I found myself standing back in the garage where I’d been chained up and held prisoner by the daemonites. The body of the daemonite binder was still there, right where we’d left it after Jass had put an arrow through his head. I stared at the body for a moment, thankful that I hadn’t imagined the part about his being dead.

“Fuck this shit,” Nessa gasped, collapsing to the ground a moment later. She was still conscious, but she looked completely and utterly exhausted. It seemed that we’d pushed her to open a gate back to Earth before she’d really recovered, though I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about that.

“The body,” Jass announced from behind me, gesturing to the dead daemonite. “It’s still here.”

For a moment, I wondered why she was pointing out the obvious, then it dawned on me. If the body was still where we’d left it, then no daemonites had moved it. But even more telling than that, no daemons had come by to eat it either. Daemons were ravenous and didn’t seem to care if they were eating their former allies. The fact that the body was still here meant that the daemons weren’t.

“The others must have cleared out the daemons in this area,” Jass said with look of satisfaction.

Jass and I carefully looked around, making sure that there were no daemons or daemonites still waiting for us. The wyvern they’d used to capture me was behind the garage, or at least what was left of it was. Half a dozen arrows stuck of the daemon’s head, and it looked like it had been cut up from swords as well. I was grateful for the chance to see the thing dead, just so I didn’t have to worry about it swooping down from above again.

While we looked around, we also found my armor and weapons, which had been casually tossed into a pile behind the garage. I was more than happy to put my armor back on, and just as thrilled about recovering my weapons. I’d dropped my bow when the wyvern had captured me, but I had the rest of my weapons back so I no longer felt so helpless.

“It’s going to be a bit of a walk back to the school,” I said, letting out a resigned sigh. “Especially dragging her.” I gestured to Nessa, who could barely stand, neglecting to mention that I still wasn’t in great shape myself.

“Why should we walk?” Jass asked with a snort, looking towards a pickup truck that was parked behind the garage. “With the daemons gone, we can be more flexible with our transportation.”

I nodded at that, feeling like an idiot for overlooking the obvious. The last couple of days had been pretty rough and I really needed to get some sleep so I could recover. Unfortunately, I doubted that would help with the worst thing I had to recover from…the daemonite energy that Nessa had infected me with. I could feel it burning inside me and I wanted it gone.

We didn’t have the keys for the truck, but that wasn’t much of a problem. To my surprise, Jass knew how to hotwire the thing, and a few minutes later, we were on our way. Jass was driving, I was riding shotgun, and a rather unpleasant Nessa was left in the back, letting out a nearly constant stream of profanity and insults. After what she’d done to me, I urged Jass to hit every bump and pothole she could find.

When we got back to the school, we parked our ‘borrowed’ truck in front of the main…and now only entrance. Three of the local guards came out to check on us, though I was pretty sure it was more out of curiosity than because they thought we were a threat. However, they scowled when Jass hauled Nessa out of the back, without being very gentle about it.

“She’s our prisoner,” Jass stated grimly, glaring at the men as though daring them to argue with her. Knowing Jass as I did, I suspected that it wouldn’t take much of an excuse for her to get physical with them.

“She’s a daemonite,” I quickly explained. When they gave me blank looks, I added, “She’s one of the people who brought the monsters here…”

Nessa smirked at that, then pointed out, “I’m also the one who sent them away…”

I glared at Nessa, grimly saying, “And I’m sure Lindrell will want to talk with you about where it was you did send them…”

“Like I give a fuck about your Val Kyr friends,” Nessa spat out. “Or these worthless fucks…”

Then Nessa suddenly lunged for one of the guards, or at least for his gun. I had no idea if she intended to shoot us, to shoot herself in order to avoid being questioned, or even if the geis I put on her would allow either of those options. However, it didn’t matter because Jass reacted the instant Ness started to move, grabbing the daemonite and yanking her back.

“It seems we’re back to this,” Jass snarled, holding her dagger to Nessa’s throat. From the look of hatred in Jass’ eyes, I could see just how much she wanted to go ahead and kill her.

“We still need her,” I reminded Jass, feeling more than a little tempted to just go ahead and let her kill the daemonite…especially after what that bitch had done to me.

Jass nodded reluctant agreement but pushed Nessa ahead of her, keeping her dagger handy. It seemed that Jass wasn’t going to trust the geis to keep Nessa from getting into any more trouble, and I didn’t blame her for that. We were just going through the gate when the first Val Kyr arrived to greet us.

Julie came charging straight at me, crying out, “Michelle… You’re alive…” She grabbed me in a firm hug, and before I’d even realized it, she was kissing me on the lips. “I was so worried…”

I was stunned by the kiss, but delighted as well. I kissed back, feeling my body starting to respond. I was suddenly reminded of what I’d been told, about how Val Kyr tend to be more…responsible than normal. It was with some difficulty that I broke the kiss.

“I was pretty worried too,” I admitted wryly while Julie just blushed.

As soon as Julie let go of me, Lindrell rushed in and grabbed me in a hug. I winced in pain as she was squeezing too tightly for my injuries, though she immediately seemed to realize that and not only relaxed her hold, but also gave me a surge of jatta energy.

“I’m relieved to see you’re all right,” Lindrell told me when she pulled back. Her voice was calm and controlled, but I could see the relief in her eyes. Then her eyes went to Jass and she frowned slightly, perhaps wondering how the two of us had made it back without killing each other.

“A daemonite,” Lindrell stated as her eyes went to Nessa. There was a look of pure hostility in her eyes, but that was the same reaction any Val Kyr would have to a daemonite.

However, before I could warn Lindrell about keeping Nessa alive, another voice said, “Two daemonites.” I looked over and saw Shannon staring at me with a grim expression.

“This one infected her,” Jass snarled, glaring at Nessa, who actually looked a little afraid. I guess being completely surrounded by Val Kyr who wanted to kill her was finally starting to make her nervous.

“Estrid said this could be fought off,” I quickly said, hoping that none of the other Val Kyr got the idea of trying to put me out of my misery. “She told me that couldn’t turn me into a daemonite unless I actually accepted the energies…”

“Estrid is here?” Lindrell asked sharply.

“She was,” I responded with a scowl. “She left with the daemons and other daemonites.”

“I noticed most of the daemons were gone,” Julie added, giving me a worried look.

Shannon nodded agreement, adding, “There are only a few daemon stragglers left, and all lesser daemons…”

“That’s because they send the daemons back to the Twilight Realm,” I said, glaring at Nessa, who had the good sense to cringe back a bit.

“Why would they bring all those daemons here,” Julie asked with a confused look, “just to turn around and send them right back?”

“They weren’t intending a full incursion,” Jass answered, glaring at Nessa again. “They were just marshalling their forces.”

Lindrell had a thoughtful look as she mused, “Marshalling their forces for what?”

“An attack,” I pointed out, probably unnecessarily…at least until I added, “On Val Halla.”

Suddenly, Lindrell, Julie, Shannon, and the other Val Kyr who’d began to gather around us, all froze and gasped in surprise. “Apparently,” Jass announced, gesturing to Nessa again, “all these recent incursions were for the purpose of drawing as many Val Kyr away from Val Halla as possible…just so they could invade.”

“I haven’t been able to reach Val Halla,” Lindrell told us, holding up the key stone that was our only way to communicate with our home…and the only way we could tell them to open a portal back for us.

“Estrid has a bunch of those,” I grimly explained. “Apparently, she can use them to listen in on our communications…and disrupt them.” I hesitated a moment before adding, “And she can use them to track down other keys… That’s how they’ve been finding the recruits… They’ve been tracking the recruiters.”

Lindrell’s eyes widened at that, and I knew exactly what was going through her mind. She was realizing that when she was here to recruit Julie, she’d inadvertently drawn the daemonites to us…allowing me to get caught in the crossfire. I didn’t blame Lindrell for that attack in the least, though from the look of guilt that flashed across her face, I suspected that she did.

Shannon cleared her throat to get her attention, then suggested, “Perhaps we should continue this inside.”

“Agreed,” Lindrell responded, giving me another quick hug as well as a worried look before she led the way inside.

We’d barely gone inside the school when my dad appeared, walking unsteadily and leaning on his cane. From the way he was wobbling, I had a feeling that he’d probably exerted himself a bit too much lately. Still, his face brightened when he saw me.

“You’re all right,” he said, sounding relieved and proud at the same time. “When that damn dragon took you…”

“Wyvern,” Shannon corrected him absently.

“She was trying to escape when I found her,” Jass added. She grabbed hold of Nessa again and added, “But this bitch sent us all back to the Twilight Realm…”

I nodded at that. “And not to Val Halla either.” There were a few gasps and looks of surprise.

“And why is she still alive?” Shannon asked in a cold tone that made Nessa turn pale and take a step back.

“Nessa here was our ride back,” I said with a nasty smile. Then I looked to Lindrell and added, “And she’s also our ticket back to Val Halla.”

“Then we’d better not let her escape,” Shannon pointed out.

Jass actually grinned, though it wasn’t a pleasant grin. “Michelle already took care of that…”

When everyone looked at me, I explained, “I gave her a geis.”

Lindrell looked surprised at that. “I didn’t think you were capable of creating one yet.”

I just shrugged and admitted, “I wasn’t sure I could, but it was worth the effort.” Then I looked back to Nessa and added, “She might not be able to escape, but we still have to keep a close eye on her so she doesn’t cause any trouble.”

“Fuck you, blondie,” Nessa spat at me. “I’m gonna laugh when some daemon eats your guts…”

“Been there, done that,” I responded wryly.

“Put her somewhere safe,” Lindrell stated, not looking to anyone specifically. Natalie came forward, grabbed the daemonite and began hauling her away. “And keep an eye on her.”

After this, we went to the cafeteria where I sat down at one of the tables, relieved for the chance to rest in a safe place. Without even having to ask, someone came and set some food down in front of me, so I eagerly dug in, still hungry in spite of the little I’d eaten back in the Twilight Realm.

While I was eating, I told them all about what happened after I’d been taken by the wyvern, filling in some details in the information I’d already provided. I glossed over some of the things, such as just how badly I’d been injured, but from the looks Dad and Lindrell gave me, I was pretty sure that they’d guessed most of what I was holding back.

Once I got to the part where I’d nearly escaped, Jass began to insert her part of what happened. Lindrell listened, though she kept giving me and Jass odd looks, probably still trying to figure out how we’d managed to work together that much.

“And now you’re turning into a daemonite,” Julie said, giving me a worried look.

“Estrid said she wanted to turn me into a daemonite,” I explained, feeling disgusted by the daemonite energy that was still burning in my body. “But she said that she wasn’t going to bother trying yet, because I’d just be able to fight it off. I think she wanted to try brainwashing me so I’d accept it…”

“And if Estrid was afraid you’d be able to fight it off,” Lindrell said with a look of relief. “Then that is a good sign.”

I nodded at that, not admitting just how worried I was about the daemonite energy. After all, I’d been injured and exhausted when Nessa infected me, and I hadn’t been able to focus on fighting it off yet. I was worried that I may have taken too long and had given it a chance to take hold. My stomach churned at the thought.

“There is one other thing,” I said, now that I was thinking about the conversation I’d had with Estrid. “Estrid said that the night she left Val Halla…that she only killed two Val Kyr…not five.”

Jass snorted in distain. “I wouldn’t believe that traitor if she told me the sky was blue.”

I nodded faintly at that. “She also told me that two Val Kyr had tried to murder her, and she’d killed them in self-defense before running away…and while she might be delusional or lying about that…I can’t think of any reason she’d lie about killing those other three.”

“Because she’s insane,” Shannon added grimly.

“And as you said,” Gretchen added. “She may have been attempting to make you sympathetic to her.”

“Perhaps,” Lindrell said, “but what happened three hundred years ago has little bearing on what is going on now.” She had a grim expression on her face as she looked around the table at the gathered Val Kyr. “If Estrid is invading Val Halla with an army of daemons, we have to go back…”

“The only daemons still here seem to be lesser ones,” Gretchen stated grimly, “but I would prefer not to leave them.”

While Lindrell and the others began making plans, I stood up and said, “Excuse me, but I’ve got something I need to take care of.” I tried keeping my voice calm and steady as I said this, though Lindrell gave me a worried look.

“Are you going to be all right?” Dad asked me with a worried look of his own. He stood back up and asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not with this,” I told him with a forced smile.

With that, I left the cafeteria and made my way to one of the smaller rooms at the back of the school, then I locked myself inside. Once I’d guaranteed my privacy, I collapsed to the ground, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Please work,” I whispered, closing my eyes and feeling the daemonite energy surging within my body. I braced myself, concentrating on my val energies, and then tried willing my val to expel the daemonite energies, because there was no way I could trust myself to go back to Val Halla and be surrounded by daemons while I was contaminated with this power. “I just hope I’m not too late…”