Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (23 page)

“So where is he?” Brand asked, wanting to get our business with Horace over with as quickly as I did.

“
Here in
New York
, actually,” Horace said.  I saw him glance down at my hand as if to make sure I
was wearing
the ring.

“Ready?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I answered.  “Let’s get this over with.  After today, I don’t ever want to see
or hear from you
again.  Is that understood?”

“Absolutely,” Horace said nodding his head.  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Horace phased us to the balcony of a penthouse apartment.  The
outer
glass wall in front of us revealed a modern looking living room with sparse, minimalist furnishings.
  A well stocked bar lined one of the interior walls and we saw Faust there mixing
a pitcher of some sort of pink
drink.  When he noticed us, he looked surprised but not stunned by our appearance, more irritated.

We walked into the apartment.  The sound of ice being stirred in the glass pitcher in front of Faust was the only sound in the
room
.

“Well, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Faust asked
tritely
.

“Give Horace his ring back,” I ordered Faust.

Without questioning my order, Faust went to the back of the apartment only to return a minute later with Horace’s ring.  Horace snatched the ring from Faust, immediately placing it on the middle finger of his right hand and he disappeared, having gotten what he came for.

Having completed the order I gave him, Faust looked down at me and saw the glint of King
Solomon
’s ring on my hand.

“I guess I should have known,” he said before returning to the bar to pour himself a drink from the pitcher.  “Are you going to make me do anything else for you?”

I walked up to him.  “Do you know what Lucifer has planned for me?”

Faust had already admitted he wanted Lucifer’s plan to succeed indicating he at least knew what the end result of it would be.

“He plans to tear a whole in the fabric of space and time.  There won’t be a
Heaven
or a
Hell
or an Earth the way you know it.”

“How does
he plan to do that?” I asked.  “How is he going to use me to make it happen?”

Faust stared at me and said nothing.

“I don’t think he knows,” Brand said, coming to stand behind me.  “If he did the ring would compel him to tell you.”

I felt my heart drop.  I felt sure Faust would be able to answer my questions but apparently Lucifer was keeping the details to his plan close to
the
vest.  If Faust didn’t know, I wasn’t sure who else would.

“Why were you hiding Horace’s ring from him?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Because he was becoming an uppity little jinn.  I thought he needed to realize he was nothing without his powers.”

“That’s the only reason?”

“It was enough for me.”

I heard the jangle of keys in the door to the apartment and watched as a person I faintly recognized walked in
side
.

“Heath, dear boy,” Faust said.  “Come in and meet our visitors.”

The man was tall, blonde and quite nice to look at.  A picture of him surfaced in my mind and I remembered seeing an article about him writing some best selling book that was sweeping the nation right now.  Everyone was reading
the erotic novel he just wrote.

“You
r
new patron?” I asked Faust.

“Partner is the term I like better,” Faust said.

Heath Knowles closed the door behind him and joined us. 

“Everything all right here, Faust?” He asked, eyeing Brand and me curiously.

“Just speaking with some old friends.  They were just about to leave I believe.”

I turned to Heath.  “You realize what he is right?”

Heath shrugged.  “Of course I do.  He’s like a genie.  He made my wishes come true.  I was living in a tiny little apartment trying to make it as a writer when he found me.  Now look at where I am,” he said indicating his penthouse with arms outstretched.  “I owe it all to him.”

“And you
’
r
e
all right with what you had to give up to get it?”

“What
,
my family?  My friends?  What did they ever give me but grief?  I have what I want now.  I don’t need them anymore.”

Brand had been right.  Some people didn’t care who got hurt in the bargains with the jinn.  Sometimes they just wanted an easy way to get what they
most desired
.

Heath walked up to Faust and gave him a full on kiss on the lips, making me realize the apartment wasn’t the only thing they were sharing with one another.  I had thought perhaps Faust’s new patron would be like the actor
,
but I was apparently wrong.  Heath seemed to be enjoying Faust in more ways than one.

I grabbed Brand’s hand and phased us back home, not
will
ing
ly wanting to subject myself to a public display of
their amorous feelings for one another.

“Well, that was disturbing to watch,” I said, shivering slightly.  Thinking of Faust as a sexual being just seemed wrong on so many levels.
“Let’s concentrate on what he told us,” Brand suggested instead.

“Do you know what he was talking about?  How can Lucifer tear a hole in space?”

“Space and time,” Brand said.  “And how he can do that, I’m not sure.  It would take a lot more energy than he possesses.”

“How do I factor into it though?”

“The only thing I can think of is he intends to combine your arch angel powers together.”

“So he would have to possess me in order to do that right?”

“Yes
.
” Brand
began to
pace in front of me trying to piece together what we knew.  “If he truly does plan to connect everything together, he would have to produce a vortex of power here on Earth and in
Heaven
at almost the same time.”

“Lillith,” I said.  “You said she could phase into
Heaven
whenever she wanted.  If he can use my arch angel power and the power Lillith may have passed down, then I am the key to it all.”

“But it still doesn’t explain how he intends to produce that much energy.  It would take something far more powerful than just the power of two arch angels.  We’re still missing something important.
  It’s virtually impossible.
”

“Maybe Uriel was right,” I said, feeling as though maybe the angel in charge of protecting
Heaven
had been
correct
.  Maybe it w
ould be
better if I were dead.
  How could I be so selfish and put the world, the whole universe, in jeopardy? 

Brand put his hands on my shoulders.  “Look at me
.
”

I forced myself to look at his face
and
saw
the answer to my own question
written there
.
  I had everything to live for standing in front of me.  If God thought I could stop what Lucifer had planned, then I had to have faith that with Brand’s help we would find a way to stop him.  What was that phrase?  Oh, yes,
‘love conquerors all’
.  If that phrase could be proven, I knew Brand and I would find a way to do it.

“We will find a way to stop him,” he said to me, each word filled with conviction.  “Trust me.”

I pulled him closer, needing to feel his warmth.  “I do trust you,” I said.  “I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone.  And I need you to
make me a
promise.”

Brand pulled away and asked, “What
promise
?”

“When the time comes and if we haven’t found a way to stop Lucifer…”

“We will,” Brand insisted.

“If we don’t,” I said,
refusing to let him view everything through rose colored glasses,
“don’t let me become the reason he succeeds.”

Brand looked confused.  “What
exactly
are you asking me to do Lilly?”

“If there’s no hope left, I need you kill me.”

Brand
staggered
away from me like I had
j
ust stabbed
a
knife directly into his heart.

“You can’t ask me to do that,” he whispered.

“I can,” I said.  “You have to promise me that you’ll do it.  I might not be in control
of myself
when it happens
,
and I won’t be able to kill myself.”

“Lilly, please,” Brand begged on the verge of tears.  “I can’t make that promise.  I can’t kill you.”

“If the ring fails and Lucifer possesses me, I’ll already be dead,” I told him.  “You would only be killing my body because my soul wouldn’t be there anymore.  I have to know Lucifer won’t be able to win, Brand.  Don’t let me be the cause of so much pain.  If you love me, be strong enough to let me go when the time comes.”

Brand swallowed hard and closed his eyes so I wouldn’t see his pain.  I knew what I was asking was a lot.  I’m not sure I would have the strength to do what I asked if the table
s
were turned.  But if I was going to die, I needed to know it was because I did the right thing.

“Ok,” Brand said so low I had to strain to hear him.  “I’ll do what you ask if it comes to that.
  But it won’t.  I won’t let it.
”

I went up to Brand and hugged him closely.  I knew how much it took for him to agre
e to my plan
,
and I knew he would keep his word to me if it came down to it.  I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” I said to him.  “Thank you.”

Th
e
following Saturday the contractors began work on Utha Mae’s house.  They brought in a large crew to set the pipes and pour the concrete foundation.  Malcolm came to watch over the construction.  As she did
to
almost everyone she met, Utha Mae had made Malcolm become completely devoted to her and he wasn’t about to let anyone make a mistake in the construction of her new home.

Brand and I chose a spot on the other side of the tree line around our own ho
us
e.  For the past two days
crews had worked to cut down some of the pine trees to make a clearing big enough
for the construction crew
. 
We wanted to make sure she felt close but not so close that we would completely take away her privacy.

 
Will brought Utha Mae and my mom over that afternoon so they could see
for themselves
exactly
where
we were building Utha Mae’s new home.
  My mother was in unusually high spirits and seemed to have completely expunged the incident at the restaurant from her mind, like it never happened.  I didn’t bring it up to her because in the grand scheme of things it really didn’t matter.  I didn’t want my last days with my mom to be filled with strife.  It just wasn’t worth it
,
and I felt like if I did keep a grudge against my
m
om it would be like giving Lucifer a victory
over me
.  If anything, that thought made me decide to forgive my mother for not being a stronger person.  Her life had been controlled by powers well beyond her control or even comprehension.  I couldn’t fault her for being human.  She had been
played like a
pawn
in
a
chess
game
from all sides, a true victim of circumstance.

I gave my mother a big hug when they all came to the construction site.

“Wow, what was that for?” She asked pleasantly surprised.

“Just for being my mom,” I said.  “I love you.”

When I pulled away, I saw tears in
her e
yes.

“You haven’t said that since you were a little girl,” she told me, only then making me realize
how long it had been
.  It was amazing how three little words could completely change the dynamic of a relationship.  She hugged me
tightly to her, something she hadn’t done in years,
and said, “I love you too, sweetie.
”

My
m
om looked at the house construction and said, “I’m so glad you and Brand are doing this for her.  I was concerned about leaving her in that trailer park alone.  She hasn’t been getting around very well lately.  But ever since she learned you two were building her this house it’s like she’s grown ten years younger.”