Ascension (Book 4, The Watcher Chronicles) (6 page)

“You can ask me anything,” He says.

“I’ve been wondering why Lucifer and Mason have always been able to feel my grief. Every time I’ve been upset about something, they’ve known. How is that possible?”

“Do you remember the night you killed the changeling?”

“Yes. It’s the same night I met Mason.”

“And Lucifer.”

“Yes,” I say realizing I did meet them both on the same night. “He came to my house.”

“Have you ever heard the term ‘soul mates’?”

“Sure, it’s someone you’re supposed to live your life with, the other half of your soul.”

God just looks at me, waiting for me to make the connection.

“Are you saying Mason
and
Lucifer are my soul mates?”

“In a way,” God says. “I opened the channel between you and your soul mates that night because it was time they knew of your existence and so they could both find you easily.”

“I can see Mason as my soul mate but Lucifer was only ever a friend.”

“A soul mate doesn’t only pertain to romantic love,” God tells me. “Sometimes love between friends can be just as strong, if not stronger and longer lasting. Mason is your soul mate, but Lucifer was Michael’s. Their friendship was the strongest I’ve ever seen. Even after the war, Michael mourned the loss of his best friend. Lucifer will never admit it, possibly not even to himself, but he mourned the loss of Michael just as deeply. That’s why they have both felt so connected to you.”

I feel my eyes fill with tears. “Can you close the connection with Lucifer?”

“I would rather not do that.”

“Why?”

“Because I feel it’s important that he feel your pain.”

“Why?”

“Do you trust me, Jess?”

“Yes.”

“Then stop asking why.”  He smiles at me and I know He’s asking me to just put a little faith in Him to know what’s best.

“Can I ask you another question?” I say.

“Yes.”

“How were we able to bring Gabe to us like that?”

“Like I told Chandler and JoJo, you are all permanently connected.”

“How exactly?”

“When you are together, the connection between your souls is very strong. I guess the easiest way to think of it would be to imagine a set of magnets being drawn to one another. The strength of the six of you together was strong enough to pull Gabe to you.”

“Our souls brought him to us?”

“Yes”

God pauses and looks down at the porch for a moment. I know he wants to tell me something and is weighing his words before he says them.

“Jess,” God begins, looking back up at me, “there will come a time soon when you will be tempted to kill some of the princes. I must ask you to refrain from doing that. You will need them in the end to seal the Tear.”

“If I’m in a position to kill them,” I say slowly, “then they must be in the same position to kill me.”

“Yes.”

I sigh. “So I can’t hurt them?  Is that what you’re telling me?”

“You can’t kill them,” God clarifies. “If you want to seal the Tear, you need to make sure they all stay alive.”

Reluctantly, I nod. I don’t like it, but I trust Him enough to know He wouldn’t be telling me this if it wasn’t true.

I feel sure Lucifer hasn’t given the same order to his princes. If anything, he probably wants me dead. I’ll just have to keep an eye on my back from here on out. Apparently, it has a bull’s eye smack dab in the middle of it.

When I go back inside the house, Lilly and Malcolm are no where to be seen. Mason is talking quietly with Gabe in the living room, but I don’t see Zack anywhere.

“We’ll be back,” Mason says to Gabe. “Make yourself at home while we’re gone.”

Mason walks up to me and runs one hand down my right arm phasing us to the bedroom of his beach house.

“What happened out there?” He asks me.

I tell him about Lilly wanting to help us with the upcoming confrontation with Lucifer as well as God’s intervention.

“Do you remember telling me you felt something the night we met?  I think you called it a disturbance that pointed you directly to me.”

Mason nods. “Yes, I remember.”

“Apparently God did something so that my soul mate would feel my presence.”

Mason smiles and brings me into the warmth of his embrace. “I had a feeling it had to be something like that.”

“And apparently Lucifer’s my soul mate too.”

Mason’s smile falters. “That can’t be right.”

“Not mine exactly,” I admit, “but Michael’s. They’re soul mates through their friendship.”

“Yes, I know that can happen. I guess I should have known that before now considering how close they were at one time.”

“I asked God to close the connection I have with Lucifer but He doesn’t want to do it yet. He said I just needed to trust Him to know what was best.”

“Then have faith in His judgment,” Mason says, rubbing his hands up and down my back in a soothing manner.

I wrap my arms around Mason’s neck deciding I desperately need a change of subject.

“Do you like marshmallows?”

Mason’s hands come to a complete stop on my back and he squints at me like he’s not sure he heard the question correctly.

“That’s an odd thing to want to know. Why do you ask?”

“Because I’m going to look like a giant marshmallow at our wedding.”

Mason chuckles. “Well, now that you mention it,” he says, his voice lowering intimately. “I do like marshmallows. They taste sweet in your mouth and they’re fluffy.”

It’s my turn to squint.

“Ok, I know that was supposed to be a come on line of some sort. And I get the tasting sweet part but what about me is fluffy?”

Mason smiles as I feel his hands undo the front button of my jeans and deftly lower the zipper. He slides his right hand down the front of my pants to show me exactly where I’m fluffy.

“Oh,” I sigh, trying my best to remain standing, “there.”

“See,” he says, nuzzling the side of my neck, teasing the sensitive skin with his lips and tongue, “very… fluffy…creamy…and sweet.”

“When did you tell Gabe we would be back?”  I ask breathlessly as he teases my body almost past my threshold of being able to pull away.

“I didn’t.”

I bury my fingers in Mason’s hair and whisper, “Good.”

A couple of hours later we do return to my house. We find Gabe sitting in front of the TV munching on a bag of Doritos.

“Everything all right?” He asks us, obviously not expecting us to be gone for so long.

I smile. “Yeah, sorry we got… caught up with something.”

Mason’s phone buzzes and he answers it.

“Have you found Zack’s crown, Nick?” I hear Mason say.

He listens for a while and his brow furrows.

“I’m getting tired of being at his beck and call,” Mason says irritably. “I’m only staying for a little while. I have other things to do.”  Mason pauses while Nick says something. “Ok, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Aiden helped Zack find his crown. They’ll be back here shortly. Zack just needed to go see his family first. I’m afraid I have to leave for a little while to go see the President. I won’t be there long though.”

“We should really get Zack something to eat before he goes to sleep for the next two days,” I tell Mason. “Would you mind picking something up on your way back home?”

“Hmm, you know, strangely enough I’m not very hungry myself,” Mason says with a shrug, “must be because of all those marshmallows I ate earlier.”

I look at Mason.

He just smiles at me with an amused twinkle in his eyes and a promise I intend to cash in on later.

“I think,” I tell him, “Zack would like some real food.”

“Any special requests?”

“No, I’ll leave the choice of cuisine up to you.”

Mason winks at me. “Be back in a bit. I just need to go hold the President’s hand for a little while and reassure him we have everything under control. Then I’ll be back with some food.”

I go sit on the couch with Gabe after Mason leaves. He leans the bag of Doritos in my direction and I take a couple out.

“So how long have you and Mason been together?” He asks.

“We met right before Christmas,” I tell Gabe. I suddenly realize Mason and I haven’t been together that long, maybe six weeks. Yet, it seems like we’ve known each other forever.

“He’s my soul mate,” I tell Gabe.

“Must be nice,” Gabe says, then pops a chip in his mouth.

“No one special in your life?”

“No time really. I’m a war correspondent. It doesn’t really lend itself to a family life.”

“You know I didn’t even think to ask if you needed to contact someone to let them know you’re still alive.”

“No, not really. Grew up in foster homes most of my childhood. Never really had many friends. I don’t like having too many personal ties.”

“It must feel strange for you to be around all of us then.”

“Oddly not,” Gabe admits. “It’s the closest I’ve felt to being part of a family.”  Gabe shakes his head like what he just said doesn’t make any sense to him.

“We all feel that way,” I reassure him.

Suddenly, the power in the house goes out. Without the white noise of modern technology, the quiet is disturbing. It’s evening now so Gabe and I sit in almost total darkness. The only light coming into the room is from the street lamps outside.

“Jeeesssss…”  A familiar voice taunts me from the front of my house.

I immediately pull my phone from my pocket and turn the flashlight app on. I make a mad dash to my bedroom and grab my sword.

On my way to the front door, I tell Gabe, “Whatever you might hear, stay inside the house.”

“Who is that out there?” Gabe asks.

“Baal.”

Chapter 5

On my way to the door, I think about calling Mason but decide against it. Now that Lucifer and I are on the outs, I seriously doubt I’m under his protection anymore much less anyone I care about. I know there will be hell to pay afterwards, but all I can think about is protecting Mason. He can be mad at me later but at least he’ll be alive. The image of Isaiah being turned into black ash by Baal and Levi is still too fresh in my memory.

I step outside and find Baal standing on the sidewalk directly out from my front door.

“You’re looking healthy,” I tell him, noticing even in the dim light that he doesn’t look like he’s suffered Lucifer’s punishment of having his soul trapped inside a decaying human corpse like three of his brothers.

“No, Lucifer didn’t seem to care about my part in your friend’s torture after his little talk with you last night. Whatever you said, I must thank you for saying it to him. He seems to be back to his old self again.”

“I guess that makes you happy,” I say. “It’s what you’ve been wanting since you got here.”

Baal smiles. Even in the dusk of night, I can see his crater sized dimples form in the middle of his cheeks.

“I’m just glad he finally came to his senses.”

“Did you come here for a reason or just to gloat?” I ask.

“Oh,” he says walking closer to the porch. “I definitely came here for a reason.”

My sword ignites, lighting up the area around me with its bright yellow-orange flames.