The Shadow Stealer (Silver Moon Saga Book 3) (34 page)

I was thankful to Jared for giving me that folder, and I was even more thankful that Philip convinced me to read it with him. We spent hours pouring over the papers, and then a few weeks later, more of Mom’s writing—this time in journals—arrived on my porch.

Once a week, Philip and I sat in my bedroom and read through the journals together. He and Kain were spending so much time here that Kain had started looking for a place to live. But Philip was reluctant to leave Manhattan, now that he and Charles were on better terms. Even though he’d moved out of HQ, he was there all the time. Charles had been dealing with his grief over Mom’s death by throwing himself headfirst into his work. Not only was he working on restoring HQ, but he was also teaming up with other Silver Moon directors and hunters to weed out any traitors like Collins. Nina, of all people, was leading an investigation out in California, where she now lived with her brother. After being tricked by Collins, she was determined to prevent that from happening to anyone else. “This organization, despite its flaws, is still needed,” Charles had told me. “We can’t let people like Collins destroy it. I won’t allow it.” I think, secretly, he hoped Philip would follow in his footsteps and one day become the director of the New York HQ. While I didn’t think that’s what my brother wanted, whatever Philip decided on doing, I had his back, just like he had mine.

After posing for a few pictures, Kain wandered back downstairs to give me a moment alone with Philip. I surprised Philip by hugging him tightly for a long moment. “Gabi?” he asked.

“I’m glad you’re here.” My eyes started burning, and I blinked rapidly. “Oh, crap.”

“What?” He looked at me worriedly.

“If I start crying and ruin my makeup, Chloe will
kill
me. Like, legit murder me.”

“Then stop crying!”

The doorbell rang again before I could tell him it wasn’t that easy to just stop crying, not when I was filled with such a sense of gratitude. My brother flashed a crooked grin. “I guess Rafe’s here.”

We listened to the door opening. Once again, groans of disappointment floated up the stairs. “False alarm!” Kain shouted up to us. “It’s just some pillock no one cares about!”

“Excuse me?” Evan’s voice rang out. “What the hell did you just call me, Irish Boy?”

“First of all, I’m
English
—”

“Same difference,” Evan interrupted.

Even from upstairs we could hear Kain sigh dramatically. “This, Underwood, is
exactly
why you’re a daft pillock.”

I sent Philip a pointed look that translated to, “Do something before they kill each other!” Cupping his hands to his mouth, Philip hollered, “Stop using words no one else understands, Kain!” There was some grumbling from downstairs, and Philip shook his head. “At least Evan sounds like he’s doing better.”

“Yeah, he’s coping,” I replied. “Just like the rest of us.”

“How come he didn’t come with Rafe?” Philip wanted to know.

I gave him a sour look. “You’re kidding, right? Do you
know
how many dates he’s crashed! If he hadn’t come here in his own car, he’d figure out a way to hitch a ride with me and Rafe and come to prom with us!”

I heard footsteps on the stairs, and then Evan’s familiar blond head appeared. He whistled approvingly when he saw me. “Gabi, look at you. Although you’re lucky I didn’t wear the same thing today because I’d definitely outshine you.”

I pretended to sock him in the arm. “You would
not
look hot in a dress, Evan.”

“How do you know that?” he asked. “Have you ever seen me wear one?”

Philip laughed. “That’d be interesting.” He nodded at Evan. “How are you holding up?”

Evan shoved his hands into his pockets and tilted his head to the side. “I’m all right. It’s there, the magic. I can feel it. It’s just…” There was a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke, as if he was here with us, but also in a different place, where it was just him and the magic. “It’s not ready to come back. Not yet.”

“It will,” Philip said. “You’ll get it back. I know you will.”

“It’s okay if I don’t.” Evan’s face went uncharacteristically serious. “I knew what I was doing when I unleashed it.” He grinned, killing the moment. “Saving your asses.”

Philip rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for that. I’m heading downstairs. Try not to make Gabi cry. It’ll ruin her makeup and Chloe will kill her.”

“We can’t have that,” Evan said as he swung an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a half-hug. “Look at you, all grown up in your pretty green dress. I think
I’m
going to cry.”

“Can’t you ever be serious?”

“Actually, I can.” Evan squeezed my shoulder before letting go. “I need to thank you. I know you said something to Alex, after all this stuff happened. Something to convince her to take me back.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded.

“Thank you,” he whispered as his blue eyes searched my face. “Gabi,
thank you
. I don’t think you realize how much I needed her to— Just how much I
needed
her.”

“I
do
realize. You made a mistake, but I told you before: I know why you did it. And it’s not fair for you to spend the rest of your life suffering for one mistake. You love her, and she loves you, and you’d be the biggest idiots in the world if you weren’t together.” I flashed him a wicked smile. “Besides, I doubt there’s anyone else who can deal with you.”

“What?” Evan looked incredulous. “I’ll have you know that I have a huge fanbase—”

“Oh, shut up,” I said with a laugh as I pushed him away. “You are so delusional!”

“
Whatever
, Gabi. Just know—if Rafe and Alex didn’t exist, you and me would totally be a thing.” He pointed at himself, then at me, and then raised two fingers entwined together. “We’d be like this.”

“We’d be like fingers?”

“No, we’d be inseparable!” he said with exasperation.

I shuddered. “No, thank you!” Me and Evan inseparable? Something told me he’d drive me so crazy I’d end up throwing him out the window!

“Why are you shivering? Are you picturing us together, alone—”

“Don’t you
dare
finish that sentence!” I shoved him toward the stairs. “Go away! I need to, uh—pee.”

Evan complied, although I could still hear him talking about how great he was as he went downstairs. I shook my head.
What an idiot.
At least he wasn’t letting his broken magic get to him. I knew Alexandra played a big part in that by distracting him with other things… And he’d never been serious about hunting, not like Rafe was. When Evan said he was okay with the magic not coming back, he actually meant it.

Silence settled over me as I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. With Evan gone, my earlier nerves came back full force. Why was I so nervous? It wasn’t like this was our first dance. And it was
just
prom. A nice dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant before heading over to his school for the dance.

I knew why, though. I wasn’t nervous about prom—I was nervous about where we were going beforehand.

“You can do this,” I told myself, wringing my hands together. When the doorbell chimed again, I knew who was waiting on the porch. Taking a deep breath, I descended the stairs.

Rafe had his back to me and was laughing loudly over something Evan had said. Watching everyone I loved gathered in the front room, I took a moment to treasure the sight. Life was so short, so precious. I wanted to remember this scene forever.

When Rafe turned, seeing me for the first time, a hush settled over the room. He looked so handsome in his black tux with his thick hair slicked back that I was momentarily struck speechless. From the dazed look on his face, it was safe to assume Rafe was going through the same experience.

I descended the stairs without tripping, which was a major accomplishment for me, and met him at the bottom. Rafe captured my hand in his, looking like he had no intention of ever letting go as he leaned over to whisper in my ear, “You look gorgeous.”

“I told you the dress would make your head explode.”

He laughed. “It really might do just that.”

“Oh my god,” Penny exclaimed. “At least wait until you’re alone before you start tearing each other’s clothes off. Did you remember to pack condoms in your bag, Gabi?”

Rafe and I broke apart, blushing as everyone in the room began laughing. Well, everyone but Dad, who was eyeing Rafe sternly. I stomped over to my supposed best friend and began whacking her with the aforementioned bag. Squealing, she ducked behind Harrison, who held up his hands in surrender.

“Really, I should
let
her hit you,” Harrison said.

“Traitor!” Penny complained.

“I always knew I could count on you,” I told Harrison with a wink.

Dad got up from the couch, his camera in hand. “Come on, let me get some pictures of the two of you.”

“Actually, can we go out to the garden?” I asked. “With everything blooming, it looks really nice.”

Both Dad and Rafe smiled. After Rafe slid a corsage of white carnations onto my left wrist, everyone trooped outside. Dad filled up his memory card snapping pictures of not just us, but our friends as well. I already knew I was going to have to buy at least ten new frames so I could properly display the photos.

Finally, Dad let us go, but not before reminding us again of my curfew. He also leaned over to whisper something in Rafe’s ear, and I swore I heard the words “demon hunting.”
Oh my god!
I couldn’t make a big scene because of Chloe, Penny, and Harrison, but Dad was definitely going to hear it from me tomorrow!

As if I would ruin this ultra-expensive dress by getting green blood on it.

Rafe and I were quiet as we got into Rafe’s car. Before he started up the engine, he squeezed my hand and looked at me. “Okay?”

My eyes went to the scar on his cheek. It had faded to a thin silver line, an eternal reminder of our battle with Skinless, and how easily it could have been much worse if Mom hadn’t sacrificed herself for us. “Just a little nervous,” I answered truthfully.

“If you want to change your mind about going there…” He let the rest of his sentence hang in the air between us.

“No. I can’t keep avoiding this. Besides, she wanted to see us dressed up.” I leaned my head back, not touching the headrest because I didn’t want to mess up my hair, and gathered my courage. “Let’s go see Mom, Rafe.”

***

Rafe pulled into the parking lot of the park, the car’s tires crunching over the gravel. With the weather so gorgeous, I’d been afraid he wouldn’t be able to find a spot, but he ended up nabbing the very last one. I smiled, wondering if Mom had something to do with that.

We got out of the car, and I paused, resting my hand against the doorframe. The last time I’d been here, everything had been covered in snow. Now, the grass was a brilliant green, the sky was a deep blue with only tiny, wispy clouds scattered across it, and people were everywhere, fishing in the lake, playing Frisbee, or simply laying on the grass, soaking in the sun.

The last time I’d been here, I’d seen death firsthand. Now, I saw life everywhere, from the little toddler teetering toward his dad to the birds circling overhead.

Rafe, always patient and understanding, waited for me to gather my thoughts. When I was done reflecting, I nodded and he offered me his arm. I knew from the looks we were getting that we were out of place, but I quickly learned to ignore them. I wasn’t here for them.

I was here for Mom.

My pulse picked up as we neared the lake. How many nights had I dreamed of this place? How many times had I relived what had happened here? Was I standing in the spot where Philip had nearly died? Was that where Rafe had fought Collins?

And this spot—was this where Mom had died?

But despite what had happened this was still Mom’s place. That’s why I’d chosen to come here today, instead of the cemetery.

We paused in front of the lake, away from a group of people fishing. Afraid of ruining my heels, I didn’t walk up to the water’s edge but lingered a few feet away. Two ducks swam by, quacking softly to one another. I smiled and pushed back a curl that had flown into my face.

“Hi, Mom,” I said softly as Rafe squeezed my hand gently. “Here we are, on our way to prom.” I gestured to the two of us. “How do we look? You said you wanted to see us dressed up, right? What do you think? My dress is hot, right?”

“So hot,” Rafe murmured in agreement. Leaning over, he planted a kiss on my cheek before walking away to give me a moment.

“So…” I ran my hands over the tulle, nervously fidgeting with one of the rhinestones. “This is the first time I’ve come back here because…well, because I’m a coward, I guess. I know you said you loved this place, but after what happened, it’s become filled with bad memories.” I swallowed hard against a lump in my throat, silently commanding myself not to cry. “I wish I could just forget them and remember the good stuff, like you, me and Chloe coming here to feed the ducks, but it’s impossible. I can’t forget.