The Soul Summoner (The Soul Summoner Saga Book 1) (18 page)

He was quiet for a moment. "I can always go back to Raleigh."

I wasn't sure where my heart landed on that idea. I was just starting to get used to having him around. I certainly wouldn't tell him that, so I decided to change the subject.

"We should've gone by Lenoir-Rhyne University before we left Hickory," I said. "I would've liked to look around where the other girl was taken."

"Angela Kearn," he said.

I kicked off my shoes and put my feet up on his dashboard. "You really have lived, slept, and breathed this stuff, haven't you?"

"Wouldn't you?" he asked.

"Probably." I looked out of my window up at the night sky. "But I've never had any siblings." 

"I didn't know that," he said.

"My parents couldn't have any children of their own," I said.

He looked over at me surprised. "You're adopted?"

I nodded. "I was abandoned at the hospital. You know what's weird?" 

He raised his eyebrows in question.

"Warren's adopted. Well… orphaned. He was given away by his birth parents too," I said.

He looked back ahead. "That is weird. You both have these crazy abilities and neither of you know your birth parents."

"I keep wondering if we might be related," I said. "Like, maybe we are brother and sister."

"That would explain a lot." He was silent for a moment, and then he laughed. "I'll keep my fingers crossed."

I pointed at him and smiled. "Don't get your hopes up." 

He reached out and playfully grabbed my finger. He held onto it for a little longer than was appropriate, but I didn't stop him. 

When we got to my house, he walked me inside and took a look around. The back door was boarded up and held closed with nails. "I haven't forgotten that I promised to fix that," he said.

I laughed as we walked back to the front door. "Maybe I'll hold your shirt for ransom till it gets fixed."

He reached up and ran his thumb over the angel pin on my collar. "Keep the shirt. It looks better on you anyway."

He studied my face in the moonlight for a long moment. I might have had the ability to read Nathan's soul, but I had no idea what was on his mind. Gently, he pulled on my collar and touched his lips to mine. Without another word, he was gone.

11.

BY FRIDAY I was caught up on the work that had piled up at the beginning of the week. I wasn't exactly sure how I got it done because my mind seemed to be everywhere else except in the county building. Between Nathan and Warren, I had so much confusion and excitement rolling around in my head that I could hardly think straight. 

Just before five o'clock, Nathan walked into my office dressed in black from head to toe. I was a little surprised to see him. "Hey, Nathan." 

"Hey," he said. "I know you've got a full weekend, but I was wondering if you wanted to grab a beer before you went home."

I looked up at the clock. "I'm sorry. I don't have time. Do you need something?"

"I was just hoping to talk some sense into you, I guess." He was looking at the ground and lightly kicking the toe of his boot against the leg of my desk.

I walked around my desk and pinched his nose. "You're so cute when you're worried," I said in a munchkin voice. "Stop being so paranoid. I will be fine."

He caught me by the arm and looked at me seriously. "The last time you said that, I had to sleep in a chair listening to your IV machine beep all night." 

I squeezed his hand. "I'm going to be fine."

As I turned to pick up my purse, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back. "We need to talk." 

"Then you should've come by earlier. I'm going to be late," I told him.

"Don't go with him, Sloan." 

I laughed. "That's not an option, Nathan."

He slid his hand down my arm and tangled his fingers with mine. "Yes, it is an option. Have I just been misreading everything with you for the past few weeks?" He took another half-step closer to me and lowered his voice. "I want to be with you."

The space between us was dangerously close, and his eyes were fixed on my mouth. I took a deep breath and backed away from him. "Damn it, Nathan. I can't do this right now! A week ago, yes. A week from now, maybe. But I can't do this today!"

He stepped back and leaned against the wall. "So, it's him then."

I pulled on his arm. "I don't know if it's him. But I do know that you're with Shannon and I just met Warren. The Shannon thing I could probably overlook—actually, I know I could forget about Shannon—but I
can't
forget about Warren. He is, literally, a once in a lifetime thing for me. It's not fair to anyone if you and I try to do this now and you know it."

He nodded his head, but his jaw was set. 

I picked up my purse and stopped in front of him. "Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you," he said. 

I touched his forearm. "I'm really sorry." And I meant it.

He nodded, but he wasn't happy about it. I locked my office and we walked down the hallway together in silence. He held open the back door and when we walked outside, Warren was leaning against the hood of his muscle car. 

Nathan shook his head and slipped on his sunglasses. "Have a good weekend, Sloan," he said and took off in the opposite direction. My shoulders slumped as I watched him jog down the steps and cross the parking lot.

I shook my head and made my way down the steps.

Warren stood and smiled as I approached. His missing soul was still as shocking to me as if he wasn't wearing pants. He was wearing pants, however, blue jeans and a black button-up shirt. His hair was parted just off center and hanging loose to his shoulders.

"I thought you were going to meet me at home," I said when I reached him. 

He shrugged. "I got here a little early and I didn't want to wait."

I stepped into his open arms and into the magnetic surge. Every nerve ending inside me began to tingle. Never in my life had I experimented with drugs, but if being with Warren was anything like being high, I had a newfound sympathy for addicts and junkies. I took a deep whiff of his faint cologne. "I'm so glad you're here." 

He rested his chin on the top of my head as he held me. "I'm glad you let me come back." 

It was hard to pull away from him, but I had to or we would never make it out of the parking lot. I stepped away, but he still gently held onto my wrist. I looked up at him against the setting sun. "Well, what do you want to do this weekend?" 

He shrugged and laughed. "I don't know. Know anywhere open on the weekends that does DNA testing?" 

I laughed, but it quickly faded. I looked at my watch. "Actually, I do," I said with wide eyes. "Get in the car. We have to go now."

"I was joking," he said.

I shook my head. "I'm not. Come on. My dad's office is open until six, but we've got to hurry."

He opened the passenger side door, and I slid into the warm, black leather seat. The car was immaculate. I thought of the Diet Coke cans and junk mail that littered my car and felt ashamed. He got in and cranked up the engine. The machine roared to life under me. "Where to?" he asked.

"Turn left out of the lot," I said.

He rolled out of the spot and toward the exit. 

I trailed my fingers along the soft leather. "This car is awesome."

He smiled. "Yes." He turned left onto the street. "I just traded my truck in for it a few months ago."

I scrunched up my nose. "I'm kinda jealous."

He grinned at me. "Where are we going?" 

"My father's a doctor. His office is part of a larger medical facility that's associated with the hospital. I know they have a lab somewhere in the building," I said. "Turn right at the light."

Warren looked over at me. "I'm meeting your dad?"

My eyes doubled in size. "Is that OK?"

He laughed. "It's fine with me," he said. "Just be warned, he's not going to approve."

Nervously, I squished my mouth to one side. "My mom will probably be there too." 

"OK." He started laughing. "This is an interesting way to start the weekend."

Realizing that I may have just gone way too far way too fast, I reached over and touched his forearm that was stretched toward the gear stick. "We don't have to do this," I said. "Not if you don't want to."

He looked down at my hand and then covered it with his own. "No, I want to know. The sooner the better." He winked an eye at me.

My father's office was located on the third floor of a five story building that was adjacent to the hospital where I had been found as a baby. When we went inside and walked onto the elevator, Warren leaned against wall and stared at the floor. 

I leaned next to him. "You look nervous."

"I don't like hospitals. I don't like being around dying people," he said. "It feels like it sucks the life out of me."

I looked at my watch again. "They shouldn't be taking any more patients, so it's probably close to empty in there."

With a mechanical ding, the doors opened to the bright and airy hallway. I reached for Warren's hand and exchanged a smile with him at the tingle. I tugged him down the hall. "Come on. It's this way." 

I pushed the door open and the petite, brunette receptionist smiled. "Hi, can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm here to see Dr. Jordan," I said.

She looked puzzled and glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Do you have an appointment?"

"I'm his daughter."

She covered her eyes, embarrassed. "Of course you are. I know you from the pictures that your dad has all over his office. I'll let him know you're here."

"Is my mom in today?" I asked.

"She is." She disappeared through the door behind her.

I turned around and Warren raised an eyebrow. "Your dad's secretary doesn't know who you are?" he asked.

"I try to avoid coming here. I had to come a lot when I was a kid, but these old people flock to me and it always makes me uncomfortable," I explained. 

"That's interesting," he said.

A moment later, the receptionist reappeared. "Come on back, Sloan," she said.

I nodded and pulled the door in front of us open. My mom was walking toward us wearing white scrubs covered in pink breast cancer ribbons. "Hey, Mom." 

Her eyes were puzzled. "Hi, honey. Is everything OK?" 

I nodded. "Yeah. I just need a little help with something. Can I talk to Dad?"

"In just a minute. He's finishing up with his last patient." She looked at Warren, then back at me. "Who's your friend?"

"Mom, this is Warren Parish," I said. "Warren, this is my mom, Audrey."

He smiled and offered his hand. "Hi, Mrs. Jordan," he said.

She looked confused, but her smile was genuine. "Nice to meet you, Warren." She looked at me again. "Can I talk to you a second?" she asked, her voice a little higher than usual.

Warren nudged me. "Go ahead. I'm fine."

I stepped across the room and behind a partition near my father's office door. "Who is that?" she asked with wide eyes.

"A new friend of mine. Isn't he cute?" I whispered.

She cocked her head to the side. "Yes, he's handsome, but who is he? And what about Detective McNamara?"

I sighed. "Mom, I'm not dating Nathan."

She put her hands on her hips. "Well, you could have fooled me by the way that boy hovered over you all night at the hospital."

Just then, my dad's office door swung open. A small white-haired woman, with thick pink-framed glasses and blue polyester pants pulled up almost to her chin, stepped out into the hall. A younger woman held her carefully by the arm as she shuffled forward. The old woman saw me and her face lit up.

She stepped toward me with her hands stretched out. She was smiling from ear to ear. "Sloan Jordan!" 

My mouth smiled, but my eyes danced with bewilderment and worry. "Hi there."

She took my hands and squeezed them. "You are just as beautiful as you are on the television screen. We saw you carrying that little girl out of that house on the news last week. Your parents must be so proud of you!" 

My mother leaned close the woman's ear. "We are very proud of her!" My mother was over enunciating and almost shouting.

The woman looked at her, obviously annoyed. "Goodness gracious, you don't have to yell, Audrey."

My mother exchanged a puzzled glance with the woman's daughter. 

"It's very nice to meet you," I said, stumbling over the end of my sentence because I had no idea how this woman knew me.

She tapped her chest. "I'm Gloria Flynn. This is my daughter, Ann. It's been wonderful to meet you as well."

My dad's head was peeking around his door. His eyes were wide and glancing between the old woman and my mother. He looked as confused as I felt.

I patted her shoulder politely. "You have a good day now, Mrs. Flynn."

She nodded and Ann took her by the arm and led her across the room. 

When she was a few feet away, my mom looked at my dad. "Did you hear that, Robert?" 

The old woman stopped short of the door when she neared Warren. She looked back at us. "My ride's here, doctor!" she shouted. "I'm going home with handsome here!"

My father was scratching his head. "Well, that was unusual."

Mom touched the sleeve of his white lab coat. "Did you hear her talking to Sloan?"

"I just caught bits and pieces of it," he said.

I looked back and forth at them. "What's going on?"

"I can't tell you because of confidentiality reasons, but she's practically deaf and I haven't heard her that lucid in a very long time," he said. 

"Years," my mother added.

Dad shrugged his shoulders, then stepped out of his office and hugged me. "This is a surprise. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine now. I actually have a reason for being here and it's sort of time-sensitive," I said. 

"I assumed you wouldn't show up without needing something," he said with a teasing wink. "What do you need?"

"Can the lab here do DNA testing?" I asked.

He looked puzzled again. "They would have to send it to the hospital, but yes. Why? And who is that man?"