Broken (Book 1, The Watcher Chronicles, Paranormal Romance) (26 page)

Before I know it, I find myself cradled in his arms.  I lay my head against his shoulder
and wrap my arms around his neck.  Mason carries me effortlessly to the couch in my living room and sits down, positioning me comfortably in his lap.  I breathe a sigh of relief because my heart knows he won’t leave me until I’m past my grief. 

I’m not sure how much time passes
by.  Eventually, the well which stores my tears dries up and I end up just trying to concentrate on returning my breathing to normal.  I’m reluctant to lift my head from Mason’s shoulder because I know he’ll want an explanation for my tearful outburst, but I do because he deserves to know what Lucifer told me.

When I look at his face, I’m not prepared for what I see in his eyes. 
I have often wondered how people believe in love at first sight.  I’ve always chalked up such nonsense to some sort of involuntary hormonal reaction to the other person’s physical appearance.  But I know if I were just meeting Mason for the first time and he looked at me the same way he is looking at me now, I would have no doubt he loved me.  It’s not a look I can explain or even attempt to describe.  A million people have used flowery words in an attempt to describe love but none of those phrases seem adequate enough to articulate the emotion I see behind Mason’s eyes as he looks at me.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” He asks gently, not pushing for an answer just
letting me know he’s there for me when I’m ready.

“I do,” I say, taking a shuddering breath.

I feel Mason rub my back in a circular path silently waiting for me to continue.

“Lucifer was here,” I say.  As soon as the words leave my mouth, I feel Mason’s body
stiffen.

“Did he hurt you?” Mason asks, his voice low
with controlled anger.

“Not physically,” I tell him
with a shake of my head.

“What did he say to you?”

“He told me...” I say, fighting back the last reserves of tears from somewhere deep inside me threatening to reveal themselves.  “He said that the people who go through the Tear are those who want to leave their lives behind and start new ones somewhere else.”  I look up at Mason and see the answer to my next question before I even ask it.  “Is that true?”

“
Yes,” he says, not trying to temper his answer.

“Why would my parents want to abandon me?” I ask, hearing a child’s heartbreak in my voice.

Mason doesn’t say anything and I feel as though he’s debating on whether or not to tell me something crucial.

  “
I don’t want to say this and get your hopes up, but I can’t let you sit here and think they abandoned you either,” he tells me before continuing.  “I’m not so sure your parents were taken through the Tear when it opened, Jess.”

I stare at Mason completely sure I’ve misunderstood him.  He continues.

“When your parents disappeared, did new tearers take their place?”

I feel my forehead crinkle at the question
, suddenly realizing that small fact has completely escaped me all these years.

“No,” I say.  “No one took their place.”

“In every recorded incident of people going through the Tear, there has
always
been new tearers who replaced them.  Yours is the only time I’ve ever heard of people disappearing without being replaced.  It’s simply not the way the universe works.  If one person disappears from here, there has to be someone else to occupy their space to keep the balance in check.”

I sit up straighter.  “Are you saying they’re still here?  They’re still here on this planet?”

“Nick’s actually the one who brought it to my attention when he investigated your family history.  We came up with the theory that, more than likely, your parents are still here somewhere.”

“But where are they?”

“I don’t know.  But if you want, we can look for them.”

I s
it there trying to absorb what Mason has just said.  If what he thought
was
true then…

“Why haven’t they tried to find me?
  It’s been fifteen years.”

“I don’t
have an answer for that question, but you shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” he’s quick to say.  “They could have been taken against their will.  There’s no way of knowing until we find them.”

Filled with a new determination, I ask, “
Where do we start?”

“I’ve already started,” he
tells me, looking a little uncomfortable revealing this news to me.

“Don’t say it like an apology,” I tell him
, grabbing his arm.  “Thank you.”

“I’ve had Joshua searching through the databases comparing your genetic profile with pretty much everyone’s in the world.  You have to have some family somewhere.  You didn’t just appear out of thin air.”

“Have you found anything yet?”

“We’ve found some people who seem to be distant
, distant relatives but no one who could be immediate family.  Joshua’s only twenty-five percent through though.  It’s just going to take some time and patience.”

“I’ve waited for them for fifteen years,” I say filled with new found hope.  “A few more weeks or
months aren’t going to bother me.”

I star
e at Mason, not sure what else to say.

“Are you still hungry?” He asks me.

I nod.  “Did you bring the soup?”

Mason smiles.  “Not only did I bring the soup but I brought you a
special surprise too.  It’s why I was gone for so long.  If I had known Lucifer was here, I wouldn’t have made the detour. I had just bought them when I felt you in distress.”

I stand up releasing Mason
from the burden of my body.  Mason instantly takes one of my hands in his and leads me to the kitchen.  The large silver stock pot with his chicken soup is already warming up on the stove and there is a pink box decorated with a white lace pattern sitting on the dining room table.

“I intended for
them to be your dessert but why don’t you go ahead and have one now.  I think it might perk you up a little bit.”

“What
’s in it?” I ask walking to the table, my curiosity piqued.

Mason walks to the stove and retrieves a bowl from the
wall cabinet beside it.

“Open the box and see for yourself,” he says, a playful grin on his face.

I flip the lid of the box open and see four perfect croissants sitting inside drizzled with chocolate.

I gasp.  “Are these the chocolate croissants Malcolm keeps getting
Tara?”

“Yes.  I thought since you’ve been hearing about them so much lately you might like to try
one for yourself.”

“This could be a mistake you know,” I
warn, taking one of the croissants out of the box.

Mason looks at me curiously.  “A mistake how?”

“If I really like them, I might end up bugging you all the time to go get them for me.”

“I have no problem doing that for you,” he tells me, his voice soft.  “No problem at all, Jess.”

I smile, feeling uncertain about how to react and decide to turn my attention to the Parisian perfection in my hand waiting to be devoured.  As I bite into the croissant, a mixture of flaky buttery goodness, soft chocolate, and creamy hazelnuts perform a symphony of tastes inside my mouth.  I moan in ecstasy and stomp my left foot twice.

“Oh my
God,” I say to Mason.  “I can see why Tara loves these so much.  They’re better than Beau’s cinnamon rolls.  But don’t tell him I said that,” I laugh.

“You’re secret is safe with me,” Mason
promises.  “I’m glad you like them.”

Mason brings me over a bowl of soup and I sit down and eat it after finishing my croissant.  When I’m ready for my second bowl of soup, he also brings over the
butter garlic French bread he just toasted in my oven.  Finally, he sits down with me and watches me eat.  Unlike before, I have no problem with him watching me.  I pretty much figure he’s seen me at my worst on two occasions now:  when I was sick and just now in my living room as I cried my heart out.  If he isn’t scared away by now, seeing me with a little soup on my chin won’t make a difference.

“I wish you had told me about my parents,” I tell him, taking a bite out of the bread.

“I wish I had too, Jess.  Then you wouldn’t have taken what Lucifer said so hard.  I had planned to tell you if and when we actually found something out about them.  I didn’t want to get your hopes up unnecessarily.”

“I understand.  It makes sense.”

There’s a knock on my door and I make to get up and answer it.

“You stay,” Mason orders and I almost feel like a dog being commanded by its master, but I let it slide because I can see Mason is just trying to make sure I stay and finish my meal.  “I’ll go answer the door.”

As soon as Mason opens the door I hear the voices of Mama Lynn and Faison.  Before I know it, I’m surrounded by them both in a large group hug.  Mason stands leaned against the entryway of the kitchen grinning at us.

“Don’t worry us like that again,” Faison orders, the strength of her hug rivaling that of Mama Lynn’s.

“I’ll try not to,” I say, but it comes out muffled because Mama Lynn’s poof of hair is blocking my mouth.

Finally, they both pull away from me allowing me to breath in some
much needed fresh air.  Mama Lynn walks over to Mason and I see his surprise as she gives him a motherly hug.

“Thank you for taking care of my baby,” she tells him. 

“It was my honor,” Mason says.

I feel Faison slap me lightly on the arm.  When I look up at her, she lifts her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.  I just roll my eyes and try to finish my soup.

“Jess,” Mason says to me.  “I need to go back to headquarters and check on the status of some things, like what we were just discussing.  I see you’re in good hands now so I’ll be leaving.”

“Do you have to go?” I ask, not wanting him to leave.

“It’s not a matter of wanting to go,” he tells me, “but I need to go.  I’ve been away for too long.”

“When will I see you again?”

“I’ll be here around four your time tomorrow afternoon to pick you up for Angela and Jonathan’s party.  That will make it ten o’clock in London because of the time difference.”

“If anything comes up and you need me,” I tell him, “I’ll have my phone on me.  I always do.”

Mason smiles.  “I’ll keep you up to date this time.  I promise.”  Mason inclines his head to Mama Lynn and Faison.  “Ladies it was a pleasure to see you again.  If I don’t see you tomorrow, I wish you both a happy new year.”

Mama Lynn and Faison reciprocate the sentiment right before Mason
phases.

Like a pack of hyenas about to pounce on their prey, Mama Lynn and Fais
on turn as one and look at me with expectant raised eyebrows.

“What?” I ask, scooting the pink box with the other chocolate croissants
in front of me hoping to distract them with their sugary goodness.  “Want a chocolate croissant?  Mason brought them straight from Paris.  They’re even still warm on the inside.”

“Don’t try to bribe us with chocolate,” Faison says even though she comes over to look inside the box and quickly snatches one with the quickness of a viper.

“So what exactly happened between you and Mason the last few days?” Mama Lynn asks, standing her ground and not allowing the call of sweet pastries dissuade her from meddling.

“
It was just work stuff,” I say, trying to play it off.

“What I just saw wasn’t just work stuff,” she says back to me.  She’s quiet, a contemplative looks enters her eyes.  “Jess,” she says, watching me carefully, “
have you fallen in love with Mason?”

“Oh,” Faison says
as I see her eyes enter the fantasy realm she likes to visit every once in while, “can you imagine the gorgeous babies they would have together?  I bet one would come out prettier than the next.”

“For Pete’s sake, we haven’t even been on a real date yet and you already have me married off and knocked up,” I say, trying to laugh but it ends up coming out too strained to not sound
like it’s exactly what I want to happen.

Mama Lynn comes over to me and give
s me a big hug.

“Oh, Jess, I’m so happy for you.”  She pulls away from me, resting her hands on my shoulders.  “I didn’t know if you’d ever find a man.”

“Geez, thanks for having so much confidence in me to attract someone of the opposite sex.”

“She thought you might be gay.”

I look at Faison and see her nodding her head.  I look at Mama Lynn and notice the red hue on her cheeks.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that even if you
had been,” Mama Lynn says in her own defense.  “But it would be a lot harder for you to have some grandbabies for me if you were.  Now, I don’t have to worry about it.  Faison’s right, the two of you will have the most gorgeous babies ever.”