The Soul Healer (22 page)

“Uh, the only way that is happening is if you buy me a meal
and
dessert.”

Philip rolled his eyes. “Duh, that’s what your boyfriend is for.”

“No, that’s what
all
my friends are for,” I told him with a smile.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re extremely high maintenance?”

Before I could respond (with something snarky), the elevator arrived again, the doors opening with a low chime. Inside, Kain leaned against the wall, studying his nails with a bored look on his face. “Going down?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Yeah,” Philip said, letting me go in first. He waited until the doors shut before pressing the button for th
e first floor. I swallowed hard, but said nothing.

As the elevator began its descent, Kain quietly said, “I’m placing a spell on both of you, similar to a glamour. Anyone looking at you won’t see you. It won’t quite trick a hunter with the Sight; they’ll notice
something
, but there’s a second layer to the spell that tells them to ignore it. Hopefully by the time they realize something’s amiss, you’ll be on your way to Penn.”

“Okay,” Philip said, looking pale and sweaty.

“I’m afraid the magic is going to make you a bit peaky, Philip,” Kain continued, “but the spell will wear off rather quickly, so move fast. Or, as fast as you can while knackered.”

Philip’s mouth hung open. “I only understood half of what you just said. Since when did you revert to being British?”

“English,” Kain corrected with a cocky smile, letting his accent show. Philip stared at him like a star-struck fanboy, and I elbowed him in the side to bring him back to reality.

He gave me an evil look. “What?”

“Sorry for interrupting,” I said with an evil look of my own, “but have you forgotten the mission? Or should I just leave you two a—”

Philip clapped a hand over my mouth,
his eyes flashing warning threats at me. I gave him my best innocent look, but he didn’t remove his hand until the elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened to reveal the lobby.

“Have a good night,” Kain said, tipping his head
toward us. “And do try to stay alive, won’t you?”

As soon as I stepped out into the lobby, the good mood I had experienced from bantering with Philip evaporated. My heart started racing again. I wanted a few moments to gather my nerves, but Philip hooked a hand under my elbow and steered me
toward the front doors, which were directly across from us.

The lobby was a long rectangular room, with a shiny brown-and-gold patterned floor and a high, vaulted ce
iling. The cream-colored walls were bare, and besides a couple of mahogany tables with fake potted plants (fake?! The horror! I could see the waxy, dust-covered leaves from across the room, and they made me grit my teeth in annoyance. How hard was it to get a couple of real plants and water them from time to time? Stupid lazy hunters.), the room was absent of furniture. I imagined at one time there had been an area set up for customers checking in or out of the hotel, with maybe a long desk and some comfortable chairs, but that most have all been removed once Silver Moon had taken over.

We passed a door on our right, and behind the window pane, I could see a set of stairs. I had actually been secretly scared that Philip was going to suggest we use the stairs instead of the elevator. I definitely wouldn’t have made it more than a flight or two before asking him to carry me.

It was a good thing we were taking the subway to Penn Station. All that walking? No thanks! Philip had said it wasn’t that far, but I knew he was lying. Manhattan blocks were like, five times the length of normal blocks. Not far my butt.

The lobby seemed like it was miles long as we cautiously made our way along the length of it. I kept expecting a hunter to pop up and demand to know what we were doing, but somehow we made it to the door without anything happening. Philip and I exchanged a quick glance before he reached for the door and pushed it open
. I had been hoping they had one of those cool revolving doors, but it was just two normal doors, how boring. And yes, I was totally focusing on the wrong things. If I didn’t, I’d probably start screaming, throwing up, or having a panic attack. Or maybe all three at once! Four steps led to the pavement, and then we were there.

Outside of HQ.

We did it.

“Don’t start celebrating yet,” Philip muttered, pulling me down the street once more. I wanted to stand around, gawking at the apartment buildings and all their pretty holiday decorations as I fully comprehended the fact that I had escaped from HQ. But Philip was right, we should at least, you know, walk away from the building before jumping up and down with glee. With my luck, Charles was looking out one of the windows right now, and he’d see me shaking my butt.

That particular thought had me power-walking down the block.

I glanced over my shoulder at HQ, to see if anyone was chasing us, but the street was empty.
The building is actually really nice looking
, I thought with surprise. I guess I had expected a dark and gloomy castle, but instead, with its old-fashioned architecture, it looked like a hotel I would want to stay at.

The front door was flanked with four columns, and each column had large, rectangular lanterns mounted on them. They were lit with light bulbs (boo, boring!), illuminating the pavement and part of the building with a soft, yellow glow. Above the columns was some swirly type of design, and possibly text, too, but it was too dark and we were already too far away for me to make it out. The brick building stretched twelve floors
high, with rows of windows on each floor. There were more designs by the roof, but we turned a corner before I could study it any further.

And honestly? Pretty or not, I would not mind one little bit if that was the first and last time I ever saw HQ
’s exterior.

“We’re on
Eighteenth Street right now,” Philip explained as we continued walking, “and we have to get to Thirty-fourth.”

“A
.k.a. a million miles away.”

He gave me a look. “We’ll take the subway at
Sixteenth, get out at Penn, catch the Amtrak train that I already bought tickets for, and, in a few hours, you’ll be home.” Philip’s hand found mine and squeezed it reassuringly.

I squeezed back, trying to ignore the flock of butterflies that had suddenly hatched in my stomach. The light turned green and, still holding hands, Philip and I crossed the street.

Chapter Thirty-five

A strong wind blew, but I barely felt the cold as Philip and I walked down Eighth Avenue, heading for the subway station. I was focused on the fact that we had left—easily, too—and were on our way home. We would head straight to Rafe’s apartment (since, thanks to Evan’s rude magical assault, I was without my house keys
or
my phone), explain the situation, and figure out our next move. I also hoped there would be time for some make up kissing, but Rafe would probably be too embarrassed with Philip hanging around.
Although after watching him flirt with Kain, Philip totally owes me some PDA of my own with Rafe!

We passed a few pedestrians, and some stores were still open, but I knew if it had been earlier in the day, it would have been much more crowded with last minute holiday shoppers. Nina had actually pointed out that it would be easier to blend in with the crowd, but Philip didn’t think we would have been able to escape without being noticed during the day. So middle of the night it was. At least the trains and stuff were still running, although I imagined we would have been able to get a taxi to Penn…

Speaking of Nina, we should have met her by now. At least, I thought so. I forgot what block she was supposed to be on. I glanced over at Philip, wondering if I should ask him, when I noticed how pale he looked. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“It’s
Kain’s damn spell,” he grumbled. “It’s getting weaker, but I still feel like I need to hurl. Peaky my ass. What the hell does that even mean, anyway?”

I shrugged. “I dunno, it’s probably British
for, ‘the intense need to puke’. You know how polite they are.”

“It’s not polite, it’s weird,” Philip said.

“Really.” I eyed him carefully. “Then why did you look like you were about to swoon when he used his accent? His real one, I mean.”

“I wasn’t swooning!” Philip scowled. “I’m not some stupid girl in a romance novel, okay?”

“Gabi!”

I halted in my tracks, whipping my head to the right. Philip stopped as well. “What’s the matter?”

“Did you hear that?” I demanded, turning in a slow circle. Someone had shouted my name—I had
heard
it, I knew I had. Where had it come from? Up? Down? Behind me?

Had it been Nina?

“No, I didn’t hear anything.” Philip tugged at my hand, pulling me forward a few steps. “Gabi, we can’t stop moving. If we stop, someone—”

A figure in black with a hood drawn over his face darted up to us, quick as a flash. Just as fast, Philip shoved me behind him as he raised a hand, catching the other person’s fist before it could collide with his face. They struggled for a few moments, and then Philip pushed the other person away. The hood fell down, revealing Jonathan. My stomach clenched in fear. How had he found us?

“Hey, babe,” he said to me, winking. “Did you miss me?”

“Gabi, run!” Philip said. I paused only for a moment (I was going to get
so
lost!), then took off in the direction we were heading, hoping the subway was close by (not that I knew which train I needed to take). I got about ten feet before another figure—Scott—emerged from the shadows and grabbed me. I screamed as loud as I could, but when none of the pedestrians reacted, I knew someone from Silver Moon had thrown a veil over us.

No wonder Philip had looked so sickly! If magic made him sick, then veils must, too! And without the ability to use magic, he hadn’t been able to sense it. We had walked straight into a trap!

As Scott dragged me back the way I had come, I bleakly wondered what had happened to Nina. I didn’t see her, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been captured.

I hoped she was okay.

Philip and Jonathan were currently duking it out, looking more like two pro boxers than teenage boys. For every punch Philip threw, Jonathan returned with one of his own, smirking. I felt a flash of rage. They were cheating! If Philip was at full strength, he wouldn’t have had any problem destroying both Jonathan and Scott. “Jerks,” I muttered.

“What was that?” Scott said, pulling me closer. “You’re in big trouble, Healer. Director Adler isn’t happy with you, not one bit.”

“Screw him and screw you,” I snarled.

He ran a hand down my cheek and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Is that a promise?”

God, he was so stupid. Hadn’t he learned anything from our first encounter? Rolling my eyes, I lifted up my foot and slammed it down on his. This time I was wearing sneakers instead of slippers, so it only hurt him and not me. As Scott howled and hopped on one foot, I turned around and kicked him right between the legs.

“Touch me again and I’ll throw you into traffic,” I said, balling my hands into fists. “And
that’s
a promise, you asshole.”

A hand clamped down on my arm and I whirled, ready to punch Jonathan in his stupid, smug face. But it was Philip, not Jonathan, and he shouted, “Come on!”

We raced down the street, away from the two hunters. “How many more blocks?” I panted.

“The subway is on the corner of the next one!” Philip pointed and we increased our speed.

“How did they find us? And where’s Nina? Did they get her, too?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know! The only thing we can do is keep—” He broke off with a curse, suddenly yanking me into traffic. We narrowly avoided being clipped by a taxi as we crossed the street. The driver hadn’t see
n us, thanks to the veil, no doubt.

“
Are you trying to get us killed!” I tried to dig my heels into the pavement, but Philip was way too strong for me. “Wait! I may not be a city dweller, but even I know we’re walking right past the entrance to the subway!”

“Jerome,” Philip said, as if that explained everything.

“What?”

“Jerome was there, waiting by the subway entrance! That means they knew we were planning on taking that train, and there are probably more hunters downstairs. I’m not fighting anyone on a subway platform—one wrong move and…” Philip trailed off to curse a few more times as he brought us down another street. We dove into a darkened doorway of a closed restaurant, my back pressed against the steel door as Philip peered out into the street. Our gasping pants filled the air
as we tried to catch our breath. I struggled to process what he had just told me. The hunters had been lying in wait for us. How had they known?

“Did Jerome see us? He had to have seen us,” I said. We had been so obvious, racing straight into traffic!

“No.” Philip hesitated. The grave look on his face froze the blood in my veins. “Nina…was with him.”