The Sight Seer (24 page)

Chapter Forty-f
our

“Chloe!” I woke with a gasp, my sister’s name on my lips.

“Easy,” Rafe murmured, holding me tightly.
His face, equal parts sweaty and bloody, regarded me with an exhausted expression of pure relief. Helping me up into a sitting position, he hugged me to his chest.

“Chloe’s alright,” he said, nodding to the left with his head.
My sister was lying on her back, the rope that had been tied around her hands gone. She was breathing steadily and I sighed in relief. “A little bruised, but nothing major. Physically, I mean.”

I thought of the terrible things my sister must have seen, scared and alone.
My poor Chloe. “What can I possibly do for her? To fix this?”

Rafe pursed his lips together.
“There are spells the organization uses for cases like this. Spells to forget and spells to create false memories. We’ll have to create a story about those bruises. She fell down the stairs or something like that…” His voice dropped to a gentle murmur. “Do you want to use them on her? The choice is yours.”

I hugged myself.
“If I don’t, then she’ll know about demons and remember all the horrible things that happened to her. How can I do that to her?” I shook my head. “Do the spells, Rafe. I can’t let her live with these nightmares.”

“Alright, we’ll tell Evan when he gets back,” he said.
“He’s currently checking the rest of the building to make sure there aren’t any more stray demons lurking about. He actually volunteered to do so, which is crazy because Evan never volunteers for anything. Must be all that extra energy that’s swirling around inside of him.”

My eyes widened as my brain slowly pr
ocessed his words. “Evan!” I gripped Rafe’s arm desperately as an image of Evan, bloody and broken, flashed across my eyes. “Is he alright?!” I looked wildly about the room, searching for his body even though Rafe had
just
told me he was out scouting for demons.

Rafe chuckled.
“He’s fine, but he’ll probably be really insulted that you forgot about him until I mentioned his name.” He lifted his eyebrows. “I take it you don’t remember healing him?”

“A-Again?”
My voice rose about ten octaves as I stared at Rafe. I remembered wishing I could do something, but the actual act of healing? Nothing.

“Yes, again,” he said softly, running a finger down my cheek.
I shivered and he pulled me against his chest, kissing the top of my head. “It was weird, watching it from the sidelines this time. You sort of went into this trance and your hands were glowing with this strange, white light. It was brighter than anything, even brighter than the sun, and I had to look away. And in that time that I wasn’t looking, you must have managed to heal him, because the next thing I knew, you had fainted and Evan was completely healed.”

It was as if he were talking about a completely different person.
That wasn’t me,
my brain shouted.
It wasn’t real, not when I can’t remember any of it.
I covered my face with my hands. “This is nuts.”

“No, it’s not.
You saved Evan. I owe you so much! I could
never
repay you for everything you’ve done for us, Gabi.”

“And now he knows,” I said softly, remembering Rafe’s earlier warning to keep Evan in the dark.
Like that was an option when he was lying on the floor dying in front of me. Sorry Evan, can’t heal you because you can’t know the truth about me!

“Don’t worry, he’s fine with it,” Rafe said quickly.
I wished I could see his expression, but I was still pressed against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Something about the way he responded seemed a little off, but maybe I was just too tired and hearing things. It
did
feel as if I had been hit by a truck, and then the truck had gone in reverse just so it could run me over again for extra measure. You know, to make sure I was dead and all.

“How does my hair look?” I asked instead as I remembered that peculiar side effect from last time.

“Err.”

“Crap,” I muttered.
“Do I need to buy a bottle of hair dye?”

“Um.”

“Rafe, I swear to god—”

“It looks fine to me—”

“Yes, but that’s because you have an old lady fetish!” I interrupted hotly, finally breaking free of his embrace. I glared at him. “I’m covered in human and demon blood, my hair is probably completely white, and you think I look fine?!”

His eyes sparkled with amusement.
“Well, you did say I was nuts earlier…”             

“Because you were listening to that moron sprout
ing lies about you and your family!” I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest. “Clearly you must have hit your head or something during the battle because—”

He cut me off by pres
sing his lips hard against mine.

“W-what was that for?” I gasped after we pulled away.
What was with Rafe and kissing me right after I healed someone? I was always too weak and ended up with a spinning head and probably drool dribbling down my chin. Not exactly attractive. “That wasn’t for luck, right?”

He laughed softly.
“Not this time. Although I am pretty damn lucky to have met you that night.”

“Me too,” I said, knowing that it was true the moment I voiced the words.
“Even if I did lose about a million different outfits in the few short weeks I’ve known you.” I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “In the end, it was worth it.”

He smiled.

“But you so owe me about twenty desserts for tonight.”

His smile slipped a little.
“I’m going to have to get a job if I want to keep dating you. A real job, that pays something like fifty dollars an hour.”

“But I’m worth it, right?” I teased.
“You said so yourself!”

Instead of answering, he leaned over and kissed me again.

Epilogue

Hands shoved deep into his jacket’s pockets, Evan let the apartment building’s door slam shut behind him as he walked out into the crisp night air. It felt good to make some noise after all that sneaking around, but what he really wanted to do was run through every single spell he had ever learned and set them off in quick succession.

He felt
alive
. Better than alive. He felt powerful, immortal. Energy was coursing through every fiber of his being; he pulled a hand out of his pocket to make sure it wasn’t glowing.
What
had Gabi done to him?

Healed him.
Saved
him. Evan wasn’t a fool—even if he liked pretending to be one—he had been on the verge of dying. Things had started going hazy and cold as he bled his life out on the hardwood floor. Then
she
had been there, fierce determination shining through her tears, and she had—

He reached for the wound on his back, his shirt still sticky with his blood.
The skin was smooth under his fingers. There was no wound, no evidence besides the giant red stain on his clothes that suggested he had been hurt. Gabi had worked miracles with her fingers and apparently this wasn’t the first time, either.

Rafe had been there when Evan had woken up, Gabi cradled protectively in his arms.
He had regarded Evan calmly, which instantly roused Evan’s suspicion. If
he
had just witnessed Gabi healing Rafe, he was pretty sure his reaction would have been much different. It hadn’t taken much coaxing to get Rafe talking about the night she had saved his life, pride shaping his words as he stared at the girl wrapped in his embrace.

Evan pulled out a cigarette and lit it before taking a deep drag.
Apparently Rafe had planned on keeping this minor little detail a secret from him. He hadn’t said the real reason, just made up some stupid lie about how he wanted to get the facts straight before letting anyone know what Gabi was capable of.

“But she can
heal
people,” Evan had insisted, visions of Alexandra waking up already filling his mind. He was on his feet, ready to carry Gabi back to the hospital. He could have Alex back before the night was through!

Rafe’s green eyes darkened dangerously as he pulled Gabi closer to his chest.
With Davenport’s blood staining his cheeks and hands, Rafe looked like some sort of maniac, and Evan realized belatedly that he had said the wrong thing.

But he was buzzing with magic!
He could take Rafe. He could knock him out, grab Gabi and—

Evan shook his head; what was he thinking?
These were his friends! Rafe was practically his brother! He could never hurt them. But it wasn’t fair! Didn’t Rafe know how much he was hurting? He missed Alex’s voice, the way her nose crinkled when she laughed, and the feel of her warm hand clutching his as they walked into a demon’s nest together.

Together.
They weren’t together anymore. Not with her stuck in a hospital and him reduced to visiting her one goddamn night a week. How the hell was that fair? Rafe had Gabi, but Evan wasn’t even allowed to try and bring Alex back?

He could take him, he could so take him with one simple spell and then he could force Gabi—

No, stop it! What’s wrong with me?!

Evan jumped to his feet and Rafe’s gaze narrowed with suspicion.
“Where are you going?”

Flooded with conflicting thoughts, his head felt like it was about to split in two.
If he didn’t get out of there right now, something terrible was bound to happen.

Evan gave Rafe what he hoped was his usual cocky grin.
“Need to make sure the rest of the place is clear of demons. You can be the lucky one in charge of damage control when she wakes up.”

Doubt still lurked in Rafe’s eyes, but he smiled and said, “You just want to go smoke.”

Evan spread his hands in front of him. “Guilty as charged.”

He had practically raced down the stairs and outside, hoping the night air would cool his head.
How could he think of doing such a thing to his best friend?

But Alex—

No.

Yes.

He couldn’t do this much longer.
He needed her, alive and well and by his side again. But she would never forgive him if he hurt Rafe. There had to be another way.

There was.

He squeezed his eyes shut, instantly hating himself. But what other choice did he have?

Evan pulled his phone out with trembling fingers, scrolling through his contact list until he came to the name he was looking for.
His thumb hovered over the call button until he took a deep breath and smashed his finger down.

It rang once, twice—

“Yes?” One word that managed to convey a whole range of emotions: annoyance, dissatisfaction, and boredom. “This is very rare, you calling me. I thought you were through with us?”

Evan sucked in a shaky breath.
This was a bad idea, such a bad idea, but it was already too late. Might as well take the plunge off the side of the cliff. “I just stumbled across something I believe you’d be very interested in.”

Silence for a heartbeat.
And then, “Oh? Do tell.”

Evan told him everything.

* * *

Acknowledgements:

This book wouldn't be possible without the love and support of the people I’m lucky to have in my life.

Brittany Booker, for reading The Sight Seer and calling me one week later to change my life forever. I’m grateful to have you on my side and can’t wait to see where the future takes us.
SJ Davis, for welcoming me to Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly with opened arms. Elizabeth Anne Lance, for editing AND enjoying Seer, your comments made my day. Rue Volley for the gorgeous cover that I still can’t stop looking at.

Amy McNulty, best friend and beta reader extraordinaire. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thank you for answering my emails, for reading everything I throw your way (even when it’s 50,000 words too long), for flying through Seer and messaging me while I was on vacation to say how much you loved it, for helping me with the cover, and so, so much more. Come back to New York, I miss you.

Margaret, for laughing from page one of Seer. I’ll never forget you
r
email of exclamation points when I told you I was going to be published. Thanks for your crazy tweets, and the packages containing things that make me scream like the crazy fangirl that I am. You need to come back to New York too, preferably when Amy is here. We’ll have awesome times in the city together.

Molly, for having the best taste in books EVER, and for inspiring my writing through the years. We still have to finish writing that story, you know. Thanks for keeping me alive that one week in Tokyo (best week ever!).

Sam, for being my biggest Canadian fan. Thanks for bragging about me to published authors, I heart you so much.

Tom, for giving me valuable advice about querying and tolerating all of my mopey texts about how much I despised writing one. Thanks for always making me laugh. I can’t wait to read your books!

Dimitri and Kelli, for promising to share this book with EVERYONE. Thanks for being so excited for me.

Robin, Dawn, Sarah H, Sarah T, Cassie, Erin, Caitlin, Ed, Laurel, Crystalyn, Steph,
Merritt—you guys are the best. I’m so glad I get to share this journey with all of you!

My family, for always, always being there. Your reaction when I told you I snagged an agent is one
of my most precious memories.

To Mom, for sharing her love of reading, and to Dad, for sharing his love of the fantastic. Together, you created a writer. Thank you for everything. I love you.