The Shadow Stealer (Silver Moon Saga Book 3) (28 page)

Chapter Fifty

Gabi

It was like I’d been thrown into a different world. Alone. The wind had died down, and the snow on the ground suddenly wasn’t cold. My feet had been freezing moments ago, but now they were starting to tingle as they began warming up. It wasn’t hot, but it also wasn’t cold. It was just…nothing.

Is this what death is like?
You stood suspended in one place, waiting and waiting for…
what
exactly? For Collins to appear and kill you?

“Hello?” I called, cupping my hands to my mouth. “Rafe? Phil? Mom?”

“Gabi!” I heard a weak voice behind me. Turning, I saw Philip collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. Running to his side, I helped him sit up, allowing him to lean his full weight against me.

“What happened? Where are we?” I asked. “You just appeared suddenly—how is that possible?”

Philip shook his head. “He’s surrounded us with magic, like a dome. It’s so dense, it feels like my body is going to split into pieces.”

I looked around wildly. “How come you’re here, but not the others?”

“He probably wanted to separate us.”

I blanched. “And what—pick us off one by one?”

The serious look on Philip’s face was all the answer I needed.

Dammit.
What should we do? Philip was starting to shiver, even though it wasn’t cold, and I knew the magic was getting to him. How long could we stay here before—

I refused to finish thinking that sentence.

“I wish Kain was here,” Philip murmured, his eyes fluttering shut.

“Oh, thanks,” I said sarcastically, even though my heart was breaking, watching him suffer. “I’m not good enough company for you?”

“I can’t kiss you,” he pointed out, giving me a weak smile.

“True. I might catch your cooties.” I rested my head against Philip’s shoulder. “Do you love him?”

His answer was as soft as a sigh. “More than anything. Kain, and you, and now Chloe… I used to be all alone, but then I met you, and everything changed.”

“Yeah,” I said, “it really did. I’m sorry, though.”

“For what?” Philip opened his eyes and frowned at me.

“For dragging everyone into this mess. For having this stupid power that I don’t even want. For speaking to Collins back in the city when I should have just kept my mouth shut.” Tears trickled down my cheeks. “For screwing everything up.”

“Hey.” Philip jabbed me in the side with his pointer finger. “Why the hell are you talking like I’m dying or something? I’m just a little weak from the magic, okay? Save your tears for when I’m actually bleeding!”

“That can be arranged.” Just like earlier, Collins materialized before us, scaring the crap out of me. Seriously, one minute it was nothing but the empty park stretching before us, and the next, boom. Scary demon summoner was there, smiling at us.

“Leave us alone,” I snapped.

“Now, now, no need to be rude. I want to talk with you, little healer.” Despite all the magic Collins was casting, he wasn’t even winded.

Philip hauled himself to his feet, planting himself between us. Unlike Collins, his face had a thick sheen of sweat, and he was having trouble catching his breath. “Stay the hell away from my sister.”

“Sister?” Collins arched his brows. “Is that so? How adorable. But what do you plan on doing to me, Philip? You can barely stand.” He flicked his fingers dismissively. “Stand aside and let me speak with your
sister.
If you won’t step down, I will kill you. Is that what you want, little healer? For your brother to die for you?”

“What I want is for you to stop calling me that,” I snapped, the thought of him threatening my brother filling me with rage. “And to go screw yourself. And die. I really want you to die. Do you want me to go on?”

His pleasant demeanor melted away as he stared at me, his dark eyes smoldering with anger. Something told me he wasn’t used to snark. Good. I hoped I was pissing him off as much as he was pissing me off.

“I was trying to be amicable, but you leave me no choice.” Collins raised a hand, and both Philip and I tensed. “I never did like you, Philip. You’re so much like your father, it’s disgusting.”

“He’s nothing like—” I started, but the words died in my mouth as Collins blasted us with a spell. Unlike his last spell, which hadn’t hurt, this one stung, and I cried out as I tried to shield my face with my hands. It felt like tiny little razors were jabbing up and down my skin in rapid succession.

But it was nothing compared to what happened to Philip.

The magic hit Philip’s body, tearing through clothes and skin. Blood spurted from the numerous cuts as Philip stumbled to his knees, his face a mixture of confusion and pain before he collapsed face-forward onto the white ground.

“NO!” I screamed. Ignoring the lasting effects of the spell on my body, I fell to the ground and turned Philip over as carefully as I could. “Phil,” I moaned, my hands fluttering uselessly over him. His entire body was covered in cuts and the blood flowed freely, turning the snow pink. I shrugged out of my coat and used it to cover his wounds, pressing down as hard as I dared. Philip moaned and weakly tried to jerk away, but I refused to relinquish my hold on him.

Collins squatted down next to us, his ever-present grin still in place. “Aren’t you going to heal him?”

My fist flew toward his face on its own accord, and Collins caught it easily, shoving my hand down roughly into the not-cold snow. I tried to yank my hand out of his grip, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Well, aren’t you?” Collins’s eyes glittered manically as he watched me closely. To him, I was nothing more than a science experiment.

I glanced down at Philip, making sure he was still breathing. He was, but it was coming in fits and gasps, and I feared if we waited much longer, he would die. I couldn’t control my tears. As much as I wanted to stay strong and snarky, my brother was dying in front of me, and I was powerless to help him. “I can’t,” I whispered.

Collins eyebrows rose. “What’s that?”

“I said I can’t!”

“You’re
not
a healer? But you brought Alexandra out of her coma, didn’t you?” He started squeezing my wrist, and I gritted my teeth together, refusing to cry out in pain. “Now is not the time to be a stubborn little girl. Your brother is dying.”

“I would heal him if I could, you asshole!” I shouted in his face. “But there’s a block on my powers that my mom put on me and—”

“Your mother?” Collins straightened. “Then why don’t we invite her to the show? I really do want to see you in action.”

But before he could do anything, the ground began shaking and little cracks appeared in the air around us. I barely had time to process what was going on when the sound of shattering glass, amplified by a million, assaulted my ears to the point where I wondered if I was ever going to be able to hear again.

From the look of dark annoyance on Collins’s face and the destruction surrounding us, I knew my friends had succeeded in breaking out of his stupid little jail.

Good.

“Now it’s your turn,” I told Collins. I couldn’t wait to watch my friends destroy him.

Chapter Fifty-one

Even though the majority of my attention was focused on somehow keeping Philip alive, I was still able to spare a glance at my friends. Rafe and Kain were standing, much to my relief, their backs to me as they focused on Evan, who was
not
upright. My stomach dropped. Alexandra was draped over him, shaking him, and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.
Please let him be okay. Please!
I was torn. I couldn’t leave Philip, but if Evan needed my help too—

But I couldn’t do anything without my powers. Standing behind Evan and Alexandra were Mom and Charles. As soon as my eyes locked on Mom, I screamed for her. Her head snapped in my direction, her mouth forming a perfect little “o” as she took in my dire situation. “Mom, break the seal!” My voice came out high pitched and frantic; it didn’t even sound like it belonged to me. “Break the seal; I need to heal him!”

She hesitated. I could actually see the warring emotions playing across her face, and I knew exactly what she was thinking, like I’d suddenly developed mind-reading powers.

She’d already sacrificed me once for Philip. Could she do it again?

“Mom,
please!
” My voice choked on a sob, and that snapped her into action. Raising her hands, she shouted a word I didn’t understand and that familiar tingling spread across my arms once more. Only this time, the tingling intensified, from my elbows to my fingertips, causing me to cry out in pain. I pitched forward, watching as my hands began glowing with the silver light.

I remember
, I thought, astonished as memories of healing Rafe, Evan, and Alexandra came flooding back simultaneously, threatening to overwhelm me. My head felt like it was going to split in two, but I clamped down on those memories, refusing to give them up. It hadn’t been fair of the demon to steal them from me in the first place. They belonged to
me
, not it. Tricking me so I would heal again and again, taunting me in my dreams—when the demon materialized after I finished healing Philip, we were going to have a long (angry) chat.

If I survived.

But I didn’t have time to worry about that. Philip needed me. Tossing my jacket aside, I placed my hands over his chest and began working my magic. For one scary second, I worried his body would repel
my
powers as well, but then the skin started stitching itself up.

I breathed a sigh of relief. What would I have done if I couldn’t heal him?

Although I was concentrating on fixing Philip, I was still paying attention to the situation around me. As soon as Kain spotted us, he ran over and threw himself onto the ground next to us. Carefully cradling Philip’s head in his lap, he began speaking to him softly, his eyes never leaving my brother’s face. There was blood on Kain’s shoulder from a wound that hadn’t been there before, but I didn’t have time to focus on that—Philip’s injuries were much worse.

Rafe rushed forward, his sword drawn, planting himself between me and Collins, who was watching me heal intently. “Collins,” my boyfriend said, “get away from her.”

“I think not, Rafe,” he answered. “Not when things have gotten so interesting.”

Rafe made to stab him, but Collins lifted a hand and threw him backward with an invisible force. I jolted, hating that I couldn’t split myself in two so half of me could work on healing Philip, while the other half could run to Rafe’s side.

Rafe fell on his back with a muffled moan and didn’t move.

Come on, Rafe, get up,
I pleaded silently. Next to me, Kain tensed, and I knew he was going to throw himself at Collins next.

Except a sudden flash of pink sailed by, striking Collins in the shoulder. He howled, one hand clamping down on his shoulder as he whirled around to face his assailant.

“Did you forget about me?” Nina snarled. She held both hands out in front of her, and they were sparkling with pink magic.

I’d never been so happy to see the color pink in my life.

“Help Phil,” Nina said. “I got this, Gabi.”

Our eyes met and I nodded as a wave of mixed emotions washed over me: relief, regret, and worry. I knew I shouldn’t feel anything for her, not after what she’d done to Rafe and tried to do to me, but I couldn’t help it. I was human, and I was flawed.

I opened my mouth to say something—anything—but Nina turned to Collins and began attacking.

I hoped I’d have a chance to tell her what I wanted to say after the battle was over.

If we all survived.

“Come on,” I hissed through clenched teeth as the magic poured out of me. Philip wasn’t healing fast enough. Why did it seem like the silvery light wasn’t as bright this time? Was this because it was my last time healing? Was the demon only giving me part of his powers?

“Phil, you gotta work with me,” I said. “I know it’s magic, and I know it hurts, but I don’t think I can heal you completely.”

Kain’s head shot up at that. “Gabiella—”

I gave him a watery smile. “I’m running on borrowed time.”

“Then don’t—” He made to pull me away, but I resisted. “Gabiella, if I allow something to happen to you, Philip will never forgive me.”

“And if Phil dies? Then what?” I nodded toward my glowing hands. “What’s the point in having this power, if I can’t use it?”

He had no answer for that.

“We always knew there was a risk, right?” It was becoming difficult to keep my smile in place. “You said if I used my powers too much, I could die. Sure, we know that isn’t true now, but when I sat there and listened to you say that, I told myself it didn’t matter. If someone needed my help, then I would heal them.”

Kain’s face was a mixture of sadness, hope, and determination, telling me he would do his damn hardest to protect both me and my brother. But then something happened, and his expression changed.

He had his back to the battle currently raging between Collins and Nina, so it wasn’t that. But when the shadows started slipping up, wrapping themselves around my legs and arms, I knew.

The demon was here.

And it was coming for me.

I tried to jerk my hands away, but the shadows around my wrists tightened, holding me in place. The silver glow from my hands flickered, like a dying flashlight, and I pleaded, “No, not yet! He’s not completely healed!”

It was true. Some of the cuts on Philip’s body had been stitched back up, but so many more remained. His face was a chalky white, his breathing labored, and I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t finish healing him. Could they get him to a hospital in time?

“He’s had enough,” a familiar voice whispered in my ear, startling me. When had it gotten so close? “Besides, you should be thankful that I allowed my powers to work on him, what with that nasty reaction he usually has to magic.” The demon chuckled. “Did you even think about that when you asked your mother to remove the block on your powers? If I hadn’t worked a little magic of my own, you would have killed him.”

I stopped fighting with the shadows to stare at my hands in horror. Was the demon telling the truth? Would I have really killed Philip with my magic?

“But not to worry,” the demon continued. I could hear the smile in its words. “He
should
live.”

Its heartless words snapped me out of my trance as anger flooded my body. “
Should
isn’t good enough!” I yelled, struggling once again to free myself from the shadows. “Let me finish healing him, and then you can have me—”

But the demon wasn’t listening. The shadows multiplied, wrapping around my thighs, my stomach, my chest, and inching up my throat. I struggled to breathe, not sure if it was choking me, or if I was so frightened I couldn’t even remember how to do something so basic.

“Gabiella, no!” Kain lunged forward and grabbed my arm, trying to yank me away from the shadows. The dark and solid mass flowed down my arm and onto him, latching on as it encircled Kain’s hand and squeezed. The unmistakable sound of bones snapping filled the air and Kain screamed in pain—an almost inhuman sound unlike anything I’d ever heard before—and tried to pull away.

The shadows refused to let go.

Screaming myself, I concentrated on the dark mass that seemed to be a part of
me
now and
pulled.
Bit by bit, the shadows unwound from Kain’s hand, but the damage was already done. He collapsed to his knees, his face as white as the snow that surrounded us, clutching his right hand tightly in his left as he began dry heaving. I couldn’t see how bad it was, but I imagined the worst.

“Kain,” I whispered, reaching for him.

“He is not important,” the demon said firmly in my ear. “Why do you always focus on others when it’s your life that’s in danger?”

“Because,” I spoke through gritted teeth as the shadows continued winding around my body, “my life is
nothing
without the people I love.”

It was true. My friends and family meant more to me than my own life.

The demon only wanted me, not them. Kain never should have been hurt. I watched him struggle to get up, to face the demon again, and I knew I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let the demon injure him again or, even worse, kill him.

“Kain,” I said, trying to be brave and failing miserably. “It’s okay. Help Phil. Please, help my brother!”

Kain opened his mouth and said something, but all I heard was silence. The shadows had crept into my ears, deafening me. And now they were slithering over my face and my eyes, bringing darkness—

And then nothing.