"What do you mean a test?" Amelia asked.

"I think The Dark One is trying to figure out if I really am an Ascended. I'm guessing the next attack will be a lot different than that one. Now he has the information he was seeking," I said matter of fact.

"How do you know all that?" Sam asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, but I just know. Ever since becoming an Ascended, I see certain things with insight and clarity. I only have to think about something for a moment before I can completely see into the situation."

"Wow, that's intense," Sam said, awestruck.

"Tell me about it, having everything laid out so completely in front of me is a surreal feeling."

"We should get moving," John said, using the beam of his flashlight to illuminate the forest in front of us.

"I would avoid eating that snow," Shawn teased Sam as we walked around the spot where the Daemons had self-mutilated themselves.

His teasing made all of us crack up.

"Ya think," Sam said, giving him a light nudge in the back of his knee, making his leg collapse out from under him. It was hilarious watching Shawn trying to steady himself so he wouldn’t land face first into the undesirable spot.

"Sorry babe, I couldn't resist," Sam said, still chuckling.

"Well, you know what they say about payback," he said, shining the flashlight on his face, making himself look sinister.

"I'm holding you to that," Sam said solemnly.

Her words jerked us back to reality as Shawn returned her look intensely.

"You can bank on it honey," he said huskily, reaching back to squeeze her hand.

After a moment he turned back around, stepping back in line with the other Protectors. Sam's shoulders slumped as she let her worry settle back in. I reached over to grab her hand and gave it a small squeeze to comfort her.

"I will get you two out," I said quietly, for her ears only. Haniel and I had gone over worse case scenarios earlier that morning and we had decided that if things got hairy, I was to save whatever linked pair I could. I loved every Guide and Protector, but I could not choose any of them over my own brother and Sam, who I loved like a sister. Haniel had given me an escape clause that could be used in the direst of circumstances, but I would only be able to take one linked pair with me. I was skeptical at first when he laid it out for me, but everything Haniel had told me up to this point had been proven true.

Sam opened her mouth to ask how, but I cut her off by a small shake of my head. She clamped her mouth closed, but I could see the turbulent thoughts floating around in her head. She was worried for Robert and Lynn. I could see their faces among her thoughts. I had already gone round and round earlier with Haniel over this issue and knew that this was the only way. I loved them all dearly, but I had to make a choice. My struggle with the decision was the reason Haniel had decided splitting up the Bands was the best course of action. By keeping Lynn and Robert with him, I would not be forced to choose if it came down to it.

We continued on, hiking in silence, keeping the beams from our flashlights pointed to the ground to help guide us over the treacherous terrain. The air around us carried an evil essence that shrouded the mountaintop. The moods of my friends began a downward spiral as it began to eat at them the higher we climbed. Instead of controlling their moods, I instead focused my attention on shielding them from the essence. I found this method much more to my liking. Filtering their emotions was fine, but actually keeping the evil from ever touching them was a more acceptable approach for me. In the beginning, I worried that the negative energy I was fighting would sap my own energy supply away, but I realized that the closer we came to our destination, the stronger I felt. Fighting evil was clearly what I was created for.

I was jerked away from my thoughts when I ran smack into the backside of my brother. The impact sent me sprawling backwards into the powdered snow. I had been so lost in my thoughts and keeping my eyes on the path in front me that I had missed everyone coming to an abrupt stop.

"Sheesh Krista, I thought you were like some graceful celestial being," Shawn ribbed me as he reached out a hand to help me up.

"Obviously, I missed that memo," I grumbled, brushing the snow off my backside before it could melt further. "Why did we stop?"

Instead of answering me, Shawn merely cut his eyes to the left. Following his gaze, I could see we had finally reached Victor's lair. To say it was disappointing was an understatement. I had been expecting a massive industrial-style building, much like where Victor had once held me hostage. Instead, Victor had used a natural cave to build his fortress in. The entrance was a nondescript, heavy, metal door that was obviously custom made to fit in the space it occupied. The exterior of the door was painted in a type of camouflage pattern to help it blend in with the rest of the surrounding area. Of course, the small helicopter that occupied the only flat surface around made that a moot idea. Lurking outside the door were four fiery creatures, obviously waiting for our arrival.

"What do we do?" Sam breathed into my ear.

I shook my head. Something about the way the Daemons held themselves made in clear that we would not get off so easy this time around.

"Come out come out, we know you're there," one of them boomed in a voice that echoed off the mountaintop.

Before we could respond, two of them left the small clearing. They split off in separate directions, one on the right of us, while the other entered the woods to our left. These Daemons were clearly smarter than the three we had reduced to ash in the woods, and far from the mindless human host occupying Daemons that we had faced in the past. These four had a plan. They were herding us together.

Chapter 11

Shawn stepped out from seclusion, facing the Daemons, while keeping the Guides hidden from sight. John, Jacob and Paul disappeared into strategic positions among the trees to protect us from some kind of flanking attack.

"All of you," the second Daemon growled.

"I don't think so," Shawn retorted.

"You dare defy us Angel," the first one sneered belligerently, stepping closer to Shawn.

I cringed when I saw the difference in their heights. For months, I had been surrounded by the oversized builds of the Protectors, so seeing one of them being towered over was discerning. Their forms were much like what we had faced in the clearing, although their massive bulk made them even more intimidating. I admired Shawn's fearless outward appearance, but I couldn't help the shiver that raced up my spine.

"You heard me," Shawn said, looking up at the Daemon, unafraid. Sam gasped beside me, and I placed a restraining hand on her arm when she took a step forward.

"Watch your tongue boy. You will kneel in our presence."

"I don't see any wings. I only kneel to those that have wings," Shawn mocked.

The Daemon raised its long scaly arm, striking Shawn on the side of the head. Shawn staggered forward unsteadily, but remained on his feet. The other Daemon made a coughing noise that took me a moment to figure out was actuality a laugh. The first Daemon moved in closer and grabbed Shawn by his hair, forcing him to his knees. Sam gasped beside me and it took all my strength to hold her back.

I had a firm grasp on Shawn's thoughts and knew this had been planned.

"There you see. It wasn't so difficult to kneel after all, was it?" His cockiness prevented him from seeing the knife Shawn had pulled from his boot. Shawn used the Daemon's grasp on his head to his advantage, plunging the knife deep into its stomach. Blackish liquid poured from the exposed wound. The Daemon released its grip on Shawn and dropped to its knees, roaring in agony. Shawn moved forward and buried the knife into its head. The other Daemon reacted, moving toward Shawn, but was stopped in mid step as a knife flew from the trees, burying deep into the back of its head. Jacob stepped out from the trees and pulled the knife from the wound. He swiped it across the Daemon's neck, sending its head rolling aside. I felt bile rise in my throat that I had to swallow back as I watched Shawn decapitate the same Daemon he had just taken down.

I released my hold on Sam, letting her and Kim race to Shawn and Jacob's side. Jacob maneuvered his body in front of Kim, shielding her from the gruesome sight on the ground.

Kieran, Amelia and I walked out from the cover of the trees, joining them.

"Do you think John and Paul are okay?" Amelia asked anxiously.

"I'm sure of it, but I'll look for them if they don't show back up in the next few minutes. They wanted to draw the other Daemons as far away from you girls as they could." Jacob said, watching the dead bodies of the Daemons begin to burn on their own. Haniel had explained that they would burn before they were reclaimed by The Dark One. We watched in morbid fascination as the flames grew, and then as swiftly as it began, the fire was extinguished and the bodies were gone.

"Nice plan," I finally said, looking at Jacob and Shawn.

Yeah, but next time I don't want to be the bait," Shawn said, gently touching his blistered cheek where the Daemon had hit him.

I gasped when I saw the angry burn mark across the whole left side of Shawn's face.

"He burned you?" I asked appalled.

"Yeah, Haniel told us their touch is like liquid fire."

"When did he say that?" I asked, mad that I had been kept out of the loop.

"A couple nights ago when we first headed out. I guess he figured we would be the ones physically fighting these things, so we needed to know."

"For good reason," Kieran said, anxiously shining her light into the dark forest beyond us.

"I'll go look for them," Jacob said, seeing Kieran's worried expression.

"Look," Sam said, pointing toward the beam of light that was moving toward us.

John and Paul exited the forest together, but it was obvious by the way Paul was hunched over holding his side that he had been hurt. We raced toward them as Paul sank to the ground in pain.

Amelia laid Paul's head onto her lap while I carefully opened his jacket. The guys shined the flashlights on him so I could see his injury. Amelia gasped and started crying earnestly when she saw his stomach laid open by four deep gashes that were each over a foot long. Kieran knelt beside her, placing an arm around her quaking shoulders.

"Should you call Haniel?" Sam asked me, her eyes swimming in tears.

"It won't do any good, Haniel can't heal Daemon wounds. That's why he couldn't help us in June," I said, trying to keep my voice low so Amelia wouldn't hear.

"Will he die?" Amelia asked, hearing me after all.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Shawn, run over to the helicopter and see if you can find a first aid kit. John and Jacob, try to move him over there to flatter ground," I pointed.

I followed behind them, rolling up my sleeves as they carried Paul gently to the spot I had indicated. Sam and Kieran used long bushy branches to clear away some of the snow before he was laid down. Shawn joined us with a first aid kit and a bottle of water he had found in the helicopter.

"Shine all the lights on his stomach so I can get a good look at what I'm doing," I ordered, once again stepping into my leadership role naturally. I peered down critically at his shredded belly, preparing for the worst. Shawn poured the water over the tattered flesh to wash away the blood and debris as much as possible. Paul’s arms flailed, connecting with my left cheek and sending me backwards on my butt. My vision blurred from the impact and I shook my head trying to gather my bearings.

“Krista! Oh, my God, are you okay?” Sam asked, running to my side.

"Crap that hurt!” I said, climbing back up on my knees. “Um, I think maybe you guys should hold him down while Kim, Sam and Kieran hold the lights," I said with a shaky voice.

"Are you okay, Sis?" Shawn asked.

"I'm sure yours hurts more than mine," I said, indicating the bubbled skin on his left cheek.

"Okay, let's try that again," I said, making sure Paul's arms and legs were firmly held down before I dumped the remaining water over his wound. The vise like grip of the Protectors kept him from thrashing around and I was finally able to get a good look at his wounds. I smiled in relief when I saw that although they were ugly and ragged, they were not nearly as bad as the mauling John had taken from the mother bear attack. Where John's wounds had flowed copiously until Haniel healed him, Paul's wounds leaked only trace amounts of blood. Peering closer, I could see that the skin in most places had cauterized itself closed. The fiery touch of the Daemon had actually saved Paul's life. I opened the first aid kit and pulled out the tube of antibiotic cream. Using it liberally, I squeezed it onto the sections of his injury that still oozed blood and pus. Once the tube was completely empty, I instructed the guys to hold him up off the ground so Sam and I could wrap the roll of gauze around his abdomen.

Once he was settled again on the ground, I turned toward to Amelia. "I’m no doctor, but I think he's going to be okay," I said, giving her a quick hug. "His blood loss looked minimal since the heat of the Daemon’s claws actually cauterized the injury as it slashed him open. We just better keep an eye on any infection before we can get him to a hospital."

"Oh Krista, are you sure?" Amelia asked, afraid to believe.

"I'm positive," I said, reassuring her. "Guys, let’s carry him to the bench seat in the helicopter so he's off the ground. Amelia, you should stay with him until we take care of Victor. If anyone—or—anything goes through that door, besides us, make sure you duck down and hide. If morning comes around and we're not back, use the radio in the helicopter to call for help," I instructed her before giving her another hug, replenishing her mixed emotions with peace.

John and Jacob helped get Amelia and Paul settled while the rest of us waited by the door, silently.

"Sis, you are one badass," Shawn finally said, breaking the silence.

Sam giggled next to me. "I was thinking the same thing, she's like a mini Haniel."

"Oh hush," I said, flushing slightly in embarrassment.

"She's right. The way you take control is amazing. If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were a medical student, the way you knew how to take care of Paul," Shawn boasted.

I shrugged my shoulders. Everything seemed so second nature to me now that I hadn't even considered how I had known exactly how to deal with Paul's injuries. It was like my mind had a direct pipeline into an information bank.

"Ready to go?" I asked, still slightly embarrassed as John and Jacob joined us.

"After you boss," Shawn teased, ruffling my hair. "Kidding. You may be a badass, but you still have to walk behind us," he said protectively.