The Shadow Stealer (Silver Moon Saga Book 3) (31 page)

Sure, it was currently holding us captive in its little funhouse, and it had come to collect my body so it could run around Earth doing unspeakable things, but each time I thought of the name “Skinless,” I had to hold back a snort of hysterical laughter.

Squeezing my hand once before letting go, Rafe positioned himself in front of me, the knife gripped in his left hand. I know he’d told me we’d be fine, but he
had
just finished battling Collins; would he be okay to fight again so soon? There was a bruise already forming on his chin, and his clothes were dirty and ripped.
At least he’s not bleeding
, I told myself. I’d seen Rafe bleeding to death enough times to last me two lifetimes, thank you very much.

“You would be good to stand aside, hunter,” Skinless said.

“That’s not happening.”

“I made a deal with that child’s mother. She is mine. She has been promised to me.”

I decided to speak up. “See, that’s not fair. I was only nine, and I had no say in the matter. Because if I did, I’d have told you to go kill yourself. Which you’re welcome to do. It would save my boyfriend a lot of trouble, not to mention our clothes. You guys are disgusting when you’re beheaded! All of that green blood—”

“Enough!” Skinless slashed one of its talons in the air, and both Rafe and I tensed in anticipation. But the demon didn’t charge; I think, like all the other evil people we kept meeting, it liked to hear itself talk. “It does not matter what you want. Your mother gave you to me, and I will have you. You can threaten me with your little knife, hunter, but I am older, stronger, and wiser than anything you have ever faced before. You will die, and I will force your girlfriend to watch every excruciating bit.”

“Oh my god,” I said to Rafe. “Skinless is so over-dramatic. It’s worse than Davenport
and
Collins!”

“I know, right?”

Skinless’s face tightened with anger. Without another word, it launched itself at Rafe, who met it without flinching. Rafe’s knife slashed in the air, and he just missed hitting Skinless’s ribcage. Would it even hurt? It wasn’t like there was any skin to pierce, just bone. Something told me those bones were a lot tougher than human bones. As strong as Rafe was, I didn’t think even a well-aimed kick would easily shatter any of them.

Again, I wished Rafe had brought his sword. At least that would be better than the puny knife I’d supplied him with!

I hated just standing around, doing nothing. There had to be something I could do to help. Like that time with the Boneless twins in the abandoned apartment building. While Rafe had been fighting the two of them at once, I’d discovered they shared a single shadow, which I’d plunged my knife into, giving Rafe ample time to kill the twins.

Wait a minute! Shadows!
I could have smacked myself in the forehead for forgetting such a simple thing: I had brought Rafe here by breaking through Skinless’s shadows. I just needed to do it again, only this time I needed to make a slit large enough for the two of us to go through.

It was hard, though, trying to concentrate on parting the shadows while my boyfriend fought Skinless only a few feet away. Rafe was starting to breathe hard, and his movements were slowing. When Skinless lashed out with a talon, making a neat slice on Rafe’s cheek, I nearly abandoned my efforts so I could run to his side.

That won’t help anyone! Just find a way out and go, go, go!

The shadows were even harder to hold than last time. They slipped away each time I went to grab them, and my frustration grew by the second.
Relax. Calm down. You’re too anxious; this isn’t going to work.
Going against my base instincts, I settled on the ground, closed my eyes, and tuned out the battle raging in front of me.

Skinless had made this tomb. Shadows seemed to be its thing. In both my dreams and reality, it was always emerging from them, or draping me with them… So what did that mean? Was the demon
made
of shadows? Was that how I’d been able to control them? Because it had claimed me? Instead of two separate beings, we’d someone joined together—and I couldn’t even finish that sentence on account of how creepy it sounded.

But I was on to something! My heart began racing as I furrowed my brow, stretching out my senses. Not only did the shadows surround us, but they should connect me
to
Skinless. If I could find that tether, that line that tied us together, I should be able to use it to my advantage.

I concentrated on my fingers. Whenever I’d healed, the power had flowed from my fingertips. If there was a tether, it would be there. Something brushed against the fingers on my right hand, feather light, and I jumped, startled.
That’s it!
I grabbed it with both hands, and pulled.

Skinless let out a bellow of rage. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was gripping a long, oval-shaped shadow in my hands. It stretched from me to the ground beneath Skinless, and the demon appeared to be having a difficult time moving.
I caught its shadow!
Wait, I caught its shadow? What the hell? Hadn’t I been trying to look for a way out of here?

Oh, well. Deciding to go with it, I yanked backward with all of my strength, and Skinless fell over. I let out a loud bark of laughter. After shooting me an incredulous look, complete with raised “
That was you?”
eyebrows, Rafe went in for the kill, his knife positioned over Skinless’s throat.

The demon’s arm shot up, grabbing Rafe’s hand and twisting. My boyfriend let out a choked noise of surprise, dropping the knife. After swatting it away, the demon’s other hand encircled Rafe’s throat and began squeezing.

“No!” I jumped to my feet, pulling the shadows, but nothing happened. “Stop! Let him go!”

“I told you what I want, little girl,” Skinless hissed. Rafe was beating against the hand that gripped his throat, but his attempts were useless. “Come willingly, and I will let the hunter go.”

He must think I’m the stupidest girl alive.
But Rafe’s face was turning purple; what choice did I have? Tossing the shadows aside, I said, “Fine. You win. Take me and let him go!”

Crowing, Skinless pushed Rafe away and smiled at me, showing off its crooked, yellow teeth. “Finally, you are showing some sense.” Coming over, the demon opened its arms as if to embrace me. I contemplated kicking it in its crotch, but considering there was nothing there, I figured that would do little to no damage.

So I settled on jabbing my fingers into its eyes. I missed with the left eye, but my finger pierced the right one (for the curious, it felt like stabbing my fingernail into a large, mushy grape, so yeah, really gross), and it screamed, first in surprise, and then in outrage. While it was busy carrying on, I grabbed the shadows again and yanked.

This time, I knew what I was looking for, or rather, which shadows not to grab, so when I pulled, there was a loud, satisfying rip, and the shadowy tomb began to break. The park (and really, really blinding bright light) appeared in fragments, growing sharper the harder I tugged. With one final pull, the shadows broke free, and the light claimed the darkness.

Skinless let out a shriek as it fell to the ground, covering its face with its hands.

“Take that, you asshole!” I snarled. “You and your stupid shadows can go to hell because I am the goddamn sun and I will steal your ass—”

“Gabi.” Rafe cut me off with a wary look. “What do you think about maybe saving your speech until after Skinless is dead?”

I pouted. “Okay, fine. You’re no fun, you know that?”

Shaking his head, Rafe picked up the knife and readied himself for round two.

Chapter Fifty-four

As soon as the shadow tomb broke, Mom was there, throwing her arms around me and hugging me hard enough that I had trouble breathing. “Gabi!”

I took a moment to hug her back before telling her, “Mom, I’m fine.” Glancing over her shoulder, I could see Philip and Kain still on the ground, with Charles standing over them as he talked on his phone. To the right of them was Alexandra with Evan’s head resting in her lap. I couldn’t tell if he was awake or not from where I stood, but I hoped for the former. Beyond Alexandra was Nina, who looked like she wanted to join them but was afraid Alexandra was going to kick her again. Charles spared me a glance and gave me a nod, letting me know he had things under control. I nodded in return and turned my attention back to Skinless. “But we need to kill the demon before it tries to capture me again.”

Mom pulled back to assess me. She still looked tired, but her eyes were hard and determined. “Agreed. But you’ve done enough, sweetheart. You rescued yourself—and Rafe—and now it’s my turn. Rafe, come here.”

Confused, my boyfriend hesitated. He’d been about to throw himself at Skinless (who was still carrying on about its precious eye, the big baby!), but he lowered his knife and joined us.

“What do you mean, now it’s your turn?” I asked nervously. “Mom, don’t do anything crazy, please. I mean, more crazy than usual, okay?”

Somehow, Mom managed to smile. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.” Pointing to Skinless, she said, “I’m going to offer myself in your place.”

“What?” I cried, horrified. That was about the last thing I expected her to say. “Mom,
no
! That’s the worst plan ever!”

“Morgan, I don’t think—” Rafe started to say.

“Trust me,” Mom insisted. “Please, Gabi, Rafe. This isn’t an ordinary demon. You can’t rely on brute strength to defeat it.”

“But isn’t letting the demon take over your body the opposite of defeating it?” I grabbed her uninjured hand and held it tightly, as if that could prevent her from carrying out her insane plan. “Mom, we only just got you back. Please don’t do something reckless.”

“Gabi,” she said, her eyes searching my face, “I would do
anything
for you and your siblings. I screwed up when the three of you were younger. I was selfish and reckless and heartless, and I’ve spent years regretting my mistakes.” To my surprise, she started crying, and she let go of my hand to wipe away her tears with her thumb. “But now? Now I was given a second chance to make things right. So please let me do this.” She reached for me again, squeezing my hand once before letting go. “The demon won’t be able to resist someone with my power, and then, when it least expects it…” She smiled grimly and drew a line over her throat. “Let’s just say, it’s in for a huge surprise.”

I wanted more details. Mom’s plan sounded so shaky, I had a hard time believing in it. But I knew we didn’t have time to hash things out. Skinless wouldn’t stand around forever. I’d managed to escape it once, but I didn’t think I’d be able to do that a second time.

Noticing my hesitation, Mom softly said, “Trust me, Gabi.”

I swallowed hard, my heart beating out of control in my chest. I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell her to let Rafe handle it, but in doing so, I more or less would be telling her that I
didn’t
trust her.

But I did. Now and forever.

Giving her a small nod, I said, “Finish this, Mom.”

As if trying to memorize my face, she stared at me for a few more seconds before turning around and walking over to Skinless. “Hello, demon. Did you miss me?”

Skinless stopped rubbing at its eyes to slowly look up. Green rivets of blood flowed from one of its sockets, and I tried not to think about the blood that was on my hands and, ick, under my fingernails. Skinless smiled. “Ah, my old master. You’ve come to watch me take your daughter?”

“No, I’ve come to offer myself in her stead.” Skinless paused to consider this, and Mom took advantage of its hesitation to keep talking. “Besides the Sight, my daughter has no power. She’s not a sorcerer. But
I
am. Besides, you already know I’m strong because I was able to summon
you
.”

As Skinless’s silence stretched longer and longer, I was convinced it was going to refuse and demand me instead. But to my surprise, it nodded and said, “You make a good point, human. You will be much more useful than your daughter.” Flashing me a wicked grin, it curled its fingers toward its body and the invisible tether that linked us together was ripped harshly away. I screamed. The pain was horrible, like having your limb torn off, and I would have fallen if Rafe hadn’t caught me in time.

He lowered me to the ground, supporting me in his arms as we watched the demon launch itself at Mom. Instead of attacking, Skinless faded into shadows that quickly enveloped her entire body.
Mom, no!
I wish I hadn’t told her I trusted her. I wish I’d told her to come up with a better plan, because watching Skinless take my mom away, presumably to its shadow tomb, was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.

“Rafe, what did I do?” Was I really losing her again?

But instead of disappearing, the shadows started recoiling wildly. They smashed against the snow on the ground, sending ice crystals flying in all directions. Mom’s body pitched backward, and she fell to the ground with a low moan. I screamed her name.

The shadows receded, forming Skinless once more. The demon lay on the ground, panting loudly and looking even more horrible than usual. It retched violently, and green blood splattered across the snow. “You,” it snarled, pointing a talon at Mom. “You tricked me!”

“Of course.” Mom struggled to her feet, smiling coldly. “You think I would go to you willingly?” She lifted her right hand. It was still wrapped, but the bandages were fraying and dirty, and blood was beginning to seep through. “How did you like my present?”

Present? What present? What was she talking about?

The demon groaned, trying to get up. “Demon magic.” It threw up again, more vile green blood spilling from its mouth. “You bitch.”

Demon magic?
Wait— Mom had injured her hand when she helped remove the parasite spell from Rafe. Did that mean, all this time, the spell had been inside of
her
? I thought she’d gotten rid of it completely! Why hadn’t she said anything?

“Now, now,” Mom said, breathing heavily. “No need to call me names. In fact, I think it’s time you shut up. For good.” She nodded in our direction. “Rafe, if you could.”

Before Rafe could stand up, the demon struck Mom with its spikey, thin tail, impaling her.

Time slowed.

I watched, unable to blink or breathe or move, as Mom made a little sound of surprise and fell to her knees. Her back was to us, but I could perfectly picture the look of stunned astonishment on her face. Skinless yanked its tail out of her chest and she fell over, a pool of blood rapidly forming around her body.

Shouting, Rafe tackled Skinless to the ground and stabbed the demon in the throat with his knife. He twisted, and the knife scraped against the bone, making a horrible, shiver-inducing noise that would stay with me forever. Skinless shrieked as green blood bubbled up from the wound. It batted at Rafe with its arms, but my boyfriend held onto the knife and yanked as hard as he could, his biceps straining with the effort.

Skinless, already weakened from the demon magic in its blood, stopped struggling, and with a final roar, Rafe yanked the knife through its boney neck, severing its head.

And then time began moving at normal speed again.

“Mom!” Crawling to her side, I turned her over, pressing my hands against her chest, trying to stem the bleeding as hot, crimson blood flowed from the deep wound. “No, no, no. No!” In the distance, I could hear the sirens, but I didn’t know if they were close enough. Would they make it in time?

They had to.

They
had
to.

I couldn’t lose her.

Not again.

My life—my world— Everything was breaking, and I was powerless to stop it.

“Shh, Gabi.” Mom covered her hands with mine and weakly smiled up at me. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” I said hysterically. “This is my fault, and I’m sorry, so sorry—”

“Honey,” Mom said, “I told you. This was my second chance to make things right. To finally act like a mom.” She coughed up blood. “A
good
mom. That demon never would have left you alone. I had to trick it… I had to stop it so you could have a chance to grow up and live your life.” She sighed softly. “I just wish I could have seen it.”

“Don’t you
dare
talk like that,” I said fiercely. “You’re not dying, Mom. Do you hear me? The ambulance coming, and they’re going to take you to the hospital, and you’re going to live. You’re going to see me go to prom, and graduate high school, and get married. You’re going to see all of that. You’re not going to die!”

Her hand found mine, but she was too weak to squeeze. “Gabi, I’ve been dying since I took the spell out of Rafe.” Mom’s words were slow and slurred. “That’s why I was heading back to Manhattan; I was looking for a cure.”

“Why?” I asked, crying. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s a parent’s job to worry, not her child’s.”

“But you said you were fine!”

Mom coughed again before responding. “There’s always a price with magic. I couldn’t… save Rafe without sacrificing something in the process. His vision, his strength.” She shook her head. “That boy has…suffered enough, just like you. I gladly took the spell for him, hoping I could… figure out a cure before it was too late.” Her head lolled back as she stared at someone behind me. Without looking, I knew Rafe was standing there, listening to every word she was saying. “But then…everything happened and… I’m glad I didn’t go back to the city. If Collins or that demon had hurt you…” Mom trailed off, her eyes closing.

“Mom,” I said, shaking her slightly. “Mom, stay with me.”

Her voice was so soft I had to lean closer so I didn’t miss a word. “You’re safe now. No one will ever come after you again, my Gabiella… Do you know why I named you… that?”

My throat was too tight to answer, so I shook my head.

“I always knew I was going to have a daughter that was so unique, so special. I… don’t know how I knew… I just did. I needed a name…that was also unique and special.” She struggled for air. “You… and Chloe… and Philip… You are the greatest things I’ve ever done. Tell them I love them.”

“Tell them yourself,” I said stubbornly. I refused to believe she was dying.

“Gabi… I love you…” Mom’s eyes fluttered shut. She sighed quietly and then…

Nothing.

“Mom.” I watched her, waiting for her to move or start speaking again. “Mom.” Still nothing. “Mom!”

“Gabi.” Rafe reached for me and I shrugged him off.

“No.
No.
She’s fine. Rafe, she’s fine, she’s going to live—I can’t, I can’t—”

“Gabi!” He pulled me away, despite my struggles, cradling me to his chest.

The sirens were getting louder. “The ambulance is coming. Rafe, I need to keep applying pressure until the EMTs get here—”

“Shh, Gabi…”

Charles appeared. He knelt next to Mom, his fingers feeling for a pulse on her neck. When his face crumpled and he looked away—that’s when I knew.

Mom was dead.

And my world was shattered.