Soulsearch (Teen Paranormal Romance Series) (The Soulmate Series: Teen Paranormal Romance Book 2) (21 page)

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,”
 
Paige replied.
 
“Don’t do anything until I get there.”

The line went dead and Zach stared anxiously at the lifeless figure in the bed.
 
They would wait for Paige.
 
Even Cody seemed to accept that it was the best course of action.
 
Still, he worried that even she couldn’t help them make this decision.

Ten minutes later, Paige came racing into the room, grateful her house was just a short walk from the hospital.
 
She didn’t know what she expected to see, but it wasn’t this broken boy sitting in a chair staring at a little child.
 
It was Zach, but the stress of the last 30 minutes had turned him into a different person altogether.
 
He was hunched over with his hands on his knees, rocking back and forth erratically, and whispering anxiously to himself.
 
Deep lines were etched across his face and his eyes were dark caverns set above the ragged hole of his mouth.

“Zach, Cody!” Paige exclaimed, running to him and throwing herself into his arms.
 
Zach’s countenance instantly softened at her embrace and he clung to her, desperately in need of solace.
 
Her presence was a soothing balm that enveloped them.
 
After a few minutes of silent contact, Paige finally pulled away and looked at Zach.

“Is Cody still with you?” she asked.
 
She was almost positive he was — she could just tell, but she wanted to be sure.
 
Zach nodded.
 
“Is this want you want, Cody?
 
To be free of Zach?
 
To start a new life — as a toddler?” Paige questioned him sincerely.

Cody didn’t know anymore.
 
The love of a family, a sense of belonging, the affection of a woman — these were the things he craved, but he had them now, didn’t he?
 
Did he really want to give up everything he had ever known in search of more?

“He doesn’t know, he’s not sure.
 
He thought that’s what he wanted, what we both wanted, but now…it’s just so overwhelming,” Zach tried to explain.
 
“We don’t know what to do.”

Paige thought for just a moment before deciding what to say.
 
She took a deep breath then smiled gently as she took his hands in hers.
 
“I love you, Zach Pasquetti.
 
I’m in love with you.
 
I’d like to spend the rest of my life with you, if you want me, regardless of what happens.”
 
Paige stared deeply into Zach’s eyes till Cody knew she was looking at him.
 
“I love you, too, Cody Pasquetti.
 
You’re part of who Zach is to me, always have been.
 
I can’t imagine Zach without you.”
 
Paige sighed as she contemplated what to say next.
 
She knew their fate was in her hands.
 
Her words could bind them together forever, or release them, each to their own path.
 
Either way, her heart ached at the implications.
 
“I want you to stay and live your life with us, but mostly I want you to be happy, Cody,” Paige continued, determined to speak nothing less than the truth.
 
“I want you to do whatever you truly want, regardless of how it affects the rest of us.
 
You’ve never been free to make your own choices before, and that’s a terrible way to live.
 
Everyone deserves the freedom to choose their own path, to face their own consequences.
 
If this is what you want then I understand.
 
We probably won’t be able to be in your life anymore, and we’ll miss you like crazy, but I will help you, however you want me to.”

A tear fell from Zach’s eye at Paige’s declaration and she wasn’t really sure who was shedding it.
 
She squeezed Zach’s hands tighter and nodded, encouraging him to speak his mind.
 
Zach gulped as he tried to put his thoughts into words.
 
He figured Cody probably already knew what he was thinking, but he wanted to vocalize it for Paige’s sake.
 
“I’m glad I have you in my life, Cody,” he started slowly, his tension releasing as he spoke.
 
“I’ll really miss you if you leave.
 
I don’t regret sharing my life with you.
 
I only regret how badly I handled it.
 
I’m sorry I made your life miserable.
 
I wish I could go back and do it all differently,
 
Maybe then we wouldn’t be here, making this decision.
 
I’m trying to change, trying to be a better person.
 
I’m trying to treat you the way you deserve to be treated, and I promise I’ll never shut you out again if you stay with me, but I understand if you don’t want to.”

Paige smiled, pleased with Zach’s confession.
 
The next move was Cody’s.
 
Zach sat down again and stared at the boy.
 
Paige pulled up a chair and wrapped her arm around him.
 
After several more minutes of silence, Zach got up and took Paige’s hand.

“Let’s go home,” Zach said decisively.
 
“He’s willing to wait till we talk to Michael.
 
He’s afraid he might never find out the truth if he leaves now.”

Paige started to explain that she would find him and tell him, make sure he knew who he used to be, but she stopped herself.
 
Maybe this was just his way of avoiding the decision.
 
She didn’t want to lose him, and if waiting to find Michael kept him with her for a little while longer, she was all for it.

Zach and Paige drove quietly to Zach’s house and climbed into his bed.
 
They weren’t interested in sex.
 
The fragile equilibrium they had found was too delicate to risk with that kind of emotional interaction.
 
They just laid there, wrapped in each other arms, till eventually sleep claimed them.

chapter fourteen

Rachel raced into her 3rd period literature class at the last minute, red-faced and out of breath, after a marathon kissing session with Rider in the alcove next to his locker — which, unfortunately, was way at the other end of the school.
 
They only had one class together, so they snuck moments from their passing periods to see each other, even if just long enough for a hug and a kiss.
 
This particular rendezvous had gotten a little heated when Rider started telling Rachel how sexy she looked in her silky red blouse and tight black jeans.
 
His compliments led to kisses and the next thing they knew the warning bell was ringing, letting them know they had 30 seconds left to get to class.
 
The race to the classroom, combined with the intense make-out session, had left Rachel blushing and excited, and her dramatic arrival drew more than a few raised eyebrows as she flung herself into her chair and dropped her books on her desk.
 
She glanced around the room at the speculative faces and her eyes caught Tara’s, who was waving enthusiastically in the back of the room.
 
Rachel smiled and waved back.
 
She missed Tara.
 
All her adventures lately had kept her from spending time with her other friends.

The school year was quickly coming to an end, and the anxious sophomores had little patience for the teacher’s diatribe on the symbolism behind the story of Moby Dick, but Rachel suddenly saw parallels to her and Rider in the lumbering narrative.
 
Rider wanted so badly to learn the truth of his origins, but would his search lead him to a monster that would eventually destroy him?
 
She wanted him to be happy, but their story had already had a happy ending; where else was there to go but down?
 
Rachel contemplated these things as the lecture droned in the background.
 
By the time the class ended, her flush of pleasure had turned to a frown.

“What is up with you, girl?” Tara asked, rushing to catch up with a distracted Rachel as the bell rang.
 
Her tone was light, but Rachel could sense her concern.
 
“You’ve been MIA for the last couple weeks.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Tara.
 
I was just thinking that I miss you guys.
 
Rider and I have just been….busy,” Rachel offered half-heartedly.
 
She wished she could give Tara a better explanation.

“Rider?
 
Who’s he?” Tara asked and Rachel’s eyes popped open as she realized her mistake.

“Uh, I mean Cameron,” she smiled innocently.
 
Tara gave a curious look but nodded in acceptance.

“You’re eating lunch with us, right?” Tara asked hopefully.
 
The Friday before, Rachel and Rider had eaten alone, too anxious about their upcoming adventure to talk about anything else.

“Sure,” Rachel replied, smiling encouragingly.
 
“I’m gonna drop off this stuff at my locker.
 
I’ll meet you there, okay?”

A few minutes later, Rachel and Rider plopped their lunch trays on the table and took the seats the science club members had saved for them, right in the middle of the group.
 
They weren’t officially in the science club, and most of the time they had no idea what the others were talking about, but the group had adopted Rachel when she first came to the school, friendless and lonesome, and their friendship had graciously extended to Cameron when Rachel invited him to join their motley crew.

“Rachel!
 
We missed you this weekend!” Garrett squealed as soon as he saw her.
 
A quivering mass of geeky enthusiasm, Garrett had an unrequited crush on Rachel that had not be dampened by either of the dating relationships she had been involved in since her arrival at Indy High.

“Hey Garrett, everybody,” Rachel greeted them, “Sorry, Cameron and I have just been really busy lately.”

“You keep saying that — you’ve been ‘busy.’
 
Busy doing what?” Tara demanded, not satisfied with Rachel’s vague excuses.
 
“And what’s so top-secret about it that you don’t even want to talk about it, let alone include us?”

Rachel glanced nervously at Rider who nodded as if to say, ‘I got this,’ then leaned in as if he was about to share his deepest secrets.
 
Rachel’s eyes bulged as he began to whisper.

“You’re right, we’re sorry.
 
Maybe you guys could actually help us — but you have to keep this on the down-low,” Rider began dramatically, pausing to look carefully in each person’s eyes.
 
He waited for their nods of agreement before continuing and Rachel just about had a heart attack straining to hear what he was going to say.
 
They had talked before about telling their friends their incredible story, thinking that perhaps they would believe them, but even though this group was about as open-minded to the realm of impossibility as one could hope, Rachel and Rider didn’t want to risk losing their friendship just to find out.
 
Had Rider decided to take the risk anyway?
 
Rachel didn’t like that idea at all, and she definitely didn’t appreciate him doing it without asking her.

“We’ve been looking for someone — a family member, a long lost relative, but we don’t know how to find him.
 
We know his name and where he’s lived, we even have a picture of him, what we don’t know is how to reach him,” Rider whispered dramatically.
 
The whole table was mesmerized by his theatrics, but Rachel was just relieved he hadn’t told the whole truth.

Tyler, Tara’s boyfriend, was excited by the challenge and immediately jumped into action, asking Rider all about this mystery man and offering suggestions on how to go about locating him.

“Hey, why don’t you and Rachel come over tonight?” Tyler suggested to Rider.
 
“We can hang out and do some sleuthing together.
 
I bet we’ll find your guy and still have time left for a movie or something.”

“That sounds great,” Rider replied and Rachel nodded enthusiastically.

“Tara, you’ll come too, right?” Rachel asked.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Tara grinned, happy to see that Rachel still had room for her in her life.

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Tara and Tyler usually took separate buses home from school, but since Rachel and Rider were coming over, all four of them piled into Rider’s SUV and headed for Tyler’s house.

“Great wheels, man!” Tyler exclaimed as he climbed into the monstrous vehicle Rider’s parents had bought for him after his accident.
 
Rider was pretty sure it had a previous life as a tank, but at least he had wheels, so he couldn’t really complain.
 
“I’m getting my license soon, but I don’t have anything to drive,” Tyler lamented.

“Same here,” Tara agreed.
 
“My parents said I have to get a job this summer if I want to get a car.
 
What about you, Rachel?”

“With the move and then the accident, I never even took driver’s ed or got a permit,” Rachel bemoaned.
 
“Maybe I should look into that.”