Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (25 page)

When I looked up at him to tell me what I should do now, he said, “Tell them why we need their help.”

“Please,” I said
to them
, “please stand.  There’s no reason
for you to
kneel in front of me.”

“You are the first and only child of an arch angel,” Baruch said to me.  “That is reason enough.”

I looked to Brand for help.

“Baruch, you’re making my wife uncomfortable.  Please, stand up brothers.”

Almost reluctantly, the Watchers stood.  They watched me carefully as if they were planning to etch my next words into their memory
which simply made me more nervous
.

“We’ve called you all here to ask for your help.  We have been told Lucifer plans to tear a hole in space and time to somehow rip our world,
Heaven
and
Hell
apart.  We know he will try to possess me and use my power as an arch angel and the power Lillith passed down to enter
Heaven
.  What we need you to help us with is figure out when he plans to do this and how he intends to harness enough power
to
accomplish his goal
.  Brand’s told me my powers aren’t enough to ach
ieve
what he plans to do.  We hope with your combined knowledge at least one of you can figure out what else he needs and where he intends to draw the power from.  We’re missing a piece of the puzzle and desperately need it to know how to stop him.  Please, if any of you can help, I beg you to help me.”

“If you are willing to help Lilly,” Mason said, “take a step forward and be counted.”

I took a deep breath waiting to see how many of the Watchers would help us.  As one, they all took a step forward, bringing tears of relief to my eyes.

“Thank you,” I told them
my voice quavering with emotion
.  “Thank you
all
.”

Before we could leave, some of the Watchers came up to me asking that I use my touch on them like I had Baruch.  Almost all of them had the same reaction as Baruch.  I was told by some that they felt their father’s disappointment in them but they also felt
H
is love and want to
have them back by
H
is side
.  It seemed to be enough for most of them to know
that even
they could be forgiven in time
,
t
hat
Heaven
wasn’t completely lost to them.

I looked to Malcolm offering him
once again
the opportunity to feel what I had to offer, but he simply shook his head
again
refusing to allow me to touch him.

It was decided that anyone who found out something
which
might be of use to us would contact Isaiah who would in turn contact Brand and me
if he thought it was worth investigating further
.

The last of the Watchers to ask me to touch them was Allan.

He seemed uncertain when he came to stand in front of me, like he wasn’t
sure
if he really wanted to know
what God thought of him
.

I smiled to encourage him to accept the
T
ouch.

“I don’t know, Lilly,” he said.  “It’s been so long.  Maybe He’s forgotten about me.”

“No,” I said, “I don’t think
H
e has Allan.  But, there is only one way to know for sure.”

I held my blazing hands out to him.  Finally, he placed his hands into mine.  I felt him
automatically
tighten his hold.  Overcome with emotion, he fell to his knees as silent tears coursed down his cheeks.  When he let go of me, he stayed knelt in front of me before saying, “Thank you, Lilly.  Thank you.”

He phased then.  I could only assume he needed some time alone to deal with what I had just shared.  I hoped being able to let the Watchers feel their father’s love again after all these years gave them a new found sense of hope
and purpose
.  They had all been living with
the
guilt
of their sins
for
a very long time.
I couldn’t imagine what it was like for them to know
H
e
still loved them
.  I only wished Malcolm would let me open his heart to his father’s love.  I felt like it would be good for him, somehow cathartic. 

But, I also knew he needed to deal with his demons first.  Malcolm didn’t believe he had the right to ask for forgiveness.  I had a feeling he would have to prove to himself that he was a different person before he allowed me
to
show him God’s
true
feeling
s
for him.

I only hoped I lived long enough to help him through his self doubt.  I knew he had a good heart.  It had just been a long time since he thought that way about himself
too
.

While we waited for new information to be collected by the Watchers, Brand and I tried to act normally for the next week.  We had finals at school
during that time
which helped me take my mind of
f
some of the stress we were under.  I knew time was running out and tried to spend as much
of it
with Brand as I possibly could without him becoming suspicious of my motives.  I didn’t want him to worry I had lost faith in us finding the answers we needed because I hadn’t.  But
,
I was also a realist and knew the future wasn’t something any of us could control.
  Whatever was meant to happen would
,
and I was always one to try to be prepared for any eventuality.

Tara
finally talked me into going shopping with her that Friday afternoon by embarrassing the heck out of me, as usual.

“Lilly Rayne, you
’ve
been with Brand so much you’re starting to walk funny,” she said to me, making me want to hide from her knowing eyes.  “We haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together since you got married
,
and well girl, I’m feeling a little neglected.”

The last thing I wanted was for
Tara
to feel like my marrying Brand meant he had an exclusive monopoly on m
e
.  If things ended badly with Lucifer’s plan, I didn’t want my best friend to feel like I hadn’t
cared enough to
s
hare my last remaining days with her
.  She was one of the rocks in the foundation of my life
,
and I knew she deserved better.  So, we made plans to go shopping and eat somewhere for lunch.  I wish I could say those plans happened
.  I wish I could say we were able to spend the day together just acting like
any other
young adults
our age
.  But, I can’t do that because the world as we knew it began to fall apart instead.

Right before I was supposed to leave
to pick
Tara
up
, I received a frantic
phone
call from my mother.

“
Lilly
,
you have to come home right now,” she said, sobbing hysterically.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked, praying Lucifer hadn’t harmed her in
some
way.  “Are you all right?  Are you hurt?”

“It’s not me, Lilly,” my mother cried.  “It’s Utha Mae.  I think she’s had a heart attack.  Lucas called the ambulance as soon as he found her in her trailer.  Come home Lil
l
y and bring
Tara
with you.  I don’t know how long she might have left.”

When I hung up the phone, I yelled for Brand.

“What’s wrong?” He asked phasing in next to me.

I felt tears burn my eyes and found it hard to see much less speak.

“Utha Mae’s had a heart attack,” I was finally able to get out.  “We have to get
Tara
.”

When we phased into
Tara
’s house, we found her just grabbing her coat, expecting me to come pick her up for our day of shopping.

“Good grief,” she complained, putting a hand to her heart.  “You two know I hate that!”

When she saw my tear streaked face, her anger immediately faded. 

“What’s wrong?
  What’s happened?
”

I held my hand out to her and drew her into my arms, crying uncontrollably.

“Lilly, girl, you’re scaring me.  Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Utha Mae’s had a heart attack,” Brand said for me since I was a complete basket case.

“Then get us to the hospital,”
Tara
said in a calm voice.

Not caring what it would look like, we phased to the hospital
in
Dalton
.  We were there before Utha Mae’s ambulance arrived.  When my mother and Lucifer entered, my
m
om looked stunned that we were there already.

“How did you get here so fast?” She questioned, giving me a hug.

Thankfully
,
we didn’t have to come up with a lie because the gurney
with Utha Mae came barreling
through the ER
entrance.  She lay dead still on the mobile bed making me wonder if we were already too late to say goodbye.  The EMT’s wheeled her quickly past us into a glass enclosed room.  Doctors came at a run and quickly examined the situation.  The curtain was drawn around her bed completely blocking our view of what was happening.

Brand held me as I tried to stem the flow of my grief. 
Tara
had the presence of mind to call Will and ask him to bring Malik.  I marveled at my best friend in those moments.  She
bore
a strength inside her I had never seen before.  She reminded me so much of Utha Mae then.  Whenever the world around her was in chaos, Utha Mae was always there to keep everyone calm until the trouble passed.  I knew then
Tara
h
ad inherited
the
same ability as
her grandmother
to weather any storm placed in her path
.

An hour later a doctor came to tell us Utha Mae ha
d
survived the initial heart attack but that it had weakened her hear
t
to a point it would eventually give out.

“Given her age, we can’t risk doing surgery because that would surely kill her,” he told us.  “All we can do is wait to see how she progresses in the next few days.”

“Tell us the truth,”
Tara
said.  “Is she about to die?  Do you see her walking out of this hospital?”

“Any number of things could happen,” the doctor said but even I could hear the doubt in his voice.  “But if you want my professional opinion, I would say she only has a few more days to live before her heart completely gives out.  If you have anything you want to say to her, I wouldn’t put it off.  Let her know how much you love her while she’s still with us.”

“Thanks, doc,”
Tara
said
, lifting her chin a little higher
.  “I appreciate you
r
honesty.”

They
moved Utha Mae to a private suite.  Brand arranged it so we had the best room the hospital had to offer.  It was much like a regular bedroom
with a normal bed, a comfortable couch which folded out into a bed and a couple of
comfortable
chairs.  I was thankful Utha Mae’s last day
s
wouldn’t be lived in a
regular
stark hospital room.

Tara and I insisted on staying with Utha Mae the first night.  Will refused to leave her bedside saying he didn’t have anywhere else he needed to be.  All three of us felt like Utha Mae was our mother and none of us wanted to leave her.  If the tables were turned we knew she wouldn’t leave us and we weren’t about to let her down.  She’d raised us too well.

Around supper time, Lucifer offered to go to the cafeteria and bring us all something back to eat.  As soon as he left the room, I made my own excuse
,
intent on following him but Brand held me back.

“What are you going to do?” He questioned quietly so the others wou
l
dn’t hear.

I jerked my arm fr
ee of
his grasp.  “I just have one question,” I told him.  “He won’t hurt me.  I’m too important to him.”

“Then let me go with you.”

“No, I need to do this myself.  You stay here.  If anything happens to Utha Mae while I’m gone, come and get me.”