Cursed (Book 1, The Watchers; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (31 page)

Plus I was mad. 
After the glorious night I had just spent with Brand, I desperately wanted to
be back in his arms, not stuck in God only knew where waiting for what I could
only presume to be my execution. 

I could only
imagine the hell Brand was experiencing now.  He’d probably be blaming himself
for not staying with me, watching over me.  I hoped he would be able to move on
after my death, find some happiness somehow.  Images of his face during the
night and the memory of his body next to mine propelled me to not give up hope
just yet.  Maybe there was a way to escape so I could find my way back to him. 
There had to be a way.  I was just missing it.  I couldn’t give up hope, not
when I had so much to live for.

I saw Justin phase
in beside the stool.

“Sorry to keep you
waiting,” he said.

“Do you plan to
kill me now?” I asked.

“Not yet.  He
wants to meet you before that happens.”

“The person who
asked you to kill me?  Why does he want to meet me?”

“I think he feels
like he owes you an explanation.”

“Do you know why
he wants me dead so badly?”

Justin hesitated. 
“I’m not completely sure.  He simply said that one life was a fair exchange to
stop what’s about to occur.  That sometimes you had to make sacrifices in order
to protect what you love most.”

“What does he
think my death will stop?”

Justin shook his
head.  “I’m afraid I can’t answer that.  He never says more than he needs to.” 
He cocked his head to the side, openly staring at me like I were an oddity.
“But, I can see why Malcolm was so strident in his possessiveness toward you. 
I don’t think I’ve ever felt the presence of anyone like you before either.  If
your death wasn’t required, I would keep you for myself.”

Those words sent a
shiver down my spine.  I wasn’t sure what would be worse, death or spending the
rest of my life with Justin.

“As it is, I have
no choice in the matter.”

“When is he
supposed to be here?  How long do I have?”

“I can’t say for
sure.  Time for him is different than it is for us.  It could be minutes or
days.  But he’ll be here before whatever it is your death is supposed to stop
happens.”

“Could you bring
me something to eat and drink?  I am human,” I reminded him.  “I’m not like
you.”

“Oh, my
apologies.”  He phased out then but returned a few minutes later with a plate
of food and a glass of water.

Having nowhere
else to put them, he walked toward me and handed them directly to me.

“Thanks,” I said
noticing that my last meal might be a steak, potato and roll.

“You know.  I have
no desire to kill you Lilly, which is odd considering what I am.  I hope you
know how much I regret what I have to do.”

“Isn’t there
anyway you could not kill me?  Just let me go?”

“The consequences
of an action like that would be far worse for me than anything you could
imagine.”

I could hear the
fear in his voice and see it in his eyes.  He seemed to be in awe of whomever
it was who ordered him to kill me.  There wouldn’t be any way for me to talk
him out of it.

“Could you answer
a question for me then?”

“If it’s
reasonable.”

“When you first
took me, why was I being passed around to different people and phasing in and
out of different places?”

“So that your
trail would be untraceable.”

“Trail?”

“When we travel we
leave a trail.  Only one of our kind can detect it but it’s there nevertheless.
I couldn’t simply bring you straight here.  It would have been too easy to
follow.  I had to call in a few favors, but I think we left enough false trails
to keep your friends busy.  No one will think to look for you here.”

My heart sank.  I
had hoped to be rescued.  Isn’t that the way the stories went?  Wasn’t the
damsel in distress supposed to be saved by her knight in shining armor at the
end of the story?

For the first time
since I was left in my solitary room of stone, I wanted to cry.  I think Justin
saw my distress.

“I’ll leave you to
eat your meal.”

When I was alone,
I put the plate and glass on the floor, crying out my tears of hopelessness
until I had no more left to shed.

Chapter 16 :  From Brand’s Point of View

When I returned
home, I stood in the doorway of my bedroom, unable to move.  Had the night I
just experienced really happened? Or had it been a cruel trick played by mind
tempting me to go insane by believing my deepest desire, my most precious
longing had finally been realized.  I dared not step a single foot back into the
room and shatter a dream so perfect it couldn’t have possibly been real.  I
forced my legs to move toward the bed we’d shared for most of the night.  I
knew I would go mad if there wasn’t some trace of her there, something to prove
it hadn’t been an illusion.

My eyes dropped to
the floor at the foot of the bed.  There in a crumpled mass was the blue jacket
she’d worn the previous night. I walked to this solitary piece of evidence
proving that the night had indeed been real.  I hadn’t just imagined it out of
my desperate longing to be with her.  The smell of her was everywhere in the
room.  I took in a deep breath, drowning my lungs in her scent.  With the
realization that the night hadn’t been a dream, my heart felt like shedding the
body of my terrestrial self and flying from this earthly plane, ascending so
high the tranquil veil of heaven would fall behind in my wake.

When she walked
into my studio last night, I knew I had to be dreaming because the reality of
my life wouldn’t allow for such happiness.  And when she said she loved me, I
knew I had to be mad.  No one as wonderful as her could love a sinner like me. 
I didn’t deserve to hold the heart of someone so dear and precious.  Someone
with the purist soul I’d ever encountered.  How could she still love me after
the way I had treated her? 

Yet, she stood
there, declaring her love to me, touching her lips to mine, sharing not just a
kiss but her heart.  I knew I didn’t deserve her.  I didn’t deserve to be so
happy.  But I wasn’t going to stop the dream.  I couldn’t.  Her love was all I
wanted.  She was all I needed.

I gently laid her
jacket on the edge of the bed.  It would have to be her place keeper until she
was able to return to me.  Without her near, my empty arms ached like my heart
from loneliness. 

How had I lived so
long without her in my life?  It was only now that I felt truly alive and
whole.  I had lived longer than time existed and knew how precious and rare
what Lilly and I shared was.  Never in all my existence did I ever feel what I felt
with her nor had I ever expected to.  She was more than a companion or lover. 
She was the caretaker of my soul.   It gave me hope that maybe He had forgiven
me in some small way because it could only be by his grace that I should find
such bliss in my earthly prison.

I desperately
wanted to phase back to her apartment to steal one more kiss from her honey
drenched lips, just one more to tide me over until she was back in my arms.  I
talked myself out of it.  I didn’t want her to think I was some maniac who
wouldn’t be able to give her space to breathe in.  But I knew I had to do
something to keep myself occupied until her return or I would go mad from
longing.

I went down to the
kitchen to see what I had on hand to keep me occupied.  Surely she would be
hungry after the night we’d just spent with one another.  I found what I needed
to make her fresh croissants.   She had commented before how much she liked
them.  I prepared them quickly and placed them in the oven.  Hopefully they
would be done before her return.  After searching the fridge, I assembled a
tray with a crystal bowl filled with fresh strawberries and a cup brimming with
freshly whipped cream.  I phased to the rose garden in front of the Common’s
building and picked a solitary, perfect red rose to symbolize the love we
shared.  I went back home and laid it across the plate where the croissants
would go.  It would be the first flower I’d ever given her.  It wasn’t as
impressive as the bouquet Will had sent her but it didn’t matter.  It was from
the place we’d shared our first unofficial date.  And I knew she would
appreciate the sentiment. 

Almost thirty
minutes passed.  Where was she?  Another thirty minutes passed, the croissants
lay across the plate with her flower growing cold, waiting on her return.  It
was then I knew something was wrong.  Nothing would have kept her from me for
so long.      

My cell phone
rang.  I grabbed it and looked at the screen.  It was Lilly’s apartment phone. 

“Hello?” I
answered, hoping to hear Lilly’s sweet voice tell me she would be with me soon.

“Brand?”  It was Tara.  “Hey, I hate to bother you but Lilly isn’t with you is she?”

My heart stopped
beating.

I felt the blood
drain from my face.

“Isn’t she there
with you?” I asked, feeling the seams of my world slowly being ripped apart.

“No, I was hoping
she was with you.”  I could hear the worry in Tara’s voice. 

“Do you know
Malcolm’s number?  Maybe he came by and got her early this morning or
something.”

“I can call him
for you.”  I needed to get off the phone quickly.  Time was important.

“Sure, I’d
appreciate that.  Call me as soon as you know anything.  I think I’ll call Will
and see if she’s with him.”

As soon as the
call ended, I phased to Lilly’s bedroom and found what I had hoped not to. 
Someone else had been there.  The trail left behind by their phasing was easy
for me to see. I followed it only to find three different trails.  I picked one
and was met by five different trails to follow.  Each trail led to another
series of multiple trails.  Someone was making it impossible to follow where
they had taken her.  I was going to need help.  I phased into Malcolm’s new
house.

When I first
learned he’d bought the home next to mine, I almost came over and burnt it to
the ground.  He flaunted what I hated the most about myself.  The desire for
human blood was a craving I fought every day, every minute.  Only when I was
with Lilly did the need feel numbed, almost like I was a normal person. 

“Malcolm!”

He quickly
appeared in front of me.

“Well well well,
what brings you here Brand?  Has Lilly come to her senses yet?”

“Lilly’s missing,”
I informed him wiping the smug smile from his face.  “Someone’s taken her.”

“Who’s taken
her?”  I was surprised to see genuine worry from the mongrel.

“There was a trail
left in her room.  I’ve tried to follow it but whoever took her had help. 
There are too many false trails for me to know which is the right one.”

“Have you tried
Will?  It wouldn’t be the first time he’s played the traitor card.”

I pulled out the
cell phone in my pocket and called Tara back.

“Lilly?” Tara’s desperate longing to hear Lilly’s voice mirrored my own.

“No, it’s Brand. 
Have you talked with Will yet?”

“Yeah, he hasn’t
seen her either.  Said he was comin’ over here.”

“Malcolm hasn’t
seen her.  We’ll be there in a few minutes too.”

Tara thanked me
and quickly hung up the phone.  I could only presume she was hoping beyond hope
Lilly would be calling her to tell her she was ok.  I knew that phone call
wouldn’t be coming anytime soon.  It might never come.

“Will’s going to
Lilly’s apartment.  We should probably meet him over there.  Maybe the three of
us can try as many of the trails as we can.  One of them has to be the right
one.  Do you have a car?”

I should have
known Malcolm would buy the most outrageous car he could possibly find, one to
draw as much attention to himself as he could.  What better way to lure an
innocent to their death than by tempting them with flashy possessions?

At least it was
fast.  We made it to Lilly’s apartment just as Will was pulling in.

“Do you know
what’s going on?”  Will asked us as we walked to meet him at his car.  I didn’t
want Tara to know we were here yet.  We needed to work quickly.

I explained to
Will what I had found and what we needed to do.  We all phased into Lilly’s
room and began to follow as many of the trails as we could but the trails were
too well organized.  They kept backing up on themselves leading to other trails
which did the same thing.  None of them led us to Lilly.  The futility of our
search became apparent within a few short minutes. Eventually, we had to give
up.  It was pointless.

We met back in
front of the apartment, all of us despondent at our inability to locate Lilly. 
I knocked on the apartment door.

Tara snatched it
open.  “Where y’all been?” she asked leaving the door wide open and returning
to the kitchen.  She picked up the receiver of the phone there.

“Yes, I realize
it’s only been a few hours, but this ain’t like her, officer.  I got a gut
feeling something’s wrong.”  There was a pause.  “Why I gotta wait 24 hours?  I
know she’s missing now!”  She paused again listening to the police officer on
the other end of the phone intently.  “Give me your badge number,” she said
agitated, grabbing a pen from a cup of them by the phone and writing down the
officer’s name and badge number on the phone book sitting on the counter.  “You
better hope nothing happens to her. If one hair on her head is missing when I
find her, I’ll have you fired so fast you won’t know what planet you’re on.” 
She slammed the phone down and looked at us.  “Can you believe they’re gonna
make me wait a whole 24 hours before they do something?  What the hell are we
paying their salary for if they’re just gonna sit on their asses like that.  In
24 hours, who knows where she might be!”

I was concerned Tara might hyperventilate.  I went to her and convinced her to sit down in a chair at the
kitchen table.  I understood Tara’s worry.  If I let myself stop and think
about what was happening, I knew I would be just like her.  I couldn’t let that
happen.  If I was going to be any use to Lilly, I needed to keep my emotions
under control, bury them for the moment and think what needed to be done next.