by S. J. West
Lilly nods. "Yes. I've never seen him so upset before. He was inconsolable. I told him he was being an idiot but Watchers are notorious for self-sacrifice. Mason most of all. He felt it was the best way to keep you safe. It took you almost dying at the hands of Asmodeus and Mammon for him to see how much safer you actually are with him around."
"Lucifer says I don't have to worry about any of them anymore," I tell Lilly.
"Has he figured out why he's drawn to you yet?"
"No. But I take it from the way you just said that you think it's because of Michael too."
Lilly nods. "It makes sense. They were best friends. Michael was the one who had to bring Lucifer to Earth for his exile. I don't think either one of them fully realize how much they still mean to one another. Even though my father's soul has melded with yours, Lucifer can still feel his presence within you."
"What do you think Lucifer will do when he finds out what I am?"
Lilly shrugs. "I have no way of knowing. My dealings with Lucifer were far different from the ones you're experiencing. We were enemies from the get go, but with you he feels a growing friendship, a need to keep you out of harms way. It's a side of him I’ve never seen. I wasn't even aware he could feel anything but greed and hatred."
"Do you think I'm meant to change him in some way?"
Lilly's eyebrows lift in surprise. "I never thought about that possibility," she says. "God hasn't mentioned it to me but who knows what He has planned."
"I know this will sound completely insane," I say, "but Lucifer isn't all bad."
Lilly looks shocked that I think this.
"I'm not saying he isn't evil," I qualify, "but there's a part of him that's actually noble. He might not have a lot of standards but protecting his friends seems to at least be one of them. I don't think he would ever intentionally hurt me."
"So, what is your theory on what his reaction will be when he learns you and my father share a soul?"
"Honestly? I think he'll just be relieved to know why he likes me. The mystery will finally be solved. I don't think he'll hurt me when he finds out. He cares too much for Michael."
Lilly sighs. "You might be right. I guess we'll know soon enough. It's only a matter of time before he figures it out."
I see Malcolm phase into the room with Brand by his side.
Lilly locks eyes with her husband almost immediately and I feel the connection the two of them share with one another like a wave of energy hitting me in the chest.
"I was worried," he says, explaining his sudden appearance. And I know he wasn't worried I might do something to harm Lilly, just worried how she would be handling speaking with her father for the first time.
Lilly stands and walks over to him. Brand brings her into his arms and holds her tightly. I instantly see her relax against him like he's the only home she needs.
"There was never anything to worry about," Lilly tells Brand. "It was better than I could have hoped for."
Malcolm walks over to me.
"Ready to go?" He asks, obviously wanting to give Brand and Lilly some time alone to speak about what happened.
I stand and nod.
Malcolm instantly phases us to my front porch.
I look at him. "Why didn't you phase us inside the house?"
Malcolm grins. "I figured you didn't want me doing that. I won't do it unless you ask me to. I owe you that much."
"Why do you feel like you owe me anything?"
"If I hadn't taken you to Mason's house that night…"
"Wait," I say, holding up a hand to make sure he doesn't say anything until I'm finished. "Don't go blaming yourself for that. Besides, everything worked out in the end. Things happen for a reason and honestly if it hadn't happened I probably wouldn't have Mason back in my life. I'll chance a near death experience for him."
Malcolm grins. "So I heard about the date last night."
My eyes narrow on him. "Who told you about that?"
"Isaiah."
I shake my head. "I didn't realize he was the gossiping type."
Malcolm shrugs. "Like I've told you before, we've all been worried about Mason for years. We like seeing him happy for probably the first time in his life. Don't begrudge us sharing in your happiness. It's been a long time coming."
"It's just…kinda weird. All of you rooting for us. Freaks me out a little bit. I feel like everything we do is being judged by all of you."
Malcolm shakes his head. "Not judged, just observed from afar."
"What about you?" I ask.
Malcolm looks confused. "What about me?"
"I don't understand how you can be around Lilly and Brand so much. Even I can feel the love they share for one another when I'm around them and I barely know them. How can you stand to be around them when you're in love with Lilly?"
Malcolm goes completely still and silent. It's unnerving. Finally he says, "I love her enough to only want to see her happy."
"But don't you deserve to find happiness with someone who can love you back?"
"My happiness stems from Lilly and her family's happiness. Besides, I'm not sure there is a person for me."
"Maybe she just hasn't been born yet," I suggest.
"Perhaps." Malcolm reluctantly agrees.
"Speaking of loving someone, Joshua wants to take Caylin to Chandler's concert in Denver on Valentine's Day."
"Yes, I've been made aware of that," Malcolm's eyes darken. "She's too young to be dating, in my opinion."
"Joshua's a good kid," I say in my young friend's defense. Anyone who is thoughtful enough to give me a Yoda Christmas ornament is ok in my book. "Are you going to give them a hard time if they go out together?"
"No, but I will be watching… from a distance. They won't know I'm there."
I sigh. "Well, I guess that's better than having you sit between them and glaring at Joshua the whole evening."
"I don't completely disapprove of the boy," Malcolm grumbles. "But he's young, far too many rampaging hormones running around to be let loose on Caylin. She's too innocent to have to deal with a teenage boy in his prime."
I don't tell Malcolm but I feel sure Caylin can handle herself around Joshua. She certainly knew how to turn Malcolm into mush with just one doe eyed look. Joshua didn't have a chance.
When Malcolm leaves, I find Mason in my kitchen preparing lunch and he's not alone. Inwardly, I sigh because I was really looking forward to finishing a certain kiss I was promised.
Chandler and JoJo are sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of cribbage. They both look up and stand from their seats to come give me a hug. They're close presence brings peace to my soul.
"So Mr. Moody has been Mr. Happy since he came to get us," Chandler whispers to me. "I guess things turned out all right last night?"
"Oui, oui," JoJo whispers excitedly. "Tell us what happened."
I feel myself blush and at a loss for words.
"I take it from the red on your cheeks you guys finally kissed," Chandler says, knowingly.
I nod and JoJo takes small jumps up and down as she giggles her happiness.
"And just what are you three whispering about?" Mason asks, bringing two plates of food to the kitchen table before walking over to us.
Chandler and JoJo step away allowing Mason free access to me. He puts his arms around me and I lay my head on his chest. I suddenly realize we're in the same position I left Lilly and Brand. I'm home.
Mason pulls away to look down at me. "How did it go?"
"It went well. She seemed happy when I left."
"Good. Now, are you hungry?"
I nod and Mason takes one of my hands to lead me to the table.
We all sit and enjoy the simple lunch of penne pasta and grilled chicken sprinkled with a touch of parmesan cheese.
"So no one has told me what I missed during the time I was recovering," I say. "Besides JoJo finding her crown, anything else happen that I should know about?"
I see JoJo put her fork down on the table, C
handler pushes a piece of chicken around on his plate and Mason’s looking anywhere but at me.
"Ok, what happened?" I ask, knowing they are purposely keeping something important from me.
"Nothing that any of us could control," Mason finally says, looking me straight in the eyes. "The Tear opened up twice while you were sleeping."
"Twice?" I ask, completely sure he's mistaken.
"Yes," Mason answers.
"Then why are we wasting time?" I ask, agitated. "We need to be looking for JoJo and Chandler's talismans, not just sitting around. Plus, we have to find the other archangels. The more time we waste the more lives get ruined."
"You needed the rest," Chandler tries to argue before I cut him off.
"I'm fine!" I storm, not understanding how they can just sit around when the world needs saving. "After lunch we get back to work, is that understood?"
"But, Jess…" Chandler tries to say but I give him the ‘look'. Everyone has the ‘look' but usually you don't bring it out except on special occasions. It's the look that warns people you are not someone to be trifled with. You had better do what the person giving you the look says or there will be trouble. And I feel confident they don’t want to deal with trouble from me.
"But nothing," I grit out. "Back to work. That's it. Now eat."
JoJo and Chandler become completely dedicated to finishing their lunch in record time. When I look over at Mason, I see an amused look on his face.
"What?" I ask, irritated that no one thought it important enough to tell me the Tear had opened twice while I was unconscious.
"I'm just amazed by you," he says, smiling.
Damn that smile. Even mad it makes me just want to reach over the table and kiss him into tomorrow.
"Stop smiling at me," I tell him as sternly as I can, fighting back a small smile of my own from appearing.
This only makes Mason's smile grow wider. "If I don't, will I get in trouble?"
From the twinkle in his eyes, I can only imagine he would enjoy any discipline I might dish out.
I feel JoJo and Chandler watching us and instantly redirect my attention to them.
"Eat," I order them both.
Without question, but with smiles of their own, they continue eating.
I look back at Mason and see he's still smiling at me.
"Stop," I mouth silently, shaking my head, trying to concentrate on eating the lunch on my plate. But he continues to stare at me, all the while smiling from ear to ear.
Unable to bear it anymore, I drop my fork noisily on my plate, grab the hand Mason has sitting on the table and drag him into the living room, pushing him up against the wall with one hand and keeping him there.
"Are you going to punish me now?" Mason whispers suggestively so the other two can't hear.
"Stop smiling at me," I order him. "I can't think straight when you do that."
Mason takes the hand I have on his chest and uses it to bring me into his arms.
"Is that all I have to do? Smile at you to bring out this feisty little vixen I see?"
I narrow my eyes at him, trying my best to look completely unmoved, but I feel myself failing miserably at staying mad at him.
"Oh, the hell with it," I say, wrapping my arms around his neck and bringing his lips down to mine, finally continuing the kiss Mason started before I left to meet with Lilly.
I'm not sure how long we stand there kissing, but I finally hear someone clear their throat beside us.
I instantly pull away and see Chandler staring at us like a kid who's just caught his parents doing something they shouldn't be in front of their child.
"Sorry," I say to him. "But he was asking for it."
"Can I ask for it again?" Mason says, a cheeky grin on his face.
"Normally, I wouldn't have interrupted," Chandler says. "But Isaiah is here and he says he has something important to tell us."
Chandler turns and walks back into the kitchen, looking desperate to get away.
I look at Mason and point my index finger at him sternly. "No more smiling."
And of course, he smiles.
"But it worked out so well in the end the first time. If you want me to stop, you really need to come up with a better punishment. Otherwise, I'll just wear a permanent smile on my face until the end of time."
I roll my eyes at him and walk into the kitchen.
"You are completely incorrigible," I say to him over my shoulder.
"Yes," I hear Mason say rather proudly. "Yes, I am."
Isaiah is sitting at the kitchen table with a half empty cup of coffee in his hands. It makes me wonder just how long Mason and I were making out in the living room.
"Isaiah," Mason says, reverting back into Watcher commander mode, "what do you have to tell us?"
Isaiah stands. "I came to tell you that Joshua and Nick have completed the tasks you assigned them."
"Both?" Mason asks, surprised to hear this news.
"Yes," Isaiah says, his eyes darting towards me and back to Mason. "Both."
"What tasks?" I ask, sensing at least one thing Joshua and Nick did concerns me directly.
"Why don't we all go to headquarters together?" Masons suggests, but I can tell he’s purposely avoiding my question. He looks at Chandler and JoJo. "I think it's time you two met the other people on our team."
Isaiah and Mason phase us all to headquarters. Joshua is in his normal spot in front of the holographic display consol and Nick is sitting beside him studying some papers with a lot of numbers on them.
"Jess!" I hear an excited voice say behind me and see Angela jogging over to give me a hug. "We were so worried about you, love."
"I'm fine now," I reassure her.
Angela pulls away but keeps her hands on my upper arms. "Jonathan told me to give you his love when I saw you again. He was so worried for you after the attack."
I see Angela's eyes glance in Mason's direction and know instantly Jonathan had been worried what would happen to his father if I died.
"I'm feeling a lot better," I tell her, hoping she reports back to Jonathan to relieve Mason’s son of any lingering worry for my welfare and thus the mental well being of his father.
I can still vividly remember the dank little cavern in the mountains where Mason said he and Jonathan lived for the first hundred years of Jonathan's life. I can fully understand why he is frightened for his dad's sanity.
Joshua and Nick come to stand with us and we make introductions all around. JoJo takes an instant liking to Joshua, but not so much Nick. I actually start to fill sorry for Nick. Of anyone, he seems to be the odd man out of the group now.
Angela flushes slightly when she's introduced to Chandler.
I see Chandler give her his mega-watt superstar smile and warn him, "She's married…to Mason's son."
Chandler's mouth twists in disappointment. "Why does it seem like all the good ones are already taken?"
Now that the pleasantries are over, Mason gets down to business.
Mason turns to Joshua. "So you found Joseph's descendants?"
"Yeah," Joshua confirms going back to sit down at the control panel.
With a few taps on the panel's surface, Joshua pulls up a video of a group of people in the midst of preparing an outdoor feast in what looks like a patio area on the backside of a house made of stone. I assume it's somewhere in the Middle East because of the way the people are dressed, plus it seems to already be nighttime there.
"Joseph who?" I ask coming to stand beside Mason.
Almost absently, Mason takes one of my hands into his as we watch the people on the holographic display.
"Do you remember the story of Jacob giving his son Joseph a coat made out of different colored material?" Mason asks me.
"Yeah, his brothers got jealous and sold him to a slave trader. Then he became one of the most powerful men in Egypt, second only to the pharaoh."
"We think we've found Joseph's descendants."
"Ok," I say, trying to see where this i
s all going.
"I think JoJo's talisman may be the coat," Mason says to us.
"Pourquoi?" JoJo asks Mason.
"Because your powers seem to imbue clothing with special properties, especially protective ones it seems," Mason tells her. "Joseph's coat held the power to make the wearer invincible. It was only because Joseph's brothers took the coat from him that he wasn’t able to defend himself when they sold him."
"So his descendants have the coat? Where are they exactly?"
"They claim to have it," Joshua answers. "They live in the West Bank city of Nablus in Israel. Joseph's descendants moved there after they escaped Egypt. Back in the old days it was known as Shechem."
"They told me," says Isaiah, "that JoJo will have to come get the coat herself. They want to meet her first before they just hand it over. We could take it from them by force, but I don't think that's wise."
"Non," JoJo says, shaking her head, causing her curls to bounce above her shoulders. "I will be happy to meet with them first. It is the least I can do for their help."
"Why don't the three of you go with Isaiah to retrieve the coat?" Mason suggests. "I need to discuss something with Nick anyway."
"Discuss what?" I ask, knowing this something probably involves me in some way.
"Let me check it out first," Mason says. "I'll tell you when you get back. I promise."
I sigh out of frustration but fully intend to keep him to his promise when I get back.
I stand up on my toes and kiss him lightly on the lips. "When I get back," I warn.
Mason smiles and squeezes the hand he still holds. "When you get back."
Isaiah phases us to the backyard we just saw on the holographic display at headquarters.
The smell of sweet, spicy food fills the air. There must be at least forty people milling around carrying plates of food and speaking to one another in a language I don't understand. None of them seem to realize we just phased in and I know Isaiah must have not signaled our arrival with the customary popping sound of a Watcher’s phasing. A rotund man with balding hair dressed in plain blue slacks and matching vest over a long sleeve white shirt walks up to us.
"Isaiah, my friend, so good to see you again," the man says, shaking one of Isaiah's hands with both of his vigorously.
"Thank you, Ezra." Isaiah introduces me and Chandler to Ezra. When he comes to JoJo, he says, "And this is JoJo Armand. She is the one we've come to get the coat for."