The Siren (30 page)

“Her, I will make disappear.” His steady voice sent chills through my body.

Samael walked over and knelt down next to the body that had once carried me and given me life. He gently placed his hand on the back of her skull, and his eyes seemed to roll back into his head. Her body began to disintegrate at his fingertips. In a matter of seconds, what remained of Kasyade’s earthly form was reduced to a pile of dust. Samael leaned over it and blew with a force no human could muster, sending the particles sailing into the atmosphere.

Warren shook his head as Samael approached us. “You’re good,” he said in awe.

Nathan squeezed my hand, and I looked down at him. “You saved my life,” he whispered.

Samael knelt down next to us. “She did more than that. She brought you back.”

Nathan closed his eyes and shook his head. “I always knew you would get me killed.”

I looked up at Samael. “How did I bring him back?”

His face was somber, but his eyes were glowing gold. His hand rested on my shoulder. “For a time, you will have powers greater than you’ve ever known.”

“What about Abigail…uh, Kasyade?” I asked.

He sighed. “The Siren is not gone. She will procure another body, but it will take time for her to recover. She will come after you again, as will others.”

An uneasy feeling was growing in the pit of my gut. “Samael, what did she mean that it was too late to stop it? What events have already been set into motion?”

Samael squinted his eyes against the sunlight as he seemed to search the horizon. “For that, I have no answer. I have many powers. Unfortunately, omniscience is not one of them.”

Warren caught my eye. “What are you thinking?”

I didn’t like what I was thinking. “I have a feeling we’ve only scratched the surface on what Kasyade was up to. It had to be about more than the money she was making.”

Samael nodded. “The fallen are motivated by suffering, not monetary gain.”

I gulped down his words with a hard swallow and shuddered. “How did you find us?” I asked. “How did you know she would lead us here?”

He took my hand. “The entire spirit world can see you now, Sloan. That is why you must be very careful. You’ve learned here today that not all spirits are friendly, and they are extremely powerful. Unfortunately, I am afraid this will not be the last attempt on your life.”

Warren knelt down next to me and rested his hands on my shoulders. “What do we do to stop them?”
 

“You will have protection unseen,” he said. “I do suggest that you not go looking for trouble. Trouble will find you easily enough on its own.”

Sirens blared in the distance. Samael looked around. “I must go. Peace be with you,” he said to us. “We will see each other again.”

“Samael, wait!” I called.
 

He turned his golden eyes toward me. “Yes?”

“Kasyade is a demon, right?” I asked.

He nodded. “She is a fallen angel. That is correct.”

“Then what does that make me? She said she created me on purpose.” My frantic heartbeat was audible in my ears.

His smile was benevolent and kind. “We are all given the choice between the side of good and evil, Sloan. No one but you can decide.”

I reached out and grabbed him by the hand. “Thank you.”

He shook his head. “No. Thank
you
.”

With another flash of light, Samael was gone.

22.

Nathan was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital. I rode with him, and I suspected I needed medical treatment of my own. On the ride there, I winced in pain as I felt the bone in my hip crack and snap into place.
 

Nathan’s eyes were fearful. “Are you OK? What’s happening?” He clasped his hand around mine.

I forced a nod as the ribs on my right side began to grind against each other. I squeezed his hand and cried till they popped back together. My nose, which the EMT had said was obviously broken, began burning and pouring blood once again. I dropped my face into my lap as it shifted into alignment. I cried out as my eyes flooded with tears.

The paramedic who was caring for Nathan put his hand on my back. “Ma’am, are you all right?”

I sat up, and blood poured down my face, splattering all over the floor of the ambulance. The paramedic’s eyes widened with horror, and he quickly grabbed a towel and held it to my face. Bright dots speckled my vision as the pain slowly faded.

I couldn’t even imagine what was happening to me other than somehow my body was rejuvenating itself. It hadn’t done that when I was beaten by Billy Stewart. Perhaps Abigail had unintentionally unlocked some of my power. By the time we reached the hospital, I was able to climb out of the ambulance without any help.

Warren had ridden with a San Antonio police officer to the hospital, and he was waiting in the transport bay at the emergency room entrance when we arrived. I stopped and squeezed Nathan’s fingers. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

He nodded. “I’ll be OK.”

As they wheeled Nathan inside, Warren walked over and tilted my chin up to examine my face. “You’re a mess. We’ve got to get you cleaned up.”

I could feel the blood crusting on my skin. “I look worse than I feel now.”

“Thank God.” He took my hand and led me inside.

A nurse stopped us. “Honey, let’s get you to triage.” The plump woman in scrubs took my arm.

I shook my head. “I’m OK. I just look like a mess. Can you point us to the bathrooms?”

Her eyes were wide. It was obvious she didn’t believe me. “You’re covered in blood.”

“I know. We were in an accident, but most of this blood is my friend’s,” I said. “Can I get some towels, maybe?”

She nodded. “Absolutely.” She walked around the nursing station and returned with a towel and two washcloths. “Come with me. A sink isn’t going to be enough. You need a shower.”
 

Her kindness almost moved me to tears as she led us down another hallway to a room with a private bath. She winked at me. “This will be our little secret. I’ll try and find you something to wear.”

I sighed and smiled. “Thank you.”

Warren tugged me toward the bathroom. “Come on.”
 

Once we were inside, I caught sight of myself in the mirror as Warren turned the water in the shower on. I looked like an extra from a
Night of the Living Dead
movie. My face was splattered and smeared with blood. It covered my mouth and was down my neck and the front of my shirt. Dark circles from my broken nose were already forming under my eyes. My t-shirt and my jeans were shredded like I had been through a wood-chipper. Tears streaked through the blood on my cheeks.

“I think you should let a doctor look at you.” Warren pulled some matted hair away from my face. “Just to be on the safe side.”

I shook my head. “No. I felt my bones come back together in the ambulance. It was excruciating.” Holding up my hands, I flexed and straightened my fingers. “Even the nerve damage seems to be gone.”

He stared at me for a moment. “What’s happening to you?”
 

I turned to face him. “I don’t know, Warren, but there’s something else.”

“What?” he asked, his eyes growing with alarm.

“I can see your soul.”

His head jerked in surprise. “Really?”

I nodded. “Really.”

He scratched his head. “Something must have happened with Abigail. Maybe she transferred some of her powers to you.”

“A lot of things with Abigail, but I don’t think that’s it.” I leaned against the sink. “The other day at her house, she told me that you and I were born with all of our angelic powers from our parents. We just aren’t able to use them as well because we are human.”

His head tilted. “”Does that mean—”

“That I’m becoming less human?” I interrupted him. I held my hands up. “I have no idea what’s happening.”

He shook his head and laughed, though he clearly didn’t think it was funny. “It’s like the more we find out, the less we understand.”

I sighed. “I know.”

He reached over and untucked my shirt. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
 

Gently, Warren eased the torn fabric over my head. My bones might not have been broken anymore, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hurt like hell.

I stepped into the shower and winced as the hot water ran over the open cuts in my skin. There was a light knock at the door, and the hinges creaked as Warren pulled it open.
 

“These might be a little big on her, but here are some extra scrubs I had in my locker. And here is some shampoo and a comb for her hair that I got from our supply closet,” I heard the nurse say.

“You’re a saint. Thank you so much,” Warren replied.

“Are you sure she shouldn’t get herself checked out?” the nurse asked. “She looks really banged up, and I’m afraid she could have some internal injuries.”

“She says she’s fine, but thank you again. I know she’s anxious to get to our friend.”

“I’ll check back in a little while and see how she’s doing,” she said.

Warren handed me the shampoo, and it burned as I lathered it. I looked down and watched the suds swirling with blood down the drain. When I finished, I stepped out and let Warren wrap me in a towel. I put on the blue scrubs and shoved my clothes into the trashcan. They were irreparable. My torn scalp felt like it was ripping as I brushed the tangles out of my hair. I briefly considered using Warren’s knife to cut my hair off, but I realized if I did, Adrianne would probably kill me when I got home.

Nathan was in radiology when I finished up in the bathroom. The nurse took us to the stall in the emergency room where they would bring him, and we waited in two chairs. I rested my head against Warren’s shoulder and tried to release the stress that had built up throughout the day. It was hopeless. Even after fifteen minutes, my hands were still trembling.

An unfamiliar ringtone came from Warren’s chest pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it. “This is Nathan’s,” he said. “It’s a Texas number. Should we answer it?”

“Yeah, it’s probably the FBI.” I took the phone from him and hit the answer button as I put it to my ear. “Nathan McNamara’s phone,” I said.

“Hi, is this Sloan?” a woman asked.

“Yes, is this Agent Silvers?”

“It is,” she said. “I wanted you to know that we’ve searched Abigail Smith’s home and office and found very substantial evidence to support your statement. We didn’t find Ms. Smith, however. It seems that either Rex Parker or Tito Juarez may have tipped her off. I thought you should be warned in case she suspects you might have spoken with us.”

I actually laughed. “Thanks for the warning, Agent Silvers.”

“Is something funny?” she asked.

“No, ma’am,” I said. “I just really don’t think this day could get any worse. We are at the hospital after a very serious accident.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked.

“Just find the girls Abigail has taken, and please get Larry Mendez off the streets.”

“I’m doing everything I can on both fronts. Please let me know as soon as possible if you hear anything from Abigail,” she said.

“I will.” I kept my laughter to myself that time.

Warren looked at me. “Mendez is still out there?”

I stared at the phone in my hands. “Guess so.”

He was quiet for a moment before turning toward me. “Will you be all right here by yourself for a while?”

I almost asked why, but the fiery look in his eye answered the question.
 

Nodding, I touched his cheek. “Go find him.”

* * *

I was busy losing a game of Solitaire on Nathan’s phone when two nurses pushed his rolling hospital bed into the room. He was sitting up at a slight incline, and he looked groggy. They had cleaned most of the blood off his face, and had changed him into a clean hospital gown. His arm was tethered to an IV pole.
 

I stood up, walked to his bedside, and took his hand. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been raised from the dead,” he said with a hint of a painful smile.

I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
 

“Where’s Warren?”

“He went out to run some errands. What did the doctors say?”

He shook his head. “Not much. They took some x-rays and did a CT scan to check for broken bones and internal injuries. I wonder if they’ll find anything.”

“I wonder the same thing,” I said.

Nathan’s fingers squeezed mine. “What happened back there?”

Carefully, I eased down onto the edge of his bed. I looked around to see if there was anyone else within earshot of us. I lowered my voice. “The black guy, Samael, is another angel we had met before. Abigail can summon people like I can, except she’s much better at it. She had summoned Warren to where she was waiting.”

Nathan cracked a smile. “Did he tell you that to justify his awful driving?”

I laughed. At least he still had his sense of humor.

His smile quickly faded. “What happened while I was dead?”

My face twisted into a frown. “Well, Warren used his power to kill her body, and Samael did something—I don’t know what—with her spirit.”

“Warren used what power?”

I scrunched up my nose. “You don’t want to know.”

He pressed his eyes closed. “No, I probably don’t. How did she kill me?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m really not sure. I don’t know if she choked you to death, sucked the life out of you, or if her slamming you into the brick and concrete was what did it.”

He grimaced. “How did you bring me back?”

I dropped my head. “I have absolutely no idea.” A nurse stopped in to check a machine he was attached to. When she was gone, I leaned closer to him. “Do you remember anything about it? Being dead, I mean.”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

His answer was disappointing. I had hoped for a full report about what it was like on the other side.

Just then, a doctor appeared around the curtain. “Nathan McNamara?” He was holding a metal clipboard in his hand.

“Yes,” Nathan answered.

I stood up and stepped over to my chair.
 

The doctor looked down at his sheet. “You’re a lucky man, Nathan,” he said. “Amazingly, you don’t have any broken bones. Any new ones anyway. The CT scan showed quite a bit of scar tissue and inflammation around two different spots on your spine, a few places on your rib cage, and your right shoulder, but those appear to be previous injuries.