Blessed (Book 2, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (12 page)

“Sorry,” he said in an honestly contrite voice. He was wearing his lab coat this time, with a pair of green rubber gloves, and the same white facemask he’d used on his previous visit over his mouth. “I suppose I should have called first. Please accept my sincerest apologies for interrupting.”

Brand stood from my bed, discreetly adjusting his clothing. “No, Allan, it’s good of you to come. Do you have the results for us?”

“Yes, I thought you would want to know what I found out right away.”

“What did you discover?” Brand asked.

“Her mother has the same mitochondrial DNA sequence as Lilly, but she doesn’t have any of the angelic DNA sequences which give Lilly her powers. It has to be assumed that Lilly inherited those from her father. I would still like to get a sample of the grandmother’s DNA, if at all possible,” Allan requested, “just to confirm my findings.”

“We need to find your grandparents,” Brand said to me. “It’s the only way we’ll be able to figure out where your mother’s family originated.”

“How long will you be in this location, if I might ask?”

“We’re leaving this morning, I hope,” Brand answered. “But you are welcome to come to my home anytime you want. Just call me and I’ll take you there so you know where it is.”

“Very thoughtful of you,” Allan looked at me. I think he was smiling beneath the mask. “Glad to see you made a full recovery, Lilly. Please don’t hesitate to call on me if I can be of further assistance to you in the future.”

“Thank you, Allan.”

“Well, I’ll let you two get back to what you were doing.”

After Allan left, I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Well, you heard the man,” I said to Brand, trying to look as alluring as I could in a hospital gown. “We should get back to what we were doing.”

Just as Brand was about to crawl back into bed with me, a nurse came into the room and completely spoiled the mood. A little while later, Malcolm, Tara, Will and Malik came in, dooming my chances of another romantic interlude with Brand before I left the hospital. It was just as well. I would rather be in our own bed to continue further explorations anyway.

It didn’t take very long to check out of the hospital. Some of my doctors came by to wish me well before I left, but if you’d asked me any of their names, I couldn’t tell you one. All I wanted to do was get out.

As soon as we got into Brand’s car, he phased us to Malcolm’s house. Malik traveled with Malcolm and Tara with Will, in their respective vehicles. We were all pretty anxious to find out what information Izzi could tell us.

“Stay close to Malcolm and Will,” Brand told me. “I need to go get Izzi.”

“Where did you put her?”

“Somewhere safe back home. I won’t be long,” he gave me a kiss and disappeared.

We all walked into Malcolm’s house together. When we were about to head down to his basement, I saw Brand walk through the front door with the small iron box in his hands. Once we were in the basement, I saw where Malcolm’s son spent most of his nights. It was a 20’x20’ room. Malcolm hadn’t exaggerated one bit. The room was completely devoid of windows or any other openings, except for the door. When we stepped across the threshold, I noticed the walls must have been made of at least ten- inch of steel.

After we were all inside the room and the door was secured, Brand opened the box and dumped its contents onto the floor, laying the box down beside the bee in front of us. We were all in a semi-circle around the yellow jacket, which lay motionless on the steel floor before us.

“Is she dead?” I asked, not seeing any movement from the bee.

“No,” Malik answered. “She just needs some time to recover from being in the iron box for so long.”

I’m not sure how long we stood there, but it couldn’t have been more than five minutes. Finally, I saw the transparent wings begin to flutter. Then suddenly, the creature was in the air, buzzing from wall to wall, desperately trying to find a way to escape.

“It’s no use, Izzi,” Malik told her. “It would be better for you to just change shape and answer our questions. Otherwise, this might go a lot less smoothly for you.”

After a couple more minutes, I guess Izzi realized there was no escaping her fate. She changed back into the form I was more used to. She stood tall and proud in front of us, wearing absolutely nothing.

“What are you going to do to me?” Izzi asked Malik, lifting her chin a little in defiance.

“You know the punishment for attempting to murder someone,” Malik replied. I could tell his words frightened her, but she refused to let it show for more than a second. “However, if you answer our questions, I will consider sending you into private exile instead. Otherwise, I’ll send you to the others, and I think you know what they’ll do to you.”

“What do you want to know?” Izzi kept her eyes locked on Malik, as if the rest of us weren’t even in the room.

“I think I’ll let Lilly ask you herself.”

Izzi finally let her gaze fall on me. Her eyes raked me up and down, with complete and total undisguised hatred.

“Why did you try to kill me?” I asked.

“I was bribed,” she answered with a shrug, as if my death meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

“By whom?” I asked. “And why did they want me dead?”

“How should I know why he wanted you out of the way? It’s not like I really cared about the reason.”

I heard a growl come from beside me and saw Brand grip Malcolm’s arm, restraining him from taking another step toward Izzi.

“Wait,” Brand said, though I could tell by his expression that he had to exert a lot of control on his own emotional response to Izzi’s words.

“Then who was it? And what did you have to gain by my death?” I asked.

Izzi looked at Malik. “If I tell you the answers, do you promise not to send me to them?”

“You have my word,” Malik said. “If you tell us the truth,” he amended.

“It was Faust. He’s the one who wanted me to kill Lilly. He said if I did, he’d arrange for Malik’s death so I could become the leader of the fairies. Since you don’t have an heir yet, I would be next in line.”

Malik looked to Brand. “It sounds true. Is it?”

Brand nodded his head once. “But she’s holding something back. There was more to the bargain.”

“What was the rest of the deal?” Malik demanded.

Izzi looked at Brand. “He said he could make you fall in love with me; though that was just a perk, not my main reason for helping him.”

“He doesn’t have that type of power,” Brand told her. “You should know that.”

Izzi shrugged her shoulders. “I figured as much. But I didn’t think it would hurt to try. If you can fall in love with such an ordinary human, I thought he could at least steer you in my direction and make you finally notice me for once. I mean, seriously, Brand, you could do so much better.”

Before I knew it, Brand was holding Izzi up by the neck, against a wall. She was desperately trying to pry his fingers away from her throat, unable to even gasp for breath.

“It’s only because of Lilly you’re even still alive,” he hissed at her. “Don’t ever disrespect her in front of me again. As it is, I’m having a hard time restraining myself from just snapping you in two for trying to take her away from me.”

I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d never seen Brand so upset before. The fierceness of his anger actually shocked me. It was a side of him I had never had to deal with.

As quickly as he’d snatched her up, he let her go and returned to my side. I could hear his ragged breathing as he attempted to get his raw emotions under control. I put a hand on his arm and felt him relax slightly under my touch.

“Where is Faust now?” Malik asked Izzi as she struggled to take a few breaths. I was sure Brand had been close to breaking her neck. I could only imagine how sore her throat felt. I could see the red outline of Brand’s handprint around her neck.

“I don’t know,” she rasped. “He contacted me, not the other way around.”

“And you have no idea why he wanted you to murder Lilly for him?”

“No.”

Izzi leaned against the wall, trying to breathe normally even though it sounded more like wheezing.

“She’s telling the truth,” Brand said in a disgusted voice. I wasn’t sure if he was repulsed by Izzi or himself. I assumed it was probably a little of both.

“Very well,” Malik said. “Transform, Izzi, and get back into the box.”

“You’re not going to put me with the others, are you?” she asked in a hoarse voice, but I could still hear her fear.

“No, I’ll do what I said. You have my word.”

Without protest or another word to anyone, Izzi transformed back into the yellow jacket and flew back into the iron box sitting on the floor.

Malik closed the lid and held it securely in his hand.

“Is the plane ready?” he asked Brand.

“Yes, it’s waiting for you at the airport. Just give the coordinates to the pilot when you get there.”

“I’ll take you to the airport,” Will offered.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Malik said to us before Will phased them both out of the room.

I turned to Brand, concerned about him. He tried to smile at me to show he was all right, but I could see the anger he was attempting to contain.

“Take me home,” I said to him, though it sounded more like an order than a request.

He took my hand, and we were standing in his living room before I knew it.

“Come here.” I pulled him to me, hoping to erase the rage our conversation with Izzi had awakened in him.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” he whispered.

“Don’t apologize,” I told him. I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. He was trying so hard to control the anger he felt, but his eyes could never lie to me. “It was a natural reaction. If the tables had been turned, I probably wouldn’t have had the strength to control myself the way you did.”

Brand closed his eyes and hung his head. “I’ve never felt that close to killing someone before,” he confessed. “If you hadn’t been there, I’m not sure what would have happened.”

“You wouldn’t have done it,” I told him. “That’s not you.”

“But it could have been, Lilly,” he said, opening his eyes, looking to me for understanding. “She almost killed you.”

“But she didn’t,” I tried to reassure him. “I’m right here, with you.”

I’m not sure if it was the reminder of my mortality or just a need to erase the anger he felt but, when Brand kissed me, I felt his desperation. I matched it with my own. I could still hear Izzi’s words about me being an ‘ordinary human’ and how Brand could ‘do so much better’. Her words mirrored the thoughts I’d been having lately. But I didn’t want to think about that. I wanted to enjoy the feeling of being completely adored by the man kissing me, even if I
was
just ordinary, and didn’t really deserve to have him love me so completely.

Before I knew it, we were lying in bed. I felt Brand reach under my shirt, brushing his warms hands against the bare skin of my back. His lips left mine. I heard him whisper, “I love you” in my ear before he kissed his way down my neck to the little bit of chest revealed by my V-neck T-shirt. He pushed the bottom of my shirt up to reveal my stomach, and continued his assault there, exciting every nerve in my body.

“Brand,” I whispered, “I don’t want to wait.”

He looked up at me, and I could see the hunger he had in his eyes for me, but there was something else there I couldn’t quite identify.

He pulled my shirt back down and stood up from the bed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, not understanding why he was leaving.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he said, standing a couple of feet away, looking at me like he was afraid to come any closer.

“Oh,” I said, assuming I had completely misread his desire for me. “If you don’t want to…” I couldn’t continue what I was going to say. It was just too embarrassing. I tried to look away, but I felt Brand’s hand under my chin as he sat down beside me on the bed, forcing me to look at him.

“How can you even think that?” he asked, dropping his hand from my chin. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear how much I want you.”

“But why did you stop?”

“You’re going to think I’m being completely paranoid.” He ran an agitated hand through is hair, like he wasn’t sure how to say what was on his mind. “But, it’s important to me that we do everything right. I don’t want to give Him any excuses to not bless our marriage.”

“Who? God?”

Brand nodded. “I truly think He brought us together, and I want to do everything right this time. Can you understand that?”

Actually, I could. I’d always imagined my wedding night to be this one perfect moment in time with the man I finally gave my heart to. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Brand would do his best to make it even more beautiful for me than I could have ever dreamt it to be. To know he was willing to put aside his own desires in order to provide us with the best chance of a happy life together made my doubts about his true feelings for me lessen.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to plan on a lot of cold showers over the next few years,” I tried to joke, feeling a need to lighten the mood.