The Shadow Stealer (Silver Moon Saga Book 3) (18 page)

Chapter Thirty-one

“No!” I bolted upright in bed, thrashing against my tangled sheets as I fought to free myself. My room was filled with a loud buzzing noise, and I looked around wildly, fully convinced the demon had followed me to the land of the living to finish the job.

My eyes settled on my vibrating phone, Philip’s name lighting up the screen, and my heart did a leap in my chest. Grabbing the phone, I answered the call, but I was so out of breath I couldn’t speak.

“Why are you breathing so hard?” my brother asked. “What were you doing—wait, don’t answer that. Is Rafe with you, by any chance?”

“You,” I gasped, “are a moron. I can’t believe you called me at,” I squinted at my clock radio, “three in the morning to ask me if I’m doing you-know-what with Rafe. Jerk. Idiot.”

“Love you too, sis.” I could hear Philip’s smile in his words. “And here I was thinking you were going crazy with worry over me, but obviously you’re fine.”

“Of course I was worried!” I clamped my mouth shut, my eyes darting to the door. “Wait a second, okay?” My dad was the heaviest sleeper ever, but I still didn’t want to risk it. Tiptoeing out of my room, I slipped downstairs and into the kitchen. Heading for the fridge, I said, “Okay, go ahead.”

“Oh, now you want to talk?”

“I went downstairs so Dad wouldn’t hear me! In case you didn’t realize, he’s super pissed off at me!”

“Did he ground you?”

“Not yet, but I’m sure he’ll hand me my punishment tomorrow—crap, I mean today.” I dug through the contents of the fridge, grinning when I saw a piece of leftover cake all the way in the back. It was carrot cake, not chocolate, but hey, cake was cake, right? “I’m probably grounded until I’m ninety, just to let you know.”

“Damn. I would say you’re exaggerating, but I know how your dad is. It was nice knowing you.”

“Yeah, you too.” After pouring myself some milk, I sat down at the table and dug in. “What happened after we left?”

“Are you eating?”

I scowled at my phone. “Excuse me, I haven’t eaten anything since a billion hours ago!”

“I bet you’re eating cake.”

This time I didn’t bother answering.

Chuckling, Philip said, “It was all right. The sorcerers all bailed before Silver Moon could see them, and I guess they had some safety spells in place in case something like this happened? They didn’t hit any of us, thank god, but they fried a couple of Silver Moon members.” He snickered. “Scott and Jerome got hit, and their hair was standing up like they’d been electrocuted. It was hysterical, and Kain even got a picture of it with his phone.”

I grinned. That was something I needed to see.

“But Collins and Dad weren’t affected by the spell, unfortunately,” he added under his breath, and I wondered if he meant Charles or Collins.

My good mood evaporated at the thought of Collins in the same room as my brother and our friends.
They were right
, I realized.
If I hadn’t left, Collins would have seen me again.
Something told me he wouldn’t let me go so easily a second time.

Philip continued. “Collins was definitely suspicious, but he seemed to believe the story I fed him about tracking Kain to the office building and fighting off the sorcerers, who all fled when reinforcements arrived. An unconscious Evan helped make the story even more believable.”

“Oh, crap, how is he? And Alex, too!” I felt a little guilty for not asking about them sooner.

“Evan woke up a little bit later, while more hunters showed up to search the building. He was tired, but okay. Collins asked him a few questions, and he wondered where Rafe was, but Kain made some snide remark about how only real hunters could handle the sorcerers. Which of course he didn’t mean, but Collins believed him and actually laughed, too. He totally didn’t notice that everyone in the room wanted to kill him at that moment.”

“I freaking hate him,” I growled.

“Yeah, we all do. Anyway, after that he said we could go. I took Kain to the hospital because I was worried about that bump on his head—and he ended up needing stitches for the cut on his chest—and told Evan and Alex to just go to Kain’s place. Surprisingly, they agreed.”

“No, what’s surprising is Kain letting Evan into his home,” I said. Even I hadn’t been inside yet, and Kain
liked
me!

“Why do you think I had his head checked out?” Philip asked. “When he agreed to let Evan stay here, I knew he wasn’t feeling right!”

“What did the doctor say?”

“He’s okay. They gave him something for the pain, and he’s sleeping deeply. He’ll be fine.”

“Good,” I said. “Good.” I sucked in a shaky breath. “I was really worried, Phil.”

He sighed loudly over the phone. “I know. I wanted to call sooner, but with everything that was going on… And then it got late, and I wasn’t sure if I should wait until morning, but I really wanted to hear your voice. That, and…”

I didn’t like the hesitation I heard in his voice. Setting down my fork, I asked, “What?”

“I don’t know when I should see you again. Maybe… Maybe we should lay low for a while.”

Even though I figured he was going to say something like that, it still hurt. A lot. “I hate this.”

“Me too. I hate leaving you, especially after everything we learned. And if
she’s
still going to be around, well, I should be with you. Is she there now?”

“No, she’s with Rafe.” I filled him in on everything that had happened, including the part about the parasite spell.

“Shit,” Philip said. “No wonder he hasn’t been himself. If that thing is still there, then—”

“He must be in so much pain.” As I thought about Rafe suffering alone because he didn’t want to burden me, I began crying.

“Gabi, I’m so sorry. But you said she’s going to help?”

“Yeah.” I struggled to control myself. “Later, when she’s rested. She said she can remove it completely. And after that… I have no idea.”

“Is she going to stick around?” His voice was neutral, but I wondered if he was jealous that I was spending time with Mom when he couldn’t.

“She said she wants to fix things. I want to believe her, but it’s really hard, Phil.” I drained my glass. “She came back here to see Dad and Chloe, and things were so weird. Mom and Dad were fighting, but then Chloe said something and we were all laughing like… Like we were almost a normal family again,” I explained. “But I’m not an idiot; I know that will never happen. Mom says she still loves Dad, but I really can’t see him taking her back. She hurt him too much.” I tapped my fork against the side of my empty plate. “I don’t think I want him to, either. Does that make me a horrible person?”

“No,” Philip said. “You don’t want her to hurt him again. I wouldn’t want my dad to take her back, either.”

My eyes widened at a sudden realization. “Does he even know she’s alive?”

“Nope. I don’t even know how to break that to him. ‘Hey, Dad, remember when you said you killed Mom? Well, funny story…’”

I groaned. “Our lives are seriously messed up.”

“That they are,” he agreed cheerfully. “Besides all of that, how are you doing? After…”

“After finding out a demon is waiting in the shadows, ready to eat me?” I thought about my dreams but decided against telling him about them. Philip had enough crap to worry about at the moment. “To tell you the truth, I don’t even know what I should be feeling right now. Should I be freaking out?” I shook my head. “It’s not fair. I can’t spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. I can’t. I’ll go crazy.”

“Hey, first of all, she put a seal on you. While that’s not a permanent solution, it’s still something. Now we just have to figure out how to get that asshole to leave you alone. I won’t let some nasty, stupid demon touch my little sister, okay?” Philip asked.

His words made me feel a little bit better. “Okay.” I inhaled deeply. “And Phil? Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. No more negativity, okay? Or else I’ll have to come over there and kick your butt.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Oh, yeah?” he laughed.

“You’re laughing, but really, you should be afraid of me. I could destroy you.”

“Sure you can. You and your little skinny arms.”

“No, I’ll just shove chocolate cake down your throat,” I said evilly.

“No! Anything but that!”

***

Three hours later, Dad knocked on my bedroom door and let himself in before I could even lift my exhausted head from my pillow. “Get up, Gabi,” he said. “We need to talk about your punishment before I leave for work.”

“Is this part of it?” I mumbled as I sat up in bed and pushed my messy hair out of my face. My eyes felt like they had a pound of sand on them, and I rubbed at them tiredly. After Philip’s phone call, I’d managed to fall back asleep, but I kept waking up, afraid the demon would reappear to torment me some more. In other words, I’d barely gotten any sleep, and I really hated the world right now.

Dad stood in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest. He was already dressed in his suit and tie, and his face was somber. There were circles under his eyes, probably there from Mom’s sudden reappearance. I sighed heavily. Could I have screwed everything up any worse this weekend?

“Two weeks,” he said.

I blinked. I’d been expecting more than two weeks, but I wisely kept my mouth shut.

“Two weeks of just school and work. No dates with Rafe, no girls’ nights out with Penny and Chloe, and absolutely
no
trips to New York City.” Dad met my eyes. “Do you understand?”

I nodded meekly. “And my phone?”

“You can keep it,” he said, “because I’d rather you have it in case there’s an emergency. Which there won’t be, right, Gabi?”

“Dad, about what happened—”

He held up a hand, effectively cutting me off. “I know what happened. What I don’t understand is why you thought running to the city would be a good idea. You should know better, Gabi. No,” he corrected himself, “you usually
do
know better. What possessed you to leave like that? Without even leaving a note explaining where you were? Do you know how frantic I was when I came home and you weren’t here, and you wouldn’t answer your phone?”

His words stabbed me in the heart, and I lowered my head in shame. The thing that made this even worse was the fact that I knew, as we were racing out the door, what I was doing was wrong, but I did it anyway. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “But I had to know if it was true. If Phil was my brother, I mean. And I thought… I thought if his dad could tell us about that, he could also tell us where Mom was. But instead, he said she was dead, and I couldn’t— I just fell apart in the middle of the city. If Rafe hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would have done, Dad.”

“That was a cruel thing he did to you,” Dad said. “Phil’s father, I mean. Your mom said he lied to you because he never could accept the fact that she left him. He doesn’t sound like a nice person. I know you’re close with Phil, but I want you to stay away from his dad.”

My mouth dropped open.
That’s
the lie Mom had come up with?
Way to throw Charles under the bus, Mom.
Since I had no choice but to go along with her story, I nodded and promised Dad that I’d steer clear of Charles.

“Now,” Dad said with a cheery smile that immediately made me suspicious. “How about you get ready for school?”

I groaned, flopping back down on my bed and covering my face with a pillow. School on top of everything else that was going on in my crazy life?

Best day ever.

Chapter Thirty-two

“You look like death,” Penny said as she greeted me at my locker.

I rested my forehead against the metal and mumbled, “Gee, thanks.”

“No, really, what’s wrong?”

I turned to face her. Harrison was standing slightly behind her, and both of them were wearing identical looks of concern. Remembering what had happened the last time I’d tried to hide the truth from her, I decided to let her in on at least some of the things that had occurred this weekend. “My mom came back.”

Penny dropped her load of books onto the floor with a huge bang. “SHUT. UP.”

“Shh, Penny,” Harrison scolded with a nervous look around the hallway. Already some of our classmates were giving us curious glances. I swore they were like sharks; the moment they smelled gossip, they came swimming over for a taste.

Without a word, Penny clamped her hand around my wrist and dragged me into the nearest empty classroom. Shutting the door behind Harrison, which muffled the sounds from the hallway, she surprised me by giving me a huge hug. “Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “Not really? I don’t know. I’m exhausted and I don’t know what the hell is going on or what to expect…” I went to rub my eyes but remembered at the last moment I’d put some makeup on to cover up my zombie pallor and yanked my fingers away. “My life is seriously screwed up.”

“I can’t believe it.” Penny shook her head. “Why now? Why’d she come back? Didn’t she realize what that’ll do to you? And Chloe and your dad? Omigod, how are they handling it?”

“Penny.” Harrison put a calming hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder, and she clamped her mouth shut, waiting for me to answer her million questions.

I sat down on one of the desks. “Dad… He’s really hurt by this, but he’s trying not to let it show. And Chloe? She got angry and pretended like she didn’t care, but I know she does. Basically,” I said with a bitter laugh, “we’re all doing a crappy job of hiding our real feelings.”

“And what about your mom?” Penny asked. “Is she back for good? Does she expect to just waltz back into your lives and start from where you left off?”

I shook my head, even though I didn’t know the real answer to that question. How long was she planning on staying here to, as she said, fix things? She had this whole other life in Manhattan, and I couldn’t believe that she’d just drop it like that. I wanted to ask her what her next move was. No. I
needed
to ask her. “Honestly, I don’t know, Penn. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, and I’m really scared.” My eyes started tearing up and I looked away, sniffling loudly.

“Okay, okay. It’s okay, Gabi.” Penny gathered me in another hug. “I’m sorry you have to go through this crap. But whatever happens, you know me and Harrison are here for you, right?”

I nodded against her shoulder, never wanting to let go. Dammit, I was so lucky to have such supportive friends. “I know.” I sniffled again. “Thank you.”

“It’s you and me, babe. Always has been, always will be. I will always, always have your back.”

Which was why, seven hours later, when we left school and saw both Rafe and Mom standing in front of his car in the parking lot, Penny marched straight up to Mom and pointed a finger in her face. “If you hurt her again, you’ll regret it. Understand?” For probably the first time in her life, Penny was speaking in a low voice, her words barely intelligible around her clenched jaw. But there was no mistaking the fire flashing in her blue eyes, or the way her body was stiff with tension. Barely breathing, she stared down Mom as she waited for a response.

Mom tilted her head in Penny’s direction. “I’m glad the two of you are still friends. Gabi needs people like you in her life.”

Penny’s mouth dropped as she was struck speechless (another first, I believe). She’d probably expected Mom to yell at her, not praise her, and now she looked to her boyfriend for help. Fighting a grin, Harrison hooked an arm around Penny’s waist and said, “We only want what’s best for Gabi.”

“As do I,” Mom said.

“Good.” Penny still looked flustered as she shoved me toward Mom and Rafe. “Then go talk and catch up and do whatever it is you’re planning on doing this afternoon. Gabi, call me tonight.”

“Will do.” After Rafe opened the passenger side door of his car, I slipped inside while Mom got in the back. No one said anything as Rafe started the car and drove out of the parking lot, but when he turned left—toward his apartment—instead of right—toward my house—I said, “Um, where are we going?”

“My apartment,” he answered easily.

Too late I realized I hadn’t even kissed him hello (forget kissed, I had barely acknowledged him because I’d been too busy worrying Penny would punch Mom in the face), and now I couldn’t because Mom was freaking sitting behind us, watching everything. I settled with awkwardly patting him on the thigh, which made Rafe lift his eyebrows and give me a funny look before turning his attention back to the road. “Hi,” I said.

“Uh, hi?”

I swore I heard Mom snicker, but when I turned around, she was staring out the window.

Ugh.

“Anyway,” I said, “I’m grounded for two weeks. Dad told me this morning before school.”

Rafe winced. “Sorry.”

“He said we can’t go on any dates in those two weeks.” Now Rafe looked downright miserable, and I found myself nodding in agreement. “I know. But at least it’s not two years, which is what I was expecting. So, no date time means I really can’t be going to your apartment…”

“Oh, please,” Mom said from the backseat. “Your father is too strict with you girls. Besides, I’ll be there. What could possibly happen? It’s not like you and Rafe will sneak off to his bedroom to have sex while I watch TV.”

“MOM!” I wailed as Rafe made a choking noise, his face bright red. His grip on the steering wheel was extra tight, and I was afraid we were going to get into an accident before we made it to his apartment. I turned around in my seat again. “You’re embarrassing Rafe!” Never mind that my face was just as red as his.

“Now I know where you get it from,” Rafe muttered under his breath, swearing sharply when I poked him hard in the thigh. He wisely shut up after that.

Mom tsked. “We’re heading to his apartment because I’m going to eliminate the last trace of the parasite spell from Rafe. He asked that you be there.”

Immediately I sobered. “You did?”
Good, he listened to what I said last night about sharing this stuff with me.
Now all I wanted to do was fling my arms around his neck, but we would definitely crash if I did something like that.

“Your mom said what she has to do isn’t going to be…pleasant. For me, I mean. And I wanted—I mean, if you don’t want to be around, I get it—”

“Rafe Fitzgerald, don’t you
dare
finish that sentence.” I crossed my arms over my chest and aimed a death glare in his direction. “Of course I want to be there!”
This boy, I swear.
He didn’t have a selfish bone in his body, and he’d finally made a request (when it was usually me demanding
everything
), only to take it back two seconds later. I shook my head. Here I was, thinking I was rubbing off on him (a.k.a. corrupting him).
I’ll have to keep working on that.
Not that I wanted my sweet boyfriend to ever change. “Rafe, I’ll risk getting grounded on top of already being grounded to be there with you all night, if you need me to be.” Too late I realized what that sounded like, and I shouted, “Shut up!” before anyone could say anything. Both Mom and Rafe started laughing, and I found myself chiming in.

It was so weird to be driving around with my boyfriend and my mom. One week ago, I never would have imagined the two of them would ever meet, and now they were laughing together over a shared joke.
My life is just one crazy surprise after another.
I wasn’t fooled, though. I knew this peaceful moment wouldn’t last. How could it? Between the parasite spell and the demon watching me and Mom’s whole other life—

Maybe you shouldn’t get so close to her,
a voice whispered in my head. It was that same voice I’d listened to for seven years, the one that warned me not to trust anyone. And until I met Rafe, I hadn’t. But thanks to him, I had a whole bunch of new friends
and
my mom back. Even though I wanted to keep my distance and harden my heart against her, I could already see her sneaking in through the cracks in my armor.

And I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.