floor, refusing to meet my eye. In the lobby, I saw Evan screaming my name as he raced after us, but Nina jumped in front of him, blocking the way. As the doors slid shut, I zeroed in on Rafe, his crumpled form motionless and broken.

My hands, still glowing, lifted on their own, and I let out a pathetic moan as the doors closed, sealing his fate.

Mrs. Chen kept her back to me as the elevator began its ascent. I was shaking, my body both hot and cold, but I managed to whisper, “
Please.
” Didn’t she see what she was doing? Rafe needed me, and I
needed
to heal him. Denying the magic inside of me was ripping me apart from the inside out. Every piece of me hurt, from my limbs to the individual hairs on my head.

I knew where she was taking me, but I wasn’t certain I would make the journey. My vision was fading, my heartbeat slowing…

In the distance, I heard the elevators doors chime again, and I was dragged across the floor. Every little bump and jostle was like a dagger in my skin. I screamed in agony a few times, but eventually I lost even the strength to do that.

Minutes or hours passed, I had no idea. It was like my life was flashing before me—one moment I was in the elevator, the next I opened my heavy lids to see Alexandra i
n bed. Behind me, voices argued. I thought it was Mr. and Mrs. Chen, but their voices were low buzzes, impossible to make out. I felt someone grab my hands and thrust them on top of Alexandra’s shoulders. The power inside of me latched on, flowing out as it worked to fix her numerous wounds. The silver light intensified, blinding me, and I felt myself slipping, slipping away…

Chapter Forty-four

Philip

I
sat cross-legged on my bed, watching Scott wander around my room, touching everything and making stupid comments that only he thought were hilarious. He needed to shut up because I was about two seconds away from sliding off the bed, picking up one of my weights, and chucking it at his ugly face. Imagining the sound the metal would make bouncing off Scott’s clearly hollow head made me smirk, and my fingers itched for the familiar feel of the weights.