The Ascended (The Saving Angels 3)

"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. >"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.