Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (32 page)

“It makes complete sense,” Malcolm said.  “The geomagnetic storm which will pass over the Earth’s atmosphere normally wouldn’t affect us
,
but if we take into account your vision of you standing in snow with a tear forming in the sky, he has to plan to take you somewhere in the Antarctic
since that’s where the ozone layer is the thinnest
and harness the power from the solar storm to punch a hole in the veils.
  If he can find a way to possess you and combine your power with his, I don’t see why his plan would fail.”

Brand took my hand with King
Solomon
’s ring on it.  “But we won’t let him possess you.  Just make sure you keep this ring on.”

“I feel like I should hide somewhere he wouldn’t think to look for me,” I said.

“I don’t think it matters where you go, dearest.  He would be able to find you. 
It’s in the arch angel arsenal of powers to know where any angel is at any time.  Since you’re half arch angel, you probably stand out like a lighthouse beacon to a lost ship
to him
.
”

No where to hide.  No where to run.  Even the happiest place on Earth wasn’t a safe haven.

“Then we wait for him to show up and
we
fight,” Brand said, squeezing my hand.

“We should go home,” I said.  “I would like to come back here one day when this is all over.  Mickey Mouse might not take it too kindly if we started Armageddon on his doorstep.”

Malcolm stood.  “I will gather the Watchers.  Where should we meet?”

“Let’s meet in my
London
home.  It’s big enough to accommodate everyone for a while.”

“I don’t think anything will happen until sometime tomorrow,” I
told them
.

“Why is that, dearest?”

“Because tomorrow is December 21
.
” I look
ed
at them both to see if they understood what I was saying.  “Maybe the Mayan’s had it right all along.  Tomorrow might
actually
be the end of the world.”

The Watchers decided they should
all
be at Brand’s house to wait out Lucifer.  As seemed to be the unspoken rule among the Watchers
when a fight was near
, they all wore their
ceremonial black feather cloaks and tight leather pants. 
I suppose as part of their war uniform they also
had to wear the
black leather belt around their waists which held a sword on one side and a serrated blade on the other.

I felt like I was in the opposite of the Play
boy
mansion with so many bare
-
chested men walking around in form fitting, leave nothing to the imagination, pants.

I thought
Tara
’s eyes were going to bulge out of their sockets at the sight
of them all together
.

I tried to talk her into staying somewhere e
lse
at an
undoubtedly safer
place
with Malik but she refused.  True to form
,
she wanted to stay with me through thick and thin.

“Girl
,
it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make
for you
,” she said eyeing a pair of Watchers pass by the couch we were sitting on in the living room.  “Why is it that each one looks just as good or better than the last one I saw?”

“Seriously, am I going to have to
put blinders over your eyes
?
  We’re supposed to be in crisis mode here.
”

“Don’t you dare,”
Tara
said in alarm.  “I’m just fine, girl
. I’m
just fine.”

I did worry about
Tara
being in a house full of Watchers though.  I knew with so many of them a normal human would be hard pressed to withstand the pull of their over powering pheromones.  But, Brand seemed to be right in his first estimation about my best friend.  Her loyalty to me trumped anything
the Watchers could do to her.

Brand and Malcolm walked into the room dressed just as the other Watchers with Mason walking between them.  Even though Brand and Malcolm were formidable in their own right
s
, you didn’t have to be a Watcher to know Mason was their leader.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on why exactly though.  True, he was just as gorgeous as my friend and my husband, but he seemed
to
emit
a different aura.  Maybe he stood a centimeter taller or broader of shoulder, I don’t know.  But he did make you take notice of him and you knew he wasn’t someone you should ever double cross.

“Can I ask you guys something?” I said.

“You can ask us anything, dearest.”

“Why does every Watcher look like a male supermodel?”  It had been question bothering me for sometime.

“It was easier to gain the trust of humans in these forms,” Ma
son
answered.

“Truly, dearest, wouldn’t you rather have someone who looks like us giving you advice than some ancient old man with a balding head and missing teeth?”

“Makes sense to me,”
Tara
said, oogling another set of Watchers passing by.

“Is everyone here?” I asked Brand as he came to sit beside me on the couch.

“Yes, everyone has gathered.”

“And you’re sure it’s safe for Tara and Malik to be here?”

“None of the vampiric Watchers will harm them,” Mason said.  “You have my word on that, Lilly.
  Plus, the calm your presence brings them makes their hunger go away when the
y are
close to you.
”

“So,” I said, feeling like I should twiddle my thumbs or something, “what do we do now?”

“We wait for him to make his move,
dearest,
” Malcolm said, standing before me like he would personally rip Lucifer’s throat out if he dared materialize in front of him.

“Anybody got an idea on what that move might be?”
Tara
asked.

“We have to assume he
’
ll try to get Lilly somehow,” Will said
as he and Malik
walk
ed
into the room
.  Will handed me my
soda
he had gone to get
from the kitchen.

Will’s presence rankled some of the Watchers but Mason quickly put an end to their objections.  I told Mason I needed my f
amily
around me and that included Will.  So, he took care of things and made it so I didn’t have to worry about any of my friends while we waited.

We all started to stare at one another and I said the most obvious thing, “Well, this is awkward.”

Mason was the first to chuckle and we all at least got one decent laugh out of the impossible situation we found ourselves in.

We decided to play a game of poker to keep our minds off of things.  I completely sucked at the game which wasn’t a big surprise to anyone.

“You’ve never had a poker face,”
Tara
said
with a shake of her head
like she pitied me
.  “Everything you think is written all over your face.”

I took a sideways glance at Brand sitting beside me.

“Oh no,”
Tara
said, shaking a finger at me.  “We don’t have time for you and
Prince Charming
to go find an empty corner, Lilly Rayne.  Just get that thought out of your head.”

Everyone looked at me making me want to hide under the table.

“Stop picking on my wife,” Brand said, taking
one of my
hand
s
and kissing it.  “
Like I’ve said before, s
he can’t help it if she finds me irresistible.”

“Could we please not talk about your sex life at this
exact
moment?” Malcolm begged.  “
But
, since
you brought
the subject
up
,
d
o you need any more
condoms
?  I have a large stock pile at home
I haven’t been using
if you need more.  I’m sure the box Abby and Angela gave you is gone by now.”

“I’ve got money, Malcolm,” Brand said
matter of factly
.  “I can afford to buy my own stockpile.”

“Ok, you guys are just making me too uncomfortable,” Will said, looking a bit nauseas.  He threw his cards into the pile and stood.  “Come get me when the apocalypse begins.  I think that would be easier to handle than this conversation.”

“I am all in with you there
,
Will,” Malik said tossing his cards in and giving his chips to Tara who greedily added them to her
horde of chips
.
  Malik stood and he and Will walked out of the room saying they were hungry and going to the kitchen.

“Bring me something back,”
Tara
yelled at Malik.  “I don’t plan to leave this table until all the chips are mine!”

It always tickled me how competitive
Tara
was when you played any game with her.  Her specialty was of course Monopoly, but poker was her second favorite.  I always thought she should try the professional poker tour.  She had the best luck
at games
of anyone I knew.

Sometime around
one in the morning
, I decided I needed
some
sleep.  I went to use the bathroom and found
Tara
practically glued to my side.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.

“Going to the bathroom with you.  What do
es it look like
I’m doing?”

“I’m not two years old, Mom.  I don’t need your help.”

“You are not supposed to go anywhere alone,”
Tara
said.  “And I’m not about to just let you go in there without someone watching you.”

“No,” I said adamantly.  “You are not going in and you are most definitely not watching me go to the bathroom.”

“Brand!”
Tara
called, looking for back up.

Brand phased in beside us.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, immediately looking for danger.

“Lilly refuses to let me go to the bathroom with her.”

“I think I can go to the bathroom without being abducted.  Besides, it
’
s not like I can’t phase back here even if someone does try to grab me.”

“She’s right,
Tara
,” Brand said coming to my defense.  “Lilly can phase anywhere she wants.”

“Well
,
I don’t like it,”
Tara
huffed, even though she knew we were making sense.  “
G
o on
then,
Lilly Rayne.  We’ll wait right here until you get finished.”

Before I closed the door, I silently mouthed, ‘Thank you’ to my husband.  He winked at me and smiled.

His beautiful face was the last thing I saw before I noticed the
jewels embedded in
King
Solomon’s
ring
begin
to glow.

I stared at the ring, completely hypnotized by its luminous beauty.

“Come to me,” I heard the voice inside my head say.  “Come to me.”

Without phasing or having someone phase me, I found myself standing on
the snowy plain of Lucifer’s vision surrounded by a
massive
mountain
range.

Lucifer
,
wearing his human suit of Lucas
,
stood in front of me smiling.

“That was easier than I thought it would be,” he said, holding out a thick white padded coat.  “Put your arms in the coat, Lilly, like a good girl.
  All I need you to do is freeze to death when I’m so close to winning.
”

I did what he said without even thinking about it
, like I wasn’t in control of my own body
.  The wind was biting cold
even though the
sun was high in the clear blue sky
overhead
.  Lucifer walked around me and began to button the coat for me.

“You know,” he began, “when I saw you with King
Solomon’s
ring that night at the restaurant, I couldn’t believe my luck. 
Up until that point,
I wasn’t sure what I would do to get you when the time was right
.  I
t was like the universe
handed me the keys to its
own
destruction on a
shiny
silver platter
.  How
did you find it
?”