The Soul Healer

by Melissa Giorgio

  Argh, I was going to start screaming if he didn’t stop calling me that! And fine? We definitely had different definitions of that word if he thought lying on the ground submerged in your own pool of blood was fine!

  Philip swallowed a few times, regaining his composure. I wondered who he was worried about. “So she’s not a Soul Healer?”

  “She’s healed before,” Charles said, “and I need to see her in action in order to know for sure, but my gut tells me she is one.”

  “Being able to heal aside, which is an awesome ability, by the way,” Philip told me, “how do you plan on seeing her in action, Dad?” He sat up straighter, his eyes narrowing. “You’re not planning on stabbing the entire team of hunters, are you?”

  Holy crap, I hadn’t even thought of that. But it did sound like something Charles would do. I glared at my hands, almost wishing they would work, so we could avoid all of that. But then what?

  Then you never leave, Gabi.

  Either way, I was screwed.

  “I’m hoping it won’t come to that…” Charles trailed off, his unspoken threat hanging heavily in the air.

  I shuddered.

  Philip glanced at me in concern. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Then it’s a good thing I’m the director and you’re not.”

  Ouch. What a loving father Charles was. I wondered what kind of cards Philip got him every year for Father’s Day: “Happy Father’s Day, you giant ass!” maybe?

  Philip pressed his lips together in a thin line and said nothing, looking hurt. Watching him, I felt a pang of sympathy. I could only imagine what years of criticism like that did to you.

  The next time I saw my dad, I was going to thank him for, you know, not being Charles.

  If I saw him again…

  I banished that train of thought before it made me start crying. Something told me showing weakness in front of Charles was not wise.

  Charles shook his head. “I don’t think you see what this means. The potential, the power. The capability… What do you remember about Soul Healers?”

  “I thought they were just legends.” Philip indicated the bookshelves with a nod of his head. “I’m sure I read about them, years ago, but it was very obscure…”

  “It’s not a legend,” Charles said. “It’s very real, her power. Extremely rare, but the ability to heal the soul does exist.”

  Healing the soul? I made a skeptical noise. I healed giant gaping holes in a person’s body. Don’t know anything about a soul.

  Then again… I thought back to that night, when Rafe had almost died. He had woken up energized, while I could barely stay awake long enough to enjoy his wonderful first kisses. And part of my hair had turned white. What if—

  What if I had given him part of my soul to save his life? Is that what Charles meant by a Soul Healer?

  “Even if that’s true, you can’t keep her here,” Philip said. “Does her family even know where she is?”

  “It’s been taken care of,” Charles said with a careless wave of his hand. “Really, Philip, I expected better of you. She can heal souls. Don’t you realize what this means?”

  “I don’t,” I interrupted loudly. “Care to clue me in?”

  Charles directed his attention back to me. “It means, Gabiella, that you can bring back the dead.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Holy freaking what! I must have misunderstood Charles, because there was no way he said what he had just said, okay?

  I opened my mouth to start laughing (because clearly, the stress of being the director of Silver Moon had gotten to him and he was certifiably crazy) when Philip blurted out, “She can bring the dead back to life?” He had gone very still, and his eyes were wide and unblinking as his gaze darted from his father to me.

  He better stop looking at me like I’m a freak or else I’m going to be forced to hit him, I thought darkly. Although hitting Philip the brick probably equaled a broken hand.

  “Yes.” Charles was very pleased with Philip’s reaction. “You know what that means—who that means, I should say.”

  Philip swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Yeah, I do…”

  Well, I didn’t. I stood up suddenly, my hands on my hips. “Look, you’re wrong. You’re really, really wrong, and I don’t know how many times I need to tell you before you start listening to me. Rafe was dying, but he wasn’t dead when I healed him!”

  “Rafe?” Philip got to his feet, too. He searched my face with his brown eyes. “You know Rafe?”

  I hesitated for a split second before saying, “Yes…” I wondered if Philip was one of the ones who had teased Rafe for being Sightless.

  But Philip’s face broke into another crooked grin. “How is he doing? Man, I haven’t seen him in ages, not since he left with Evan after Alex—” He broke off, understanding dawning on his face. “Shit.” Philip looked at his father. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Why the Chens suddenly brought her back here, after all this time?” He pointed at me. “They think she can heal Alex?” When Charles didn’t answer, Philip groaned. “You told them she could, didn’t you? Without even knowing if she can or not? Dad, why would you do that? Why would give them false hope, after all this time? Especially after Sam?” Philip’s voice broke ever so slightly, and he coughed to hide it.

  I watched him carefully. Sam. I searched my memory for that name, I know I had heard it before…

  Alexandra’s older brother, that’s right. The hunter who had died in battle, causing Alexandra’s parents to ban her from hunting. She hadn’t listened and, after being tricked by Matthew Davenport, had fallen in an abandoned building and broken her spine. I wondered, not for the first time, how her parents lived with the grief. And now Charles had told them there was a way to fix their daughter; no wonder they had moved her out of her ultra-private upstate medical facility to whisk her back to Manhattan.

  But what would they do when they found out their savior was a clueless teenage girl who probably couldn’t help? I mean, I would, but…how? Charles kept saying I could do all of these crazy things, but I had no idea if he was right or not. Would I be stuck here until I did something?

  And what happened if I couldn’t do anything?

  I shivered, hugging myself tightly. No wonder Rafe had warned me against coming here. Once Silver Moon latched onto you, there was no escape…

  Not that I was giving up, mind you. If Charles thought I’d perform tricks for him like an obedient little monkey, he was about to be sorely disappointed.

  “All things in time,” Charles was telling Philip. “We’ll start small, of course, then work up to Alexandra. And then, those who have passed away…” Again, he gave Philip a meaningful look.

  His son blew out a long breath and diverted his gaze. “I don’t like this. Her family—”

  “They don’t even know she’s gone, thanks to Evan’s magic.” Charles met my eye, smiling slightly. “They’re perfectly safe, as per the agreement, right, Gabiella?”

  I didn’t reward him with an answer, too busy wondering what he meant by starting small. Did that include stabbing hunters until my hands started glowing? Or something even worse?

  “I don’t know, Dad,” Philip started again, when we were interrupted by a newcomer at the door.

  A teenage Indian girl with long, long bright pink hair put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, oops, am I too early, Director Adler?”

  “No, not at all, Nina,” Charles said, almost smiling warmly. Like, the corners of his lips crept up and his eyes brightened, and it was so unbelievably creepy, I can’t even tell you. Even Philip looked a little grossed out as he watched his dad. Maybe he hadn’t been joking earlier when he said Charles got off on kidnapping girls?

  Ugh, my skin was crawling just thinking about it.

  Charles waved Nina over and she practically skipped into the room, twirling to show off her sleeveless, lilac-colored baby doll dress. The hem reached her knees, and her legs stretched about
a million miles before ending in black flip-flops on her feet. Flip-flops! In December! Wasn’t she cold? I’m cold just looking at her, I thought as I stuffed my hands into the pockets of Philip’s hoodie. Her pink hair was done up in multiple braids, and her large, round, dark brown eyes were dusted with sparkly blue eye shadow. A ton of bracelets and necklaces covered her arms and neck, clinking and clacking whenever she moved. Which was often. There was a tiny diamond stud in her nose, and suddenly I was reminded of my sister. Chloe would have killed for a nose ring—and my dad would have killed her for getting one.

  I forced myself to stop thinking about my family.

  “What’s going on?” Philip asked, eyeing Nina.

  “I thought our guest would be more comfortable around another girl,” Charles said, attempting to smile at me kindly. At least, I thought that was what he was trying to do. Either that or he had bad gas all of a sudden. I’m telling you, the guy was seriously disturbing when he showed any other emotions besides stoic or disapproving. “Nina has agreed to show Gabiella to her room, get her some breakfast, and lend her some of her clothes. We can’t have her wandering around in her pajamas now, can we?”

  Nina laughed like that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. She had one of those high-pitched giggles that guys thought were so cute, but I just found grating. Still, it would probably be rude to cover my ears with my hands, right? She was smiling at me. (And on her it wasn’t creepy.) I bet she’s one of those girls who never has a mean thing to say about anyone.

  I didn’t think those types even existed.

  “Wait until you see your room,” Nina chirped, winding her arm around mine and pulling me toward the door. “You’re going to love it here. I just know you will!”

  Highly unlikely, I thought darkly, allowing her to lead me away. Out loud, I asked, “I’m getting my own room? What is this, summer camp?”

  “No, it’s way better!” She clapped her hands to emphasize her point. “The majority of the hunters live in HQ, didn’t you know? This used to be a hotel, back in the 20s or the 1840s or something like that—same thing, right?—but years ago—I dunno, the 60s or 90s maybe—they converted it into Silver Moon’s HQ! Yay!” This time, she pumped a fist in the air.

  “Um…” My mouth had fallen open somewhere around “same thing, right?” and I didn’t know how to answer her. Was she even expecting an answer?

  “And so we all live here. It’s twelve floors and there are tons of rooms, but we’re on the same floor, so we’re like roommates! Yay!” Again, Nina pumped her fist in the air.

  Clearly, the girl wasn’t expecting me to speak. At all.

  “Oh, and I doubt you’re going to want to leave since it’s so great here, but I should tell you that you need a key to access the elevator,” Nina continued, not even realizing that she was crushing my dreams of escaping with every word she spoke. “And the stairway is locked too, but your room will be unlocked, so you can leave and come visit me anytime, all right?”

  I blinked. Is that what she expected me to do? Leave my room and what, go to hers for a sleepover?

  “So let me take you to my room and we’ll see if I have anything that can fit you. You’re smaller than me, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

  She looked at me and blinked a few times, tilting her head until I realized now she wanted a response. “Um, yay?” I said.

  Nina beamed and jumped in the air. “Yay!” Her flip-flops hit the floor with a loud smack, and she giggled like that was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. Acting more like a toddler than a teenager, she stomped her feet as she practically dragged me down the hallway to her room.

  I was beginning to think every Silver Moon member (excluding Rafe) was mentally unstable.

  Chapter Thirteen

  We piled into the elevator, and Nina pressed the button for the sixth floor. (The glowing red number over the doors indicated we had been on the fourth floor.) After the doors opened with a ping, she led me down another hallway, turning two corners before stopping in front of a door covered with posters of teen boy bands. Before unlocking the door, she paused to kiss one of the boys, leaving behind a smear of cherry lip gloss to join multiple lip prints already decorating the posters. I took a deep breath, steeling myself before following her into the pinkest room I had ever seen.

  “Gah,” I said before I could stop myself, shading my eyes from all the pink. Seriously, the bedspread was neon pink, the walls were bright pink, the carpet was pale pink—

  It was a huge contrast to the brown room I had just been in, and I couldn’t help but wonder why someone would need so much pink in their life.

  “It’s great, isn’t it?” Nina chirped, swinging a pink braid over her shoulder. “I decorated it myself!”

  “Oh, really?” I tried, I really tried to sound surprised, but my voice came out so sarcastic, and I winced, waiting for her to burst into tears or start throwing pink high heels at me.

  But Nina just laughed, bounding toward another door and throwing it open to reveal a closet bursting with clothes. The clothes, at least, were every shade of the rainbow, but they were all dresses. All of them. There was not one pair of jeans or sweater to be seen. This girl would get along great with Penny, I thought sourly, thinking of all the times my best friend had screamed at me when I had tried to wear sneakers instead of heels or pants in lieu of skirts on my dates with Rafe. She didn’t understand that date time with Rafe usually equaled ruined clothing. Unless we were staying home, with no chance of seeing a demon, my clothes were not safe. Of course, dressing up to stay home and watch TV (and make out on the couch when Dad wasn’t around) was pretty pointless.

  “What do you like?” Nina asked, pulling out dress after dress, modeling it on her body before handing it to me. I staggered under the weight of her clothes. Looking for someplace to deposit them, I decided on the bed. Besides her very pink bed, covered in pink stuffed animals, she also had a desk wedged in one corner, and a smaller dresser in the other. The desk was covered with every type of makeup imaginable, and the dresser had a TV on it. On the floor, next to the dresser, was a cage with some giant, white furry rodent inside. Hmm, I was surprised Nina hadn’t dyed the poor thing pink.

  I sat down on the bed next to the dresses, suddenly exhausted. “Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but do you have any pants and regular shirts?”

  Nina’s eyes widened comically. “Why?”

  I hugged myself tightly. “I’m not really in the mood to dress up, you know? Being kidnapped and all…”

  “No!” she shouted loudly, scaring the crap out of me. “You weren’t kidnapped! Director Adler would never do that!”

  To my absolute horror, her eyes began welling up with tears, and I mentally kicked myself for saying anything. No, scratch that. I wasn’t sorry. It was the middle of freaking December—I was not dressing up in something appropriate for July weather.

  And I had been kidnapped. She could delude herself all she wanted, but I knew the truth, and I would tell everyone in this damn building until one of them actually helped me. There had to be another hunter like Rafe, right? Honest, earnest, and good? Someone you could always count on to do the right thing?

  Then again, maybe that’s why he had left. Besides the fact that he was following Evan and Alexandra; maybe Rafe left because he hadn’t fit in.

  I could totally see why. I had only met a few of them, but with the exception of Philip, they were pretty horrible. Well, Nina seemed harmless, but her blind devotion to Charles was beyond disturbing. I totally, absolutely, one hundred percent understood why Rafe had left, and with the exception of monthly check-ins with HQ, had never wanted to go back. Had I really thought he would follow Evan back to Manhattan, back to HQ? I squeezed my hands into fists. The next time I saw Rafe, I would apologize for even thinking that.

  Actually, I had a lot to apologize for.

  Nina, meanwhile, was busy sniffling and scrubbing at her eyes. Closing the door to her closet, she went over to the dre
sser and began opening drawers. “Here you go.” She pulled out a white sweater. “This should fit you, although you may have to roll up the sleeves. And I have pants in here somewhere…” She crouched, opening up the bottom drawer.

  “You do?” I asked, surprised.

  “Of course!” She shot me an amused look over her shoulder. “You don’t think I go hunting in my dresses, do you?”

  I thought back to that night we had faced Boneless for the first time, me in freaking heels that had almost broken my neck a number of times. “No, I guess not. Then why…?”

  “I like to dress up.” Nina shrugged. “It can get boring here when you’re not hunting—there’s only so many times you can read the same, dull books over and over again—so I go shopping. Manhattan has the best stores ever, oh my gosh! I just take my credit card and buy, buy, buy!”

  “Really?” I was instantly jealous. Nina must be loaded! Chloe and I weren’t even allowed to have credit cards yet, and Dad never lent us his. Actually, that was smart of him. If Chloe was ever let loose in a mall with it, forget it. She’d have the whole place charged before you could snap your fingers. As for me? Once I had started working and went shopping using my money (rather than my weekly allowance, which stopped the moment I got my first pay check) to buy me things, well… Let’s just say, I didn’t buy nearly as much as I used to. I worked hard for my money at the stupid Convenience Corral! I wasn’t going to waste it on frivolous things I didn’t need.

  Suddenly, I really, really missed my job.

  Are you kidding me? I had been so excited to be off from that dump for a week, and now I wished, more than anything, that I was working right now, wearing my lime-green t-shirt, listening to that damn buzzer moo as another customer came in. At least, then, if I was working, my life would have been relatively normal, not thrown upside-down and inside out by a deranged man who thought I could somehow bring people back from the dead.

  Yeah, I really missed the Corral.