The Shadow Stealer (Silver Moon Saga Book 3) (30 page)

I would never let her go, I swore. Never, ever again.

“The demon. Where would they have gone?” I spoke quickly, my words tripping over themselves in desperation. I needed Morgan to know what was going on so she could fix this. “Back to its realm?” When Morgan didn’t answer, I stood, staring down at her as I barely resisted the urge to start shaking. “Morgan, we have to go to her, before—”
Before it’s too late.
I swallowed the words, afraid if I said them, they would come true. “You can teleport, right?”

Morgan’s mouth was opening and closing, but no sound was coming out.

“Morgan, please, I know you can—”

“I can’t.” Her gaze flicked to her injured hand and she shook her head slightly. “Not like this. Not now.”

“Yes, you can. Use our powers. Combine our energies. We can do this.” A sudden thought occurred to me, filling me with a sense of hope that I clung desperately to. “The tracking spell!”

Morgan looked confused. “I don’t—”

“There’s a tracking spell on her necklace,” I explained. Why was she still saying no? Didn’t she realize what this meant? “I put it there, and renewed it only last week. I’ll search for her, and then you do the teleportation spell and we can—”

“Rafe, no.”

Her words were whispers, but to me they were as loud as shouts. I stared at her, confused. What was she talking about? Why was she still saying no?

“I don’t understand,” I said, feeling the hope that had begun to build inside of me crumble. “Why do you keep saying no? Don’t you want to rescue her?”

“Of course I do!” Tears spilled from her brown eyes. “But I can’t.” She held up her bandaged hand, as if that was supposed to mean something. “I can’t bring her back. Not like this. I was hurt after removing the demon magic from your body, Rafe, and I’m too weak to do that type of magic. Even with everyone else supporting me.” She met my horrified gaze, her expression broken. “I can’t do anything.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Morgan cut me off. “It’s up to Gabi now. She needs to save herself.”

Chapter Fifty-three

Gabi

The blackness and silence were unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. No matter how wide I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see, and when I screamed, I heard nothing. And when I’d tried walking, gingerly feeling my way in the dark, I’d crashed into a wall after only a few feet. After smashing my face twice against an unseen barrier, I’d given up because I was in no mood to break my nose.

I returned to what I assumed was the center of this place, trying not to hyperventilate. Was this how I would spend the rest of my life? Trapped in a shadowy tomb while the demon used my body to do its bidding?

I would rather die.

Rafe,
I thought miserably. The thing was, I didn’t
want
to die. The demon had captured me without giving me a chance to even say goodbye.

Although how could anyone expect me to say goodbye? I wasn’t ready to go. There was so much more I needed to do, and I refused to let this
thing
get the best of me.

No freaking way,
I thought, squaring my shoulders in determination. This wasn’t the end. I would
not
let the shadows win. What had Rafe said the night he’d confessed his love?

“You stole away the dark shadows that have been haunting me all these years like you’re my own personal sun.”

“I’m the sun,” I declared out loud. “So you stupid shadows can go suck it and die, okay?”

And just like that, they skittered away as I began glowing with an unnatural light.

My mouth dropped open.
Really? It’s that easy? Just be rude and they disappear?
I was still surrounded by darkness, and I couldn’t see beyond my extended fingertips, but that fact that I could
see
my hands and my body meant—well,
what
, exactly?

It meant I was in control. It meant that I wasn’t going to stand around and wait for the others to come rescue me. Mom was probably doing something right now to break through the demon’s shadowy tomb; wouldn’t she be surprised when I rescued myself first?

So… I was able to make myself glow. Now what? I thought back to moments ago, when I had willed the shadows away from Kain. Could I do that again? Maybe I couldn’t remove
all
of them, but if I could find a way to pierce this tomb even just a little bit, maybe I could wiggle through and free myself.

I just hoped that whatever rested outside the tomb was the park and not the demons’ realm.

Don’t think about that
, I commanded myself. Get out first, and then deal with the possible army of demons waiting to devour you—

“What part of ‘don’t think about that’ don’t you understand?” I asked myself, scowling. For some reason I knew this wouldn’t work if I was upset, so I took a moment to calm my racing heart before I reached for the shadows. They slipped through my fingers, oily and quick, but I wouldn’t be deterred so easily. Again and again I tried to grab it, any of it, and finally I managed to clamp down on a tiny part. Moving quickly, before it could dance away, I pulled as hard as I could, and was rewarded with a slight tearing sound.

A tiny sliver of light materialized, blinding me. Through the slit, a hand appeared, and I worried it belonged to Collins, come to finish me off.

Then again, if it
was
Collins, and I could trap him in here, away from my friends and, you know, all of Earth, then maybe I should.

I reached for the hand and tugged.

And Rafe spilled through the slit, tumbling to the ground.

In my surprise, I let go of the shadows, and the slit closed up immediately, trapping us again and stealing the light. Well, no, I was still lit up, and when I dove into Rafe’s arms, he began glowing too. Weird, but also kind of cool.

“Rafe!” I covered his face in kisses, and he responded in earnest, capturing my lips in hungry kiss after hungry kiss. His arms went around me, one buried in my hair while the other hooked around my waist and pulled me into his lap so I was straddling him.

I know, I know. We were trapped in the enemy’s lair, and instead of looking for a way out, we were too busy throwing ourselves at one another. But two minutes ago, I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again, and I was sure he’d been thinking the same thing about me, so who could blame us for indulging in a little sexy times?

When we (regrettably) pulled apart, Rafe trailed his knuckles down the side of my face, ever so gently, and whispered, “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” Holding him felt so familiar, so warm, and I never wanted to let go. “You found me.”

“Actually, I think you found me.” Rafe pressed his forehead against mine. “I thought I’d lost you forever.” His eyes were very bright, and I could see he was struggling to remain in control of his emotions.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” I tried to keep my voice light, but it was so hard. “But, Rafe, where are we? How do we get out? Did I—” My eyes widened in horror. “Did I trap you, too?”

His hold on me tightened. “Gabi,
no
. Do you know how frantic I was, when I turned around, and you were gone? And your mom wasn’t able to do anything, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again… But then there was this rip in the air; it was so weird, to see this small black tear just floating there in the air. Somehow, I knew you were there on the other side, so I took a chance and plunged my hand in.” He kissed me, quickly and lightly on the lips. “Don’t you know I’d rather spend eternity here—wherever here is—with you than live a life out there without you?”

Overcome with emotion, it took me a moment to answer. “But what if we really can’t get out?”

“Are you kidding?” Rafe raised his eyebrows. “You and me? We’re an unbeatable team. Hornboy, Fishface, Boneless… They were no match for us, so why should this one be any different?” Rafe paused. “What are we calling this one, anyway?”

I frowned. “For some reason, I’ve been having a hard time coming up with a name for it. Maybe because it’s so damn terrifying.”

“If that’s the case, then you need to name it something that will make you laugh, like Fried Chicken.”

“
Fried Chicken?
” My voice echoed in the enclosed space. “Rafe, the thing has no
skin
and looks
nothing
like a chicken. What the hell, are you trying to make me hate fried chicken for the rest of my life?”

“Then how about Skinless?” he asked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

“Hmm.” I thought about it. “That might work. It could be Boneless’s extra-evil cousin. They look nothing alike, so maybe they’re related through marriage. Do demons even get married?”

We smiled at one another. “See?” Rafe said. “Already our situation is slightly less scary. We can do this, Gabi. Together.”

“Okay.” I nodded, believing him. An unbeatable team. Hadn’t I called us the exact same thing not too long ago? It had been true then, when I said Rafe and I would work together to conquer his pain and heartache, and it was true now. We would find a way to beat Skinless
and
Collins. Unless Rafe had already handled Collins. “What happened after the demon took me, by the way? Please tell me you killed Collins.”

“I did.” He said it without emotion, but I could see the fire in his eyes, a blaze of triumph for having defeated the monster that had killed his parents. “Actually, it wasn’t just me. I had help.” He filled me in on what had happened, ending with, “We’ll never have to worry about him again.”

“Good,” I said fiercely. And Nina had come to the rescue! Who had expected that? Certainly not me. That didn’t mean we were going to be friends (my face still hurt from when she’d smashed it with her fist yesterday), but I think I could hate her slightly less than I originally did. “Are you okay?”

“Right now I am.” Rafe shrugged. “I’m probably in shock, but I feel good knowing he’s gone. It’s a lot to wrap my head around, though. Not just the demon army bit, but the way he made it sound like a lot of Silver Moon members have no problem with breaking the edict.” His grip on my waist tightened as he slid me closer to him. “It’s not like I didn’t know it happened. I heard stories all the time. But Davenport was the first hunter I ever saw who’d turned, and it was a nightmare. And then, by blowing up HQ, Collins nearly started a war between the hunters and innocent sorcerers.”

I rested my head against his chest. “It’s sad. There’re people like you, who are so good and use your powers to protect others, and there’re people like Collins, who abuse what they can do.”

“Destroying Silver Moon’s name in the process.” Rafe shook his head. “No, I’m wrong. Silver Moon was always corrupt, starting with the elders. You can’t tempt a person with all that power and not expect them to want it.” When he fell silent, I leaned back to look at him. His eyes were sad, but Rafe managed to give me a small smile. “The things he said about my dad, though? About how he wanted to use Collins’s admission of guilt to help him win the election? That I can believe, completely. Dad was just too stubborn… and arrogant, like Collins said. Even though Collins was clearly strong, Dad thought he was stronger, and that cost him his life. And Mom’s…”

“If your dad fought Collins, do you think he would have won?” Everyone said Liam was a great fighter, but Collins had an unfair advantage.

He sighed, his breath tickling my neck. “I don’t know, Gabi.”

“But at least you know it wasn’t your fault,” I said. “Which is what I’ve been telling you all this time.” I poked him in the shoulder. “I told you so!” When Rafe didn’t say anything, my heart flipped nervously.
Crap.
“Sorry, was that too soon?”

“That depends.” He lifted his head and met my stare. “If I admit I should have listened to you, will that be the end of this?”

“The end of me telling you I’m right?” I asked. “Hell no! I’m going to say it at least once day! Because the world needs to know that I. Was. Right.” I put my hands on my hips (which, admittedly, was a little difficult to do while currently snuggling Rafe) and shot him my most haughty look.

“In that case, then yes, it’s too soon. Wait a couple of years, okay?” Rafe’s eyes were dancing, and he leaned in to kiss me again. “Thank you,” he said against my lips after we’d pulled apart, “for always believing in me. The real reason I’m handling this so well? It’s because I’ve got you by my side.”

“And I’m not going anywhere,” I murmured. Rafe was nice enough not to point out that neither one of us
could
go anywhere at the moment. I think, like me, he was content with just sitting there, talking and kissing. But we couldn’t stay like this forever. Before he could kiss me again, I asked, “What about everyone else? What did you mean about Mom not being able to do anything? Was she trying to help Phil?” I was worried about my brother, but I’d held off on asking Rafe about Philip because I was afraid of what he’d tell me. My powers had helped him somewhat, but it hadn’t been like when I healed Rafe or Evan. Philip needed to go to the hospital.
Maybe he’s on his way there now,
I thought. Charles would have called for an ambulance.

“She said the injury she received when she removed the parasite spell was preventing her from going after you.” Rafe looked worried. “I don’t think she’ll be able to help Phil. Or us,” he added.

I shut my eyes briefly and willed my heart to continue beating at a normal pace.
Charles will help Phil and Kain, and Rafe and I will get out of here. It’s fine. We’re fine.

“Gabi?” He touched me on the shoulder.

Opening my eyes, I smiled. “Sorry. Just imagining you chopping the demon’s head off. Speaking of that, where’s your sword?”

Looking strained, Rafe said, “Yeah, about that… I might have lost it when Collins knocked me away. And then everything went to shit when he tried to bring his demon army here, so I never had a chance to retrieve it.”

I didn’t get why that was such a big deal. “So just summon it again.”

“Um.” He pulled at his jacket’s collar.

I gave him a look. “Rafe Fitzgerald, please tell me you can bring your sword here!”

“It doesn’t work like that,” he explained sheepishly as he squirmed under my gaze. “Once you summon it, it’s here until you revoke the contract. Since I didn’t have a chance to do that before I came here…”

I groaned, imagining his sword lying on the ground, beyond the reach of my shadow palace.

“Sorry.” He ducked his head in embarrassment.

“Lucky for you, despite everything that was going on, I still managed to hold on to this.” I reached into my coat’s pocket and pulled out my knife. “Clearly I’m a better hunter than you.”

Rafe rolled his eyes.

“Think you can chop off its head with that?” I asked, passing it to Rafe.

His answering grin was pure hunter: feral and fierce. “It shouldn’t be a problem for me.”

“Is that what you think?” a new voice asked us.

We jumped to our feet as a swirl of shadows gathered in front of us, forming the body of good old Skinless. Like us, it was lit up so we could see it clearly, its pale body a sharp contrast to the darkness that surrounded it. I tested its new name a few times in my head and realized Rafe was right. With such a stupid name, the skeleton demon wasn’t as frightening as before.