Blessed (Book 2, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (10 page)

It only took a minute for Brand to come back with Allan. Allan may have stepped out of his glass room for the first time in, I didn’t know how long, but it didn’t stop him from protecting himself as much as he could. He showed up wearing a black suit, black leather gloves, and a white mask over his nose and mouth, like the ones surgeons wear in operating rooms.

“Hello,” he said, nodding his head to Abby and me in greeting.

“Hey, Allan.” Abby didn’t move from her spot on the bed. I think she was worried that any sudden movements might frighten Allan away.

“Brand said you have some news for us,” I said to him, hoping to keep his mind on the mission at hand, and distract him from overanalyzing his new environment too much.

“Yes, I do,” Allan replied.

I wasn’t sure Allan was going to say anything else. He just stood there, staring at me.

“What did you find out, old friend?” Brand finally asked, trying to prod Allan into talking.

“Lilly shouldn’t exist.”

He said it so simply I almost missed its full meaning.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“One of your paternal ancestors was an angel, but they were neither a Watcher nor a rebellion angel.”

“Do you think you could expound some on what you’re saying?” Brand asked, becoming visibly frustrated with his friend.

“Lilly’s genetic code is similar to our own but large sections of it don’t match at all, making it completely unique in sequence. However, it’s not only your paternal genetic profile that is different. Your mitochondrial DNA sequence is unlike anything I have ever seen before as well.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Mitochondrial DNA is only maternally inherited. There has been a lot of research done by humans trying to find the ‘Mitochondrial Eve’, or the one common ancestor who is the mother of all humans. Because of that research, most every human can be classified into one of the known mitochondrial DNA groups, but I can’t fit your results into any of them.”

“Why do you think that is?” Brand asked.

“I’m not sure,” Allan replied. I could hear an undertone of excitement in his voice. I think he was actually smiling underneath his mask. “I would really like a sample from Lilly’s mother and grandmother, to verify that the mutation was inherited naturally from them and not through some byproduct of her angel DNA.”

“We can probably get a sample from my mother, but I have no idea who my grandmother is, or where we can find her. I can try to get the information from Cora but that’s going to be really iffy.”

“Try to ask her again,” Brand said. “If she doesn’t tell you, I’ll hire a private detective to find your grandparents for us.”

My mother had always been adamant about not involving my grandparents in our lives. I was sure she wouldn’t tell me where they were, even if I asked again. The possibility of meeting them was exciting, though. I’d always wanted to know who they were and why my mother turned her back on them so completely. But would they want to meet me? Would they want to have a relationship with a granddaughter they never wanted in the first place?

“Mom and Utha Mae are supposed to come by and see me today,” I said. “I’ll ask her then.”

“Well,” Allan looked around him with a critical eye, as if he imagined some microscopic organism landing on him at any moment, “that’s really all the information I have for the time being. I brought you some buccal swab kits for the mother and grandmother,” Allan handed Brand a clear plastic bag with what I assumed to be the swab kits. “Just take a sample from the inside of their cheeks. It should be enough to get the answers we need. I really need to be going now.”

Allan looked at me and bowed slightly before phasing.

“I’m bloody surprised he lasted that long,” Abby said after Allan’s departure.

There was a light knock on my door.

“Hello,” I heard Utha Mae call as she opened the door, warning us of her entry.

I saw my mother right behind her. Good, I could get things over with sooner than I thought. I was positive Cora wouldn’t tell me where my grandparents were anyway. The sooner we knew that for sure, the faster we could get a private detective on the case.

“Good morning, child,” Utha Mae came in with a few Tupperware bowls in her hands. “I hope you’re hungry.”

At the mention of food, I suddenly realized I was starving. I could only assume the needle stuck in my arm and the ever-present bags hanging at my side had been my only means of nutrition while I was in my coma. The idea of real food had my mouth involuntarily watering.

I introduced my mom and Utha Mae to Abby. I told them she was Brand’s cousin, since the truth would be completely unbelievable, anyway, and quite a bit harder to explain. With my two new visitors, Abby made her goodbyes and asked Brand to walk her out to her car. I knew he would just be phasing her back home and didn’t stress too much about his absence being long.

When I uncovered the bowls Utha Mae brought me, I sighed in total contentment. She had made me scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and shrimp grits.

“I had to use the microwave they had here in the lounge to reheat it all,” she told me. “Hopefully, it won’t taste funny.”

Well, it didn’t taste funny at all. It tasted like a little bit of heaven swimming inside my mouth.

My mother surprised me by bringing in a stack of wedding magazines. I had never seen her so excited before. It was a completely different side to her. I suppose, since she never found a man of her own to marry, she was living out a fantasy through me. When Brand came back into the room, he smiled when he saw the way my mother was acting about our wedding. Even though I knew it wouldn’t be taking place for quite some time, I simply couldn’t bring myself to tell her she was planning way too far ahead. She was having so much fun talking about dresses and bridesmaid gowns that I didn’t want to dampen her happy mood.

After I ate and listened to my mother talk about veils and how I should have my hair styled, I decided it was time to bring up the subject of my grandparents.

“Mom,” I said, drawing her attention away from the magazine in her hands, “since I’m getting married and everything, I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find my grandparents. Maybe they would like to come.”

“Even if they wanted to come, they’d never travel this far,” my mom said, organizing the magazines scattered on my bed. “You know how I feel about them, Lilly. The subject is closed.”

I decided not to push the matter, and let it drop.

“Oh, Ms. Nightingale,” Brand said, picking up the clear plastic bag with the buccal kits in them. “Lilly needs to get a sample of your DNA for our biology class. We’re doing a comparison of our DNA with a family member. Would you mind me taking it for her?”

“What do I need to do?” my mom asked hesitantly.

“Nothing but open your mouth. I just need to wipe the lining of one of your cheeks with a cotton swab.”

Now why hadn’t I thought to do that? I was sure my mom would be resistant to me asking her for a DNA sample, but Brand did it with such ease I couldn’t help but be impressed.

It only took a few seconds, and Brand had what he needed. He made an excuse that he was taking the sample down to a cooler in his car, but I was sure he went directly to Allan’s house as soon as he left the room.

At around lunchtime, my mom said she needed to get to work. She was still working at a dress shop in Dalton that a friend of hers owned. Since she had taken the previous two weeks off to be with me, she didn’t want to impose on her friend’s kindness anymore, and went in to work her regular hours. Utha Mae stayed with me for a little while longer, wanting to see Tara before she went back home.

“Brand, hon,” Utha Mae said, rummaging through her purse and pulling out a crisp one dollar bill. “Would you mind going out to one of those vending machines and getting me a ginger ale?”

“No problem, Ms. Jenkins,” Brand took her dollar and went out the door.

Once he was gone, Utha Mae turned to me. “Now, I want you to tell me the truth, baby. Do you love that man?”

Without hesitation, I said, “Yes.”

“That’s all I need to know then.” She put her purse back on the chair beside my bed. “When he asked me for permission to marry you, I wasn’t quite sure what you would want me to say. But the more I thought about it, the more I figured if you didn’t want to marry him, you’d just tell him no. I kinda figured you would say yes, though.” She smiled at me and came to see the ring on my finger. “I swear, child. You could knock somebody out cold with that ring.”

I had to chuckle. “That’s the exact same thing your granddaughter said when she saw it.”

When Brand came back into the room, Tara was with him. She had a book bag on her back that made her look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I groaned inwardly, knowing it would be filled with my homework assignments for school.

Tara showed me what I had to do for my classes before she took Utha Mae down to the cafeteria to buy her some lunch. Brand helped me sort through my homework. While I was reading a chapter in my world civilization textbook, I couldn’t help but think about my conversation with Will earlier. I think I read the same page five times without understanding a word of it.

Brand must have noticed my inability to concentrate, because he came to sit beside me and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” I said, trying to brush off my doubts, but apparently they still lingered in my eyes.

“No, it’s something; enough to worry you at least. Tell me what’s wrong.”

I let out a sigh, not knowing if I really wanted to tell Brand what I was thinking. But, if we were going to be married someday, I didn’t need to start keeping secrets from him now.

“It’s just something Will and I were talking about earlier.”

“Which was?”

“He said our engagement seemed really fast, especially since you don’t know me very well.”

“I know you,” Brand said confidently. “I may not know the things he does, but I know a lot about you.”

“Like what?”

“I know you are thoughtful, kind-hearted, and loyal. I know when you give someone your friendship that it’s forever. And I know the most important thing I need to know - you love me.”

“But there’s so much about me that you don’t know.”

“Everything else will come in time. I plan to spend every day of your life with you. I’m bound to learn a few things.”

“He said something else which bothers me even more than you not knowing the little things about me.”

“And what was that?”

I could tell Brand was suspicious, but I’d already opened up the subject. I couldn’t back out now.

“He said your feelings for me may just be a side effect of the way I make all the Watchers feel. That maybe you’re mistaking the contentment you feel around me for being in love.”

“Do you honestly think that’s true?”

The expression of hurt on Brand’s face made me wish I didn’t have doubts about his love for me. But I refused to lie to him.

“I don’t know. It’s not so much that I doubt you love me, but you can’t deny the effect I have on Malcolm, too.”

“You can’t possibly compare my feelings with that buffoon’s.” Brand sounded so offended I wasn’t sure I wanted this conversation to continue. “He’s completely infatuated with you. It’s not the same thing as love.”

“But you said yourself you’ve never been around anyone like me before. How can you be so sure that what you feel for me is real?”

Brand cupped the side of my face with one of his hands. The look in his eyes told me how much what I said hurt him, but I think he understood how my doubts were hurting me, too.

“You do have an effect on me. I freely admit that. But my love for you goes so far beyond just feeling content. I don’t know how to tell you how much I love you to make you truly understand. Even if you didn’t have the ability to curb the hunger for blood I’ve felt since I was exiled here, I would still love you. I would still want to marry you. The connection we have with one another goes beyond any physical pleasure. Don’t let Will’s jealousy taint the love you have for me. You have to know how much he wants you for himself. He’s still in love with you, Lilly. I don’t know if he said these things to provide a way to change your feelings for me, or if he said them to hurt me because I’m taking you even further away from him. But, please, don’t doubt my love for you. I can’t stand to think you consider my love so feeble.”

I felt ashamed. How could I have admitted to him that I doubted his feelings were real?

“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling him to me, hugging him tight. “I’m so sorry. Forget what I just said.”

Brand pulled away from me and looked into my eyes. “No, I can’t. I won’t. If I have to spend every day for the rest of your life proving how much I love you, I will.”

“I know you love me.” I could tell he knew I was telling him the truth. “It’s probably just the fact that you’re so perfect. I can’t understand why you would want to be with someone like me, except for this power I have that makes you feel almost human.”

Brand just shook his head at me, like I still didn’t understand the true depth of his feelings for me.