Broken (Book 1, The Watcher Chronicles, Paranormal Romance) (10 page)

I walk to the door and t
ake a deep breath before turning the brass knob.  I let the door swing inward.  It creaks as if finding its voice to welcome me back after such a long time away.

Mason follow
s in behind me, sweeping his phone over everything from my father’s desk to the shelves of books and cabinets lining the walls.  Finally, I see another spike show up on Mason’s display indicating the source of the radiation is coming from the brick fireplace.  Mason walks to the fireplace trying to pinpoint the exact location of the radiation and finds that the signal is strongest within the chimney itself.

Mason quickly drops his phone
back into his coat pocket and shrugs his coat from his shoulders.  Before I know it, he has most of his body up the stack of the chimney.

“Do you see anything?” I ask, curious
to know why something of any importance would be hidden inside my father’s fireplace.

“Hold on,” Mason says with a grimace as I see his body stretch like he’s trying to
grab something almost too high to reach.

When he comes back out, he’s holding a medium sized
metal box in one hand.

He walks over to my father’s desk and sets it down.  There is no lock so he simply releases the catch and
lifts the lid.  Sitting inside the box is a pristinely polished silver crown with strange fluid, circular rune marks decorating its surface.  I find myself mesmerized by its beauty and begin to wonder how my father came to be in possession of such a thing.

I hear
Mason gasp, dragging my attention away from the crown to his face.  It’s apparent he recognizes the crown and is as surprised to see it stashed away in my father’s study as I am.

“What is it?” I ask.  “I mean I can see it’s a crown
, but do you know where it came from?”

I see Mason’s Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallows hard before telling me what he knows.

“It’s one of the seven archangel crowns,” he says with reverence.

“Why would something like that be
stashed away in my father’s fireplace?” I ask.

“I don’t know, Jess.” Mason says looking up at me.  “Can you tell me?”

Mason’s penetrating gaze makes me feel uncomfortable because I feel like he knows I’m keeping a vital piece of information from him.  I can’t deny that I’m not but my father’s voice reverberates in my head telling me to keep my secret to myself.

“I’ve never seen it before,” I say honestly. 

Mason stares at me, apparently expecting me to say more.  I avert my eyes from his probing gaze and stare at the crown instead.

Finally, Mason reach
es inside the box to pull the crown out.  Just as he’s about to wrap his fingers around it, he stops, but it’s not like he does it intentionally.  I see him strain to move his fingers inward to grasp the crown but it’s like there’s an invisible force field around it preventing him from performing such an action.  Finally, with a grunt, not out of frustration but from strain, he gives up and withdraws his hand from the box.

“
You try to pick it up,” Mason suggests to me.

“If it won’t let
an angel pick it up, I seriously doubt it will let me,” I say.

“Just try, Jess,” Mason
encourages, his voice asking me to trust him on this.

I shake my head
completely confident I won’t be any more successful than Mason was.  When I place my hand over the crown, I feel something like static electricity dance across my palm and quickly yank my hand back to my side.

“What’s wrong?” Mason asks
, concern in his voice.

“I felt something,” I say.  “Did you feel a tingling sensation when you tried to pick it up?”

“No, I felt nothing.”

With my heart hammering inside my chest, I place my hand inside the box once
again, ignoring the electricity the crown seems to be pulsing with like a living creature against my flesh.  With no problem at all, I wrap my fingers around the base of the crown and pull it out of the box.  I stare at it not knowing exactly what to do with it now that I have it.  Before I can ask Mason what I should do next, the iron box on the desk disintegrates into a pile of ash.

“Interesting,” I hear Mason say, like magic happens in front of him every day.

Maybe it does and I’m just the hapless human who is caught up in things I don’t quite understand.

“What do we do now?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” Mason says shaking his head.  “I’m not even sure why the crown is on Earth.”

“You said it was an
archangel crown?” I ask, just to verify I heard him correctly the first time.

“Yes.  The
archangel it belongs to should be wearing it right now, that’s why I don’t understand why it’s here.  It should be in Heaven not on Earth.  It must have been sent here to help in some way.  I just don’t understand how.”

“Why can I hold it?” I ask.  “Why couldn’t you pick it up?”

“I don’t know,” Mason answers.  “But it was obviously made to only respond to your touch.”

“So what do I do with it?”

“See if it will fit on your head,” Mason suggests.

His
idea sounds ridiculous but I try it anyway.  I place the crown on top of my head but nothing happens.  I don’t suddenly have some grand epiphany and the earth doesn’t quake beneath my feet.  The only thing I notice is how lightweight it is.

Feeling slightly
ridiculous standing there with a crown on my head I ask, “See anything?  Any kind of divine inspiration hitting you?  Anything at all?”

“Only that you would look beautiful as a queen,” Mason tells me, no
t joking at my expense, just making an observation.

I lower my eyes, no
longer able to meet Mason’s gaze and pull the crown off my head, smoothing down my hair where it was perched.

“So, what do we do with it now?” I ask, chancing a glance in Mason’s direction.

“I need to speak with some fellow Watchers about it.  Maybe together we can figure out what needs to be done next.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” I ask.

“No, not yet.  I need to speak with them alone first and tell them what we know so far.  When I know what our next move should be, I will come to you.”

“So, what, you just want me to go home for now?”

“I think that would be best.  I’ll contact you later this afternoon.  Maybe by then we’ll have a better understanding what the crown being here means.”

In no time at all, Mason ha
s me and my car sitting in my drive way.

“Try to get some rest,” Mason tells me.  “I’ll let you know what our next move is as soon as I know what
it should be myself.”

Mason disappear
s.

I sit in my car staring at the crown of an
archangel in my hands wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

When I finally decide to stop staring at the crown, I get out of my car and walk up to my porch.

Just as I’m about to open the door, I hear, “What’s that you have in your hand?”

Startled, I place my other hand on my plasma pistol and swiftly turn around to face Lucian/Lucifer

“You have seriously got to stop sneaking up on me like that,” I tell him irritably, my hand itching to pull my pistol from its holster.

He looks amused by my rebuke.  “I’m sorry, Jessica. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“How do you know my name?” I ask, distinctly remember
ing not telling the devil my first name the night before because I didn’t want to be on a first name basis with him even before I knew his true identity.

“I know everything there is
to know about you,” he says, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.  “You didn’t think I wouldn’t do my research on your past, did you?  Someone as special as you is worth getting to know all about.”

“I’m no one special.”

He smiles indulgently.  “Yes, you are.  You simply don’t realize it yet.”

“Do you know what’s different about me?” I ask, wondering if the devil might actually be helpful in solving the mystery I find myself in.

“No,” he admits reluctantly.  I can see admitting it bothers him.  “Not yet.  But that’s certainly a clue.”  He looks pointedly at the crown in my hands.  “I’m sure Mason told you what it is.”

“Yes.” I say, not offering any
more information.

“I wonder why it’s here,” he ponders and I instantly know he’s as clueless as the rest of us
as to its purpose.  “It really shouldn’t be you know.”

“Was there a reason you came back here…what should I call you?  Lucian or Lucifer?”

“Lucian would be less conspicuous in case any of your neighbors see us talking But it’s up to you, either name is fine with me.  Sadly there aren’t any children named Lucifer these days.  And to answer your question, I had a yearning to see you again, Jessica.”

“Should I be scare
d you just said that?” I ask, not wanting Lucifer to yearn for my company in any way, shape or form.

“I’m not here to harm you,” he
tells me and I believe him for some strange reason.  He seems earnest in his statement.

“Then why are you here?” I ask.

“To be honest, I’m not completely sure why.” He smiles at me letting me see he’s as confused as anyone about his actions.  “But there’s something familiar about you.  Something I can’t quite put my finger on to tell you the truth.  It’s made me rather determined to figure it out.”

“Does that mean I should expect more visits from you?”

“Most certainly.”

“And if I asked you to stay away from me would you do it?”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” he answers.  “I’m inexplicably drawn to you, Jessica.”

“Uh, what kind of drawn exactly?”

“It’s not in a romantic sense if that’s what you’re worried about,” he chuckles.  “Though,” Lucifer looks down at his body, “I can’t see why you would object to having this form in your bed.  Women seem to like it quite well.”

“So do you change into whatever form you want?” I ask, since no one has explained
that part to me.

“No
but I can take over any human body of my choosing.”

“What happens to the person whose body you go into?”

“Their soul is pushed out and mine takes their place.”

“So you kill them.”

“Yes.”  There’s no malice in his statement just fact.

“You still haven’t explained this yearning you say you feel to be with me,” I point out.

“I’m not sure I can explain it sufficiently.  But rest assured it’s not sexual in nature, more friendly than anything.”

“Can the devil have friends?”

The smile on Lucifer’s face fades.  “I had a best friend once.  He and I did everything together until he sided with our father instead of me during the war.  He’s the only real thing I miss from Heaven.”

“Who was he?”

Lucifer’s brow lowers and he looks at me like I should already know the answer to my own question.  “Don’t all people in this part of the world go to church and learn these stories on Sunday morning?”

“I have a hard time believing in something I can’t see,” I tell him.

Lucifer cocks his head.  “Are you telling me you don’t believe in God?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure what I believe anymore.  You and Mason seem to think he’s real.  I’ve just never had a
good enough reason to believe in him.”

“Well,
aren’t you just full of surprises?” Lucifer smiles again.  “Far be it for me to try and convince you otherwise.  He seems to have plenty of people fooled into believing he’s all knowing and benevolent.  It’s refreshing to find someone who isn’t so gullible.”

Being praised by the devil doesn’t seem right
, but I won’t lie and say I believe in or trust in God wholeheartedly.  He might exist but that didn’t mean I had to agree with everything He did.

“So are you telling me you want to be my friend?” I ask.

“I haven’t quite decided,” Lucifer says.  “But when I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

Luci
fer disappears.

When I
walk into my house, my cell phone rings.  It’s Mama Lynn.

“I saw you out my window talking
to a handsome stranger,” she says me.  “Is he someone you’re dating?”

“No!” I say a bit too emphatically.  “He’s just someone
I have to deal with in my new job, no one important.”

“Well, are you already home from work this early
or do you have to go back?”

“I might have to
go back later.  Mason had to go talk to some people about some evidence we found today.”

“
Then why don’t you come to my house?  Faison and I are making the sugar cookies.  It would be more fun if all three of us made them together.  Then you girls can take me to the hospital to see Uncle Dan.”