Jordyn (A Daemon Hunter 1)

"Badass," she said again when I finished, holding out her closed fist so we could knock knuckles. "I'd give anything to be able to fight like that," she said wistfully.

"You want to fight?" I asked shocked.

"Hell, yeah. It's always bothered me that the guys have to handle the physical part of our missions."

"Yeah, but you have that freaky manipulation-of-feelings thing going on," I said, wondering if she was yanking my chain.

"I'd trade that any day for being able to scrap a little," she said seriously.

"True that. How's your studies going?" I asked, changing the subject. Sam had been spending time with Haniel the last few months to get a better idea of the true history of the world. I'd overheard my aunt and uncle discussing her sudden interest a couple months back. They were pretty sure her interest stemmed from the recent knowledge that the current generation of Guides would not be able to conceive.

"Not bad, Haniel's as dry as the desert, but he's a wealth of knowledge," she said, stealing a bite of my toast.

I nodded in agreement. Sam opened her worn notebook that she never let out of her sight and launched into some of the notes from her time spent with Haniel the day before. After a few minutes, my eyes glazed over as Sam began to discuss the inconsistencies with documents that had been found over the years and the actual events. Only half listening, I used my fingertip to pick up stray crumbs on the table from my toast. My mind snapped back to attention when I heard her mention Soul Traders.

"What did you say?" I asked, fully alert.

"I said Soul Traders date back centuries. It's pretty crazy that Haniel just covered Soul Traders yesterday and then boom, you meet one for the first time," Sam said, opening her notebook to a blank page.

I pondered her words as I watched her hastily jot down notes. It was an awfully big coincidence. Not to mention that both Krista and Mark seemed well versed on the subject. I bristled at the idea of being kept in the dark.

"Hey, I'm going to go get dressed," I told her.

She nodded, although distracted, already lost in her notes as she jotted down her current thoughts on the subject.

An hour later, I headed down to the beach for my daily training with Haniel. I was dressed in my typical training attire of black yoga pants and a white ribbed tank top. My feet were clad in black combat boots. The boots left patterned imprints on the sand as I stomped toward Haniel. My suspicions of being kept in the dark had neared a boiling point by the time I reached his side.

"You are late," Haniel said when I joined him.

"Did you know I would meet Emrys last night?" I asked, throwing the words at him like daggers.

"I knew of an impending encounter, but was not aware it would occur last night," he said.

"How did you know an encounter was impending?" I asked, working hard to tamper my anger.

"I was told that a Soul Trader was in the area. Are you ready for training?" he asked, not acknowledging my anger. Half the time, human emotions were lost on him, but I had the impression he was well aware of how I felt.

"Well, here's an idea. How about if some freaking dangerous, soul snatcher is in the area, you give me the heads-up," I said with sarcasm dripping freely from my voice. "Instead of sitting around talking about it with my relatives behind my back. I'm not a kid," I said, pacing back and forth on the sand in aggravation.

He watched my ranting and raving without commenting, and I couldn't help seeing the irony of the situation. I was claiming to be mature with one breath and showed it by stomping around in a fit like a two-year-old. Taking a deep breath, I stopped pacing and looked at him.

"No more secrets."

"No more secrets," he parroted.

"That means if you deem something is important enough to tell Krista and Mark, I should also be involved," I said, clarifying exactly what I meant by "no secrets."

"You are pricklier than your aunt was at your age," he observed.

"So you've said, like only a million times," I replied, spreading my legs slightly apart and leaning over to place my hands on the ground in front of me to stretch my hamstrings. "Truthfully, I love Krista, but she must have been pretty boring," I said, grabbing onto my right ankle and holding the pose for several minutes.

Haniel remained silent, so I lifted my head to look at him. I grinned when I saw his look of disapproval. "Sheesh, Haniel, don't get your panties in a bunch. Krista knows she's a bit boring," I said, lowering my head so my curtain of black hair fell back over my face.

"Where are we going today?" I asked, finally finishing my stretching.

"Today, we will be working on terrain training," he answered, ignoring my groan.

"What? After last night, I was hoping to kick some more Daemon ass," I pouted. I hated terrain training.