The Siren (31 page)

Nathan’s mouth fell open. I’m sure his expression matched mine. Neither of us spoke.

The doctor looked down at him. “I would like to hold you here overnight, just to be on the safe side. And you’re going to be very sore for a few days, I’m afraid.”

“I can handle sore,” Nathan replied.

The doctor smiled. “Once we get some paperwork done on our end down here, someone will come and move you to a room upstairs. I’m going to get you some pain medicine and have the nurse come and clean you up a bit more.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Nathan said.

The doctor shook his head. “Don’t thank me.” He pointed up toward the ceiling with his index finger. “You need to be thanking someone a lot higher up.”

Sometime later, they moved Nathan to a regular room. It had a chair that converted into a bed, and I was half-asleep on it when Nathan turned the volume all the way up on the television. “Sloan, check it out!”

I pushed myself up. “What is it?”

He pointed to the television.
 

It was a news broadcast with a brunette anchor woman, and behind her was a picture of Larry Mendez. She spoke directly into the camera. “Panic broke out at a local Wal-Mart shopping center this evening in downtown San Antonio when there was what witnesses described as a loud explosion that left one man dead and many shoppers terrified. Alec Ortega is live on the scene. Alec, can you tell us what happened down there tonight?”

The screen switched to a scene in the parking lot with the Wal-Mart sign lit up in the background. “No one is really sure what happened tonight at this popular shopping center downtown. Numerous calls were made to police from customers who said an explosion happened inside the store.” He held his hands out in confusion. “However, investigators have found no sign of explosives or any damage that could have been caused by one. What they did uncover was a man’s body near the center of the store, but they say there is no sign of foul play. We spoke with Police Chief Albert Bechard and this is what he had to say.”

The camera cut to an interview with a man in a police uniform. “At this time, we have found nothing that indicates there was any kind of explosion here at this store despite the testimony of countless shoppers and employees.” The man looked genuinely puzzled. “We did recover a deceased person, but there is no sign the two events were related. The victim is forty-two-year-old Larry Mendez of Bexar County, and at this time, it appears as though he died of natural causes. We have found no evidence to suggest otherwise.”

Nathan’s jaw was dropped when he turned to look at me.
 

I pinched my lips together.

“Do you know something about this?” he asked.

My eyes widened, and I slowly shrugged my shoulders.
 

“Where is Warren?”

I shrugged again. “I don’t know. I don’t have a phone, remember?”

Just then, the door slowly opened and Warren’s head peeked through the crack. “Is this the right room?”

“Yeah, come in,” I said, sitting up on the edge of my makeshift bed.

He walked into the room. “Sorry, it took me forever to find out what room you guys were in. The nurse at the desk—” He stopped talking when he saw the horrified look on Nathan’s face. “Uh, hey, Nate. How are you feeling?”

Nathan didn’t answer.

I caught Warren’s eyes and discreetly pointed toward the television.

“Larry Mendez is dead,” Nathan said.

Warren blinked with surprise, but it wasn’t very convincing. “Really?”

I almost laughed.

“How’d that happen?” Warren asked, walking over and sitting down next to me.

Nathan’s expression was caught at the crossroads of confusion, anger, and fear. “I thought you might tell me. Where’ve you been?”

“Oh.” Warren looked at me. “I’ve been out tying up some loose ends.”

“Warren.” Nathan’s tone was scolding.

Warren smiled. “I almost forgot.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a white plastic bag. “I got you a get well gift.” He tossed the bag onto Nathan’s lap.

Nathan unrolled it.

It was a pack of Skittles, inside a shopping bag…from Wal-Mart.

23.

Nathan was discharged the next morning, and we were able to book a flight to Asheville that afternoon. When we got to North Carolina, I instructed Warren to drive us to my house. Nathan attempted a weak protest, but he was still in a lot of pain and didn’t have his normal amount of arguing power.

He was still complaining as he leaned on me for support going up my front steps. “I’m fine, Sloan.”

“That argument would be a lot more effective if you weren’t using me as a crutch right now. You died two days ago. That’s kind of a big deal. I don’t want you staying in that apartment by yourself, so you’re going to stay here with us. You can sleep in the armory.”

He looked down at me. “The armory?”
 

“You’ll see.” I fumbled with my keys till I got the correct one in the front door.

I helped him up the stairs inside till we reached the guest room. “Holy mother,” he said, looking around in astonishment at the arsenal.

I rolled my eyes and helped him over to the bed. “I know. I feel like I live at Fort Knox without the gold.”

He winced in pain as he lay down on top of the comforter. I pulled his pain pills out of my coat pocket and put them on the nightstand. “You should take something and try to rest. We’re going to run check on my dad, but we won’t be gone for too long.”

He nodded. “OK.”

“I’ll go get you some water.” I scampered downstairs and retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator as Warren carried the load of suitcases in the front door. “Here, let me help.” I took Nathan’s backpack from him.

“Thanks,” he said as he followed me up the steps.

I walked in the guest room and put the water on the nightstand and the pack beside the bed. “Call Warren’s phone if you need anything. We’ll bring you some dinner.”

“Sounds good.”

“Are you sure you’ll be OK?” I asked.

He nodded. “Positive.” As I turned to leave, he called out to me. “Sloan, wait.”

I walked over to the side of his bed. “Yeah?”

He reached his hand toward me. “I never said thank you.”

I laughed. “Nathan, I’ve almost gotten you killed once, and I actually got you killed a second time. You really don’t need to thank me.”

He nodded and pulled me down next to him. “Yeah, I do. You didn’t give up. You saved my life.”

Tears tickled the corners of my puffy eyes. There was so much I wanted to say to him, but I knew it wouldn’t be fair to anyone. I leaned over and gently touched my lips to his forehead. I lingered there for a second to hopefully convey a message I could never say out loud.

“I love you,” he whispered.

A tear slid down my cheek and dripped onto his. When I pulled away, his eyes were closed and he was smiling.
 

I stood up. “We’ll be back in a little while.”

When I walked out of the room, I pulled the door closed gently behind me. Warren was waiting with his hands in his pockets. If he had been watching from the doorway, he didn’t say anything.
 

“You ready?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yep.”

We drove to my dad’s house, and he was sitting on the front porch when we pulled in the driveway. I jogged up the front path toward him and fell into his arms.
 

He sighed and kissed the side of my head. “Welcome home, sweetheart.”

“You have no idea how glad I am to be home,” I told him as Warren caught up to us.
 

Dad put his hand under my chin and examined the bruising on my face. “What happened to you?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. It looks worse than it is.”

Warren smiled as he walked up onto the porch. “I promise I didn’t do it.”
 

He laughed and put his arm around my shoulders. “Come on. Let’s go in. It’s chilly out here.” We turned and walked inside. “I expected a phone call when you met Sarah to tell me if she was actually your birth mom.”

“Well, I broke my phone even worse when we were in Texas, and we had a lot going on. And yes, Sarah—her name is actually Kasyade—is the one who left me at the hospital.”

We sat down on the sofa in the den. Take-out food containers littered the room. “What else did she have to say?” he asked. “Did she tell you who your father is?”

I shook my head. “No. She refused to tell me, actually.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Really? Why?”

I blew out a sigh. “Oh, Dad, I don’t even know where to start.” I leaned forward on my elbows. “For starters, she’s not a good angel. She almost killed us.”

His eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

He looked confused. “She was so nice when I knew her.”

“Warren and another angel we met ended up destroying her. At least for the time being,” I said. “I know one thing. I’m not going to Texas again anytime soon.”

He shook his head. “I would assume not. Is that how you got the bruises?” He pointed to my face.

“Yeah. It could have been a lot worse than it was,” I said.

He rubbed my back. “I’m sorry your visit with her wasn’t the reunion you had hoped for.”

I smiled at him. “I got all I needed from her. I know a little bit more about where I came from and what I am.”

He nodded. “That’s good.”

“Dad, we’re going to stay at my house right now if that’s OK. Warren leaves in a few days, and Nathan is staying with us because he caught the worst of the violence down in Texas. He really needs to be looked after for a while.”

“Of course, sweetheart. I’m getting along pretty well here,” he said. “I’ve cooked twice this weekend and haven’t even had to call the fire department once.”

I laughed. “That’s awesome.”

“Are you going back to work?” he asked.

“Yeah. I don’t want to, but I need to go in tomorrow to do some catching up,” I told him.

He nodded. “I think it would be good for you. I went to the office yesterday and saw some patients. Getting back into a routine will be good for us both.”

My shoulders slumped as I looked from him to Warren. I wondered if anything about my life would ever be
routine
again.

* * *

When Warren and I left about an hour later, the sun was starting to set behind the mountains. Streaks of orange, pink, and purple swirled through the sky. A few bright stars twinkled against the dying light of the sun.
 

Warren wrapped his arms around me from behind. “You OK?”

I took a deep breath. “This is just the beginning, Warren. We haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Are you afraid?”

I nodded. “Did you hear Samael? He said the whole spirit world can sense me now. I can’t hide from them.” I shuddered in his arms. “They’re coming after me to kill me.”

He pressed a kiss to the bend of my neck. “Something tells me you’re not that easy to kill.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

He tightened his arms around me. “Think about it. If the evil spirits can see you, so can the good ones. You won’t be alone, and don’t forget what else Samael said. You’ll have protection, even if you can’t see it.”

“I’m afraid.”

“I know.”

A faint ripple against the sky caught my attention. It was a very delicate shimmering wave against the colors of the horizon. I squinted and tried to focus on it, but couldn’t make the figure any clearer. I pointed up to it. “Do you see that?”

His eyes followed my finger and carefully searched the sky. “See what?”

I knew exactly what it was and remembered Samael’s words,
protection unseen
. For the first time, I knew I was seeing an angel. It seemed so obvious to me, splayed against the horizon, that I wasn’t sure how I had missed seeing them before. I admired the silvery rippling figure again and felt a calm rush over me.
 

Finally, I smiled and hugged Warren’s arms that were around my waist. “Nothing. Let’s go. I want to stop by Adrianne’s on the way home and heal her leg.”

He smiled as he reached down and wrapped his hand around mine. “Do you think you can really do it?”
 

I nodded and glanced toward the sky. “I know I can.”

24.

By some miracle, we made it three full days without any catastrophes, supernatural uprisings, or criminal disasters. But Thursday morning came, and it was more difficult to get out of bed than usual. I had been awake for a while, listening to the sound of the shower and then the hair dryer, but I had convinced myself that if I didn’t get up, the day couldn’t really begin. After a while, the door opened and Warren leaned in the bathroom doorway wearing only a pair of jeans. His black hair was hanging around his shoulders.
 

He smiled at me. “It’s time. I need your help.”

“No. Come back to bed.”

“Sloan.” His tone was even but cautionary.

Groaning, I pushed myself up off the bed. It was almost ten in the morning.
 

I walked into the bathroom, and Warren pulled out the vanity stool and sat down. He brushed his hair back and tied it with an elastic band. He looked at me in the mirror. “You ready?”

I ran my fingers through the end of his ponytail. “I can’t do it,” I whined.

He watched me in the mirror. “Am I going to have to do it myself?”

I sighed and shook my head. “No.”

With trembling hands, I gripped his hair and took the pair of scissors he was holding over his shoulder. “It will grow back,” he said as I stared at it. “Cut.”

Cringing, I brought the scissors close to his head. The doorbell rang. I jumped when I heard it, slamming the scissors down on the counter.
 

“Damn it, woman,” Warren grumbled as I ran out of the room.

When I reached the front door, I swung the door open to see Adrianne standing there holding an overnight bag and a cup of coffee. Her hair was cropped short in a pixie style, and she had on a pair of bright red, four-inch high heels that brought tears to my eyes. She stepped effortlessly over the threshold of my front door like she had never been injured at all.

“I’m so glad you’re here. I need you.” I was panting.