The Soul Healer (33 page)

“Oh, god,” I said. “He’s not your servant, Phil. Although maybe you fantasize about that sort of thing.”

He blushed and quickly shoved his phone back into his pocket. “I don’t!”

“It must have been nice, having him come to your rescue like he did.” I didn’t think it was possible, but Philip turned even redder. I decided to be nice. “He kept asking about you, you know. Was all worried and stuff.”

“You don’t have to make stuff up to make me feel better,” Philip mumbled, avoiding my eye in the reflection on the doors.

I turned my head to the left, staring up at him. “I’m not making anything up! He really was worried. And before, in my room, he wanted to know—”

“Just stop, all right?” Philip cut me off, surprising me by using a sharp tone. I knew at once I had taken things too far. “I don’t have a chance with him, and you telling me this stuff isn’t going to make a difference.” He exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped, not after everything you’ve been through. I’m just tired of getting my hopes up.”

I wanted to tell him he
could
get his hopes up, that Kain had been asking about him because he seemed to be interested, but—what if I was wrong? What if he was only interested as a friend? I couldn’t break Philip’s heart like that. “I’m sorry.”

Philip placed a hand on my shoulder, keeping it there as the doors opened to Rafe’s floor and he wheeled me out. He didn’t say anything, but I knew that was his way of saying he forgave me.

The sterile white hallway was empty save for one familiar blonde leaning against the wall, and an unfamiliar, tiny, black-haired girl standing in front of him.
Alexandra
, I thought, suddenly nervous. Philip froze, and we stood there awkwardly, watching the scene play out before us.

Evan was saying something to Alexandra; I couldn’t make out the words, but I could clearly hear the
begging tone in his voice. He reached out to touch Alexandra and she snatched her arm away.

“
No
, Evan,” she snapped. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to pretend everything is okay after what you did to Rafe. I can’t—I can’t do this right now.” Alexandra turned, ignoring Evan’s pleas to stay, and quickly walked down the hall, passing by without acknowledging us.

Philip muttered, “Should we go back in the elevator, try again later when Evan isn’t around?” But Evan had already spotted us. Walking slowly over to us, he smiled. It didn’t quite reach his tired, sad eyes, and I felt a surge of pity for him. I reached out my hand and Evan enveloped it in his before pulling me forward, so that I practically fell out of the wheelchair and into his arms.

“Evan—” He squeezed tightly, burying his face in my (awful white) hair.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” I couldn’t see his face, but his voice sounded funny. It took me a moment to realize he was choking back tears.

That’s when I forgave him for everything. Telling Charles about me, manipulating my family, hurting Rafe, hurling me into a wall… It was awful, but I knew why he did it.

“She’ll come around,” I said, patting him awkwardly on the back. He stiffened at my words
, but I kept talking. “Once she realizes you did what you did because you love her, she’ll understand.”

He pulled away slightly, so I could see his red-rimmed eyes. “She’ll never understand. I don’t even understand what I was thinking. And because of me—” His voice cracked. “Because of me, Rafe—”

“Rafe will be fine,” I said firmly. Forget the fact that I hadn’t even seen him for myself. I knew, deep down, that what I said was true. “Besides, he said he was going to kill you for tossing me into that wall, remember? He’s definitely going to fulfill that promise.”

Evan laughed. It came out low and throaty, and he sniffled, brushing tears from his cheeks. “You’re right. He owes me a bunch of ass-
kickings for all the stupid shit I’ve done.”

“The first thing he’s going to do when he wakes up is ask where you are,” I said, “so he can destroy you.”

“And I won’t even complain or try to get away.” He smirked at my skeptical look. “Okay, I will. Your boyfriend is seriously scary sometimes, Gabi.”

I looked at the closed door to his room, wishing I could see through it, to his sleeping form in bed. “He’s just tired of bad things happening to the people he cares about.” I swallowed, thinking of Charles’s Silver Moon bombshell. What
would
Rafe do after I told him? Would I be able to convince him not to go rushing into HQ, swinging his sword at whoever crossed his path? Even if I
did
break the news gently, like I promised Charles, I still didn’t think it would be enough to calm Rafe’s fury.

But I couldn’t
not
tell him, either. That would be even worse. If I was in his position, I would want to know. I owed Rafe the truth. I just didn’t want to lose him because of it.

“Do you want to see him now?” Evan asked quietly. Philip had wandered away, staring at his phone again, to give us some privacy. I looked from him to Evan to the door that hid Rafe and nodded.

“Yeah, let’s go.” I took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”

***

I was totally not ready for the sight of my boyfriend lying in a huge hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines and IVs and looking completely different from the person who had chopped off a demon’s head and swept me into his arms just one day ago. I wasn’t used to seeing Rafe looking so
weak
. It reminded me of when Boneless had stabbed him and I had nearly lost him, and by the time Evan had positioned my wheelchair next to the bed, I was full out sobbing.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Evan murmured, crouching on the floor next to me. “Gabi, sweetheart—”

“I’m okay,” I said, gasping between my sobs.

He raised his pale eyebrows. “Really? Because you don’t look okay.”

“I just don’t like seeing him like this.” I gestured toward Rafe and the machines. “It’s horrible. Why does he need all those wires hooked up to his body? You guys said he was fine!”

“We stopped the spell inside of him, but he was still stabbed,” Evan explained, also looking at the machines. “The doctors had to stitch him up, though, and a wound like that takes time to heal.” His gaze slid to my hands, but he didn’t say anything. I knew what he meant, though. Holding my breath, I held them over Rafe’s body.

Nothing happened.

“Guess I can’t hurry the process along,”
I grumbled. “I’m so useless!”

“You are not! You brought Rafe back once already. And Alex. And me.” Evan grabbed my hands and brought them to his chest so I could feel his heart beating through his t-shirt. “You’ve done so much, sacrificed so much for us. I’ll never be able to repay you, but I’m sure as hell going to try.”

“Just promise me…” I trailed off.

He inclined his head, waiting.

“That you won’t give up on Alexandra,” I said. “No matter what she says or does. Even if she tells you to go jump into traffic—don’t give up on her.”

Evan smiled. “Sweetheart, if you think I’m going to give up that easily, then you don’t know me at all. I’m a very persistent guy.”

“I think you mean annoying.”

He playfully swatted me on the shoulder. “Impossible! I’m too awesome to be annoying!”

“I don’t get why you and Kain hate each other so much,” I said. “You’re completely alike. Have you ever realized that?” I watched as his bemused expression changed to one of horror. “Okay, guess not.”

“Bite your tongue!” Evan said, jumping to his feet. “Don’t ever, ever,
ever
compare me to Sir I’ve Got Something Stuck Up My Bum again! I’ll never speak to you!”

“Is that a promise?”

Evan stuck his tongue out. “I’m leaving. Have fun with your sleeping boyfriend.”

I watched him go, then turned back to Rafe, the smile slipping from my face. “Oh, Rafe,” I said, reaching for his hand. It was cold, shocking me. Rafe was
never
cold. I felt the tears coming again, and I made no effort to stop them.

After I had cried myself to the point of exhaustion, I started speaking. Even though I had told him almost everything that had happened after I had been kidnapped, I started over from the beginning, to how excited I had been for our Christmas date. I described my fears after our fight, and how Evan had screwed things up before I could get a chance to apologize. I told him how afraid I had been at HQ, but how lucky I was to meet Philip and Kain. I even mentioned the chocolate cake Evan had bought for me. Any interaction with Nina I omitted, but I did tell him about seeing the autopsy room. He’d probably be horrified if he were awake, hearing about his girlfriend observing a bunch of headless demons. And I would have laughed and poked him, and asked how it was any different from seeing him chop their heads off.

“And getting splashed with green blood,” I said softly. “You know, I didn’t have to worry about ruining any of my clothes this week since they weren’t mine. Isn’t that weird? Of course then you walked in and the first thing you did was spray me with monster blood. Why do you do that, Rafe? Do you enjoy destroying my outfits?”

I waited for him to respond, maybe twitch a finger or flutter his
unfairly long eyelashes, but there was nothing. No reaction. My heart plummeted as I stared at him, watching his chest rise and fall evenly. I would give anything at that moment for him to pull me out of the chair and embrace me in his strong arms. We would kiss and talk and laugh and kiss some more and—

I would stop crying.
God!
“You’re making me cry, Rafe. You’re not allowed to do that. You’re supposed to be the one who comforts me when I’m sad, the one who stops my tears. I know they said you’re fine and you’re going to wake up soon, but I want you to wake up
now
. I need to see you now.

“There’s so much I have to tell you,” I continued. “About what happened after you were stabbed. About Kain probably liking Phil and Phil being stupid ab
out it and refusing to notice. About Alexandra hating Evan—I’ve never seen the two of them together, but I picture their love as something epic, you know? So I can’t even imagine that they won’t be together now that she’s awake. Maybe you could talk to her? You were close—wait, didn’t Evan say you had a crush on her? Am I going to have to worry about this?”

I
cupped his hand between both of mine as I kissed his fingertips. “And there’s other stuff too, Rafe. Darker stuff. About your parents.” My voice faltered, and I took a moment to collect myself. Even with him unconscious, it was still hard to say. “I think Davenport was right, that night. I think Silver Moon killed your parents.”

At that moment, the fingers on the hand I held twitched. I gasped, staring down at them, willing them to move again. When they didn’t, I let out a sigh of disappointment and glanced at his face.

My heart stopped.

His eyes were open.

And they were blazing with fury.

“Rafe!”

Acknowledgments

I’ve written sequels before, but they weren’t very good and no one will ever be allowed to read them. The Soul Healer, also a sequel, scared me, because this one was actually going to be read by people. So I need to say “Thank you!” to everyone who put up with me in the summer of 2013, dealing with my mood swings that ranged from depressed to elated and everything in between. Being a writer isn’t always easy, and I appreciate the fact that no one gave up on me that summer.

Special mentions to:
 

The four ladies who work so hard to turn my stories into books: Brittany Booker, SJ Davis, Rue Volley, and Elizabeth Lance.

Dad, for making all of your coworkers buy The Sight Seer and An Autumn Dream. Now you have a new book to sell! Mom, for promoting me to everyone you know. You guys are the best, and I’m so lucky to have you as my parents. Also, to my family, for always telling me how proud they are.

Amy, for all the advice, tips, and encouragement. You made my day when you said you might possibly like this one more than The Sight Seer. But we both know that’s because of a certain dark-haired hunter, right?

Don, for letting that same certain dark-haired hunter borrow one of your highly amusing phrases. See, I told you I’d mention you in the acknowledgements!

Molly, for giving me my first ever keyboard smash review. I can’t wait for the fall, when we’ll be able to spend our days doing bookish things together!

Sam, for being Rafe’s biggest fan. I love that you love him, and how you always work so tirelessly to share that love across the internet.

To all of my wonderful friends who always take the time to read, review, and promote my books. Thank you for spreading the word about the Silver Moon Saga! Also, everyone at the Booker-Albert Agency and Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly, for always eagerly sharing my posts and answering my questions.

And to everyone who decided to read my books on a whim, you are amazing.