Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (24 page)

“So have you moved in with Lucas already?”

“Oh we moved my stuff right when we got back from Vegas.  He ha
s
a large ho
us
e
,
and I didn’t really need to take anything but my clothes and sentimental things like pictures.”

“Does he make you happy?” I asked, not understanding how Lucifer could make any woman happ
y
without hypnotizing
them
or some other type of mind control.

“He really does, sweetie.  I can’t imagine my life without him now.  I’m such a better person with him in my life.  I always felt like
the biggest
failure and now look at me.  I’m a doctor’s wife.  I couldn’t be happier.  And I’m sorry about what he said to you two the other night.  I don’t know what got into him.  He’s usually so loving.”

“We all have bad days,” I said.  “Don’t blame yourself.”

Will took Utha Mae and my mom home early that evening.  Utha Mae said she was tired and needed a little rest.  We offered to let her stay at our house for the night but she said she wanted to be in her own bed.  I didn’t push the point.  She would be living near us soon enough.  I would have plenty of time then to take care of her.

The next day was the day we had been waiting for: the Watcher gathering.  Brand had already told me it
was to take place in a spot within the
Sahara
Desert
.

I was sitting on our bed as Brand searched in the walk in closet for something.

“Isn’t the
Sahara
Desert like huge?
” I said, loud enough for him to hear.  “
How will everyone know where to go?”

“It’s the one place every Watcher knows
,” he called back, the sound of boxes being moved
on a shelf
coming from where he was.  “It’s where we were sent when we first came to Earth.”

Brand walked out of the closet with a large white
cardboard
box, like something you would
store
a coat in.

He set it down beside me
on the bed
and took the lid off.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw what lay inside.

“Why do you have one of those?” I asked, as he pulled out the black feathered cloak.  It looked identical to the one the vampiric Watchers wore when they were on a hunt.

“It’s our formal wear,” Brand explained.  “I know you’ve only seen the Watchers on Malcolm’s side we
a
r them but we all wore them at one time.  We will all wear them at the gathering so don’t be afraid.  No one there will be allowed to harm you.”

“How many Watchers are there?”

“Originally there were 200 of us.  Now that Justin can’t seem to be found and well Robert is gone of course, there should be 198 of us left.”

“Is Allan coming?” I asked.

“He said he would be there, but I think it’s only because he wants to make sure nothing happens to you.”

“Didn’t you just say no one would be allowed to hurt me?”

“Yes, but you can’t always prepare for everything.”

“Do you think Lucifer will try to do something?”

“It’s a possibility,” Brand admitted.  “I doubt he wants us to form a united front against him.  We would be too powerful.  He would never be able to defeat us all at one time.”

“Do you think the others will help me?”

“I
’m not sure
they all will,” Brand
admitted
.
“
E
specially the ones who have given into their craving for human blood.  Those Watchers sometimes go insane because of the blood lust.  It takes a disciplined Watcher to drink only enough to not kill a human.  Most just rampage through their lives not caring how many humans they kill.”

“Did Malcolm kill many people?”

“I’m sure he did a few,
especially in the beginning,
” Brand said taking off his shirt and placing the cloak over his shoulders as if he wanted to make sure it still fit.  “But Malcolm was able to control his blood lust
by being sexually active.”

Brand walked to the full length mirror in the room to look at himself wearing the cloak.

“I haven’t worn this in a long time,” he told me, staring at his reflection
like he wasn’t quite sure who the man in the mirror was
.

On Brand
,
the cloak didn’t look menacing at all.  It looked like he had been born to wear it across his broad shoulders allowing his pale bare chest to stand out against the
ebony
.  I stood from the bed and walked to him, letting my fingers glide over the glossy
black
feathers.  When I looked at his reflection in the mirror, I found him watching me.

“What are you thinking?” He asked.

“I was just thinking that I can’t help but find you sexy in whatever it is you put on.”

I let my hand drop to my side as Brand turned to face me
with a roguish grin on his face
.  “Was that an invitation to ravish you until we have to leave
, Mrs. Cole
?”

“Hmm,” I said
,
lower
ing
my eyelashes as coquettishly as I could
,
“that depends
, Mr. Cole
.”

Brand smile
widened
.  “Depends on what exactly?”

“
Depends on
whether or not
you can catch me.
”
  I phased to the kitchen and Brand quickly followed.  Just as he was about to grab me with both arms, I phased to the spare bedroom where he almost phased in on top of me before I phased to the living room.  I wait
ed
a full minute but he didn’t phase
in after me
.
  Worried something might have happened to him, I phased back to
our
bedroom to find him
lying
on his side
with his head propped up in one hand
on
our
bed completely naked.

“That’s so unfair,” I said, quickly stripping my clothes off and phasing in on top of my husband to straddle his
hips
.

“You weren’t playing fair either,” he reminded me, sliding his hands up my naked thighs to my hips.

“How long did you say we ha
ve
until we need to go?” I asked, letting his hands guide me into a better position.

“Couple of hours,” Brand
said
in a hoarse voice as I began to move against him.

“
Not as long as I would like,” I said leaning down to kiss his mouth.  “But I think we can get the job done by then.
”

Brand smiled against my lips and proved
to
me
two hours was plenty of time
.

Brand insisted we wait until the exact second we were supposed to meet the others.

“How in the world can you have it timed out to the last second?” I asked.

“It’s how we’re built,” he shrugged.  “I guess you could say we have our own internal clocks.  It makes us very punctual.”

I smiled
.
F
inally
,
I knew the secret to Brand’s extreme sense of punctuality.

I talked him into being a minute early to the gathering.  It went against his grain but he did it for me.  I had to assume the experience of watching all of the Watchers phase in at the exact same
second
had to be something no
one on Earth could ever claim to be a witness to
.

The sun was setting on the horizon
of the vast desert
casting a
glow
with shades of orange and red making it look like the sky had been set on fire by the
it
.
We stood at the top of a dune and were surrounded by waves of sand mimicking the waves of an ocean in the last heat of day.  We wait
ed
silently, holding each others hands.

“Keep our eyes straight ahead of you,” Brand told me.  “They’re coming.”

I was scared to blink in fear I might miss their arrival.  When they
all
phased in, I felt my heart jump in my throat.  The Watchers stood dressed proudly in their ceremonial cloaks
blowing against the desert wind
.  Instantly, Brand and I were surrounded by Malcolm, Isaiah, Allan and Mason.
  I felt protected in their circle shielding me from the others.

Brand held out his hand to Mason.  “Thank you for doing this.  We owe you everything.”

“Don’t thank me too soon,” Mason said
with a wry grin
.  “They haven’t said they will help yet.”

Mason looked down at me.  A faint smile played across his lips
,
and I knew he was remembering the moment I touched him
,
granting him
the peace of knowing his father still cared about him
.

Mason turned to face the other Watchers.

“Brothers,” he said, his voice carried by the desert wind.  “Thank you all for coming.”

A Watcher who looked like he was of Egyptian descent stepped forward.  “Why have you ordered us here, Samyaza?  Why now after all these years?”

“When we were first sent here by our father,” Mason said, “we were eager to help the humans like
He
wanted.  We were their teachers and counselors.  They trusted us to lead them in the ways of the world.  Then
,
when we became filled with our own self-importance we began to think of ourselves as gods among the mortals.  We even thought we deserved to live normal lives and stop doing what we were sent here to
do
.  We turned our backs on our father to satisfy our own needs.  As your leader, I should have stopped what happened but I didn’t.  I wanted what you all wanted, a family to call my own no matter what the cost.  For that, we all paid the price for our arrogance. 
Even our
most beloved
, our children, had to pay the
cost
for our treachery
.  Now, I believe our father has presented us with the opportunity to begin
the process of atonement
for our sins.”

“How?”
T
he
Watcher who seemed to be the spokesman for the group asked.

“
I believe he sent this woman,” Mason said, stepping to the side so the others could get a clear view of me, “to provide us a way to atone for what we did and lead us back to
H
im.”

I felt the eyes of all the Watchers suddenly fasten on me.  It made me wish I had written down what I wanted to say to them because the speech I had prepared
in my head
was chased away by nervousness.

“She is a descendant of Lillith,” Mason told them causing a disturbance among the Watchers, “And she is the daughter of Michael.”

The Watchers went completely silent only the whistling of the wind could be heard.

“How do you know this?”
The Watcher asked.

“Because, Baruch, she has the Touch.”

A collective gasp could be heard.

“Prove it,” Baruch challenged.

Now it was my turn to prove I deserved their help.  I took a few steps forward.  Baruch walked to me, his eyes daring me to prove I was the child of an arch angel.  I physically felt my power awaken, yearning to show Baruch what I was.

I saw Baruch flinch slightly a
t
the sight of my hands blazing with the white fire of my gift.   I
laid my hands against his
shoulders, instantly allowing him to feel whatever it was God felt for him.  Baruch trembled under my
touch
but didn’t step away.  I watched as a myriad of emotions passed over his face.  First there was disbelief, then sadness and finally relief.

Finally, Baruch staggered back from me.  He silently watched me before turning to the other Watchers.

“She is the child of Michael,” he announced
, his voice filled with awe
.  “And I for one,” he said turning back to me
,
“
w
ill do whatever she might ask of me.” 

Baruch knelt down on one knee in front of me.  Before I knew it, all of the Watchers knel
t
before me, even those I considered my friends.  Brand was the only one who didn’t kneel.  He stood by my side and took my hand.