Oblivion (The Watcher Chronicles #3) (23 page)

“Who made the wish?” Mason asks.  Since we know Chandler didn’t make a deal with Horace, we needed to know who did.

“The boy’s father,” Horace tells us.

“What exactly did he wish for?” Chandler asks, obviously hearing this for the first time.

“He wanted a charmed life for himself and his family.  That’s all.”

“And you granted it?” I ask.

Horace looks at us nervously.  “No.”

“What do you mean no?” Mason asks like he’s pretty sure Horace is lying to us.

“They already had a charmed life!  The fool just couldn’t see it!”  Horace places a hand on Chandler’s shoulder.  “I knew that if I did what your father wanted it would ruin your family.  So, I just let him think I granted his wish.  He didn’t know any different.  He invited me into your home because he thought I had granted his wish.  After a while I became comfortable being your uncle, your father’s best friend and your mother’s confidant.  I was part of a family, something I’d never had before.  I liked the way it felt so I let your father keep thinking we had to stay together or it would all go away.”

“But what made you not grant the wish in the first place?” I ask.

“It was something Lilly said to me once,” Horace tells me.  “She said I ruined lives with my wishes and I guess I finally realized she was right.  We do ruin lives more than we help.  I didn’t want to be that person anymore.  I didn’t know I wanted better for myself until after I met Chandler’s father and saw what he had.  I couldn’t believe he actually wanted to make a wish when I offered it to him.  Some people think they need more when what they have is already great.”

“So, my career,” Chandler says. “It’s not because of a wish?  I did it on my own.”

“Well,” Horace says, smiling, “I did help a little bit, I just didn’t use my magic to do it.  I used yours, my boy.  Your gift goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen.  That’s why you’re a star.”

I see Chandler’s body sag in relief.

“I need your ring,” I tell Horace not seeing any reason to mince my words.  “Faust has something we need but he won’t give it to us unless we give him your ring.”

Horace looks at the battered gold band around his finger.

“Guess I really don’t have any use for it anymore,” Horace says.  “I finally got something Faust doesn’t have.”

“What’s that?” Mason asks.

“I have people who truly care about me for me.  Not because they’re scared I’ll leave them and break the spell.”  Horace pulls the ring off and hands it to me. “Here take it.  I don’t need it anymore.”

“Thank you,” I tell him.

Mason phases us back to Faust’s condo.  He’s cooking something in the kitchen that smells god awful.

“Ahh,” he says, seeing us phase in.  He grabs a white kitchen towel and wipes his hands off.  “I assume you were successful since you’ve come back.”

I hold up the ring.

Faust walks over to me and holds out his hand.

“Staff first,” I tell him.

“What?  You don’t trust me?”  He asks in mock shock.

“No, I don’t.  Staff.   Now.”

Faust snaps his finger and the staff appears.  I’m not sure why he didn’t just keep it out from the first visit.

He hands the staff to Mason then I hand Faust the ring.

“What do you need that old relic for anyway?” Faust asks.  “It’s not like it will stop Lucifer from doing what he’s planning.”

I’m completely speechless for all of two seconds.

“Do you know what he’s going to do?” I ask.

“We all do,” Faust says.  “All of us under his command anyway.  We needed to know so we could prepare.”

“Prepare for what?” Mason asks, just as anxious as me to gain more information.

Faust shakes his head.  “Sorry, can’t say.  He would have my head if I did.”

Faust looks at me.  “Why don’t you ask him?  I’ve heard he has something of a soft spot for you.”

“I have asked.  He just won’t tell me.”

“Just as well, I suppose,” Faust says with a shrug.  “It’s not like a human could stop it from happening anyway.”  Faust looks over at Mason.  “Not even you Watchers can stop it or that b--,” Faust looks over at me and amends what he was about to say. “Not even Lilly can prevent
this
from happening.  She can’t go against all seven of them at one time.”

“Could you give us a hint?” I ask, almost ready to beg for more information.

“No.  I’ve said too much as it is.  You should leave now.  You got what you came for.”

“Hey, you old bastard!” I hear an agitated male voice say.  A door slams shut somewhere in the condo and a man I recognize walks into the living room.

I can remember when Faison and I were teenagers thinking Heath Knowles was quite handsome.  I’m not sure what the hell happened to him.  Standing in front of me is a mess of a man who weighs about two hundred pounds more than he should.  His blonde hair is matted to his head like he hasn’t taken a bath in ages and his sweat suit is stained all over from I don’t even want to know what.

“Why don’t you go back into your bedroom, little piggy,” Faust taunts.

Heath barely acknowledges our presence.  He glances our way but soon turns his full attention back to Faust.

“Why don’t you get the hell out of my life, old bastard?  And take that god awful stuff in the oven with you.  You know I hate the smell.”

I have to agree.  It smells like someone threw up and Faust made it into a soufflé.

“And if I left, where would that leave you?” Faust asks.

“Happy.”

“Exactly,” Faust smiles tauntingly at Heath, “which is the reason I stay.”

I feel like I’m in the middle of a lovers quarrel.  And who knows, maybe they were at one time.  But the years they’ve spent together seems to have turned them into bitter enemies.

“Let’s go,” I say to Mason.

I don’t have to say it twice.

Mason phases us to Mama Lynn’s house.

When we tell Leah we have her talisman, she looks apprehensive.

“What if this Uriel is mean?” She asks.  “If he tried to kill Lilly for all those years, I’m not sure I want to meet him.”

I couldn’t say I blamed her.  I could also feel Michael’s unease and knew he had no love or trust for Uriel either.

“I’m sure God wouldn’t have let him come back if he wasn’t going to be helpful.  After this you don’t have to talk to him unless you want to anyway.  He’s mostly inside you to lend his powers.”

“Yeah but Michael can take control of your body,” Leah reminds me.  “How do I know Uriel won’t do that to me without my permission?”

I sigh because I’m not sure what to tell her to ease her worry.  Michael did that to me once and I knew he was a good guy.

“Why don’t I stay with you while you make first contact with Uriel,” Remy suggests to Leah before looking up at us.  “That’s ok isn’t it?”

“Of course, Remiel,” Mason tells him.  “I think Leah would rather see your face when she wakes up than any of ours.”

Leah silently lets us know this is true by wrapping an arm around one of Remy’s and laying her head against his shoulder as they stand in front of us.

I reach out and cup the side of her face with one of my hands.

“Everything will be all right,” I tell her.

Leah leans her face into my palm and finds comfort in our connection.

“But,” I say dropping my hand back to my side, “I think the five of us should gather together one more time before you meet Uriel.  You’ll be asleep for at least a couple of days and we shouldn’t wait that long before trying to find the sixth archangel again.”

Mason and Isaiah gather everyone at my house for our third attempt to connect with the sixth member of our party.  This time when we connect with number six we hear someone talking in the background.

“I can’t just leave him,” a female voice says then pauses.  “What if he wakes up?”

She pauses again but we don’t hear anyone replying.  It has to be assumed she is speaking to someone on the phone. 

“Ok, ok,” the woman says in irritation.  “I’ll look over the papers.  Just send them to the hospital.”  Another pause.  “Yes, I’m at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center.”

The vision ends but our spirits are lifted.  We know where he is now.

Mason contacts Nick who in turn contacts the head of the hospital our sixth member is in.  Even with the small amount of information we have, Nick is able to narrow down which of the patients we’re looking for.  Instead of having all of us go, it’s decided that only Rafe and I will go to the hospital.  Since Rafe is a doctor, it seems logical for him to come along.  He would understand our sixth member’s condition better than any of us.

Isaiah takes Chandler and JoJo back to where they need to be then he takes Remy and Leah to the villa so she can connect with Uriel.

Nick meets us outside the hospital and escorts us inside to where we need to go.

“What’s his name?” I ask Nick as we walk down a white, sterile smelling hallway within the hospital.

“Zack Hall,” Nick tells me.  “He was involved in a car accident about a week ago and has been in a coma ever since.”

“Who was the woman we heard in the vision?”

“Maggie, his sister.”

“Did they tell you his prognosis?” Rafe asks.

“They told me he had some brain swelling caused by trauma from the accident.  The swelling has gone down now but he still hasn’t awoken from his coma.  They’re not sure what’s wrong.”

We step into an elevator and Nick takes us up to the second floor.  Once there we are met by a nurse dressed in green scrubs who takes us directly to Zack’s room.

Zack lies on the hospital bed hooked up to machines which seem to be keeping him alive.  His head is wrapped in a white bandage and there is a tube in his mouth providing oxygen to his lungs.

As Rafe and I enter the room, Zack’s heart monitor begins to beat erratically.  The nurse runs over to check on Zack and the heart monitor eventually goes back to a normal, steady beat.

The nurse seems apprehensive about leaving us alone with Zack but Nick works his charms and deftly gets her out of the room.

Rafe looks over Zack’s chart.

“They are doing everything they can for him.  Comas are rather mysterious sometimes.  Even in this day and age, we still don’t completely understand how the brain works which means we don’t always know how to fix it.”

I walk over to the side of Zack’s bed and take one of his hands into mine.  I feel connected to him but the bond wavers like a wave on the ocean.  One minute it’s strong and the next it’s weak.  I feel sure he knows we’re here with him, but I have no idea what to do to help him.

“Sometimes, physical stimulants have been known to help coma patients,” Rafe says, sitting on the side of the bed and taking Zack’s other hand in between his two large ones. 

“I wish I could help you, my friend,” Rafe says to Zack.  “I wish I could heal you.”

And then it happens.  Rafe’s hands being to glow a light, iridescent blue.  The light from his hands travel up Zack’s arm and into his skull.  Before I can ask what’s happening, Zack’s eyes open and he appears to be choking.  Rafe acts quickly.

“Calm down,” Rafe tells him.  “I’m going to remove your intubation tube so you can breathe on your own.  Do you understand?”

Zack nods.  Rafe works his doctor magic and removes the tube so he can take a deep breath all on his own.

After Zack catches his breath, he says in a raspy voice, “Water.”

Mason pours him some water from a pitcher on a side cabinet and brings it to him.

Zack drinks it down quickly like it’s nectar from the gods and asks for more.

Once he’s had his fill, he lays back and looks at Rafe and me.

“Do I know you guys?” He asks.  “I feel like I know you.”

Rafe and I explain who and what we are.  Zack seems to take it all in stride and doesn’t seem surprised to hear any of it even if it all sounds completely far fetched.

“So you’re Micheal’s vessel,” Zack says looking at me, “and you’re which angel?” He asks Rafe.

“I’m not sure yet,” Rafe admits.  “But from what Jess has told me, I should be able to find my crown now, right?” Rafe asks, looking to me for confirmation.

“Yes, you’ve awoken some of your power which means it should be giving off a radiation signature we can track.  We’ll have Joshua do a search for it as soon as possible.”

“I think I already know who Rafe’s archangel is,” Mason says. “Yours too Zack.”

This is news to me.

“How?” I ask.

“All of you have variations on the names of your archangels.  I had my suspicions when JoJo’s angel ended up being Jophiel but now I feel more confident in my assumption.”

“Who do you think we are?” Rafe asks.

“I believe you are Raphael,” Mason tells him before looking at Zack.  “And you would have to be Zadkiel.  That only leaves one archangel left to find, Gabriel.”

Mason’s phone buzzes.  He answers it and looks over at me with his eyes wide.

“We’ll be right there,” Mason tells the person on the other end of the line.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“The Tear is open,” he tells me.

Chapter 18

We decide Rafe should stay with Zack.  Mason takes me and Nick to our new headquarters.  It’s pretty much identical to the old one.

Joshua, Angela and Allen are standing in front of a holographic display of the Tear.  Through the Tear, I see a green planet.  The Tear closes but immediately opens again revealing a red planet surrounded by a series of white moons.  The Tear closes and opens a third time revealing a space constellation.

“What’s going on?” I ask Mason.  “I’ve never seen it do that before.”

“Show me the Antarctica site,” Mason tells Joshua urgently.

Joshua works his magic on the control panel.

“Do you know what he’s doing?” Angela asks Mason.

“I have an idea.” Mason says and I don’t like the foreboding way he makes this statement.

“He’s searching, isn’t he?” Allen asks.

“That’s my guess,” Mason says.

“Searching for the one prince he has left to find?” I ask.

“Yes.  He must have enough of them to open and close the Tear at will now.”