Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (29 page)

“But even if the veils are thinning, they should hold,” Brand said.  “They shouldn’t break.”

“No, they shouldn’t break,” Malcolm
agreed
, but not sound
ing
convinced of his own words.
  “They are almost at their weakest points now
,
but we believe the universe will correct itself and start to heal
in
time
. 
The
universe will adjust around you, dearest,
and
things should almost return to normal.”

“
I feel like you’re leaving something out,” I said.  “
What aren’t you telling us?”

“I’ve told you everything I know for sure,” Malcolm said. “But we are fairly certain Lucifer plans to use Lilly to tear a hole in the all the veils while they are weakened.  We’re just not sure how he intends to harness enough power to do it.  It seems to be the only conclusion if you add in the vision Lilly saw when Lucifer touched her.  The ribbon of light you saw yourself making in the sky had to be the beginning of the tear in this world.  And like we’ve always assumed, Lucifer will use Lillith’s power to phase himself to
Heaven
to finish the job.”

“What will happen if
he
succeeds?” I asked.

“Complete annihilation,” Malcolm said, not trying to hold anything back from me now.  “The universe, as we know it, won’t exist anymore.”

“Well, I’m not about to let that happen,” I said, finding strength from an unknown source within myself.  I stood straighter with my shoulders back.  “What
are we going to do now?
  How
do
we make sure Lucifer’s plan fails?”

“We’re working on it.”  Malcolm looked pointedly at King
Solomon
’s ring still wrapped around my thumb.  “Are we
certain
that ring helps you control Lucifer’s actions?”

“I can’t say for sure, but it seemed to work for me when I last spoke with him at the hospital.  As far as I know, he hasn’t tried to contact my mother or anyone else that I know of.”

“Well, it either works on him or he’s trying to lull us into a false sense of security,” Malcolm said.
  “Our next step is to figure out what he intends to use as a power source.  If we can figure that out, maybe we can destroy it before he
’s
a
ble to
use it.”

“And if we can’t?” I asked.

“All of the Watchers are all willing to
give their lives
to keep the universe from being destroyed,” Malcolm said.  “Lucifer can’t fight all of us at once without diminishing his power with each death.  It might be enough to bleed him dry before he’s able to do anything.  We simply need to figure out exactly when he plans to set his plan into motion
to make our deaths effective
.”

“That’s not much of an option either,” I said.  “
There’s no way
I’m los
ing
any of you.
”

“It’s a last resort maneuver, dearest.  Hopefully, it won’t come to that.  But rest assured, we won’t let him win
,
n
o matter what the cost.”

I knew I couldn’t argue with either of them.  Hadn’t I just made Brand promise to kill me if Lucifer gained possession of me?  We would all do what needed to be done to stop Lucifer.
  No matter what the cost.

After Malcolm left, Brand took me into his arms and whispered, “Wh
ere
is the one
place
you would
g
o if this were our last day on Earth?”

“Besides our bed?” I said, kissing his neck lightly.

“Ok second
place
,” he said, a pleased smile in his voice.

“You’ll probably think it’s childish.”

“No I won’t.  Tell me.”

“I always wanted to go to Disney World.”  I pulled away slightly to look at his face.
He didn’t look like he was about to laugh; instead he looked curious why I picked
such a place
.
“My mom said she would take me one day but she never did
.  I guess it became my holy grail of vacations.”

“I took Abby once,” Brand said.  “Of course she was already an adult when it first opened but I’m not sure it matters how old you are there.  The a
tmosphere is charged with
the energy of children which makes you feel like a child too.  Everything is so new to them the joy and wonder on their faces reminds you what life should be about.”

“Can we go?” I asked
, getting excited now
.  “I mean, I know we’re supposed to be facing the end of the world but can we pretend just for one day that we aren’t?”

“Of course we can go.  I’ll let Malcolm know where we are and he can contact us if anything comes up.  I’ll make arrangements for us to stay
on the property
.   You really can’t
just go for one day
.
  You would never see anything that way.
”

“Could we take everyone with us?  Make it a real family outing?”

“If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”

“I know I should be more scared about what will happen,” I said.  “But
,
I’m not.  I actually feel hopeful that everything will work out
the way it’s supposed to
.”

Brand looked at me in surprise.  “The girl who was
frightened to jump
off my boat to prove she had faith in us isn’t scared to face Lucifer in a grand showdown?”

“I know.  I’m completely twisted,” I said with a half laugh.

“No, you’re logical most of th
e time.  Can you tell me what’s made you
so
hopeful all of a sudden?”

“I will if you promise to hear me out before making a reply to what I have to say.”

“Should I be sitting down to hear this?”

I smiled.  “It would probably be a wise thing to do.  I’m not sure how you’ll take the news
,
actually.”

Brand let me go and sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen island, bringing me in between his legs and cupping his hands behind my back
, not willing to have me too very far away
.

“All right, I’m listening,” Brand said
with a degree of caution in his voice
.

“Do you remember the dream I had, the one you were able to step into the first time you saw the home Malcolm built me?”

Brand nodded, keeping to his word not to say anything until I was finished.

“The little girl you saw, our daughter, I think she’s real or will be real sometime in the future.”

“Lilly…” Brand said, a warning in his voice. 

I placed my index finger against his lips.  “Listen.” I reminded him.  “When God showed me Lucifer’s fall from
Heaven
, he also showed me our daughter again.  He told me she was our wedding
gift
, Brand.  Now
,
why would he say that if she wasn’t real?”

“Am I allowed to speak?”

I smiled.  “Yes.”

“I don’t know why he would say that or show her to you again.  But you know what happens when a Watcher has a child with a human.”

“Yes, a human.  But I’m not completely human.  I don’t think the same rules apply to me.”

“Maybe not, but it’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

“When He let me see Utha Mae in
Heaven
after
she died, Utha Mae gave me a message before I woke up.  She said she had met our children
.
I
s it possible?  Could she have met them in
Heaven
?”

Brand looked confused like what I was saying might actually make sense to him.

“It’s possible.  He could have introduced them to her if their souls have already been chosen.”  Brand was silent for a while contemplating what I had just told him.

“Speaking of that time you made me prove my faith in us by jumping off your boat.  I think you owe me the same courtesy.
”

“Lilly, it’s not the same.  You were never in any real danger then.”

“And I don’t believe I’m in any real danger now.”

Brand sighed, resting his forehead on my chest.

“Could we talk about this again when everything is settled and done, my love?  I just don’t think I can take the added stress right now.”  He pulled his head back and looked at me.  “I promise we can revisit this topic later
,
and I will try to have an open mind about it.  But right now, all I want to do is spend
time with you and enjoy the time we have
left
until Lucifer acts on his plan.”

“I’ll drop the subject
,
for now,” I said
,
a warning of my own in my voice.  “But you can rest assured I won’t let this go.  I’ve met our daughter twice now
,
and I felt her little brother moving around inside me.  I
will
have them,” I said in no uncertain terms. 

“When did you become so feisty?” Brand
asked
, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth
, obviously thinking my newfound attitude cute
.

“When I learned to let go of my fears and have faith in our future.  I wish you could have the same faith, Brand.”

“It’s bee
n
a long time since I had a reason to have faith in something or someone,” he admitted.  “I guess I’m just out of practice.”

“Then start with me,” I said.  “Have faith in me to know what’s right.  I promise you won’t regret it.”

Brand looked at me in wonder.  “Why was I chosen to find you?” He asked more to himself than to me.  “Why me?”

“Because of anyone in this world, you’re the only one
I can
give all of me to.”

“But you
were in love with
Will
once
and you
still
love Malcolm
to a point
.  What makes me different?  Did I just come into your life at the right moment?  What if Malcolm had met you first?  Would you be his wife instead of mine right now?”

“You can’t think like that,” I said.  “I can’t even imagine my life any different than it is now.  You’re like the other half of me.  Yes, I do love Will and Malcolm in
my
way
,
but the love I feel for them is so small in comparison to what I feel for you.  I don’t think I would have the will to take another breath if
I ever lost you
.  That’s not something I can say for
either Will or Malcolm
.  I could go on without them if I had to, but you?  I might as well die the moment you do because I would be dead inside anyway. 
You
are my everything. 
You
are my life.  Without you, I have nothing.”

In one swift motion, Brand pulled me into him,
pressing his lips against mine so fervently it left no doubt in my mind he felt the same way I did.  When we made love afterwards we were two pieces of one whole.  Neither could survive without the other because that wasn’t how we were built.  Destiny had p
ulled
us
together
because neither of us
would have lived the lives we were meant to otherwise.  When I lay naked against Brand afterwards, I couldn’t help
but
marvel at how much my life had changed for the better since the first time I saw him walk into that physics classroom.  Back then, I knew Brand was special on the outside, but now, I knew he was just as perfect on the inside too.

When I went to tell
Tara
about our plans to take everyone we loved to Disney World, she yelled and danced around me like there was no tomorrow
, which actually
was
one of the reasons we were going.

“So I guess I can count on you coming?” I said, completely joking.

“With bells on my shoes,” she said.

“Brand is making the hotel reservations.  We plan to invite Malik as well and wanted to know what we should do about the room situation with the two of you.”

Tara
’s mouth formed a silent “O”.

“Well, to tell you the truth Lilly Rayne, we’ll probably just need
the one room for the both of us.”

I crossed my arms over my chest.  “So, when did this happen?  You gave me and Brand a ton of grief about not having sex before marriage.  And now you’re having wild pre
-
marital sex?  A little hypocritical of you wouldn’t you say?”