Ascension (Book 4, The Watcher Chronicles) (30 page)

“I’ll be right back,” I say to Mason.

“Do you want me to come with you?” He asks, eyeing Horace with distrust.

“No, I got this,” I reassure him. “If I can’t handle one jinn, how am I going to handle the devil himself?”

I follow Horace into the supply closet. He pulls the string for the overhead light which only provides a weak illumination in the small space.

“What’s up, little genie?  Why the cloak and dagger routine?”

“Lucifer has something big planned for tomorrow,” Horace whispers like the walls have ears.

My heart begins to race. “How do you know this?”

“I heard it through the jinn grapevine,” Horace continues to whispers. “Whatever he’s doing is big because he’s pretty much told everyone to be prepared for it to happen.”

“Did he say what he was doing?”

“No, he hasn’t told anyone that. He just said to be prepared.”

“Didn’t happen to get a time did you?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but I do know he has plans to meet with Faust tomorrow around noon in New York City so I would say sometime after that.”

We have a date. We have an approximate time. Now all we have to do is wait.

“Thanks, Horace. You’ve helped more than you know.”

Horace sighs heavily. “Just promise me one thing,” he says. “Make sure my boy comes out of this alive.”

I smile. “Chandler will be fine. I’ve already seen it.”

Horace closes his eyes, and I watch as his face relaxes with relief.

After we come out of the closet, I tell Mason what Horace told me.

“Tomorrow,” Mason says, like the word has a taint to it now. “It’ll be all over tomorrow.”

I can’t say I don’t feel a little nervous about it because I do. I decide to wait to tell Chandler until after his concert. There’s no point in upsetting him now right before he goes on stage. Plus, I’m not really ready to make it all real just yet. I need some time to let it sink in.

Joshua and Caylin are beside themselves with excitement when they learn they get to watch the concert from backstage, up close and personal. Mason and I stand a little ways behind the pair, trying to give the kids space but still able to keep a close eye on them. Joshua seems to watch Caylin more than he watches Chandler’s concert. There are a few times he seems to want to reach out for her hand but he doesn’t. I’m sure a looming picture of Malcolm’s menacing face prevents the poor boy from taking even that small, innocent step.

“How serious are they?”

I turn to look beside me and see Aiden standing there now.

“This is their first date,” I tell him, watching his facial expression closely as he watches Caylin and Joshua intensely.

“Does she love him?”

“She’s only fourteen and a half,” I say. “She’s too young to know what true love is yet.”

Aiden is silent, simply watchful.

“What happened back at her house?” I ask Aiden. Lilly wanted answers from Aiden and I plan to give them to her.

Aiden is stock still. I’m not sure he’s going to answer me until finally he says, “I’m not sure.”

“What do you feel for her?”

Aiden looks over at me, an almost tortured look in his eyes. “Everything.”

I sigh deeply and nod my head.

“Ok,” I tell him. “Listen, she’s not ready for you. And if you’re honest with yourself, you’re not ready for her either.”

Aiden looks back at Caylin but doesn’t say anything as he seems to consider my words.

“I will be ready for her when the time comes,” he says.

“But that time isn’t now. You understand that, right?”

Aiden nods reluctantly. “I know.”

Aiden’s eyes light up with joy.

I look over at Caylin and see that she’s looking straight at him.

Crap.

They stare at one another and I see her smile at Aiden.

Double crap.

“You need to leave,” I tell Aiden.

He doesn’t seem to hear me. It’s like Caylin has caught him in a web with her smile and he can’t hear or see anything but her. And then Aiden does something I’ve never seen him do before.

He smiles.

I turn to Mason. “Get him out of here.”

Mason walks behind Aiden and quickly phases him away.

I look over at Caylin and watch as her smile fades. She looks lost all of a sudden. The excitement of the concert has faded for her now and I know exactly why.

She just found her soul mate.

At the close of the concert, Chandler makes me come on stage so he can sing to me again. I have to assume this is for the benefit of his crowd and to prove to his drove of adoring female fans that he has a romantic side to him. It is Valentine’s Day after all. What mega rock star wouldn’t take the opportunity to serenade his fiancé in front of thousands of his fans?

I sit on a stool one of the roadies sets out by Chandler.

“I wrote this song especially for you, Jess,” he tells me before he begins to strum the strings of his acoustic guitar.

I can audibly hear the ‘ahhs’ come from the crowd at Chandler’s sweet declaration.

“I call it,” he says, “
Archangel
.”

Chandler begins his song and I soon learn it’s about an archangel who came from Heaven and stole his heart showing him that life doesn’t always take you down the path you thought it would.

At the end of the song, I find myself crying a little because I know the song was written from Chandler’s heart. I also know that tomorrow we’ll face the task we were sent to accomplish and can’t help but wonder whether or not I’ll survive it.

I’ve tried to keep a positive outlook on the reason God hasn’t allowed me to see the fight between me and Lucifer, but the pessimist in me worries over the reason.

After the concert, Caylin and Joshua thank Chandler for allowing them backstage to watch the show. However, I notice something different about Caylin. She doesn’t seem to be looking at Joshua the same way anymore. It’s almost like she’s ready for their date to be over with so she can go home. Go home and dream about Aiden no doubt. What girl her age wouldn’t?

Mason takes us all back to Caylin’s house first so the kids can say goodnight to one another.

“I had a great time,” Joshua says to Caylin, filled with happiness because he thinks his date with her went well.

Poor kid.

“Yeah, it was fun,” Caylin replies, trying to sound enthusiastic about the date.

“Maybe we can do it again sometime,” Joshua says, hinting that he wants to take her out again.

“Maybe,” Caylin says with a shrug, not committing herself to anything.

I see the confused look on Joshua’s face at her response and feel sorry for him.

“Well, Happy Valentine’s Day,” Joshua tells her. “I’ll text you later.”

Caylin simply nods and I can tell it’s only out of politeness.

Joshua comes to stand near Mason.

“I’ll be right back,” he tells me, leaning in and giving me a kiss on the cheek, “after I take Joshua home.”

I nod. Mason and I already talked about this short separation. I told him what was going on between Aiden and Caylin when he returned from phasing Aiden away from the concert. I needed some time to speak with Lilly about what happened and let her know Caylin saw Aiden.

When Mason disappears, Caylin asks me, “Who was that man standing beside you at the concert, Jess?  The one Mason phased away.”

“A friend,” I say, really just wanting to take Caylin inside so I can talk to Lilly. I don’t want to be the one who has to explain everything about soul mates and all that jazz to a fourteen year old.

“What’s his name?”

“Aiden.”

“Is he a Watcher?”

“Yes.”

Caylin looks troubled.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her.

“I know I’ve never seen him before,” she says, “but I feel like I know him from someplace. Is that weird?”

Inwardly I sigh.

“Come on. Let’s go inside. I need to speak with your mother.”

Caylin and I go inside the house and find Lilly and Brand making out on the couch.

“Mom!” Caylin says covering her eyes. “Geesh, Dad!”

Lilly giggles and Brand blushes. They both stand up and adjust their clothing.

“Sorry,” Brand says to me.

“Don’t be,” I tell him, trying to prevent a laugh but failing miserably. “We should have knocked first.”

Lilly comes up to us. “So how was the concert?”

Caylin cautiously lowers her hand away from her eyes to make sure her parents are decent.

“It was nice,” she says. “I’m going to go to bed. I’m kinda tired.”

Lilly gives Caylin a kiss on the cheek. “Sweet dreams.”

Caylin smiles and goes upstairs.

Once I hear her door close on the second floor, I turn to Lilly and say, “We have a problem.”

I explain to Lilly and Brand what happened at the concert.

Brand glowers and Lilly looks troubled. I can’t say I blame them. Aiden isn’t exactly the boy next door who every parent envisions their daughter dating. He’s more the James Dean ‘rebel without a cause’ who might lead their daughter into temptations she’s not ready for.

“I never knew Aiden that well,” Brand admits. “Malcolm would be a better judge of his character than me since they were on the same side at one time.”

“Yeah,” I say, “and you saw Malcolm’s reaction to the situation.”

“I’ll handle Malcolm,” Lilly says. “And I don’t think we have a choice about whether or not Aiden and Caylin can be together. They’re soul mates. It’s going to happen whether we want it to or not. So let’s just control what we can. Jess,” Lilly says to me, “tell Aiden that if he wants our blessing, he has to wait until Caylin turns eighteen before introducing himself to her. She’ll be old enough to make her own decisions then. If they’re meant to be together, waiting a few years won’t change anything.”

“Ok,” I tell her. “I’ll let him know.”

“Do you think he will abide by this rule?” Brand asks me.

“I think he will,” I tell them. “He seems to truly care for her from what he said to me at the concert. And he seems to understand that she’s simply too young right now and that he has his own issues to work through first.”

“Just make sure he stays away,” Brand says.

“I’m not his keeper,” I tell him. “But I will pass along the message.”

“That’s all we ask,” Lilly says to me, giving Brand a disapproving sideways glance.

There’s a knock at the door and Mason peeks his head inside.

“I’ll give him your message,” I tell Lilly, walking over to the door.

“Ready?” Masons asks, holding out his hand to me

I nod and Mason phases us to the beach house.

“So I take it from the expressions on Lilly and Brand’s faces they’re not too pleased about what happened at the concert.”

“No, they are not,” I say, sitting on the side of the bed to take my shoes off. “It wasn’t exactly a happy moment for either of them.”

Mason sits down beside me. “You can’t blame them for worrying. I’m not sure I would want our daughter dating Aiden, at least not in his present state. Maybe after the Tear is closed and his hunger for blood is gone but not now.”

“I kinda feel sorry for him. He seems completely confused by Caylin. I seriously don’t think he understands what happened.”

“You women do that to us,” Mason says.

I look over at him and smile. “Do I confuse you?”