Page 49 of Heal Me

“Because you had your incident, then got hooked up with this new friend, Aubry, and now this new boyfriend. I’m concerned.”

“Oh my Lord, for future reference, it wasn’t an incident!” I practically shout.

Luckily our server comes with the check. Dad insists on paying, and Gabe doesn’t argue, turning back into the easygoing southern gentleman. But it’s a façade; I can feel the anger radiating off him from where I’m sitting.

We walk outside and the valet brings around Dad’s rental. “Charlotte, please do something for me,” Dad says. “Fill out the deferment paperwork, even if you have zero intention of going to medical school. Think of it as an insurance policy you hope to never need. You at least owe me that much.” He turns his attention to Gabe. “I’m sorry if I offended you. I only have my daughter’s best interests at heart. I hope to see more of you in the future. You’ll both come visit me in Boston.”

“Not if I have to endure more talk of the Big Ten,” Gabe ribs.

“Count on it,” my dad says with a handshake.

My car is brought around and I hop in the passenger’s seat. The silence is deafening on the drive back to my apartment. We walk inside and I lock the door. “What was it that set you off?” I tried to wait Gabe out, but I can wait no more. “The background check? I apologize for my dad doing that, by the way. That was so out of bounds.”

Walking upstairs to my room, he takes a seat on the foot of my bed, loosening his tie. “I can’t fault your dad for checking me out. His reasoning was sound.”

“So what’s this about a sister? Gabriella?”

“Gabby.”

“Why have you never mentioned Gabby?”

“She’s dead.”

“Gabe, I’m so sorry,” I say as I take a seat beside him.“You don’t have to tell me any more if you don’t want to.”

He’s quiet for a moment. Finally, he says, “What I’m about to tell you can’t leave this room.”

Chapter 21

Gabe

Eight years earlier…

“Why do I have to be fluent in a dead man’s language?” I complain, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a piece of chalk in hand, trying to draw a simple summoning circle.

“Ex nihilo nihil fit.” My magic tutor, Kabel, narrows his eyes. The angel has a thinly veiled disdain for me—my guess is because I’m a Nephilim, not a pureblood Watcher. Whatever Kabel’s reason, I subject myself to his ill temper because the angel knows his stuff.

“Nothing comes from nothing,” I translate.

He nods. “Don’t be so fucking lazy. You want to manipulate energy to do your bidding, then you’ve got to put in the work,” he says, pointing a birch wand at me.

“But why use Latin?”

“Just as you said. It is a dead man’s language, so these words of power haven’t been corrupted by everyday use. That’s why priests uses Latin in the rite of exorcism—not because the ‘devil’ hates Latin, but because the words still hold tremendous power. Now stop complaining and focus,” he says, thumping me in the back of the head with the wand so hard I fly out of my unfinished circle, landing on my face. One day I’ll put Kabel in his place. I’m only sixteen, so that day probably won’t be today. But one day, I vow.

Pulling myself off my ass, something moves in my peripheral vision. Amer appears, thank fuck. “Don’t even think about stealing him; he needs to study,” Kabel warns.

“But don’t you want to play with your new toy?” Amer says, now holding a gorgeous longsword, presenting it to Kabel with his outstretched hands.

“Go,” Kabel tells me, taking the sword and twisting it with his wrist, making it sing. “I need to gear up for my mission anyway.”

“Thank you,” I tell Amer when we’re outside.

“Turek and I are going out for a little R and R later. I’ll see if we can talk Kabel into meeting up with us. If anyone needs to get laid, it’s his grumpy ass.”

“Hey, don’t be talking like that in front of my baby brother,” Gabby says, now walking beside us carrying a large box.

Using my power, I take it from her. “I’m not a baby, and you shouldn’t be doing any heavy lifting with the baby.” Now it’s my turn to chastise.

---