"And so do you, unless you've changed your mind about accompanying us on a mission," Mark answered in a don't-give-us-your-teenage-attitude voice.
"What?" I asked. I must have heard him wrong. I'd spent the last year begging, pleading, and cajoling them to take me with them. "Is this a bribe or something?" I asked.
Sam flushed at my question. If that was her poker face, she better never step foot in a casino.
"Haniel has assured us that you're ready, but if you'd rather not," Mark said, obviously going for the reverse psychology route.
For a moment I debated calling him on his bluff, but my desire to kick some Daemon ass won out. "Sure, I have nothing better to do," I said, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.
"I'm sure," Mark answered, not buying my blasé answer.
"Come on, I'll go with you while you get ready," Lynn said, dragging me down the hall.
"Sheesh, where's the fire?" I griped as she shoved me in the room and closed the door behind her.
"Like you don't know. Spill the deets," she said, perching atop the low dresser that pretty much took up the northern wall in my room.
I shrugged my shoulders, not sure how much I wanted to confide to her. Usually I had no problem filling her in on all my woes and worries, but the intervention that was staged last night made it clear what side she was on. Normally I didn't care that my best friend was several years older than me, but last night she seemed no different than all the other judgmental adults in the room. "Why, so you can tell me how dumb I am?" I finally said, pulling on a pair of thick socks.
"Don't be a snark," she said, calling me out on my sarcastic answer. "Now spill it."
"I like him," I said simply, lacing up my combat boots. "Why did they finally decide to let me go on a mission?" I asked, bouncing slightly on the balls of my feet to make sure my boots wouldn't pinch my toes.
"The guys have been dying to see you in action."
"And they figure this way they can keep an eye on me."
"You seem to require a little babysitting since I've been gone," she said, shooting me a look. "So, you like him? Sam says he's cute."
"Cute?" I asked incredulously. "He's freaking steamy with a capital S," I added, miffed that he had been lumped in a "cute" category.
"Holy crabs, youlikethis guy," she said, eyeing me with sudden interest.
"Duh, Sherlock Holmes. I thought we already established that, hence your early return."
"Yeah, but I assumed you were just messing with Haniel since you like to screw with him. You've never shown much interest in any other guy. I was starting to think you swung from the other tree," she said, wagging her pierced eyebrows at me suggestively.
"You wish," I said, giving her a lighthearted shove which resulted in her landing in a heap on the floor. "Oops, sorry," I said, reaching down to help her up.
"God, you're like a freaking Mack truck," she said, rubbing her bottom.
"I always forget what a weakling you are," I teased as we headed out the door.
"Just because you've got the strength of The Hulk doesn't mean I'm weak," she said, giving me a shove.
"Whoa, you almost didn't knock me over," I mocked as we headed to the living room laughing. I still wasn't crazy for the reason behind her return, but I was just glad to have my friend back.
"Where are we headed?" I asked as we joined the others.
"A small village in West Africa, north of Ghana, called Bunbonayili. Haniel says the villagers are convinced the area surrounding the village is haunted since several dead bodies have been seen walking around. There have been several deaths that all point to Daemon activity," Mark answered.
"Shut up! Africa! That's freaking awesome," I said, forgetting my resolve to play it cool. "Maybe I can try my hand at fighting a lion," I joked as excitement raced through me. I had been convinced my first official mission would be something local.
"Don't even joke about that," Krista said, shuddering at the thought of me taking on a lion.
"I bet I could kick a lion's ass," I bragged.
Shawn laughed. "It's a good think you're not cocky."