"Then who are my parents?" I asked, directing the question at Haniel.
"You have no parents," he answered, ignoring the gasp of dismay from Sam who was standing slightly behind him.
"Everyone has parents. Did mine die?" I asked confused.
"You never had biological parents," he repeated.
"I don't understand," I said, hating the trembling that seemed to be in control of my lips.
"You were created in the heavenly realm and then placed in a human host that no longer required her body."
"What the frick does that mean?" Lynn broke her silence, asking the question that everyone in the room now wanted answered.
"The Light created Jordyn to protect mankind from evil. The Light wanted a being that was more durable than his previous creations," he answered, indicating the Guides and Protectors who surrounded me.
"So, I'm nothing but a machine that was created for battle?" I asked as the anger I'd been trying to tamp down finally reared its ugly head. "Does my name even belong to me, or did you steal that too?" I accused.
"I provided your name from the Hebrew, 'to flow.' Your spirit flowed down from heaven to do great work. You will help humanity through difficult times. You are special," Haniel answered with verve.
"Special?" I snorted. "That's right, everyone, I'm a unique fighting machine who obviously everyone wants, including your boss," I added, throwing the accusation at Emrys. >I dropped the head to the floor as the Daemon's remains disappeared in a ball of fire. I spared a glance at the human host on the floor. He'd have a hell of a headache and a bruise in the morning, but he'd have no recollection of the events that had transpired this evening. Turning from his prone body, I appraised the situation in front of me. Emrys had joined Robert in trying to incapacitate the other two Daemons. Robert seemed to have the upper hand in his battle, but Emrys was struggling more than I liked to see. He took a blow to the cheek, causing a rage-filled eruption in my head. Without hesitation, I vaulted over one of the tables that stood between us, passing Robert along the way. I paused only long enough to eliminate his Daemon which was in the process of leaving his host when I approached from behind. I grabbed his head between my hands, leaving the Daemon engulfed in flames, screaming in agony. He was just an obstacle that was separating me from the most important thing to me—Emrys.
Anger fueled me forward, but the Daemon Emrys wrestled with still occupied its human host. I was forced to gather myself, remembering that I couldn't crack its spine in half like I wanted without permanently harming the poor human sap the Daemon had possessed.
Instead, I spun with a full wheelhouse kick that caught the Daemon in the chin before his next punch could touch Emrys again. I smiled grimly as the Daemon's teeth came together with a deafening snap. He whirled around in front of me, spitting broken pieces of teeth from the host's mouth. Shit, so much for not harming the host. Missing teeth would be hard for the guy to explain in the morning, but hey, he was alive.
"How about you stop being a chickenshit and show your true self," I said, knowing that my goading would shake him up. Daemons were mindless buffoons that hated being taunted.
"Who you calling a chickenshit?" the Daemon said, letting his human host drop at his feet like a discarded pile of clothes.
"Enough," a nasally voice bellowed, stepping through the swinging doors.
Emrys stopped on a dime as he turned to acknowledge the newcomer. I whirled around to face the newest obstacle that for some reason had Emrys suddenly looking defeated. "You've got to be kidding," I thought, trying not to laugh. Nothing about the stranger screamed threatening. He was as short as a jockey, but built with a stature like a pit bull. His torso was muscled to the point of being ridiculous, sitting atop toothpick-thin legs. He literally looked like the weight of his upper body would snap his scrawny legs like twigs. His demeanor was that of a loan shark or some hustler you'd see in a movie. Long greasy hair was pulled back into a ponytail and small beady eyes completed the look of the lowlife. I tried to get a gauge on his origins, but like with Emrys, I came up blank, which led me to the conclusion that he was a Soul Trader also.
"Emrys," he said, in a greeting oozing condescension.
"Kale," Emrys acknowledged. "You don't need to be here."
"Really? I can name someone who would disagree," Kale replied as he approached me. "I can see your fascination. She is definitely a rare species," he said, making a move to reach out and touch my cheek.
"Don't you dare touch her," Emrys growled, leaping in front of me in a weird attempt to protect me. If the situation wasn't so wacky I would have laughed. It was obvious I could take out this small fry with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back.
"Touché," Kale smirked, looking beyond us to where Lynn and Robert were standing. Robert was blocking Lynn from view in a typical Protector stance. "You're keeping strange company, my friend."
"We're not friends, so it's none of your concern," Emrys stated in a low voice, laced with anger.
"I'm hurt," Kale said, clutching his chest like he'd just taken a dagger to it.
"You don't need to be here," Emrys repeated.
"You had your chance, my friend. The Dark One is done waiting for you to deliver. Of course, I can now see why you've delayed delivery. I would have sampled the product too before it was delivered," Kale replied as he appraised my body up and down.
"Shut up!" Emrys roared, looking apologetically my way.
"What is he talking about?" I asked, stepping out from behind his ridiculous attempt at protection to confront him. "Deliver what? Me? You made a deal to deliver me? And how exactly did you plan on doing that?" I laughed sarcastically, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
"Jordyn, it's not what it sounds like," Emrys pleaded with me.
"DID YOU MAKE A DEAL? IT'S A SIMPLE QUESTION!" I yelled, shaking with hurt and rage.