Judgment (The Alternate Earth Series, Book 3) (16 page)

“Obviously, I have no control over him,” I tell Xavier as I roll my eyes at Lucifer. “Why? What do you need our Lucifer to do?”

“If you can persuade him to help us,” Xavier says, “destroying the core facility will be much easier. Lucian has a biometric alarm system set up, leading into the room where the fusion reactor is stored. We could try to blow it up from the outside, but if we can set the charges off on the inside, we can ensure its destruction.”

“Of course I’ll do that,” Lucifer says, like it’s a no-brainer, but the smile on his face tells me his cooperation isn’t going to come without a price.

“And what exactly do you want in exchange for your cooperation?” Mason asks suspiciously, knowing as well as I do that Lucifer never does anything out of the goodness of his heart, not even for me.

“Hmmm,” Lucifer says, tilting his head as if he’s considering all his options, “let’s see…what…do… I …want…?”

We wait for a moment then Lucifer snaps his fingers as if he’s hit upon the perfect idea.

“I’ve got it!” he exclaims. “What about the soul of your next-born child, Mason?”

I instantly feel Mason tense and prepare to pounce on Lucifer.

Lucifer begins to chortle. “I’m just playing with you. Don’t get your panties in a wad, Mason. Hmm, now…let me think…Oh! I know. Every year for the rest of her life, Jess has to spend a whole 24 hours with me. However, I should warn you that it will be on a different day each year and completely random. I do hate being predictable, and this is in addition to the hour she already has to spend with me on her birthdays.”

I sit there, finding it strange that Lucifer keeps bargaining to spend time with me. First, he wanted an hour on my birthday. Now, he wants to spend a whole day with me. Considering the fact that he threatened to kill me a few years back, this new development seems peculiar. However, I view the time spent together as opportunities to influence him a small bit. He seems to think these little bargains of his are to be viewed as punishments, but I see them as potential moments between us. He may not realize it, but his need to be close to me is an evolution in his character. He knows my values and beliefs, yet he still wants to be around me. Perhaps he unknowingly craves the effect I have on him.

“I’ll do that,” I tell him, having no problem accepting his request.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mason lower his chin towards his chest. I don’t even have to look at him fully to know his jaw is as tense as a piano wire.

“Wonderful!” Lucifer says, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. “When should we leave?”

“We’ll need some time to get the explosives together,” Brand tells us. “Give us a couple of hours and we should be ready to go.”

“Until then…” Lucifer says before phasing away.

The word ‘coward’ rattles in my brain as Lucifer runs off, leaving me to deal with the fallout of our bargain. It’s probably for the best. Mason isn’t going to be in any mood to have Lucifer around anyway.

When we stand up from our seats, Mason grabs my arm a little roughly and phases us outside, near the powerhouse. I wonder why he didn’t just take us up to our room until he starts to yell.

“Why do you keep giving into his demands?” Mason practically screams. His sudden outburst takes me aback. It’s one of the few times I’ve seen Mason truly mad at me.

“Stop yelling,” I tell him in a calm voice. “I love you more than life itself, but I won’t be yelled at like I’m a child you’re trying to scold.”

“I’m sorry,” Mason apologizes, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. “But you drive me crazy where Lucifer is concerned. It’s like you have blinders on and can’t see the danger he poses to you.”

“The worst thing he could do is kill me.”

“No,” Mason says, shaking his head, “the worst thing he can do is poison you against the rest of us.”

“He could never do that…”

“I know you think he can’t because you love us so much, but the more time you spend with him, the more he’ll try to manipulate you, Jess. He’s very good at making his opinions sound like the right ones. He can take a kernel of hate or doubt and cultivate it over time. I don’t know why you think you can trust him. You can’t. He isn’t looking out for your best interest. He will always look out for his own first. I don’t know exactly what he hopes to accomplish with these little visits with you every year, but I do know he’ll use them to his advantage somehow.”

I walk up to Mason and wrap my arms around him.

“I need you to trust me,” I tell him. “I understand the pitfalls when it comes to getting close to Lucifer better than anyone, but I can’t turn my back on him, Mason. I know you hate it when I say I think of him as a friend.” To prove my point, Mason’s body tenses in my arms. “But you need to realize that I have an opportunity to influence him as much as he does me. I may not be the one who turns him back to God, but at least I can remind him that his father still loves him. I think he needs to know that more than he realizes.”

Mason rests his forehead against mine and closes his eyes, sighing heavily.

“Why are you the eternal optimist where Lucifer is concerned?”

“Because with him,” I say, “there’s nowhere to go but up.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

As soon as we step back into the castle, my olfactory receptors are assaulted by a reminder of home. I practically drag Mason to the kitchen in my haste to snatch one of Beau’s cinnamon rolls before they’re all gone. If I’d been thinking straight, I would have just asked my husband to phase us there, but sometimes it’s the extra effort exerted to get something you really want that makes reaching your goal all the more sweet.

When we reach the kitchen, my heart drops when I see that there is already a long line of people waiting to partake of the sinful goodness of Beau’s confectionary efforts.

“Hey, Jess,” Leah says, walking up to me with a plate of four delectably-sweet treats. “I was just looking for you. Beau told me to make sure you got these.”

“Have I said how much I love and adore you?” I ask Leah, kissing her on a cheek before taking the plate of rolls from her hands.

“Yes,” Leah giggles, “but it’s always nice to hear.”

I study Leah’s lovable smile, realizing we haven’t spoken much since our last adventure together.

“How are you holding up?” I ask. “Are you feeling any side-effects from our last mission?”

“I’m fine, Jess,” Leah tells me as her smile turns to one of reassurance. “We did what we had to do, and I wouldn’t change a thing. We saved lives. That’s what we were sent here to do.”

“You’re a brave...” I stop myself short because I was about to say ‘girl’, but think better of it, “woman, Leah. And the bravest of us women always deserves a cinnamon roll.”

I hold out the plate to Leah, which makes her laugh, making me smile in return.

“I’ve already had one,
but
,” Leah says reaching out to pick one up off the plate, “I can’t say no to a second one when it’s offered.”

“What in the world is that intoxicating smell?”

I look up to see Logan, Sophia’s daughter, and Dillon, Peyton’s daughter, walking down the hallway together, towards the kitchen. I feel a pang of guilt flutter inside my chest at the sight of Dillon. Even though it wasn’t any of my doing, I still feel guilt over Peyton’s mutilation of her own daughter. The memory of Peyton pulling Dillon’s wings out of their sockets is a haunting image that will stay with me forever.

“Cinnamon rolls,” I tell Logan, holding out the plate to the girls. “You’re welcome to try one.”

As the pair comes to stand in front of us, I can tell they’re both apprehensive to take anything offered by me. Logan eyes the rolls with open curiosity before licking her lips and reaching to take one off the plate.

“These things are probably filled with calories,” she says, “but I have to eat one before the smell drives me crazy.”

Dillon plucks one from the plate, too, without much reservation. “Considering that we’re transforming so often now, I wouldn’t worry about the extra calories, Logan.”

I’d completely forgotten that with the shorter days, the children of the Watchers would also be forced to change into their werewolf forms more frequently.

“Have you gone to see your mother yet?” I have to ask Logan.

Logan chews on the piece of pastry in her mouth for a little longer than she needs to before answering, “No.”

“After all she did to save you, you’re repaying her with your apathy?” I ask, unable to hide my aggravation.

“She shouldn’t have bothered,” Logan says. Her tone doesn’t exactly sound ungrateful. It sounds more like she’s resigned to the real possibility that this world is doomed, and all Sophia did was allow her to live on borrowed time.

“She’s your mother,” I tell her. “She did what she thought she had to in order to protect you. The least you can do is go say hello to her. She deserves that much respect from you.”

“If she hadn’t given Lucian what he wanted, none of this would be happening,” Logan argues. “I was only one life, Jess. She could have saved millions, but she just wasn’t strong enough to let me go.”

“If you’re ever given the gift of having a child of your own one day, you’ll understand the pain she went through when she saw what they were doing to you. I can’t condone what she did, but I certainly understand it. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have done the same thing if I saw one of my children being tortured. I would rather die than watch something like that happen.”

“She’s right, Logan,” Dillon says, licking the icing off her fingers, having finished her roll in record time. “My mom is the one who actually
did
torture me, and I can still forgive her for what she did. At least your mom cared enough to save you from it.”

“Why don’t you go down and see her?” I suggest to Logan. “You can even take her this last cinnamon roll as a peace offering.”

I extend the plate to Logan. She takes it, albeit reluctantly.

“I’m not even sure what to say to her,” Logan admits to me.

“Would you like me to go with you, for moral support?” I ask.

“Do you have time?”

“Yeah, I’ve got the time.” I turn to Mason. “I’ll meet you in our room afterwards.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Mason promises.

I begin to feel a selfish guilt. I’m a little sad that I won’t be able to enjoy one of Beau’s cinnamon rolls, but I feel as though my sacrifice isn’t in vain. If it brings Logan a little closer to her mother, it will all be worth it in the end.

Dillon accompanies us, which doesn’t surprise me at all. From what I was told, the two girls have been practically inseparable for a long time. Since Dillon was supportive of Logan patching things up with her mother, I see no reason that she shouldn’t come along, too.

“Hey,” Dillon says to me as we walk down the stairs of the basement, “sorry about the way I acted at my party. I just didn’t realize what was happening at the time. I still can’t believe my parents are helping to end the world. How screwed up is that?”

I wonder if I should tell Dillon that I just saw her father, Will. I decide against it. She seems to be acclimating to life here at the castle, and I don’t want to do anything that will remind her of her old life.

When Logan steps into the graviton cage, Sophia hastily stands up from her cot and rushes to the bars of her cell.

“Oh, sweetie,” Sophia says, “I was hoping I would be able to see you again.”

“Before the world ends, you mean?” Logan asks sarcastically. “You should have just let me die, Mom. Now you’ve doomed everyone to an early death.”

“I couldn’t leave you with them,” Sophia laments, twin tears falling from her eyes. “You’re my baby. I couldn’t just stand by and let them hurt you like that, not when I had the ability to stop it from happening. Please, Logan, tell me you understand why I did what I did. Even if no one else can forgive me, I need for you to.”

“You placed the burden of this world being destroyed on my shoulders, Mom,” Logan tells her, shaking her head in dismay. “The deaths of the people who have died since the first trumpet was blown are all on me. There’s nothing that can change that now.”

“No,” Sophia says resolutely, wiping at her tears. “None of this is your fault. All of it is mine.”

“But that’s not completely true, and there’s nothing you can do to change the facts.”

Sophia stares at her daughter for a long time. The yearning for Logan’s understanding is plainly written on her face.

“I’m sorry,” Sophia tells her daughter. “I never meant for you to feel any guilt over what I did. All I can ask for is your forgiveness. Please, Logan, say you can forgive me.”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Logan says. “I just don’t think I can.”

Logan turns and hands me the plate with the cinnamon roll on it. She quickly exits the graviton cage, Dillon close behind her.

I hear Sophia begin to weep, as if Logan has just ripped her heart out and taken it with her. In reality, that’s probably exactly how Sophia feels. I only know one way to help her. I lay the plate on the cell floor before running back upstairs.

When I find Tristan, he’s in the kitchen helping Jered wash the dirty dishes from the impromptu cinnamon roll gathering. As I walk over to get his attention, I’m once again thankful that we were forced to relocate to our small island hideaway. Not only are we isolated from most of the world, we are also in a place that is self-sufficient. Since we have our own powerhouse to generate electricity, and a private water supply, the calamity that was affecting most of the world left us practically untouched.

“I need your help,” I tell Tristan in a low voice as I go to stand beside him near the sink.

Tristan immediately washes the suds from his hands. While he’s drying them with a towel, he turns to me and asks, “What’s wrong?”

“Sophia needs you.”

“I’ll be right back,” Tristan tells Jered.

“Take your time,” Jered replies, full of understanding. “I can handle the rest of this.”

Tristan follows me down to the basement, where we find Sophia beside herself with grief. I feel directly responsible for her emotional breakdown. I shouldn’t have forced Logan to come down here before she was ready to talk to Sophia. If I had been smart, I would have just planted the seed of forgiveness in Logan’s mind and let it germinate for a while, instead of trying to force it out into the sun.

I open the cell door so Tristan can go in to comfort Sophia.

When he sits down beside her on the cot, her crying subsides somewhat.

“She’ll never forgive me,” Sophia laments to Tristan. “Never.”

“She will,” Tristan says consolingly, “she just needs some time.”

“What if we don’t have that much time? The princes might win, and we’ll all be lost.”

“You can’t think like that, Sophia,” Tristan tells her, ever the optimist. “She’ll come around.”

Sophia shakes her head vigorously. “No. She won’t. She’ll always see me as a villain, not a hero.”

Before I know what’s happening, Sophia jumps up from the cot and makes a mad dash for the open cell door. Instinctively, I try to slam it shut before she reaches the opening, but I’m too late and too weak to stop her. Like a madwoman on a mission, Sophia pushes the door so hard as she exits, that I end up losing my grip and flying across the small area until my back hits the far wall.

Sophia makes it outside the graviton cage before even Tristan can reach her.

I’m certain she probably phased as soon as she left the confines of the graviton cage. Saying a few choice curse words to myself for my stupidity, I stand up and yell to Tristan, “Go get help!”

I know we only have a small window of opportunity for one of the other Watchers to follow Sophia’s phase trail.

I berate myself for not being more careful where Sophia is concerned, while Tristan races upstairs to find someone to help us. Within a few seconds, Jered phases back into the basement with Tristan.

Jered doesn’t say anything to me. He immediately follows the phase trail Sophia left behind.

“Where do you think she went?” Tristan asks worriedly.

“I have no idea,” I say in bewilderment. “But I’m afraid she’ll do something stupid to prove herself to Logan.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know,” I reply, attempting to keep my apprehension to myself.

Sophia is so desperate to gain her daughter’s love and approval again that she might do anything to achieve her goal. When someone is so focused on one thing, that person can become a danger not only to themselves but also to others.

I feel like I need a do-over for the last hour. It seems like if there was a wrong decision to be made, I made it. Not on purpose, of course, but whatever Sophia does from here on out will be my fault. I feel like I might have just given Lucian the keys to the kingdom if Sophia tries to go to him again. Even if her plan is to try to help us in some way, the odds of it working out the way she thinks are not in her favor.

Jered returns alone a few minutes later, looking troubled.

“Well?” I ask anxiously, unnerved by the frown on his face.

“I followed her as far as I could,” Jered tells us. “She tried to lose me a couple of times by not phasing from the same spot she phased into, but I was able to find her departure points.”

“And where did she end up?” I ask, holding my breath as I wait for Jered’s answer.

“Her last phase trail went directly into the White House,” Jered tells us, voicing my worst fear. “I didn’t follow her, though, since I couldn’t exactly tell what would be waiting for me on the other side. I thought it was more important to report where she was than to go on a fool’s errand in there.”

“You did the right thing,” I say. “We don’t need to lose you, too.”

“Now what do we do?” Tristan asks me.

“I wish I had an answer for you,” I reply, feeling lost. I have no idea what our next step should be. “We’ll just have to pray she doesn’t give them information that will compromise us.”

“I don’t believe Sophia would do that,” Jered says. “From what I know about her character, she always has good intentions. It’s simply the way she handles things that are questionable.”

“Well,” I say sighing heavily, “I guess we should go tell the others about my screw-up.”

“You shouldn’t blame yourself, Jess,” Tristan tries to console.