Part 3 (2/2)
”I can usually take care of myself,” I say confidently.
”Yes, that's what Isaiah told me,” Brand replies, watching his friend's slow progress to the table with an amused twinkle in his eyes.
”Please sit down,” Brand says to us. ”We have a lot to discuss.”
Mason and I sit beside each other across from the three Watchers. Josh makes his way to the kitchen area and starts a new pot of coffee.
Mason keeps hold of my hand and rests it on his thigh. I smile and look over at him. He looks at me and winks. I wink back. I feel safe in the knowledge that as long as we're together there's nothing we can't handle.
”So I take it you two are a couple,” Brand says.
Baruch clears his throat, reminding me he's seen this statement played out as fact.
”Yes,” I answer, attempting to ignore Baruch. ”Speaking of couples, where's Lilly?”
Brand looks confused by my question. ”Who's Lilly?”
”You don't know who Lilly is?” I ask, sure I look just as confused as Brand now.
”No, I have no idea who you're talking about,” Brand says, his eyebrows lowering in concern. ”Is she someone important to me in your reality?”
Mason and I look at one another.
”How can Lilly not exist here?” I ask him. ”I thought she would be important in every reality considering what she did.”
”I'm not sure why she's not here,” Mason tells me, looking just as confused as I am before returning his attention back to Brand.
”I'm going to name some people to you,” Mason tells Brand. ”Let me know if any of them ring a bell. Caylin, Will, Tara, Malik, Utha Mae. Do you know any of those people?”
”I know a Will,” Brand answers. ”He's a rebellion angel who works for Lucifer. And I know a Malik. He's the leader of the fae here. The others don't sound familiar to me. Should they?”
Mason's eyes become hooded and I know this new information troubles him.
”Can you tell me how the Tear was made on this Earth?” Mason asks Brand.
”What do you mean made?” Brand asks back, looking between Mason and me. ”It just appeared in our sky one night. No one knows where it came from.”
Mason looks down at the table contemplating Brand's answer. I watch as he closes his eyes and shakes his head as if he is just now realizing something very important.
”I never knew,” Mason whispers as if talking to himself.
I squeeze Mason's hand making him look over at me.
”Never knew what?” I ask, not liking the way he's reacting to whatever conclusion he's come to. ”What's wrong?”
Mason looks at me and I can tell he's in a state of complete and utter shock.
”The Earth we live on,” he says, measuring his words carefully. ”The reality we exist in... it's the Origin.”
I feel more than see the other three Watchers in the room tense at Mason's statement.
”The Origin?” Baruch questions. ”How do you know that for certain?”
”It's the only explanation that makes sense. We know how the Tear was made because it was made in our reality. It explains why Lilly doesn't exist here. She wasn't needed in this reality, only ours.”
”Does that mean I don't exist here either?” I ask.
”That would be my guess,” Mason says. ”Albert couldn't find you in the database so odds are you don't have a counterpart here. You're not needed here. You're only needed in our reality.”
”You still haven't told me who Lilly is and why you expected her to be here with me,” Brand says. ”And if you could throw in an explanation of how the Tear was made, we'd appreciate it.”
”Lilly is your wife in our reality,” Mason says, not trying to sugar coat the facts no matter how surprising they might sound to this Brand. ”She is the human child of Michael. In our reality, she stopped Lucifer from destroying the universe, but while he was trying to collapse the veils he tore a hole between them instead which formed the Tear.”
”We always wondered what happened to make it just appear one night. It never occurred to me that an event in the Origin was the cause. So this Lilly, my wife in your reality, is the child of an archangel?” Brand asks like such a possibility is a foreign concept to him. ”I've never heard of such a coupling being allowed to happen.”
Mason looks over at me silently questioning if he should say what I am too. I nod seeing no reason to hide the information from the three sitting across from us.
”In our reality,” Mason begins, ”G.o.d has sent the seven archangels to our Earth. They melded their souls with human ones. Jess's soul is bonded to Michael's soul.” Mason pauses to let that information sink in before he continues. ”At some point on our Earth, they're meant to fight Lucifer and the princes of h.e.l.l to stop them from doing something. We haven't quite figured out what that something is yet but we're pretty confident it won't be pleasant for any of us.”
”Then why are you here?” Brand asks. ”If Jess is needed in the Origin, why come to our reality?”
”My sister traveled here,” I tell them. ”Apparently she and Malcolm's son traded places when the Tear opened earlier this evening. We came here to get her and take her back home.”
”And how do you plan to get back to your Earth?” Baruch asks.
”G.o.d will open the Tear for us when the time is right,” I say.
”You speak directly with Him?” Isaiah asks, eagerly leaning forward in his chair to hear my answer.
”That's a recent development,” I say. ”To be honest I just started to believe in his existence.”
I almost laugh at the expressions on the faces of the angels across from me. Confused was too small of a word to explain their reaction to my blunt honesty.
”But you carry Michael's soul,” Brand says, voicing what I have to presume they're all thinking. ”Why haven't you believed in Him before now?”
”It's a long story,” I say.
”One that isn't exactly pertinent at the moment,” Mason tells them, saving me from having to go into any details about my life thus far. ”But I have a few questions which are.”
”You can ask us anything,” Brand says openly.
”Malcolm told us I was killed in the war with Lucifer in this reality.”
”Yes, that's correct. Lucifer killed you himself actually.”
”If I'm dead here, who became the leader of the Watchers when you were sent to Earth?”
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