"What's this?" one of them snarled at me. "You must be from the Junior Angels' Academy?"

"That's funny. Remember you said that when you're flat on your back with my foot on your throat," I said, smirking at him as I worked on not breathing through my nose. Their stench was enough to scar my nose forever.

Their sinister laugh at my threat made it clear they weren't intimidated—yet.

"This is a joke, right?" he taunted as he and the other two began to circle me. "Chickie, you're not tall enough for this ride. Better go find mommy."

It was a shame they weren't using human hosts. I would have loved to give my onlookers a show, but I would have to make do with what I had.

"You don't smell like any angel I've ever met," he said, breathing in deeply through his snout, which reminded me of a cross between a pig snout and a snout you'd find on an ox. It was massive in size and oozed green shit that made me glad I skipped breakfast.

"How you can smell anything but your own stank is beyond me," I said, trying to bite back my grin as they closed in on me.

"Your angel pals too scared to join you?" one of them snarled as he reached out to grab me. His breath reeked of dead flesh and god knows what else.

"Nah, they're just here for the show," I said, darting out of reach, not quite ready for him to discover what my touch could do to him. The others closed in. I kept my stance casual, biding my time for the perfect strike. The circle of Daemons around me closed in, blocking out the village. When I could no longer stand the stench, I made my move. With the palm of my hand and all my force, I struck the Daemon in front of me in his ugly-as-sin snout. His howl of anger turned to confusion as flames licked their way across his face, turning it to ash. Without pausing, I roundhouse kicked another directly behind me, sending him flying backward from the force. I smiled in pleasure as I observed the distance I had kicked him. I'd broken my record on that one. I was still smiling when the third Daemon made the mistake of reaching out and grabbing my arm. His hand immediately burst into flames.

"What the hell are you?" he yelped as the flame licked up his arm.

"I get that question a lot," I openly laughed at his shock.

My laughter was cut short when he swung out with other arm. The blow caught me on the head and my vision blurred slightly. Pissed off, I reached out blindly, grasped the offending appendage, and smiled in satisfaction as he screamed in anger. His second arm disappeared into a pile of ash. Finally, I turned on the Daemon I had dropkicked.

"You're one freaky bitch," he snarled, looking at the piles of ash at my feet.

"So I've heard," I said, just as he lunged for me. Anticipating his move before he even made it, I reached up and grasped both the horns that stuck out on either side of his head. Pulling with all my strength, I ripped them off before he could react.

The Daemon screamed in agony, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands to his head.

I pivoted around again, feeling the back of my neck tingle as before. Three remaining Daemons stood ready, still occupying human hosts. By the looks on their faces, I knew they had learned from the mistakes of the hell scum I had just taken out.

"Come to join your friends?" I taunted, kicking one of the piles of ash at my feet.

"I've heard of you," one of them snarled. "You think the training from some sell-out has-been is going to help you against us?" he added, indicating the two other Daemons that flanked him in their human host forms. "I've been sending your kind to meet their maker for years."

"My kind?" I asked sarcastically. "Are you sure about that?"

"You may think you're hot shit, but you're no different than any of the other angel scum you hang out with," he mocked, taking a menacing step toward me.

"Really? That's funny because it seems like I'm the one who's been kicking Daemon ass," I smirked, standing my ground as they closed in on me. Haniel had schooled me on the benefits of making the enemy come to me. It allowed me the advantage of calculating how to take them out by the way they moved. Every movement was nothing but an equation in my head that I would use against them. It was just another benefit of my gifts. My mind was like my body, a well-oiled machine that was attuned to defeating the enemy.

I was still smiling when the first Daemon made his move. He was quicker than the Daemons I had taken out on the beach. The hosts they were using were a fraction of the width but at least a foot taller. Their bodies weren't bloated with embalming liquids either, but instead were lean and fit from the souls that the bodies rightfully belonged to. It was obvious the Daemons had hijacked the bodies the instant the souls had left them.

My leg snapped up in one fluid movement before the Daemon could reach me. His head reared back from the impact of my foot hitting him square in the face. He growled at me and spat out a mouthful of teeth. The other two Daemons came at me as one, closing in on both sides.

I could smell their rank breath as they laughed at what they thought was their advantage. Waiting until the last possible moment, I finally reached out with lightning-quick reflexes and grasped one of them by the forearm. Twirling him around so his arm was twisted behind him, I felt the bone snap as the arm became limp. I used his body as a shield as he thrashed against me, trying to break my hold.

"Let go of me, you bitch," he snarled, bucking harder.

"As you wish," I said, releasing his arm abruptly. My arms were around his throat before he even realized I released his arm. Using gravity against him as he stumbled against me, I snapped his neck. I smiled as his useless body dropped to the ground in front of me. Knowing my touch would reduce him to ash in his regular form, he burst into a ball of flames after snarling at me one last time.

Taking advantage of my distraction with the fallen Daemon, the other two moved in on me together, hoping to use brute force against me. I laughed darkly as one of them wrapped his arms around me from behind. His strength was greater than a normal human, making it hard for me to wiggle around. His toothless friend stood in front of me, grinning crookedly, thinking they had the advantage.

"You must like Matterhorn a lot," I said, oozing sweetness.

"Matterhorn?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Yes, Matterhorn. The maker of my boots," I said, kicking up with all my might. The blow caught him in the chin, snapping his head completely back and breaking his neck like his fallen soul sucker friend. The Daemon fled his human host before the body he had hijacked had even hit the ground.

Without pausing, I reared my head back, catching the Daemon behind me full in the face. I heard the bones in his face break as his hold on me slackened. Twisting around before he was even aware of it, I placed one hand on his face that no longer had any bone structure and the other on the back of his head. With one twist his neck snapped and he landed in a heap at my feet.

"You're dead," the Daemon that had been holding me hostage only moments ago snarled at me, breathing heavily in his natural form as god knows what oozed from ruptured pores on his body.

"Gah, ever hear of a breath mint?"

"Who are you anyway?" he asked, blowing a large breath of rancid air in my face.

"I think you have bigger problems to worry about than who I am," I said, grasping his face in my hands, working not to grimace at the boils beneath my hands. "Like how you're going to explain to your boss that someangel scum took you out," I added as flames licked up his face where my hands had been.

"You won't always have that advantage," he snarled, looking at my offending hands.

"Whatever helps your burning time in hell," I mocked. "You can also tell your boss this village has protection now," I added just before he disintegrated in a ball of flames.

Cheering and clapping erupted behind me.

Taking a bow, I grinned at my audience as they strolled into the village.

"Are you okay, Jordyn?" Krista, ever the worrywart, asked, checking me over for injuries.

"Well, I broke a nail," I said, holding up my pinkie on my right hand to show her the damage.

"Show off," Mark said, ruffling my hair with admiration.

"What? My nail almost hurts," I pouted.

"You are one badass," Shawn said, giving me a mock punch in my arm. "Those were some impressive moves. That last kick, I bet your foot got this high," he said, holding his hand up near his chin.

"If my legs were longer, it would have been here," I bragged, moving his hand up several more inches.

"Truth, sista," Lynn said, slinging an arm around me. "That was amazing, my friend."

"Thanks."

"Well done, Jordyn," Haniel said, stepping into the circle of well wishers. "Almost flawless," he added, eyeing me critically.

"Almost flawless? Dude, she nailed it," Shawn championed for me.

"Nah, he's right. Flawless is no injuries," I said, holding up my hand again.

"What's a broken nail? You just trashed six Daemons single-handedly," Shawn grumbled, clearly aggravated on my behalf.

"Broken nail, broken finger, broken hand, broken arm, or broken neck. The first four can be fixed, the last is irreversible," Haniel reminded him gravely.

I nodded, accepting his words. This speech was nothing new to me. I'd heard it many times before. Above all else, I was to protect myself from injury. One false move and it could've been my neck that was snapped instead of just a nail.

"I still think it was badass," Shawn muttered as they broke up into groups to search the rest of the village.

Haniel stayed behind with me. After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke. "You did well."

"OMG, was that a compliment?" I teased, nudging him with my hip. "Thanks for letting me come," I said as my anger over his interference the night before finally melted away. At the moment, Emrys seemed very far away, and not quite as appealing as he had the previous night. I was in my element here. My body hummed from the adrenaline I had used to take out the Daemons. Despite all my gripes about my differences, I freaking loved sending Daemons back to hell in an ashtray.

Haniel and the Guides spent the next few hours coaxing the villagers into returning to their homes. The Guides used their gifts to soothe emotions and help those who were grieving for the family members they had lost during the Daemon occupation. While they were working their magic on the traumatized villagers, the Protectors and I cleaned up the village. We buried the dead and made grave markers for the villagers who had lost their bodies to the Daemons. Burying the dead was not fun. It was a glaring reminder of how fragile humans were and exactly how important our jobs were. My emotions felt tattered and ragged as we gently carried the bodies to their final resting place. The death of innocent people weighed heavily on me, leaving a glaring reminder that this wasn't a game. It was real. I tried to direct my mind on anything but the bodies that we lowered into the ground. I didn't want to think about the horror they had faced without any protection. They needed Protectors who were dedicated to help them, not someone who was fraternizing with a potential enemy. I knew nothing about Emrys with the exception that I thought he was hot, which at the moment seemed insanely shallow. Haniel was right. I had other responsibilities that required my attention.

CHAPTER SEVEN

By the time we left the village the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Of course, when we reached home, the sun was setting, which was disorienting. Everyone was obviously exhausted from the journey. We all slumped on the furniture in the living room while Krista ordered a half-dozen pizzas.

"I'm going to shower," I said, following Krista into the kitchen as I rolled my shoulders, trying to work out the aches and pains that had developed from the mission.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, just stiff. Probably all the digging. I'm not used to that kind of physical labor," I said, not bothering to hide my grimace.

"That's never my favorite part either," she answered solemnly. "Normally, the guys handle that stuff. I'm sure it was hard to see that," she added. "I'm sorry, sweets."

"It's all good. I'm tough, remember?" I replied glibly, trying to hide how much it had bothered me. "Actually, it was kinda weird. Killing Daemons is one thing, but these were real people. Not that I was the one who killed them, I get that. It's just—it all seemed so final, you know?"

"Experiencing death like that for the first time can be tough for a kid. We sometimes forget that, probably even more now that we've seen you in action," she mumbled, pulling plates and glasses from the cabinet.

"Hey, I'm not a kid," I stated. "I'll be eighteen in two months," I reminded her. "I'm fine," I added forcibly, heading toward my bathroom. I wasn't in the mood to debate my age for what seemed like the millionth time. At times like this it was hard to remember that Mark and Krista were only a few years older than me. Sometimes they acted and sounded like they were a hundred.

The hot water worked wonders on my muscles. It was funny that I could train every day with Haniel and not feel as sore as I did at the moment. I stayed in the shower as long as possible, knowing any longer and someone would show up to "see if I was all right." Holding a towel around my torso, I shuffled back to my room to put on my pajamas.

"So, how'd it go?" a familiar voice asked when I opened my bedroom door.

"Holy shit!" I jumped while trying to hang on to the towel that nearly exposed everything I had to offer. "You asshole, what the hell are you doing in here?" I hissed at Emrys who was leaning back against the plum-colored throw pillows on my bed. "Haniel will shit if he knows you're here," I added, closing the door swiftly behind me.

"Haniel left a while ago. You were in the shower for like an hour. I almost thought you were waiting for me to join you," he drawled, crossing his ankles.

"You wish. Now get your feet off my bed," I demanded, trying to regain control of the excitement that raced through me at the sight of him. My resolve from earlier disappeared like smoke in the wind. I couldn't remember the reasons I had come up with as to why I shouldn't like him. "That may be, but the Guides are going to sense you in here," I said, looking at my bedroom door apprehensively as if I expected the door to burst open any minute.

"Chill, babe. Your crew's outside. Besides, I can tell if they sense my presence. We have the house to ourselves. More importantly, we have this great big bed to ourselves," he said, winking at me. "Why don't you come join me?" he added, patting the bed next to him.