The Angel of Death (The Soul Summoner Book 3) (24 page)

“Here.”

I looked up at Nathan. “What?”

He leaned toward me and pointed to a line item on the page. “Look. She was in Asheville the day she confirmed she was your mother on the phone.”

The paper clearly said she flew into Asheville on Wednesday that week and flew back to San Antonio on Friday. “How can that be possible? What was she doing here?”

He shrugged. “The bigger question is—”

“Who was she with, and what was she doing while she was here?” Azrael interrupted.

Nathan tapped his finger on the paper. “I’m sure the FBI is asking the same questions.”

I looked at Azrael. “Do you think Ysha or Phenex is here?”

He stared out the window. “The presence of the angelic has been so concentrated since your child’s conception that it’s hard to say. I believe so, and I know they have both been here before, but as good as I am at tracking, they are equally good at evading.”

“Can you dig around some more?” Nathan asked.

Azrael was thoughtful. “I’ve already got some contacts working on it, but I’ll go out tonight and see if I can find anything close by.”

I stood. “Well, let’s get a move on because I promised Adrianne dinner at Chestnut tonight.”

Azrael nodded. “OK. We’ll rendezvous here later then. I’m not sure how long I’ll be—”

I held up my hand to silence him. “No. You’ll have to go after dinner.” I rolled my eyes toward Adrianne who was grinning mischievously at me from the kitchen. Then I looked back up at him. “Dinner with you was the deal.”

17.

“Adrianne has balls,” Nathan said as we sat in the living room eating Chinese takeout in our pajamas.
 

I popped a forkful of sesame chicken into my mouth. “That she does,” I replied around the bite.

Azrael had been grinning—quite a feat for him—when he left the house with Adrianne for dinner. She was a crafty one. Not only did she force me to relinquish my stance on her chastity where he was concerned, she cornered him into the date whether he wanted it or not. They’d been gone for a while and I hadn’t heard a word from either of them, except for a photograph Adrianne had taken with her phone at the bar. Both of them were smiling, a feat for Azrael.

Nathan crossed his socked feet at the ankles on top of my coffee table. “Do you think he’s interested in her like that?”

“How am I supposed to know?” I asked. “He’s about as readable as braille on sandpaper.”

“True.”
 

He chewed in silence for a moment. “Do you trust him?” he finally asked.

I looked over at him. “With Adrianne or in general?”

“In general.”

“That’s an odd question.”

He jammed his fork into the container of fried rice and put the container on the floor. “I feel like he’s hiding something from us. I mean, we still don’t know anything about him. I thought about trying to pull his travel records today and realized we don’t even know his last name.”

“Does he have a last name?” I asked.

His expression was smug. “Do you see my point?”

“I don’t think I
don’t
trust him,” I said.

He chuckled. “That’s a solid position. You either trust him or you don’t.”

“I trust him,” I said, trying to sound more confident. “It’s hard when things fell apart so quickly with Abigail.”

“I know what you mean.”

“What will you do about it?” I asked.

“Dig. I nosed around in his stuff a little when he first showed up, but didn’t find anything. I might try to lift some prints or find out who that truck was rented to,” he answered.

“It’s a rental?”

He nodded.
 

“Why don’t we ask him?”
 

He picked up the remote control. “Because everyone lies. It’s better to find out via other methods.”

I smiled. “Do you lie?”

“Never,” he said with a wink. “Were you lying to Shannon yesterday when you told her you were sorry?”

It was a valid question, and I thoughtfully considered it for a moment. “Actually, no. That was the truth. I am sorry for whatever role I played in her getting her heart broken. As much as I don’t like her, I wouldn’t wish that on her.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow.
 

I laughed. “OK, maybe I would have wished it on her in high school but not now. We’re not the same people we used to be.”

“Just for the record, you weren’t the reason I broke it off with her,” he said.

“I know.”

He nudged my ribs with his elbow. “I will admit I wanted you to be the reason.”

I knew that too.

“Can I tell you something that’s been bothering me for a while now?” he asked quietly.

I put the rest of my food on the table. “Of course you can.”

He turned slightly toward me. “The night we got into the fight about you saying I was only attracted to you because of your power, I’ve thought about it every day since. Honestly, I’ve hoped it was true.”

His words stung, but I understood what he meant.

“But it’s not true,” he said. “It can’t be.”

His tone wasn’t wistful or amorous. Nathan was in detective-mode and stating facts.
 

“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious.

He draped his arm across the back of the couch. “Remember what Azrael said. Your power is limited. Maybe the thirty-mile theory was off base, but at some physical distance your power loses effect.” He lowered his voice. “How many times in the past few months have I been gone to Raleigh or Greensboro or Winston-Salem? For god’s sake, when you were in Texas, I dropped fifteen hundred dollars on a plane ticket to come see you.”

“But the investigation—”

He cut me off. “Screw the investigation, Sloan. I came because you were there. I came because there is no force in this world—or the next—strong enough to change how I feel about you.”

Sometime during his explanation, his tone had changed. So had the distance between his face and mine. I sucked in a deep breath and laughed to cover my nerves or keep from bursting into tears. I scooted back several inches on the sofa.

He obviously realized the conversation took a turn he didn’t intend, and he held his hands up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

Shaking my head, I stood. “No, don’t be sorry.” I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants and looked at the clock. “Wow, it’s gotten late.” It was four minutes after eleven.

“Yeah, we should probably get to bed. I’ve got work in the morning.”

“So do I,” I said.

He motioned toward the coffee table. “I’ll clean up our mess. You go on up.”

I forced a smile. “Thank you.”

My tears stayed corralled till I reached my room, but when the door was secured behind me, I fell spectacularly apart. Nathan was right, and I’d known it all along, but that only made everything infinitely harder. I collapsed onto my unmade bed and sobbed into the pillow.

There was a soft knock on my door. As Nathan opened it, I quickly dried my eyes on the sheet. “Can I come in?”

I sniffed and wiped my eyes with the edge of the sheet.

He walked slowly across the room. “I heard you crying.” He sank down on the side of the bed. “Are you OK?”

I nodded.

He winked and pointed at me. “See, I told you everyone lies.”

Through my tears, I genuinely smiled.

Nathan pulled the comforter up over me. When he started to get up, I grabbed his hand. “Will you stay with me till I fall asleep?” Even to me, I sounded pathetic.

He hesitated for a second. “Sure.”

Sliding down in bed beside me, he pulled the covers up over us. Against both our better judgements, he pulled me close and I rested my head on his shoulder. My soft sobs subsided as I paced my breathing against the warmth of his neck. Still, tears slid down onto his t-shirt. “I’m sorry for all this. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
 

He pulled my hand up and rested it over his heart.
 

“I love you, Nathan.”

His breath caught in his chest.
 

When he remembered to inhale again, his hand traced the shape of my arm all the way up until his fingers raked through my hair. He paused for a moment while he certainly contemplated the consequences of his next move. My fingers curled into the center of his chest, and that was all the encouragement he needed. He rolled toward me, and in the darkness, his lips found mine.
 

For so long I had dreamed about feeling the warmth of his body on top of mine, and the reality of it was so much sweeter than the fantasy. My fingers gripped the hem of his t-shirt, and I tugged it up until he grabbed the back of it and pulled it off in one fluid motion. He tossed the shirt on the floor before covering my body again. My fingernails traced the gentle waves of the muscles in his back as his tongue explored my mouth, and his hands explored my body. I pushed with my hips and rolled him onto his back, sitting up in the moonlight and dropping my knees on either side of his hips.
 

His stomach flexed as he curled up to grasp my tank top and pull it over my head. He smoothed my hair back into place as his mouth covered mine once again. His hand trembled as it touched my breast for the first time. The sensation of his cool fingers against my warm skin triggered a desperate whimper I barely recognized as my own.
 

Breathless, he pulled away and graced the bottom of my throat with his lips. “If you’re going to say no, please say it fast.”

In response, I tightened my thighs against his and pulled his head back by his hair to kiss him as I scraped my nails down his spine.

He rolled again, discarding his shorts in the process, until he rested on me so my heart beat against his. He braced my arms against the pillows over my head and breathed into my neck. “Do you really love me?”

“Yes.”

“Say it again,” he whispered.

“I love you, Nathan.”

His hands slid carefully down the length of my arms to my collar bone as he pressed his hips into mine. “Do you love me enough to die for me?”

My eyes fluttered open. “What?”

His fingers closed around my throat. The streaks of light from the window danced across his perfect face, and when his eyes met mine, they were a sea of black.
 

I grasped at his hands, trying to pry his fingers away, but his grasp was too tight. He pressed in as he constricted my throat against the pillows. I clawed at his chest, drawing blood with my fingernails, but he wouldn’t stop. The blood vessels in my face throbbed, some bursting and splintering my skin in agony.

I heard Azrael’s voice in the back of my mind.
Hold on to your fear
.
 

I drew my hands together, and a flash of light appeared between my fingertips. As I drowned in the void of oxygen, I prayed to not have to kill my best friend. Then, as the life drained out of me, I pressed the light into Nathan’s chest. Sparks exploded around the room and screams echoed through the night.

“Sloan!”
 

Taiya was shaking me, and Nathan was shouting. I blinked. Panic was etched on both their faces.

“Sloan, are you awake?” Nathan asked.

My eyes focused on him, and I recoiled from his touch. “What happened?”

“You were screaming,” he said. “In your sleep. We both ran in here. Taiya unlocked the door.”

I was panting so hard I felt light-headed. I looked down for my shirt; I was still wearing it. Then I dropped my face into my palms and cried.

“Are you OK?” Nathan asked as the bed dipped under his weight.

My eyes pouring tears, I glanced up at the clock. It was 3:04 AM. My hands were still shaking.
 

“Where’s Azrael?” I asked.

Nathan shook his head. “I don’t think he’s back yet.”

“Call him,” I cried.

“OK.”

When he moved off the bed, Taiya took his spot. She placed her hands against my face, and immediately peace washed over me. My breathing slowed to almost normal.

“They come,” she said. “They come in sleep.”

“You can speak English?” My voice was quaked.

She smiled gently. “Little.”

Nathan returned with his phone in his hand. “He’s on his way back now,” he said. “What can I do?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. I want to go downstairs. I can’t stay in here.”

He offered me his hand, but I refused it.

“I’m OK,” I insisted, standing up.

“Look at me,” he said, putting a hand under my chin. He turned my face toward him. “Your neck.”

I touched my fingers to my throat and felt pain.
 

“It’s really red. Looks like bruising,” he said, alarm rising in his voice.

Nathan faltered back a step, quickly withdrawing his hands from me. Terror flashed in his eyes.

A chill rippled through me. “What is it?”

He slowly pulled up the front of his shirt. First, I saw his chiseled abs. Then I saw the long, bloody scratches down his chest.

18.

“Tell me
exactly
what happened.” Azrael sat on the coffee table to face me without even removing his coat. “Start at the beginning.”

Nathan was pacing in front of the fireplace. Taiya had fallen back to sleep with her head in my lap since I was sitting on her bed, the sofa. “I don’t know what the beginning was. None of it felt like a dream,” I admitted. “I don’t even remember going to bed.”

“You fell asleep on the couch,” Nathan said. “I carried you to your room, then I went to bed.”

“We ate Chinese food?” I asked.

He nodded. “We had it delivered.”

“Where was Taiya?” Azrael asked.

Nathan pointed to a spot on the floor, but Azrael held up his hand to silence him. “I only want Sloan to answer.”

I closed my eyes and tried to remember. “She wasn’t there,” I said, looking at him.

He touched my knee. “Of course she wasn’t because you can only see her physical form.”

Holy crap. He’s right.

“What else happened?” he asked.

“Nathan and I were talking about a fight we had a few weeks ago. I had told him his feelings for me existed because of my power, and he got upset. Last night he said he’d figured out that wasn’t true because of what you’d told us about my power being limited by distance.”