"Right, because it's perfectly normal for some pissant to be able to melt the flesh right off my arm," I retorted sharply.
She grimaced at my words.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked. I didn't want to think about Emrys at the moment, or what a fool I had been. How I'd fallen for a guy I barely knew, and allowed my hormones to dictate my feelings. I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the pain of his betrayal that eclipsed even the pain that radiated through my arm.
"The guys are taking care of the human hosts the Daemons hijacked and Sam is with Haniel," Lynn answered sliding up next to me.
"My arm," I said, looking at the charred mangled flesh.
"Haniel will fix it," Krista reassured me sympathetically.
I nodded my head, willing myself not to focus on it. My eyes skirted away, finally settling on Emrys who was now standing three feet away from where we sat. His impassive expression certainly didn't match the events that had transpired or the fire that burned in my eyes. Tension coiled around us like a snake with neither of us breaking eye contact until Haniel and the others walked into the room.
Haniel strode to where we sat without pause and peered down at my arm. "Leave us," he demanded in a pained voice. His usual confidence seemed to be shaken to the core. The room emptied at his request except for Emrys who stoically crossed his arms, refusing to leave. I expected Haniel to demand that he join the others, but he merely ignored him, gently lifting my arm into his hands. Blinding pain tore through my appendage, making me scream in agony. I watched in morbid curiosity as the charred skin began to glow and radiate extreme heat. The irony that my arm resembled the skin of the zombies in the movies I liked to watch didn't escape my notice. Stomach bile sat heavy in my throat, making it hard to breathe. "Frick, that hurts!" I yelled. Emrys stepped closer as if he planned on interfering, but stopped when Haniel shot him a look of warning.
I focused on a spot on the far side of the room, trying to take my mind off the fact that Haniel's touch had only intensified the agony in my arm, but as quickly as the thought entered my head, the pain slowly began to dissipate. My skin began to tingle, no longer feeling like it had been bitten by a million flesh-eating bugs. Looking down, I watched in amazement as the skin and tissue began to fuse back together, repairing itself until the skin on my arm was flawless.
"Why haven't you ever used this trick on all my other injuries?" I asked, testing my arm for mobility.
"Those were training injuries. Training injuries teach you. Injuries such as this teach you nothing," he replied.
"That's not entirely true. It taught me to not let that Rumpelstiltskin creep ever touch me again," I said indignantly. "Why didn't you tell me that my skin could be melted off by a simple touch? I'm not a Daemon," I added as the others joined us.
"We were unaware of the alliance the Soul Trader had with the Dark One until tonight's events transpired," Haniel answered.
"What is he?" I asked. "And how do you know him?" I demanded, directing the question at Emrys.
"He used to be a Soul Trader, but went dark a while back," Emrys answered, leaning against the wall.
"Like you," I countered, trying to ignore my anger.
"I'm not dark," he barked back, clearly pissed.
"So you just made a deal for what, to play cards with me?" I sneered.
"What are you talking about?" Mark demanded.
"Ask him," I said, stabbing my finger in Emrys's direction. "He's the liar.
"I did not lie," he defended himself through gritted teeth. "It's nice, though, that you call me the liar when you sit here with the biggest group of liars ever."
Uncomfortable silence filled the room at his words.
"So what? We all know Haniel has been holding back on me, but there's no reason to lump everyone in with him."
"Oh yeah? Why don't you ask your aunt and uncle, and I use those terms lightly, why they don't have any pictures of you, your parents, or anything about their deaths," he said, tightly grabbing the back of the chair in front of him.
"What is he talking about?" I asked, turning to face Krista and Mark. "Are you even related to me?" I demanded, seeing the truth on their faces as I surged to my feet. "What the hell is going on around here? You're supposed to be Angels for God's sake," I shouted, ignoring Haniel's grimace at my choice of words. "Aren't angels supposed to follow different rules than humans? They're not supposed to lie, right?" I added through gritted teeth. "If I'm not related to you, then who the hell am I?"
"Calm down," Krista pleaded, standing up. "We wanted to tell you. We were just waiting for the okay from Haniel," she added, looking at him questioningly. Haniel nodded his approval.
"What a surprise. So, tell me now," I ordered.
"Last year Haniel came to us and asked if we'd be willing to take in a young girl who needed our help. He told us that you were special to The Light and that he would be training you. We had just recently learned about the infertility that would plague the Guides and immediately jumped at the chance to be able to offer our home to someone who needed us."
"You didn't know my parents at all?" I asked, ignoring the betrayed tremble of my body.
"No," she cried, gripping Mark's hand tightly. "But that doesn't change how we feel about you. We love you like you're our own," she added, her eyes brimming with tears.