The Shadow Stealer (Silver Moon Saga Book 3) by Melissa Giorgio

just needed to say it. That way, when this all blows up in our faces, at least I can say I warned you.”
    “ Nothing is going to happen,” I told him. “We’ll stay far away from HQ, okay? There’re a thousand different places to eat in the city. Tell your dad to meet us at a restaurant on, I don’t know, West Four Hundred Fiftieth Street.” For some reason, everyone suddenly looked like they were fighting off grins, making me self-conscious. “What? Why are you looking at me that way?”
    “Because, farm girl,” Philip said, “there’s no such thing as West Four Hundred Fiftieth Street.”
    I threw my hands in the air. “Whatever, who cares! Just pick a damn place and tell him to meet us in a few hours. How long does it take to get to the city by train?”
    “Wait—what? You want to go now? ” Philip asked.
    “Yes, right now. Let’s go. Train station!” I snapped my fingers a few times for emphasis. “You can’t just drop this bombshell on me and expect me to ignore it and go on pretending like my life is normal, Phil. Because it’s not. It hasn’t been normal since I met Rafe.” I shot him an apologetic look when he made a noise of protest. “No offense. And if your mom and my mom are, in fact, the same woman, then maybe I can finally get some answers about who—and what—I actually am.”
    “And that,” Rafe said, “is why I agree with Gabi. We need to go to the city. The sooner, the better.”
    Everyone, including me, stared at him in surprise. “You have got to be kidding me,” Alexandra muttered under her breath.
    I ignored her as I approached my boyfriend, two seconds away from throwing my arms around him. “Really?”
    “Yes, really.” Rafe tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Gabi, I know how much her leaving hurt you. How it still hurts you. If we can find a way to erase that pain? Of course I’m going to do whatever it takes to help you find her.”
    “Rafe Fitzgerald, you are the best boyfriend in the entire world,” I said in a rush. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that, but you are, but just make sure it doesn’t go to your head, all right?”
    “How come you’ve never told me that?” I heard Kain ask Philip.
    “Because you would let it go to your head and it’s big enough to begin with.”
    “My dad is going to murder me when he finds out I went to the city without telling him, but maybe he’ll forgive me if I come home with some info about Mom, right?” My voice sounded normal, but I was already worrying about Dad’s reaction. I wasn’t used to disobeying him. That was Chloe’s job.
    Rafe eyed the kitchen knives nervously. “Something tells me you’re not the one he’s going to murder.”
     
    ***
     
    After everyone quickly cleaned up the barely-touched Chinese food, Alexandra followed us out of the kitchen protesting, “I still say this is crazy. You’re bringing her straight to the lion’s den!”
    “We’re not going anywhere near HQ,” Rafe replied. “And Kain can help cloak Gabi, can’t he?”
    “I can?” Kain asked. “Ow, Philip, please don’t hit me. You’re very strong.”
    “Don’t act surprised about your powers when you know what you’re capable of!” Philip glared at him. “Just put that spell on her, the one you used the night we broke out of HQ.”
    “I would, but if Collins—or anyone else who may be guilty of murdering Rafe’s parents or interested in a potential Soul Healer—happens to be in the area, he’ll sense it. Even from a distance.” Kain reached for his jacket, pulling it on. “We’re better off not using magic, and just blending in with the millions of others.”
    Evan made a face. “I hate to say this, but he’s right.”
    “Why, thank you, Underwood,” Kain said, pleased. “That wasn’t so horrible to say, was it?”
    “It tasted like crap on my tongue.”
    “You’ve tasted crap before?”
    “I still think this is the worst idea ever,” Alexandra muttered as she grabbed her