"If not, I'm sure you can teach him," Krista joked, putting an around my shoulders. "You still sore?"
"Nah, my shoulders are a little stiff, but it's all good."
"For such a tough chick, you sure have some spaghetti arms," Mark teased, squeezing my bicep.
"Please. Just because I don't have man arms doesn't mean I'm any less strong than you. Besides, my strength comes from here," I said, pointing to my head. "Not here," I said, giving his bicep a light punch.
"Oooh, smack talkin' me now. Come on, little girl." He countered my light punch with his own jab, which I deflected before it could touch me. He retaliated by sending another quick jab my way, aimed at my midsection. I danced back and countered by throwing a harder punch to his chin. He jerked back at the last moment so my fist just barely grazed him. He laughed and threw another punch my way. Ducking my head, I avoided the blow, while throwing my own, which landed with a resounding smack of flesh on flesh.
"Hey, not in the kitchen," Krista complained as Mark collided with the table while trying to step back. "If you guys want to spar, take it outside."
"Nah, it wouldn't feel right to whip my uncle's ass," I said, grabbing another slice of pizza.
"Always with the language," Krista chastised.
"Aw, come on, Krista, 'ass' isn't really a bad word, it's an animal. Besides, I bet even The Light drops swear bombs sometimes," I joked, balancing my plate of pizza with one hand and my soda with the other as I headed out of the kitchen.
"Regardless," she answered, trying to give me a stern look.
"Fine, killjoy," I grumbled.
"And don't leave your dishes in your room overnight," she called after me.
"Right," I answered over my shoulder as I closed my bedroom door behind me. I settled on my bed and switched on the TV to the History Channel. My obsession with the History Channel bordered on fanatical. I chalked it up to the fact that I had no idea about my own history. At least, anything prior to eleven months ago. I wished something would spark in my head. Anything that would add some light to the void that filled my memory bank.
Once I finished my meal, I set my plate on the bedside table and sank down under my blankets. Burrowing my head into my pillows caused a mental flashback of Emrys lying here not that long ago. I needed to stop thinking about him and focus on the job I had been given, but that was way easier said than done. He was like a drug. Mindlessly focusing on the TV helped, and after a few minutes, I stifled a yawn as the day's activities caught up to me. I knew I'd catch hell for it in the morning, but I let myself drift off to sleep with my dinner plate still on my table. Emrys was my last thought as sleep pulled me completely under.
***
My TV was still on when I woke several hours later. Grabbing my cell phone off the nightstand table, I squinted into the bright screen to check the time. "No," I groaned when I saw it was just past two in the morning. I set my phone back on my table and rolled over, trying to will myself back to sleep. After a few moments, the annoying voices from the infomercial on my TV started to grate on my nerves. I fumbled around on the bed with my eyes closed, searching for the remote. Finally finding it, I pointed it at the TV screen and sighed happily when the annoying voice of the girl trying to con shoppers into buying her closet organizer abruptly cut off. Several minutes later, I was still awake. "Damn." I switched on my bedside lamp, grabbed my dinner plate from earlier and headed out of my room. I was surprised by the living room light and low mumble of quiet voices drifting down the hall. I had no intention of eavesdropping until I heard Krista mention my name.
Unfortunately for them, creeping around without making a sound came effortlessly to me since Haniel and I had spent hours over the last year practicing.
"You can't keep all of us in the dark forever," Krista stated.
"It is The Light's decision. He will tell me when I can share what I know with all of you." I was surprised to hear Haniel's voice. "His word is my command."
"True, but you yourself have to admit that holding back crucial information can lead to disaster," Krista persisted. "Don't you agree, hon?"
"I agree that we can't be kept from the truth forever," I heard Mark say. "But I trust that The Light knows what's best," he added, sighing deeply.
"Obviously, you're forgetting how secrecy can blow up," Krista said, sounding pissed.
I would have voiced my agreement with her sentiments if I wasn't trying to hide my eavesdropping. I fought the natural urge to burst in the room and demand to know what The Light was keeping from me, but past experience held me back. Haniel never divulged information until he, or I should say, until The Light, was ready. It was bullshit if you asked me. Hell, you didn't even have to ask me. I would tell you.
"I know, honey, but this is a different circumstance. Let's give it a little more time. We have to trust that the higher-ups know what they're doing," Mark said.
I heard his chair squeak as he settled back in it.
"I'm assuming you had other things to discuss?" Haniel asked.
"I did," Krista answered, still sounding aggravated. "I'm concerned that Jordyn's gifts are getting her lumped into a category she doesn't belong in. This is partly my fault, and partly yours. No young girl, no matter what her place on Earth is, should have to dig graves. I was reluctant to have her join us yesterday on the mission, but you were right in your claims that she could handle herself in battle. Her gifts surpass even my wildest imagination, but I don't want her digging graves again anytime soon. We've already stripped her of any kind of teenage normalcy, but I'll be damned if I allow her to bury the dead again. I've seen the emotional toll it takes on the Protectors over the years. It's not right to include her in that duty," she said.
"I agree. It shouldn't have happened," Mark agreed. "It was a serious oversight on my part."
"On all our parts," Krista corrected him.
"No burial duty," Haniel repeated in his typical categorizing way.