Page 79 of Heal Me

“Not funny.”

“Sorry, it’s not funny.”

I hear the doorbell ring. “I’ve got to go.”

“Bust some Watchers’ balls. But at least give Cupid the chance to explain before you bust his.”

I make no promises as I hang up and walk to the front door. “Go away,” I yell at Turek.

“Charlotte, please just forget what I told you.”

“Not a chance!” Although it occurs to me I’m trapped in this house. The moment I go outside, Turek’s going to pounce, and I’m not in the mood to see if I’m the first human in history to withstand his mind-bending power.

Texting Dad that I’m home, he responds that he’ll stop and get takeout for dinner, and should be home around eight. Hopefully Turek will have given up by then.

My phone rings and I answer. “You make it to Boston alright?” Gabe asks.

“I need you to come to Dad’s house right now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Can you teleport inside the house?”

“Of course. I didn’t ward myself out. Charlotte, tell me what’s—”

I hang up, and Gabe is standing beside me a second later with a concerned look on his face. He tries to grab me, but I jerk away. “You knew my middle name was Jasmine before I told you. That’s why you gave me jasmine flowers on our first date.”

“Yes, I knew your middle name,” he cautiously replies.

“What else did you learn from my therapist’s notes? Did you sit around with Sam and all the Watchers and read my file together? Did everyone love hearing about the woman who was kidnapped and raped, how funny it is that she has body insecurities and daddy issues?” I practically shout at him.

He starts to say something, but I’m on a roll. “Did you learn all about my weaknesses so that you could pick me up? Was winning me over a game? The Watchers’ version of entertainment?”

His skin begins to shimmer as he shifts into his angelic form. “Look at me,” he says as he grabs my chin with a shaky hand.

“Charlotte!” Turek bangs on the door and holds the doorbell button down to where it’s continuously ringing.

“Turek let it slip my therapist should ward her office,” I explain to Gabe with my hands over my ears. “Now he’s trying to make me forget he screwed up and told me.”

Gabe disappears, and the front door opens. Turek steps inside, closing the door behind him. “Charlotte, I promise this won’t hurt,” he says softly, holding up his hands and walking to me slowly like I’m a cornered wild animal.

Gabe appears behind Turek, with a silver arrow held to Turek’s throat. “You take this memory from Charlotte, and as God as my witness, I’ll call for a Challenge,” Gabe says in a menacing voice.

“Alright, alright. I won’t work my mojo. Enough with the tough guy routine.”

Gabe nods, lowering the arrow, but then it all happens so fast. One second Turek’s head is in the correct position—attached to his body—and the next thing I know, his head falls to the floor with a wet splat. It takes me a moment to register that Gabe has just beheaded Turek. I cover my hands over my mouth, stifling a scream.

The headless angel is standing upright, and he simply bends down, picks up his head, and attaches it back on his neck. Turek shimmers for a moment, then moves his head side to side, cracking his neck. I look at Gabe’s arrow and then the floor, but amazingly enough, there’s no blood anywhere.

“That was overkill,” Turek grumbles.

“Just making sure I drove my point home. Who took Charlotte’s file from her therapist’s office?”

“Come on, man! I’m already in a pile of shit.”

“So a little more excrement won’t make a difference. Who took the file?” Gabe demands.

“Rumel.”

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