The Shadow Stealer (Silver Moon Saga Book 3) (10 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Things got a bit hot and heavy after that, but only a bit. Rafe’s bed was small and cramped, and I banged my elbow hard against the wall and began cursing up a storm as my whole limb was engulfed in pins and needles. Then I saw Rafe stretched out across the length of his bed, and how his feet were hanging over the edge because he was freaking longer than the bed, and I started laughing. Loudly. And it took me a long time before I was able to stop.

Rafe, laughing as well, pulled me into his arms and rearranged his extra-long limbs so he wasn’t quite falling off the bed. “I guess I should have put you in my parents’ bedroom. But that would have been weird, right?”

“Hmmm.” I studied his face, grinning wickedly. “It depends on what you planned on doing
in
their bed.”

Rafe’s face turned red. “Gabi!”

Aww. Even after his declaration of love, Rafe was still shy. It was nice to know some things never changed.

Love. How could one little word make me feel so stupidly giddy? It was so weird. And awesome. And probably stupid. I was acting stupid, wasn’t I? With this big grin on my face and my heart soaring and—

And my pain over the loss of my mom not as sharp as it was, only hours before. Huh. I wondered if that was why Rafe had told me he loved me now. To distract me.

I brushed my lips against his, so very happy that the universe had given me the sweetest boy ever to love. “Rafe, can—”

The sudden sound of glass shattering stopped me midsentence. I looked at him. “Um. I think someone is robbing your apartment.”

Rafe rolled his eyes. “No, that’s just Alex and Evan.”

As if on cue, I heard Alex start yelling, and Evan responded, shouting as well. Something else shattered and Rafe made a face. “Should I go stop them?”

“
No
.” I flung my arms around his neck. “You are
not
going anywhere!”

With a grin, he shifted into a more comfortable position, tangling his legs up with mine. “Good answer.” He kissed me again, short but sweet, before reaching over me to turn off his lamp. “Goodnight, Gabi.”

“Goodnight, person who is in love with me.”

Rafe snorted. “Evil, evil girl.”

“That you love.”

“Yep.”

A pause. Then I whispered, “I love you, too.”

His grip on me tightened in response.

***

I wish I could say that was it. That, with our love for each other, Rafe and I held hands and ran off into the sunset, ready to face our happily ever after together.

Unfortunately, the following morning, I had to face life. And life was full of crap.

A lot of crap.

I stared at my phone, my sense of horror growing by the second as I counted missed call after missed call from my dad. The buttered bagel Rafe had gotten me for breakfast from the neighborhood deli sat like a rock in my stomach. “I’m dead,” I told Rafe. “That’s it. Take me home so Dad can kill me. Nice knowing you, Rafe, and please mourn me properly before you find yourself another girlfriend.”

“Stop.” He put a hand over mine, stilling my scrolling finger. “Listen for a sec. After you passed out yesterday, I called your dad.”

I stared at him. “You did?”

“Yes, because I know him, and I know he was probably ready to call the police.” Rafe winced. “And have them arrest me.”

I shook my head. “No, he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t be able to kill you if you were in jail.”

If I thought Rafe had seemed worried before, now he looked downright terrified.

“What did you tell him?” I asked, torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to hide under the bed with him.

Rafe sobered. “First of all, I told him you were okay, but you were the one who needed to tell him what had happened, not me. I’m not sure if that made a difference; he still seemed really pissed. Especially when I slipped and told him we were in the city and couldn’t come home anytime soon.”

“He probably thinks we rented a hotel room so we could engage in some sexy times,” I muttered. “No wonder he was pissed at you.”

Flushing, Rafe cleared his throat loudly. A number of times.

I looked at the phone in my lap. “I guess I should call him.”

Rafe asked, “Do you want me to stay?”

I did. I really, really did. But I knew this was something I needed to do alone, so I shook my head.

“I’ll be down the hallway, in the kitchen. Call me if you need me.” After kissing me on the top of my head, he slipped out of the room.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When that did nothing to calm my racing heart, I did it again. And again. Finally, I just stabbed at my screen and listened to the phone ring.

Dad picked up after half of a ring. “Gabiella,
where
are you?”

Okay, I was in huge trouble, because I honestly could
not
remember the last time I heard Dad call me by my full name. I was surprised he hadn’t thrown in my middle and last name, too. “Dad, I’m sorry—”

“You’re
sorry
!” he yelled. “Do you know how worried I’ve been? The only reason I haven’t called the cops yet is because Rafe called me last night to let me know you were still alive, but give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have them arrest him for this little stunt you two pulled!”

Oh. Guess Dad
did
want to throw Rafe in jail. Although I didn’t think an impromptu trip to New York City with your girlfriend was illegal. Rafe wasn’t even legal yet, and besides that, we hadn’t done anything.

(Not going to tell Dad that the bed we’d slept in was too small to do anything, though. No. No freaking way.)

“It wasn’t a stunt,” I said miserably. “We found—” My voice caught, and Dad must have heard it because he inhaled sharply. “We found out something about Mom.”

Dad didn’t answer.

“I don’t…” I rubbed my eyes with the palm of my hand tiredly. “I don’t want to tell you this over the phone, Dad.”

“Tell me.” It was a small, quiet plea that nearly broke my heart.

“She—Did you know she had another family?”

He gasped, and now my heart split into pieces.

“She left them, before she had us, even before she met you, but Phil—Phil is my brother, Dad.”

Silence for a full minute. Then, “How do you know this?”

I told him about finding the lost photo in the kitchen, and how Philip had recognized her. How we’d rushed to Manhattan to find answers. “I wanted to find her, Daddy. I wanted to see her again. And I needed to know if Phil was really my brother or not. I knew I shouldn’t have left like that, but I needed to know. I’m sorry.”

“And what did you find out?” His voice was cool, neutral, but I could picture the strain on his face as he asked me that.

“Daddy, I don’t—”

“
Tell
me.”

“She’s dead.” I bit down a sob, my eyes filling with tears again. I guess I hadn’t used them all up yet.

“She’s…” I could hear him crying over the phone, too, and I desperately wished I could teleport myself to his side, so we could hold each other and cry together. “She’s dead?”

“Daddy, I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry. I never should have gone. Then I never would have known, and I wouldn’t be hurting you right now.”

“Gabi, no,” he said. “
You’re
not hurting me. This isn’t your fault. Just come home, so we can talk. You, me, and your sister. We’ll handle this together, just like we’ve been handling things all this time. As a family.”

“I love you,” I said, because I couldn’t remember the last time I said it, and thanks to Rafe, I wanted to say it all the time now. Because it
should
be said all time. You never knew when it would be the last time.

When was the last time I’d said it to Mom? Before I fell asleep the night she left? Had she been thinking about Silver Moon and demons, when she was tucking me into bed, listening to me babble excitedly about our upcoming trip to Disney World?

Did she say it to me?

She must have.

How many years had I spent wondering if she’d even loved me? Or thinking that a person who loved you wouldn’t leave you like that? All those awful, horrible things I’d said and thought; I wished I could take them back.

“I’m so sorry,” I said again, to both Dad
and
Mom.

“Come home, Gabi,” he replied softly. “Please come home.”

“I will. I promise. I will.”

Chapter Sixteen

There was a soft knock on the bedroom door. Running a hand through my hair, I slid off the bed and opened the door to see Philip standing on the other side.

My heart leapt at the sight of him. For a split second I worried things would be awkward between us, now that we knew we were related, but then he stepped forward and I dove into his arms, hugging him fiercely.

“Hey,” Philip said, wrapping his arms around me.

I studied him carefully. He was a little pale, but the anger from the day before was gone. “How are you doing?”

“Better. I’m sorry about leaving like that yesterday, but I was so mad I couldn’t see straight.”

I led him into the room, sitting in the desk chair while he sat on the unmade bed. “I get it,” I told him. “I’m just glad you were with Kain. If you’d run off alone, I would have gone crazy worrying about you.”

“Yeah, Kain helped a lot.” Philip ducked his head, but I still saw the sudden flush on his cheeks.

“Oh my god,” I said. “Don’t tell me the two of you spent last night—” I held up a hand. “When I say ‘don’t tell me,’ really, Phil,
don’t
tell me.”

He scowled at me. “I wasn’t going to! Shit, you’re my little sister, of course I’m not going to share that stuff with you!” As if noticing the unmade bed for the first time, his eyes widened in mock horror. “Wait, don’t tell me you and Rafe—”

“Shut up—of course not—
shut up
,” I sputtered. Now
I
was the one blushing.

“Good,” Philip said. “Since I’m your big brother, I need to protect you from stuff like this.” He cracked his knuckles to emphasize his point.

“Protect me from ‘stuff like this’?” I echoed skeptically. “Hell no, Phil. Don’t you dare!”

He laughed, clearly enjoying the way he was making me squirm. “I probably have nothing to worry about. Rafe is too shy to do anything like that.”

“Um, maybe he wanted to, but the bed was just too small,” I shot back.

“Sure.” Philip snorted.

“Well, he
did
tell me he loved me, okay?” Belatedly, I wondered if I should have kept that to myself, but when Philip’s face broke into a huge grin, I knew I was right to share my good news with him.

“That’s awesome! And…” Philip’s smile grew. “I have some news, too. This morning Kain asked me to move in with him, and I said yes.” It was impossible not to notice how happy that made him.

My eyes widened. “You’re moving out of HQ?”

“Yep.” Philip leaned back, supporting himself with his arms braced behind him on the bed. “I can’t live in HQ anymore. I can’t see Dad, not after what he did. It was bad enough he lied to me when I was a child, telling me she was dead, but then to actually
be
responsible for her death?” He shook his head. “I can’t pass him in the hallways and pretend like everything is okay. Because it’s not, and I don’t think it’ll ever be. How could he lie to me like that, Gabi? To both of us?”

“I know.” I picked at the hem of my shirt. “And the stuff he was saying? About Mom? How is that even possible? I think I would know if my mom was a freaking sorcerer!”

“Maybe she was just really good at lying to everyone around her.” Philip winced. “Sorry. That was harsh.”

“But it might be true,” I whispered, my eyes starting to burn again.
Enough with the tears, Gabi!
“I don’t know anything about her, Phil. Everything I thought was true was probably just one giant lie! How could I not know my own damn mother!” When the tears spilled over, I swiped them away impatiently. “God, I’m so tired of crying!”

“Hey, come here.” Standing, Philip pulled me out of my chair and into his arms again. “Gabi, it’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out.”

“How? She’s
dead.
” Just saying the word was enough to make my chest constrict painfully. “We’re never going to learn anything else. She’s gone. Forever.” I squeezed my hands into fists. “And you know what the worst part is? I’ve spent the past seven years wondering how she could be so horrible to just up and leave one night.” More tears stung my eyes, but I fought them back, causing my throat to ache. “I always expected her to show up again, and when the months turned into years, my hope turned into anger and…” I avoided his gaze, ashamed. “Hatred.”

“It’s normal to feel that, though,” Philip said. “Anyone would, in your position.”

“But I still feel awful for thinking those things.”

He hugged me tighter. “Don’t. It’s not your fault. It’s Dad’s, for fighting her. And really, it’s her fault, too, for summoning a demon. Why would she do that? Why would she destroy her life like that? I’ve never understood why someone would want to bring one of those things over here.”

“I thought she was happy,” I said as I leaned my head against his shoulder. “That’s the thing that always bugged me. When she left, I thought the four of us were a happy family. She didn’t fight with Dad, and she was always so loving to me and Chloe. So why the demon? It doesn’t make any sense, Phil, and I hate that we’re never going to know why.” I pulled out of his embrace and sat down on the bed, staring at the faded and dusty rug on the floor. “And you want to hear the weirdest part? Despite everything we’ve learned, I still miss her. I mean, I always have, but today, I really, really miss her. Because she
was
a good mother. The best.” My voice cracked.

“Will you tell me about her, someday? When you’re ready, and it doesn’t hurt as much?” He couldn’t hide the eagerness from his voice.

“Phil, I think it’s always going to hurt.”

His face fell. “Oh. Sorry, then—”

“But I want to tell you about her,” I said. “I want to tell you everything, so you can have some memories, too. I’m going home, to talk to Dad and Chloe, and I want you to be there.”

“Chloe… I forgot,” Philip said. “I have two sisters now. This is crazy, you know? I’ve always wanted a sibling, and now I have two.” He smiled gently at me, and I returned it. Even though my heart was heavy was grief, I was so happy he was my brother. I felt like I’d won the lottery or something.

“Yeah, well, Chloe is more of a royal pain in the butt than a sibling,” I joked. “I’m the better half of the deal.”

He laughed at that.

“Speaking of better halves,” I said, “where’s Kain? Is he in the other room destroying Evan or something?” That was if Evan had even survived the night. The only time I’d left the room was for another trip to the bathroom; Rafe had brought my bagel to me and I’d eaten it in his bedroom. I assumed he would have told me if Evan was dead or not, but who knew…

“Are you trying to say he’s
my
better half?” Philip scowled. “And he’s over at HQ, packing some of my stuff up for me. He knew I didn’t want to go there, so…”

“Good. I’d rather him go to HQ than you.”

Philip pulled out his phone and sat down next to me on the bed. “I’ll let him know we’re heading back upstate. He can drop my stuff off at his apartment and meet us at Penn.” But before Philip could type out a text, his phone began vibrating. “Oh, he’s calling me. Weird.”

“Ugh, you’re, like, on the same brain wave now. How gross.”

Philip poked me in the side and I squealed, jerking away from him. “Hey,” he said into his phone. “Are you still at HQ?” I was close enough to hear a lot of static coming from the phone. Wincing, Philip pulled it away from his ear and hit the speaker button. “Kain? You there?”

“Philip,” Kain said over the static, “there’s something wrong. There’s…magic…large…” The static disrupted his words, making him hard to understand. “I think…HQ…attack—”

Over the phone, we heard a deafening roar that quickly gave way to utter silence.

Philip was gripping the phone so hard his knuckles turned white. “Kain? Kain!” He redialed, and a recording came on, asking him to leave a message. “Shit!” Philip swore loudly as he continued to redial.

“What’s going on?” Rafe appeared in the doorway, looking concerned. “Gabi?”

I sucked in a shaky breath, my heart racing. “Rafe, I think…

“I think an explosion just went off in HQ.”