Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (19 page)

I smiled.  “No, apparently
H
e’s still doing it.  But from what we’ve been able to piece together, God has been watching all of you and I believe
H
e’s allowing Lucifer’s plan to play out, at least to a certain extent, in order to bring you all closer to
H
im.  Don’t you owe it to the others to give
them
a chance at redemption?  If you say you regret not stopping them from falling from grace, then do something now to help them at least have a chance at forgiveness.”

Mason was silent for a while.  Then he walked up to me
, completely
reveal
ing
his face to my eyes in the moonlight.

He was handsome like all Watchers were but his
beauty was marred by a scar over
his left eye.  The slash looked like it had been deep when made
,
stretching from right above his eye to just below his cheek bone.  The pain he must have suffered from such a wound had to have been great.  I felt compelled to touch the old wound and raised my hand towards his face only then realizing my hand once again flamed bright with the light of my power.  When I touched the edge of the scar with the tips of my fingers, Mason took in a sharp breath.  I knew my touch didn’t hurt him because that wasn’t my intention.  I wanted to heal his wound.

“It can’t be healed,” Mason said in a tight voice, somehow knowing my true intention.

“Why?” I asked.

“It is a wound from my father; proof of his disappointment in me and a constant reminder of how I failed
H
im.”

I let my hand fall back down to my side, the flames instantly extinguishing.

“Thank you,” he said, bowing his head to me.

“For what?” I asked.

“I haven’t felt the
T
ouch in quite a while.”

I remembered what my power had done to Robert. 
But when I touched Robert I was angry and my power destroyed him.  Apparently that wasn’t all it did.

“I don’t understand. What did you feel?”

“For just a second, I felt the
love
my father still holds for me
.”

“But my touch can kill the fallen.”

“
Your touch also acts as a conduit between
Him
and the person you’re touching.  It can bring
a
peace
so great it negates any pain they may be feeling
.  Thank you for giving me hope He can forgive me.  And I will do what you
have
requested.  I will gather the Watchers.”

“And King
Solomon
’s ring?  Have you been able to track it down yet?”

“
Not exactly.  But
I found someone who knows where it can be found. 
I won’t lie to you and say obtaining the ring will be easy for you.  From what I was told, you will be judged by those how have no right to judge you. 
But i
f you pass the
ir
test, you will be granted access to the ring.
”

“Who is this someone you found?”

“A jinn named Horace.”

“He knows where it is?” I asked in disbelief, remembering the raggedy pawn shop owner who told Malcolm and me the whereabouts of Faust
once upon a time
.

“From your tone I take it you know him?”

“Yes, we’ve met.”

“Go to him and tell him I sent you.  He will tell you what you need to know.  Make sure Brand and Malcolm are with you
though
.  I trust Horace about as far as I can throw him.  Brand will make sure he is telling the truth and Malcolm isn’t someone Horace wants to intentionally
anger.”

“Thank you,” I touched Mason on the arm and instantly felt his tenseness fade.
“
Thank
you for your help.”

“There is no need for you to thank me.  You’ve given me more than you ask of me.  I will contact you when it
’
s time for the gathering.  It will take me a while to track down all the Watchers
,
but I will do it as quickly as I can.  Farewell, Lilly.  I will see you soon.”

When I returned home, I told Brand everything
which
happened.  We phased to Malcolm’s house and filled him in on what I learned from Mason.

“Of course,” Malcolm said.  “Why didn’t I think about Horace?  Considering he’s spent the greater part of his life searching for his
own
ring it makes sense he would know the whereabouts of other
relics
.”

“I say we go now and find out what he knows,” Brand said.
  “The sooner we get the ring for Lilly the better.”

When we entered Horace’s pawn shop, the dirty little jinn was sitting behind his counter stuffing his face with a
Twinkie
.  His eyes widened when we entered and he spat out the
Twinkie
into a trash can
before he choke
d
on it.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this little visit?” Horace asked
, wiping crumbs from his beard.

“Mason sent me,” I told him.

“So you’re the one
?
  He didn’t tell me it was you.”

“What do you know about King
Solomon
’s ring?” Malcolm asked
, making it clear we weren’t there to make small talk
.

“I know
you
can’t get it,
Malcolm,
” Horace said with
self-satisfied
grin on his face.  “Only someone with a pure soul can reach it.”

“What do you mean?  Where is it?”
  I asked.

“The old bastard
took it to his grave
.  But it wasn’t the only thing buried with him.  All of the
demons
he commanded with
it
are there
protecting it
.  They won’t let
a fallen come near it
.
  I’ve tried.
 
O
ur souls are
too
tainted.”

“But someone with a pure soul can go in and get it?” I asked.  “The
demons won’t
harm that person?”

“So goes the legend,” Horace said eyeing me curiously.  “But if you have the slightest
thing to feel guilty about or if you have
doubt in yourself, they’ll use it to drive you insane.
  You may never recover and end up being trapped with them
”

I looked at Brand beside me.  “Is he telling the truth?”

Brand nodded.  “Yes, he’s telling the truth as he knows it.”

I looked back at Horace.  “Do you know where the king’s tomb is?”

“Sure, I can even take you there….for a price.”

“Everyone knows where the tomb is, Horace” Brand said.  “W
e don’t need you to take us there.
”

“Ah,” Horace said pointing his index finger in the air.  “You all
think
you do but you don’t. 
Solomon
wasn’t a fool.  He made sure everyone knew where he was
supposed
to be buried, but he’s not actually there.  He made sure his body was placed somewhere no one would think to look.”

I looked at Brand and saw him nod is head.  Horace was telling the truth.

“
W
hat
’s your
price?” Malcolm asked, daring Horace to ask for something which would
be impossible for us to grant.

“Once you have the ring, I want a favor. 
Let’s just say y
ou would owe me one.”

“What type of favor?”

“No, I won’t tell you because you might not do it if you know what it is.”

“Would
it
hurt anyone?” I asked.

“Not really,” Horace said,
with a small shrug of his shoulders,
his voice not completely certain.  “It all depends on how you look at it
I guess
.”

Time was a precious commodity.  The faster we got the ring the better.

“Can you at least promise me no one will die because of the favor you wish to ask?”
I said.

Horace raised his right hand.  “You have my oath as a jinn that no one will die if you do as I ask.”

I looked to Brand for confirmation Horace was telling the truth.  Brand nodded his head.

“Then take us,” I told Horace, praying I hadn’t just made a deal I would later come to regret.

Before we left, Horace scavenged
around
in his horde of stuff in the pawn shop and handed us all flashlights.

“It
’
s going to be dark where we’re going,” Horace said
by way of explanation
.

We all held onto Horace as he phased us to the location of King
Solomon
’s tomb.

A cold wind swirled the air around us.  My eyes were drawn to the lights of a city not that far
in the distance
.  A multitude of light colored buildings with red tiled roofs
decorated the landscape
.  I turned my flashlight on and saw that we were standing on hard packed
sand
with plods of dried out grass a foot high scattered in a random pattern.  A small broken stone wall stood on one side of me while a scattering of mostly buried structures
made of the same stone
jutted up from the ground.

“Tel Beit Shemesh?” Malcolm questioned.  “Why would he bury himself here?”

“
Exactly. 
Who would
think to
look for him here?” Horace
said
, like the answer was self- evident.

“Where is the tomb?” Brand asked, obviously wanting to get down to business and get out.

“I’ll have to take her down
myself
,” Horace said pointing to the ground at his feet.

“Down where?” I asked.

“Down to the tomb
,
of course.  You don’t think he would bury himself where just anyone could find him
, do you?
”

“If you take her you take us all,” Malcolm told Horace.

“Did you not hear a word I said back at the shop?” Horace said in irritation.  “They won’t let you in there.  Only she can go in and get it. 
Trust me, you being there would just make things worse for her. 
I’m going to phase her down and come right back up before they sense me.  She’ll be fine.”

“It’s ok,” I told Brand and Malcolm.  “I’m not scared.”

Brand took me in his arms.  “At the first sign of danger, come back up.  Don’t risk your life.”

“
Everything’s going to be all right
,” I said, giving Brand a kiss before I took Horace’s hand.

“Now when you get down there, just walk to the other end of
t
he hallway
,” Horace instructed.  “
The tomb is there.”

Horace was true to his word.  He phased me down to a dark corridor and immediately left.

Living in the modern world you become used to small noises
always in the background
and not even realize it.  The hallway I stood in was cut out of rock and complete
, undisturbed
silence surrounded me. 

I cautiously made my way down the corridor scanning the walls
with my flashlight
for any signs of trouble but seeing none.  I began to wonder if Horace had made his ghost story up
to frighten me
until I saw a white apparition appear at the end of the hallway.  The ghostly form slowly
floated t
owards me.  I felt the air in the room drop by ten degrees and pulled the lapel of my coat closer
around
my neck to ward off the chill.  I stood stock still until the
spirit stood before me
, shimmering is its otherworldly beauty
.  It didn’t really have a true form.  It
s misty
shape
held a glowing orb of incandescent light at its center.

“Why are you here?” It asked, its voice sounding like wind
passing over metal
chimes.

“I’ve come for King
Solomon
’s ring.”