Society Rules (65 page)

The only woman in the world, as far as they both were concerned. Because she used to be Will’s.

Will was still learning to deal; first with the fact that his wife of ten years had turned out to be part of a genetically superior race of beings descended from angelic bloodlines. The
Society
Members
that his co-workers were always on the hunt for, the purpose being dissection and study, under the guise of an implied threat.

He had since learned the true objective of the Society, as explained by Jackson himself, and knew that the idea of a threat from these people couldn’t be further from the truth.

Boring, is what they were, from an investigative standpoint, Will had complained to Jackson after the revelation.

Oh, they were interesting if you looked at it from a historical point of view, and the things that their ancestors had brought to the world, but as far as mystical beings from other worlds went, eh, it wasn’t too exciting.

Sure they were resistant to disease and illness, had telekinetic powers, and some other crazy abilities that he wasn’t even sure about their extent, which was kind of cool, but not jaw dropping for the most part.

“So your purpose here is to basically improve the human race, and promote positive energy, like, getting all the countries together to sing cum-bye-ya, and that sort of crap?” Will had asked incredulously. “Yeah, good luck with that!”

Jackson had also explained that he also kept certain undesirable “beings” that often appeared on this earth, at bay, annihilating them with a ferocity that would terrify any mortal who had to watch. They also kept an eye out for the latest incarnation of the
Fallen
One
; AKA Satan, among the other names he chose for himself.

Society Members were sort of the time-keepers of the world, monitoring the sun and the aging effect on it from negative energy that would eventually end this little experiment called mankind.

This had chilled Will just a little. He hoped that the “
Creator
” as the Society called God, wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

After all, he had season tickets to all of the Red Sox games.

He, himself had been on a task force assigned to the capture and study of these, Society Members, meanwhile, unknowingly living with them under his very own roof.

He never saw the “markers” as they called them; the perfectly geometrically aligned features, as well as other small signs, noticeable only to the trained eye, because one of Indie’s gifts was an ability to force the eye to skim over her, rendering others unable to really focus on her clearly unless she commanded attention. This was something she did unconsciously; some deep-seated survival instinct.

Oh, and there was also the little catch that they are born with a predetermined mate. After contact is made between the two Members, they are rendered hopelessly devoted to one another for life.

A very long life, as long as nothing ends it prematurely, which accounted for their insanely youthful appearance.

Jackson just happened to be the Society Member who had appeared in their lives to claim his mate, Indie.

The fact that Indie was already married to Will, and unaware of her own status, had been a sticky situation, but ultimately Will had realized that Indie was faultless, as well as helpless to fight the inborn draw to her rightful mate.

It had nearly killed her as well, to hurt Will, but things were getting better.

One of the quirks of these pre-destined mates was that they shared the same date of birth, and consequently after the Commitment to each other, the same date of death.

They were called
Equals
for a reason; their destinies were truly entwined.

It was for this reason alone, Will told himself, that he knew he would protect Jackson with all of the weapons and skill at his disposal, because who he was really protecting, was Indie.

He chose to ignore the idea that he might be protective over Jackson because he actually found himself kind of liking the guy, against his will.

Just a little.

Will preferred to believe that he simply suffered his company because he had no choice, and liked to prove it to himself often by deliberating goading and harassing Jackson at nearly every available opportunity.

This abuse Jackson bore with remarkably calm acceptance, only returning the gestures occasionally and in a very mild fashion.

He understood where Will was coming from, and tried to indulge his need to vent his still-simmering angst.

The next shocker for Will had been the revelation that he and Indie’s children were not only another set of Members, but a rare and powerful type, descended straight down from the angel of the highest rank.

They were in possession of nearly unspeakable powers, including Indie’s “invisibility” gift, and now had a specially assigned trainer and teacher living with them now, to educate the children and teach them how to use and contain their power.

Will had no idea exactly
what
they were capable of, but he already knew that his son, Jake, had the power to remove Death’s hand from one’s shoulder.

Jake had saved Will, who had died, for all intents and purposes, dragging him back from the very threshold of death, much to the chagrin of the Elder who had sired the original Society Members from which they had descended.

It was a big rule, that one did not tamper with destiny or fate, but a bigger rule was the function of free will, which Jake had exercised when saving his father.

Whether there would be horrible ramifications later, remained to be seen, although it seemed that Will’s destiny had been such that his rescue from Death’s claws was part of the plan.

Will had been visited in a dream; one that he was sure was actually real, but he had to call it a dream to maintain his sanity. In this dream, he was informed that he was the “
Redeemer,”
and that “
they
will
come
through
” him.

He still wasn’t sure what it meant, but hey, now he knew he had a purpose in life. He just had to figure what being
The
Redeemer
actually entailed.

It was a strange title. Sounded like a super-hero. He’d wondered if maybe he should purchase a cape, just to be safe.

The final sledgehammer to Will’s ego had been the forced assignment of Jackson as his new partner, after the death of Shawn Baker, his partner of the previous two years.

Shawn’s death in itself was a sore subject with Will. Because Shawn had died saving the life of Will’s daughter, Cassidy.

The situation was complicated, with Shawn starring as the villain in the beginning, and winding up the hero at the finish, his position in an afterlife of peace firmly sealed.

At any rate, Jackson, who Will knew only to be an Oxford-educated attorney, was now his partner, simply because the Elder Society Members had determined that Will had a higher purpose to serve, and that he needed Jackson to assist in fulfilling his destiny.

They had used some sort of Divine influence, Will supposed, in getting the open position of partner for Will, filled by Jackson.

As it turned out, Jackson obviously was hiding a carton full of kick-ass and some serious training somewhere in his past, so the placement at least wasn’t totally ridiculous, as he had originally feared.

Go figure.

The man was also steadfastly avoiding any conscious thought about the origins of professional ass-kicking resume’ for reasons unknown and Will wasn’t going to ask him again.

He knew it was only a matter of time before Jackson Allen slipped up and gave it a cursory thought. Some memory would show itself, and he would think about it, and then Will would know.

Because the only part of the whole sorry deal that didn’t suck, was the gift given to Will by the Elders, just before the move to Texas—the ability to read Jackson’s thoughts.

This leveled the playing field a bit, as Jackson had, among many other unusual powers, the ability to read the minds of those around him.

Indie was able to shut him out at times, if she felt threatened and retreated in fear into her invisibility mode. But aside from that scenario, they were an open book to one another.

So far, Will was enjoying the hell out of the gift he was given.

He especially loved the knowledge that his receiving this gift had caused Jackson distress.

It was an odd coupling, to say the least—neither man hating the other, in fact, sharing a reluctant respect for one another. However, Indie remained the epicenter of unrest.

For Jackson, it was the fact that Will had her first, and gave her the children that he never could—Society Members having no ability to procreate.

At least, not with each other.

Not that Jackson resented the children. He did not, and loved them just a loyally as he did Indie.

It was just the bond that having children together creates between two souls that had him all itchy and scratchy.

The possessive and territorial nature of Jackson’s genetics were constantly rattled by Will and Indie’s continued closeness; something that the cultured and rational side of Jackson totally understood.

Really.
He
did
.

But, his Archangel genes snarled whenever he thought of Will’s body wrapped around Indie’s, performing the act that had resulted in children.

The visual of it nearly killed him at times, flaring to the surface whenever Will and Indie had physical contact of any kind.

Jackson also had the burden of being tormented by the guilt he felt over these feelings, having been raised to believe that such feelings were wrong, and to be in total control of his emotions at all times.

This he fought, even after reassurance from the Elder that he should embrace, as well as control his warrior bloodlines, and feel no shame.

He was trying.

Honestly he was.

There was also the promise that Jackson had made to Indie, that he would never allow harm to come to Will, to his best ability. This promise was made to reassure Indie that Jackson understood her love for the man who was the father of her children.

After all, it wasn’t as if they had had a huge blow up fight, decided that they hated each other and gotten a nasty and dirty divorce. It was much more complicated than that.

Will’s struggle was simple and painfully obvious. He was still in love with Indie, and saw no future where changing
that
fact was going to be an option.

Will loved her, and Jackson had her.

The end.

He should be going quietly into the ‘good night’, he knew, but so far, that wasn’t happening. It was a sharp and bitter pill to swallow, and so it ended up going down in very small, hard pieces, with a lot of liquid to wash each bit down—and many long breaks between bites, until it could be finally finished in the end.

He figured he was almost halfway there.

Maybe.

Shaking his head, Will abruptly had enough waiting.

“To hell with M, Jackson. If we pull out now, do you see us suffering any repercussions?”

“No. But . . . .”

Jackson’s honorable nature was, as usual, trying to cause problems.

“Then we’re out of here. This is ridiculous, hanging out here when you
know
it’s a waste of time, right?” Jackson hesitated, then agreed. “Sure Will, whatever. You’re the team leader anyway.”

“That’s right. I’m making a career decision here. Besides, I am starving to death. Are you into Tex-Mex? There’s a place up the road I like . . . good salsa and I’m sure that you’ll find the gazpacho to your liking,” he threw in a little sarcastically, knowing that Jackson ate only healthy things.

No burritos for him, poor bastard.

“Sounds good. I could use a bite.” Jackson stretched, ignoring Will’s jab.

“But I’d like to share this little mystery that’s unfolding here in town, actually. It’s at least a
real
unknown to me. There have been a string of murders in the last several months,” he gestured to the paper in his lap. “And last night, there was another.”

“Why, do you think they’re connected?” Will asked, fanning himself with the sports section.

“Well, I’ll say this; all of those murdered were registered sex offenders, and all of them died pretty violent deaths in quiet allies or secluded areas after dark.”

“What a shame. Those poor, poor pervs. All males then?”

Will was abruptly disinterested, actually. If someone was in the business of whacking perverts and predators, who was he to interfere in the free market?

Jackson was mildly exasperated.

“Will, random murder is not okay. Even if the people are monsters, the Creator will judge them, and prior to that, a jury of their peers. If they are found guilty and sentenced to death,
then
that is their fate”