Part 3 (1/2)
”I know the Joshua from my Earth.” I look at Isaiah. ”How did he get involved with you guys?”
”We saved the kid a few years ago,” Baruch says. ”He was put into a game of Bait but we were able to get him out before he became puppy chow.”
”Now I'm their indentured servant,” Josh says good naturedly from the driver's seat.
”But you're such a good little errand boy,” Baruch teases. ”Kind of like our pet human. Who else would make our coffee?”
”It's true,” Isaiah agrees, grinning. ”The kid does make a good cup of coffee.”
”Glad my talents are appreciated,” Josh replies with a touch of sarcasm.
”So how many humans are there in this resistance of yours?”
”Thousands across the world,” Isaiah tells me. ”We're just waiting for the right moment to attack. It's going to have to be swift and unexpected if we want it to work. Plus, it's hard to turn the Watchers who are sector Chancellors to our side. After being under Lucifer's influence for so long, most of them don't want to give their power up.”
”Have you approached Malcolm?”
Both Baruch and Isaiah are stunned into silence by my question and then they both begin to chuckle.
”That narcissistic a.s.s?” Baruch says derisively. ”He'll never give up the power he has. He revels in being the center of attention too much.”
”You're wrong about him,” I say, bringing their laughter to a halt. ”He's more than he appears.”
”There's no way he would help us,” Baruch says with a shake of his head. ”He and Brand have hated each other for millennia. Even if Malcolm did finally want to fight against Lucifer, he would never work under Brand willingly.”
”If I were you, I wouldn't write him off so readily. I think if you approached him the right way, he would help you. He just needs something to believe in. He needs someone to put a little faith in him.”
”Don't confuse our Malcolm with the one on your Earth,” Baruch warns me. ”You don't know what the one in this reality has done.”
”I know he's done things he's ashamed of,” I answer, feeling an odd need to defend Malcolm. ”There's more to him than he's let many people see. If there wasn't, why would he let Mason and I go before Lucifer showed up at his place tonight?”
”He did?” Isaiah asks, surprise in his voice.
”Yes, he did. I think if you handled him correctly he could become a valuable ally.”
Isaiah and Baruch fall silent as they each contemplate my words.
”We can discuss this further when we're with Brand. He'll have to be the final judge on any communication with Malcolm.”
”Is Brand the leader of your resistance?”
”Yes,” Isaiah tells me. ”He held us together when Lucifer tore the Watchers apart.”
The van comes to a stop.
”We're here,” Josh says.
Isaiah leans forward holding his hand out to me.
I place my hand in his and suddenly find myself standing in a large cement room which has been converted into living quarters. I get the feeling we're underground in the windowless s.p.a.ce. The room is comfortable looking with newish looking furnis.h.i.+ngs. It reminds me of my father's study in a way with its walls lined with book shelves. There's a comfortable sitting area with a couch and some chairs. A dining area complete with table and chairs sits next to a large kitchen with dark wood cabinetry and stainless steel appliances and fixtures. A set of stairs leads up to a cement platform where the only door to the room is located.
Mason and Brand are sitting at the dining table with cups of coffee in front of them. When Mason sees me phase in with Isaiah, he immediately stands from his chair and walks over to me.
Mason envelopes me in his arms and I hear him sigh. For the first time since we traveled to this reality, I feel safe.
”If you gentlemen would excuse us for a moment,” Mason says to the others before phasing us to what I have to a.s.sume is the hallway just outside the room we were in.
We're in a corridor made of cement blocks. Low hanging, naked light bulbs line the ceiling. I feel like I'm in a fall out shelter or an abandoned wing of a subway tunnel.
Mason pulls away from me slightly.
”Are you all right?” He asks, his eyes examining every inch of my face to check for damage.
I nod. ”I'm fine now.”
Mason leans his head down to mine until our foreheads touch, taking a much needed steadying breath. I reach up and cup his face on either side before tilting my lips in towards his. Mason doesn't need much coaxing and crushes his lips to mine, each of us desperate to feel the other, confirming that we're both still alive.
I wrap my arms around Mason's neck pulling him as deep as I can into me. His silky smooth tongue is demanding of mine, telling me he wants more than just a kiss. I wrap one leg around his hip. Mason slides his hand against that leg's thigh and easily lifts me until both my legs are wrapped around his waist and he has me firmly wedged between him and the cement wall behind me. I feel his manhood grow large against me and smile against his lips, savoring the knowledge that the man I love can be affected by me so quickly. I don't dare lift my mouth from Mason's even though I'm desperate to take a real breath. I don't want to lose this moment.
We hear someone clear their throat.
I know Mason heard them too but he refuses to let me go instantly. Instead, he slows the kiss and reluctantly pulls his lips away from mine. When he looks at me, his eyes are glazed over with pent up desire, and I know if we had remained alone for just a little while longer, we would have finally physically consummated our love for one another.
Strangely enough, the thought of us finally making love in the middle of a rather unromantic concrete hallway is just fine with me. I realize I don't need the flower strewn bed with silky sheets and candlelight. I don't need a romantic setting to make the moment special. All I need is Mason.
”Sorry to interrupt,” Baruch says with Josh standing by his side, shuffling his feet nervously. ”But I didn't think the boy needed a first hand demonstration of the birds and the bees.”
I feel myself blush under Baruch's knowing gaze. And poor Josh just looks shyly embarra.s.sed.
”Joshua?” Mason questions staring at the double of our young friend from back home.
”Josh,” he corrects. ”Just Josh here. How do we know each other from where you come from?”
”I saved Joshua from a game of Bait a few years back,” Mason says, and I realize this is the first time I've heard this story. ”Ever since then he's lived and worked with me because he didn't have any other family. Most of the time the Watchers from my world pick on the homeless to use as bait in their games since no one would notice their disappearance.”
”Sounds kind of like the way I ended up here,” Josh says, realizing he and his counterpart on our Earth have very similar histories.
”We should probably go in,” Baruch suggests. ”I think we have a lot of information to exchange with each other.”
Mason takes my hand and we follow Josh and Baruch back into the room.
Brand stands from his chair at the table when we approach. This version of Brand still has the same easy smile of the one I know from our world and it reminds me of how comfortable I've always felt in Lilly's husband's presence. Yet, unlike the Brand I've met, this Brand looks younger, somewhere in his early twenties would be my guess.
”Brand, this is Jess,” Mason says in way of introduction.
Brand holds out his hand. ”I'm sorry for the subterfuge earlier. I hope we didn't startle you too much.”
I hear Isaiah cough from his position behind the kitchen island.
I smile.