The Soul Healer (6 page)

He pursed his lips together in discontent. “You really won’t tell me? You won’t admit to healing not only Evan, but Rafe, too?”

I aimed my glare toward Evan. The blonde shrugged in response. God, I couldn’t believe he had told the director of Silver Moon all of my dirty secrets. Did he know I possessed the Sight, too? Probably, since Evan obviously had a
freaking
big mouth
. My eyes still on Evan, I said, “I’m not telling you anything, Mister Director.”

“That’s a shame,” he said quietly
, turning to Jonathan, his movements too quick for me to catch. At first, I thought Charles had punched the other hunter in the gut for some reason, but when Charles moved away, I saw a knife protruding from Jonathan’s stomach. Jonathan let out a strangled gasp and took a few, stumbling steps backwards. My mouth dropped open. Wait,
what
was going on? I thought he said Jonathan was a hunter? As in, you know, his
ally
? Didn’t they work together to stab demons, and not each other?

Jonathan dropped to his knees,
his hands around the hilt of the knife. He looked up at Charles, the agony apparent on his face. “Sir?”

“Sorry, Jonathan, but I needed to see if Evan was telling the truth.” Charles nodded
to me. “Heal him, Gabiella.”

“You are batshit crazy!” I cried, crouching in front of Jonathan and waving my hands in the air frantically. Did I take the knife out, or leave it in? What the hell, I wasn’t a nurse, how was
I supposed to know what to do?

“No, I’m not crazy,” Charles said.

“You stab your own associates for the fun of it, then?” I leaned forward and applied pressure to the area around the wound, Jonathan’s hot, sticky blood staining my fingers. He groaned and pulled away from my grasp, glaring at me. Oops, guess I wasn’t helping.

“I want to see you in action.”

Tears sprung to my eyes and I whirled on him. “It doesn’t work like that!”

“Then I guess Jonathan will die.” He didn’t even look
sorry
when he said that. What kind of monster was he!

I let out a scream of frustration, watching as Jonathan paled, his blood dripping onto the concrete floor. I didn’t know him, and he had acted like a jerk to me, but I couldn’t just sit around and watch him
die
. I squeezed my hands into fists, willing my powers to work, to heal him.

Come on, come on!

Nothing happened.

Evan stepped forward. “Sir, he’s—”

“Stay out of this, Evan.”

“But he’s going to die!” Evan exploded, rushing forward and shoving me aside. He pulled out a small bottle from his pocket and I recognized it as the same stuff I had used to heal the deep scratch Fishface had given Rafe. It had worked on Rafe’s arm, but would it heal a much deeper knife wound?

“Evan, I told you—”

“I can’t do it!” I snapped, jumping to my feet and shoving a bloodstained finger in Charles’ face. “I can’t heal him, all right? I may have healed Rafe and Evan when they were dying, but this isn’t the same!”

His face practically glowed with excitement as he asked, “What’s not the same?”

Belatedly, I realized I had just admitted to healing before.
You are such a moron, Gabi!
Closing my mouth, I shook my head a few times.

To my surprise, Charles began laughing. “I knew it. You have the power… Such a rare power… A Soul Healer.” He put his hands on my shoulders, clamping down hard so I couldn’t squirm away. “I never thought I’d live to see one.”

And still I had no idea what a Soul Healer was. “I don’t care what you think I am, but I’m not helping you or Silver Moon or doing whatever it is you think I’m going to do for you.”

“Oh, I think you will,” he said, still smiling. It was a super creepy smile, too, promising me I wasn’t going to like whatever it was he was about to say. “Unless you want something to happen to your father or sister…”

I went cold all over, like I was outside in the blizzard again. He knew about my family, too? Was there anything he didn’t know?

“You c-can’t,” I sputtered. “Leave them alone—”

“I will, if you promise to cooperate. If not…” Charles let his threat hang in the air between us. I glanced again at Jonathan, pale and sprawled across the floor. If Charles had no problem stabbing him, a loyal hunter, then what would stop him from hurting my family?

I thought of Chloe being lured away by Davenport, and how scared I had been, thinking I was going to lose her forever. Now I pictured Charles entering my house, killing both her and Dad while they slept.

Because of me.

“What do you want me to do?” I whispered, shaking. I met his gaze, then quickly looked away, a
fraid of the blaze of triumph that flashed across his face.

“We’re going back to Headquarters, where we will figure out this gift of yours,” he said.

“But my family—” I swallowed hard. “They’ll know I’m missing!”

“Not if Evan works a little magic on them.”

My stomach clenched. They had this all worked out, didn’t they? Evan would brainwash my family, and Charles would take his shiny new gift back home with him. And Rafe—

Rafe wouldn’t even come looking for me, because of the stupid things I had said. For all he knew, I was getting in the car tomorrow and spending the next week in Vermont. Evan wouldn’t even have to waste his magic manipulating him, because he wouldn’t even miss me.

You stupid idiot,
I thought fiercely.
Thought you were so brave, telling Rafe you didn’t need him. And look where that got you!

In a gigantic hole, with no way out.

Chapter Nine

“How can I even trust you?” I demanded of Charles. “You say you won’t hurt them, but how do I know that’s true?” I mean, this guy was obviously psychotic. I could definitely see him hurting people just for the fun of it.

“I have no interest in your family, Gabiella, only you,” Charles said. “As long as they’re alive, I know I can keep you in line. But if you decide to rebel against me, then I will harm them.”

I gritted my teeth. So, what, this guy was going to keep me in Silver Moon’s HQ for the rest of my life? Was he going to dissect me, pick at my brain, try to figure out what made me tick? Or, more accurately, what made my hands glow and heal?

And what if he found nothing? Would he kill my family in retaliation?

This can’t be it for me
, I thought frantically, my gaze sliding toward Evan, who still crouched next to Jonathan, his back to me. Any moment now, Evan would realize what he had done and fix this. He would beat the crap out of Charles and whisk me away—

And then what? Silver Moon knew about me. They knew about my family, too. I wasn’t safe anymore.

How ironic. The one who warned me about Silver Moon was the one to betray me in the end. Why?

“Her parents are moving her back to Manhattan.”

“Since when?”

“This week. A few days ago. I don’t remember. Does it matter? I screwed up, man. Now she’s gone, gone, gone.”

I froze. Of course, of course. Alexandra. Evan wanted me to heal Alexandra.

“Evan,” I said quietly, watching him stiffen. I made to move
toward him, but Charles caught me in his strong grip again. “Evan, this is about Alexandra, isn’t it? You think I can heal her? You betrayed me for her?”

When he didn’t answer, I got really, really angry. Forget that my life was over, but Charles had threatened my
family
. This wasn’t some stupid little joke. This was the biggest mistake Evan could have made.

“Answer me!” I shouted at him. “It’s true, isn’t it?
Isn’t it,
Evan?”

“Of course it is!” He whirled around,
his blue eyes blazing. “She’s been in a coma for
two years!
For two years I’ve watched her, unable to do anything.” He jumped to his feet and stalked over, his face uncharacteristically angry. “And then you come along, and you can
heal
people. How could you expect me to stand by and do nothing, Gabi?”

“Because,” I growled, “I’m your friend. Or, at least, I
was
your friend. Not after this, Evan. Not after you got Dad and Chloe involved. I can’t wait to see Rafe deal with you. This time I won’t stop him.”

The corner of Evan’s lip curled. “Except that’s not going to happen, since he’s not even speaking to you, am I right?”

My hand flew out, almost on its own accord, slapping Evan hard across the face. I actually wanted to jump him, to show him some of the moves Rafe had taught me in our few training lessons, but Charles yanked me back, putting himself between us. “Enough,” he barked. I almost laughed. Was he trying to protect me?

Can’t have his precious Soul Healer (still had no clue what that was) harmed, right?

“We’re wasting time,” Charles continued. He nodded toward Jonathan, now unconscious on the floor. “Deal with this, Evan, and then take care of her family’s memories. Meet us back at Headquarters as soon as you’re done.”

I expected Evan to protest, since he sucked at taking orders from anyone but himself, but he surprised me by nodding. “Yes, sir.” His cheek was red from my slap, and I felt a small
twinge of satisfaction.

It quickly died when Charles turned his attention to me. “And now, my dear Soul Healer, it’s time for you to sleep.” He lifted a hand.

“Oh,
hell
no,
not
again—”

The stupid world went black again.

***

Rafe and I were standing in his apartment, sofas pushed against the wall to give us a clear space for training. He was standing behind me, my back pressed against his chest as his hand curled around mine, showing me the proper way to throw a punch. With him this close, his cologne making me dizzy, I barely heard a word he was saying, but I was desperately trying. Rafe only rewarded me when I actually succeeded.

I liked when he rewarded me.

“So you keep your thumb on the outside of your other fingers,” Rafe explained as he showed me what he meant. His fingers were calloused and feather-light against mine, sending little shivers throughout my body. I sucked in a shaky breath, nodding to show him that I understood. “If you put your fingers over your thumb, you’ll end up breaking it.”

“I have a feeling that wouldn’t be much fun.”

He snorted. “No, definitely not. Now here, put your arm up, and extend it in a straight line, toward your opponent.” I lifted my arm and shot it out, pretending I was punching a demon. Rafe hummed his approval and told me to do it again a couple of more times. I complied, feeling like an idiot. Look at my skinny arms. Did Rafe actually think I would hurt someone?

“Shouldn’t I lift some weights and get some muscles?” I asked him. “I’m pretty sure if I punched someone, they’d probably just laugh at me and say it tickled.”

Rafe grinned. “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t know how I feel about my girlfriend having muscles like a body builder. I think I’d be intimidated.”

“Damn right you’d be!” I flexed, and of course nothing happened because there was nothing there to flex. “I’d kick your butt all over the place, Rafe Fitzgerald!”

“Mmm, why do I like the sound of that?” He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close so he could nuzzle my neck.

I gasped. “Is training over already?” Sweet! We usually worked out for an hour before he rewarded me. Rafe was in a good mood tonight.

“Actually…” Rafe paused and I groaned. Great, I had opened my big mouth, and now Rafe had decided to turn our potential make-out time into more training. Did he want me to kiss the demons to distract them or something? “Try and get out of my grip.”

“What?” Rafe’s arms were still encircled around my body, pressing me tightly against him. “Why the hell would I want to do that?”

“Because I’m a big scary demon, about to take a giant chunk out of your neck.”

“No, you’re my super-hot boyfriend, about to kiss me. No reason for me to leave,” I quipped.

“Gabi!” Even though I couldn’t see his face, I could hear the exasperation in his voice.
Might as well try to please him.
I wiggled, but with the tight grip Rafe had on me, nothing happened.

After a few moments of struggling, I gave up with a loud sigh. “I can’t.”

“That’s because you’re not trying.”

“Yes, I am!” I growled, twisting my face so I could glare up at him. “You’re a billion times stronger than me, so how am I supposed to break away?”

Rafe patiently asked, “Did you think about using your legs?”

My legs? I looked at them. They were free, but what was I supposed—

Just like that, it dawned on me, and I stomped down hard on Rafe’s left foot. He let out a howl and released me so suddenly I went catapulting forward. I only just managed to avoid smacking my face against the armrest of the couch, steadying myself against the fabric and turning around to shout a triumphant, “HA!”