Kindred (The Watcher Chronicles #2) (8 page)

A fact she knows all too well.

"So, back to Mason," Faison says, not wanting to let her original subject go so easily.  "What do you think about a double wedding?  I'm sure John Austin won't mind."

I stare at Faison, considering the real possibility that she has completely lost her mind.

"What?" Faison says, all innocence.  "I think it's a good idea.  Plus, I already talked to JoJo about designing our dresses."

"You did what!"

Mason instantly appears in the doorway.

"It might be time to let Jess rest some before she sees her next set of visitors," Mason says, coming up with a good excuse to get my family out of the room before I have a coronary.

"Think about it," Faison says, raising up on her knees and giving me a peck on the cheek before getting off my bed and following Mama Lynn out of the room.

I stare after them wondering how exactly Faison's mind comes up with some of her outrageous ideas.

"What happened?" Mason asks me, coming to stand beside my bed.  “I heard you yell.”

"I don't want to tell you so please don't ask," I say, knowing if I relate Faison's idea to Mason it would simply be too embarrassing, for both of us.

"Ok," Mason says, drawing the word out like he's not quite sure why I won't tell him what happened.  "Maybe you should get some rest before Chandler and JoJo come over later."

"Is my dad still here?" I ask.

"Yes, do you want to see him?"

I nod.  Mason leaves the room and my dad comes in with a smile on his face.  I can tell he's pleased I asked for him.

"What's up, Buttercup?"

I giggle.  "I haven't heard that in fifty forevers," I tell him.

"What?  No one's called you Buttercup?  Color me shocked."

"What's put you in such a good mood?" I ask.

"Well, I get to spend time with my daughter.  Why wouldn't I be in a good mood?"

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't think of you as my real father the other night.  You're my dad.  You will always be my dad."

He leans in and gives me a chaste kiss on the lips.  "I know, Jessi."

My dad is silent for a moment and I see a contemplative look on his face.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask.

"Mason."

"What about him?"

"I like him.  I think he'll treat you right.  You know he asked me for permission to court you."

"Court me?"

"It's a bit old fashioned to ask a father's permission to date his daughter but I kind of liked it.  Shows me he really cares about treating you right.  And I know he's not just interested in funny business," my dad says raising his eyebrows up and down.  "You only court someone you intend to marry one day."

I involuntarily swallow hard at this news, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

My dad's eyebrows lower as he sees my reaction.  "Does that scare you?  Because if it does I can tell him to back off you know."

"No," I'm quick to say.  "Please don't do that.  I just never saw myself ever getting married before now."

"Why not?"

"I’ve just never thought too far ahead into my future."

"Well, you love him right?"

I nod.  "He's the only man I will ever love."

My dad smiles.  "Then what's there to think about, Buttercup?  Grab onto happiness while you can.  And you have my blessing if you want to marry him."

"Between you and Faison, I feel like marriage to Mason is a done deal."

One side of my father's mouth quirks up into a half smile.  "Yeah, that Faison is a piece of work isn't she?  You know she and JoJo have already designed your wedding dress."

I bury my face in my hands.  "Please tell me Mason didn't hear them talking about it."

"Well, I could tell you that but it wouldn't be the truth," my dad chuckles.

I just shake my head in dismay.  I feel my dad pull my hands down from my face.

"Hey," he says, "he didn't seem to mind it.  He actually looked amused by the whole thing."

Reluctantly, I smile.

"He loves you," my Dad tells me.  "Just enjoy the courtship phase of the relationship.  I have a feeling he'll make it special for you."

"Thanks, Daddy."

My dad smiles.  "You're welcome, Buttercup."

"How long can you stay with me?" I ask.

My dad sighs.  "Yeah, about that.  I need to be heading back.  Souls to make and all," he tries to joke.  I can tell he doesn't really want to go and that's all I need to know.

"It's ok," I tell him.  "I know you'll come when I need you."

"Anytime, anywhere," he confirms.

I give him a hug fully knowing my dad is truly back in my life.

Chapter 7

I take a long nap after my dad leaves.  When I wake up late in the afternoon, I find Mason lying in bed with me, reading a book.  When he sees me stir, he snaps the book shut and lays it on the nightstand on his side of the bed.  Turning on his side to face me, he smiles, causing my heart to ache inside my chest just at the mere sight of how handsome a small stretching of the lips makes him.  

"Hey," he says.  "Did you have a good nap?"

I nod.

"Are you hungry?"

I nod again.

"Can you speak?" He teases good-naturedly.

I nod but don't say anything, causing him to laugh, a sound I love.

"And what would you like to eat for lunch?" He asks, knowing I can't nod my way out of his question.

"Honestly?" I say, raising my self on an elbow and resting my head against my hand.  "I could go for a grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup and a cold glass of milk."

"Then that's what you'll have." He says, leaning in and kissing the tip of my nose before standing up.  He pulls his cell phone out of his pant's pocket and quickly finds the number he's looking for.

"Isaiah, come to Jess's house."  And he ends the call.

"Does everyone do what you tell them?" I ask, wondering why he's always so brusque with others sometimes.

"Everyone but you," Mason says with a smile.  "But I think we established that fact the first night we met."

I smile at the reminder.  "Yes, I guess we did."

There's a knock on the door and Mason phases to answer it.  I hear him and Isaiah speak before he phases back into my room.

"Isaiah will stay with you until I return with your food."

"Ok," I say reluctantly, wishing I had just told him to make whatever might be in my kitchen.  I really don't want him to leave.  I feel so much better when he’s close.

"I won't be gone long," he promises, obviously seeing my reluctance about him leaving.  "And after you eat, I'll get Isaiah to bring Chandler and JoJo over to see you.  They've been hounding me all day to let them come over."

"I want to see them too," I say, letting him know the feeling isn't one sided.

"After you eat," Mason promises as Isaiah walks into my room.  Mason winks at me.  "Be right back."

After he phases, I look over at Isaiah.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," my one time mentor tells me, coming to stand by my bedside.  "You gave us all quite a scare.  I don't think I've ever seen Mason so frantic before."

"Really?" I ask.  I know this statement coming from Isaiah is saying a lot considering how long he's known Mason.

"He called in every Watcher in the world when you disappeared.  It didn't matter what we were doing.  He ordered us to his house immediately to search all the branching phase trails for you.  I'm just glad your father got to you in time."

"Me too," I admit.  "I didn't think I would make it."

"You almost didn't from what your father told us.  If he had been a minute later, you would be dead.  Mason thought he had lost you."

"Well, I'm fine now, but Mason seems bound and determined to keep me in this bed until he thinks I'm completely well."

"Give him some time, Jess.  You gave him a good scare.  He needs time to recover just as much as you do."

I hadn't thought about it like that.

"Ok, Isaiah.  I won't push him to let me go back to work."

"Thank you."

Fifteen minutes later, I hear the rattling of dishes in my kitchen and know Mason is back.  He walks into my bedroom with one of my fold out trays in his hands laden with the requested bowl of tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich and glass of milk.

"That was quick," I comment as I sit up straighter while Mason sets the tray across my lap.

"Knew of a good bistro that would have what you wanted," he tells me.  Once I'm settled he turns to Isaiah.  "Why don't you bring Chandler and JoJo over in about 30 minutes?"

"Thank God," Isaiah says, lifting his eyes to the heavens.  "They've been driving me insane about coming here to see Jess."

"Yes, they've been rather insistent," Mason admits with a wry grin.  "Thirty minutes."

Isaiah phases and I begin to eat.

"Can I ask you something?" I say between spoonfuls of soup.

"You can ask me anything," Mason replies.

"You and Isaiah are the most punctual people I know.  Like I know when you told him thirty minutes, he'll be back here in exactly thirty minutes to the second.  How do you guys do that?"

"All Watchers have an internal clock of sorts.  That's why we're never late or early.  It's almost a compulsory need to always be on time."

"I wish Faison had something like that inside her," I say.  "She's almost always late for things.  It drives me nuts."

Mason smiles.  "Our need to be exactly on time can be a little annoying to tell you the truth.  I wish I could force myself to be late or even early to something, but I can't seem to."

"Hmm, a challenge," I say, considering the various delightfully inappropriate ways I can make Mason late to something.  I smile.  "Maybe I can find a way to make you late the next time you have to be somewhere."

Mason looks intrigued.  "And how would you accomplish such a feat?"

I shake my head.  "Can't tell you that.  Then you would be expecting it.  You'll just have to wait and see."

Mason smiles.  "Then I look forward to your attempts.  I'll make sure to let you know the next time I have to be somewhere."

"Please do," I say.  “Can I ask you something else?”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to let me out of this bed anytime soon?  I’m already getting bored just laying here and sleeping.”

“Hmm, let me think about it.  I would rather you rested but I can see how you would get bored.  I’ll see what I can do.”

Mason is cleaning up my dirty dishes when Isaiah appears in my bedroom with Chandler and JoJo on either side of him.  They immediately envelop me in a group hug much like Mama Lynn and Faison did.

JoJo begins to spout so much French at me I can't decipher a word of it.  I look to Chandler for help.

"She's just glad to see you," Chandler says, finding our bouncy little French counterpart amusing.

JoJo huffs and says, "I was so worried about you, mon amie.  You had us sick to death with worry.  We thought we had lost you."

"I'm fine now," I tell them.  "Please don't worry anymore."

"Your guard dogs have been a bit irritating," Chandler grumbles.  "They wouldn't let us come when you first woke up.  I want you to know we tried."

"I know," I tell him, cupping the left side of Chandler's face with my hand, immediately soothing his ire.  "Mason is just overprotective at the moment.  I don't think he's going to let me go back to work for a couple more days either."

"That's fine," Chandler says.  "You do need your rest, but he seems to forget you need us too."

"And how are things between the two of you?" JoJo asks.  "You and Mason."

"He promised he wouldn't leave me again," I tell them.  "And I believe him."

"At least he figured out how stupid it was to leave you the first time," Chandler says.  "Too bad it took you almost dying to show him what an idiot he was being."

"Don't be mad at him," I say to Chandler, knowing he only has my best interest at heart.  "He's been through a lot in his life.  He just thought he was doing the right thing to keep me safe.  Now he knows I have enemies of my own and that I'm safer with him than without him."

"And I intend to keep you safe."

I look up and see Mason leaning against the doorframe to my room, his gaze steady on me.  "They'll have to kill me to get to you."

"I think I have a way to stop them from trying to kill me," I say.

"And how do you plan to work that small miracle?" Chandler asks.

"Tell Lucifer what they did.  If anyone can stop the other princes or anyone else under his command from trying to kill me, it's him.  Even Asmodeus didn't try directly because Lucifer ordered him not to harm me when we were in Antarctica.  He had to call in Mammon to do the dirty work for him."

"It should work," Mason agrees.  "None of them will go against a direct order from Lucifer.  They know the consequences of disobedience."

"I'll just have to wait until Lucifer comes to have one of his little chats with me," I say.  "Until then, we'll just have to keep an eye out."

I look at JoJo.  "So I heard you found your crown."

"Oui, oui!" She says excitedly.  "Lilly says it belonged to her father, Michael."

"You have Michael's crown?"

"Oui," JoJo says, her eyes downcast.  "Poor, sweet Lilly seemed a bit upset when she found out.  It was only afterwards that I learned Michael is her father.  If I had known, I would have better understood her reaction."

"She's been through a lot," I explain.  "I'm still waiting for her to come see me to speak with Michael directly."

"What do you mean by directly?" Mason asks.

"I can call on Michael when I'm awake now," I tell him.  "Didn't I tell you that?"

"No," Mason says, his eyebrows draw together, "you didn't.  Have you tried to contact him since you woke up?"

"No."

"You might want to try," Mason suggests.  "Just to make sure you can still call him when you need to.  I'm not sure what damage might have been done to your brain after Asmodeus phased you all those times."

I nod, suddenly becoming frightened I won't be able to connect with Michael anymore.

As soon as I call to him, he appears in my room, still wearing the faded blue jeans and white t-shirt with black angel wings I dressed him up in the first time we met.