Oblivion (The Watcher Chronicles #3) (9 page)

“Good to see you again, Remiel.  The six of us wondered what happened to you.  We just assumed God sent you on a special mission we weren’t supposed to know about.”

“Special mission,” Remy says, chuckling softly.  “I guess that’s a better way of putting it than saying we were stranded in an alternate reality with no way to get home.”

“So I was told,” my dad says.  “I’m here to take you back with me when you’re ready.”

“I need to do a couple of things first,” Remy tells my dad, looking over at Leah.  “I can’t leave her just yet.”

“Take your time.  I know how hard it is to leave them.”

My dad puts his arm around my shoulders instantly letting me know that leaving me was one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

I hear the squeak of a rocking chair come from my front porch.  No one seems to notice Lucifer’s arrival except for me.

“Daddy, would you mind phasing everyone inside?” I ask, keeping my eyes on Lucifer as he studies the people standing on my front lawn.

My father follows my gaze and realizes why I’ve made such a request.

Without saying another word, he and Remy walk over to my group of friends and phase them inside my home and out from under Lucifer’s intense scrutiny.

I walk up to the porch.

“I was waiting for your return,” Lucifer tells me.  “I wanted to make sure you got back in one piece.  I’ve heard wormhole travel can be a bit painful.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” I tell him.

“So how was your trip?  Successful, I hope, for your sake.”

“Yes, I have my sister back.”

Lucifer just stares at me.

“Was there something else you wanted to ask me?” I question, knowing what’s coming.

“Why were two Guardians from the Treasury of Souls just standing on your lawn?  Who are they to you?”

I contemplate how to answer the question.  I could just tell the devil to mind his own damn business, but would that gain me anything besides antagonism?  I mentally run through all of my options and decide on one.  Is it the smartest option?  Only time will tell me that, but it’s what my heart says I should do and I always follow my heart.

“One of them is my father.”

Lucifer stops rocking.  He looks completely floored.  I get the feeling it’s not because of what I said.  I think he’s surprised by my willingness to share such important information with him.  It’s something a friend would do, not an enemy.

“Which one: Zeruel or Remiel?”

“Zeruel.”

“Why would you call him your father?”

“Because when he made my soul he infused it with part of his own.”

Lucifer narrows his eyes at me.  “Why are you sharing this information so freely with me?  You’ve never been very forthcoming before.  Why now?”

“Maybe I’m just getting tired of playing games with you.  You and I keep going back and forth but neither of us seems to be getting anywhere with it.  And in the long run, maybe it doesn’t matter what you know about me.  I have a feeling when you learn the complete truth you’ll just end up wanting to kill me anyway.”

“I have no desire to kill you,” Lucifer says, his face completely serious.  “I’ve come to enjoy these little conversations of ours.  Sadly enough, you’re the closest thing I have to a friend on this planet.”

I have no idea if Lucifer is trying to play on my sympathies, but I get the strange feeling he’s telling me the truth.

“Why would you say I would want to kill you after I find out the truth about you?” He asks.  “You say it with such certainty.”

“I met your doppelganger while I was away.”

“Did you now?” Lucifer grins.  “Was he as devastatingly handsome as me?”

“Exactly.”

“And what did he do to make you think I would want you dead after I learn the truth of what you are?”

“He tried to kill me.”

Lucifer looks amused.  “Did he now?  That’s interesting.  Do you mind me asking how you got away unscathed?  Usually if I want someone dead, they’re dead.  Yet, here you are, still alive.  How?”

“I think I’ve over shared enough for one day, don’t you?”

“One more question, if you don’t mind,” Lucifer says, leaning forward in his chair.  “Those three humans I just saw.  Who are they?”

“My friends.”

“What kind of friends?  There’s something about them that’s different, like you’re different, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is I’m sensing from them either.”

“Like I said, I’ve over shared enough with you for one day.  They’re my friends.  That’s all you need to know.”

Lucifer leans back in the chair and continues to rock.

“By the way,” he says, “I’ve been meaning to ask why you’re pretending to be that boy’s girlfriend.”

“I’m doing him a favor.”

“Doesn’t that bother you, Mason?” Lucifer says looking past the porch rail to the sidewalk behind me.

I instinctively turn and see Mason holding a white cardboard box from Beau’s store in his hands.

“The boy knows his place,” Mason answers, walking up the steps to stand beside me on the porch.

“What, inside your girlfriend’s mouth?” Lucifer laughs.  “I saw the pictures of the two of you.  It didn’t look much like pretend to me from what I saw.”

“Chandler made a mistake,” I say.  “He apologized afterward.  He simply mistook friendship love for romantic love.  He’s human.  It happens.”

“Still, I’m surprised Mason didn’t throw him through a wall or something worse.”

“The thought did cross my mind,” Mason admits.  “But it wouldn’t have made Jess happy and her happiness is all I care about.”

“She certainly has you wrapped around her finger.”

“Maybe you should try looking in a mirror one day,” Mason tells him. 

Lucifer smiles grimly.  “I suppose you’ll want to go and share those delectable pastries with your friends inside.”

I take the box from Mason’s hands and open it, allowing the sweet scent of freshly baked sugar and cinnamon to permeate the air around us.  I hold the box out to Lucifer.

“Would you like one?”

Lucifer looks surprised by my gesture.  I get the feeling he isn’t used to being included into things like sharing a meal.  He hesitates but finally succumbs to the call of the cinnamon roll and picks one out of the box.

“Thank you,” he says frowning, like the words are foreign on his tongue.

“You’re welcome,” I tell him, unable to suppress a smile because it’s the first time I’ve seen Lucifer act civil.

“I should be going now,” Lucifer says abruptly.  “I will see you again soon.”

“Ok.”

Lucifer looks confused by my easy acceptance of his next visit but phases before giving anything else away.

“I don’t know how you can stand talking to him,” Mason tells me.

I hear his disapproval of my relationship with Lucifer clearly in his voice.

I shrug.  “I’ve gotten used to him, I guess.  Is that strange?”

“Honestly?  Yes, it is.  I won’t lie about that.  He is evil in its purist form, Jess.”

“I know that, but sometimes when we talk I get the feeling there’s still a small sliver of good inside him wrapped up in his own darkness.  Maybe all he needs is someone to have a little faith in him.”

“Faith?” Mason scoffs.  “I have faith that he’ll rip you from limb to limb one day just because he can.  You can’t trust him, Jess. Not now, not ever!”

I feel my temper start to ignite and realize a part of me does consider Lucifer something of a friend.  A good one?  No.  One I can trust?  No.  But one who has potential.  There’s a part of me, whether due to Michael or not I’m not sure, that yearns to bring Lucifer back from the dark.  To make him see he doesn’t have to be what he is.

“Even God said He still has hope Lucifer will come back to Him one day,” I remind Mason.  “Why should I think any differently?  Or don’t you trust God’s judgment?”

“Of course I trust His judgment,” Mason sighs, his shoulders sagging slightly.  “But your safety is what has me worried here.  Not only your physical safety but emotionally you’re allowing yourself to care for a creature who lost his ability to care for someone else a long time ago.  I know him, Jess.  I fought against him in the war.  If you had seen him do the things I have, you wouldn’t trust him either.”

Crap.  I completely forgot all about that.  Of course Mason wouldn’t understand my feelings for Lucifer.  They had been mortal enemies at one time after all.  Once an enemy, always an enemy seemed to be Mason’s mind set.  I can’t blame him though.  I suppose I would feel the same way if I had been through what he had.  Add in the fact we just learned in the alternate world that Lucifer killed Mason during the war in Heaven there.

I close the lid on the box and set it on the rocking chair.  I wrap my arms around Mason’s waist and feel his arms go around me too.

“I’m sorry,” I say.  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Mason sighs and I know he’s reliving that period of his life in his mind.  I want to wipe the visions of death and slaughter from his memory, but I know I can’t do that.  I can only hope to give him better things to think about.

I lift my head from his chest and he looks down at me with haunted eyes.

“I love you,” I tell him, leaning up to brush my lips against his, reminding him that there is beauty in the world.  “I will always love you.”

Mason buries his fingers in my hair as he deepens the kiss but it isn’t demanding.  Passion is secondary in that moment because all either of us wants is for the other to feel how much we truly cherish one another.  We end the kiss knowing how blessed we are to have found each other.

We go into my home hand in hand ready to face whatever happens next together.

Chapter 7

Before we tell Chandler and JoJo what happened to us in the alternate reality, I ask, “What did God need to speak with you about after Mason and I went through the Tear?”

Chandler shrugs.  “He didn’t say that much except that there would come a time when we would need to remember that our archangels are permanently connected.  If you know what the hell that’s supposed to mean, I’m all ears.”

I sigh.  “No, I don’t know why that’s important to know.  I guess we’ll figure it out when the time comes.”

“Mason,” JoJo says, her eyes squinting at him.  “You look different for some reason, mon ami.”

Chandler stares at Mason which makes everyone stare at him.  Mason shifts uncomfortably in his chair.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Mason replies.

“You’re scar,” Chandler says, “it’s like, almost gone.”

I look closer at Mason and notice that Chandler is right.  Why hadn’t I noticed that before?  I guess it was because I never really noticed Mason’s scar that much in the first place.

Mason reaches up and touches the place where his scar is.  Now it’s simply a slim line where the skin meets.  Mason looks at me and I smile.  He grins and shakes his head in disbelief.  I don’t think he ever thought he would be able to forgive himself enough for it to shrink so much.  I feel sure after we seal the Tear it will disappear completely.

We spend a good hour telling Chandler and JoJo what happened to us on the alternate Earth.  JoJo becomes exceedingly excited to learn I can fly.

“Told ya you were wicked cool,” Chandler says, winking at me.

“Can you do it whenever you want?” Leah asks.

“I really don’t know.  I only did it the once.  I still need some practice on my landings.”

“I don’t know,” Mason says, a corner of his mouth lifting in a half-smile.  “I thought you landed rather perfectly the last time.”

I roll my eyes at him not even going to acknowledge his statement with one of my own.  But the word ‘incorrigible’ comes to mind.

“Anyway, to answer your question, I don’t know.  I guess I need to try to fly again soon.”

“But we will not get flight?” JoJo asks, looking completely crest fallen.

“Apparently it’s a Michael only power,” I tell her.  “Sorry.”

“Well, JoJo and I have been trying to fine tune our powers,” Chandler tells me, pulling out the pipe we retrieved for him in the Cave of Treasures from his back pocket.

He puts it up to his lips and begins to play a sweet tune that makes me instantly feel happy.  When he ends it, we’re all smiling, even Mason.

“I told you,” Mason tells Chandler. “It’s not the instrument but the man who uses it that determines how it affects other people.”

Chandler smiles shyly.  It’s the closest he’s come to getting praise from Mason.

“Oh, oh!  I made something for you,” JoJo says to me, running into the living room and appearing quickly with her little black purse.  From it, she pulls out a black chocker necklace made of braided silk with a silver star encrusted with sparkling crystals dangling from the middle.

“What does it do?” I ask, lifting my hair as she places it around my neck.

“It will stop you from becoming pleine,” she tells me rather proudly.

Mason almost chokes on the coffee he just sipped.

Chandler hits him on the back in an effort to help clear his airway.

“Dude, you ok?”

Mason clears his throat and nods.

“Yes, I’m fine.  Anyone else need some fresh coffee?” He asks, quickly standing from the table and going into the kitchen.

I’m scared to ask what ‘pleine’ means now considering how Mason just reacted.  My father and Remy are looking at me funny too.  Apparently, they understand French.  I decide to inquire about the meaning of the word later because I’m not sure I want it explained to me while everyone is staring at me.

“Thanks, JoJo.  It’s beautiful.”

“Jessi,” my dad says and I immediately hear the concern in his voice, “could I have a word with you in private?”

I feel like a little girl who’s about to get a talking to from her father.

My father stands and I follow him into the living room.  I see Mason watching me walk out of the room with a worried look which in turn makes me feel even more paranoid.

My father sits down on the couch and I sit down next to him.

“I’m assuming you don’t know what pleine means,” he says, a wistful smile on his face.

“No, I don’t,” I confess cautiously.  “And from the way you and Mason are reacting, I’m not sure I want to.”