My sisters and I were sitting at the Angel Squad table in the chow hall, having a late dinner after a long day of training. Julie had come to keep us company while we ate, though she’d already had her own dinner earlier so now nursed a slice of apple pie for dessert.

It had been a long day of training, and in spite of my increased endurance and stamina, I was still tired. We’d spent most of the morning at the shooting range for target practice and the rest of the day had been spent at the obstacle course.

Today, Rebecca had made me run through the obstacle course with a heavy back pack on, and not only that, my sisters weren’t running with me this time. Instead, they hid along the path and would jump out to ambush me, either trying to catch me or just throwing water balloons at me.

“The whole reason for using the obstacle course is to learn how to avoid being caught by demons,” Rebecca had told me earlier.

“And how to catch them when necessary,” Dani had added.

I sighed and ate my dinner, trying not to think about earlier today. I was still tired from all that work, but each bite of my dinner seemed to recharge me a little more. I just hoped that Rebecca wouldn’t take this as an excuse to have me run the obstacle course tonight in the dark or something.

“So, how are things going with Rich?” Nicole asked Julie.

“Um…they’re not,” Julie admitted, looking embarrassed. “I haven’t had a chance to ask him out yet…”

“You’ll have to make the time,” Nicole pointed out.

Julie nodded at that, then made an obvious attempt to change the topic. “I was watching the news today,” she said abruptly. “The United Nations is talking about making an exception to the harkon ban for cure research…”

“They’ve been fighting over that ever since the ban was put in place,” Rebecca responded. “You know it never goes anywhere.”

“Why don’t they make an exception?” I asked with a shake of my head. “I mean, it seems like common sense to let people look for a cure.”

“Politicians and bureaucrats,” Dani said with a snort of disgust. She didn’t look up as she grabbed a bottle of siracha and began drizzling some of that hot pepper sauce onto her food.

“Some countries have been blocking the attempts,” Rebecca told me with a shake of her head, looking almost angry. “The US is the only country that has a demon problem so they don’t mind making us wait. They say that they’ll agree to an exception to search for a vaccine or cure, but only if we give them full access to all the research.”

I frowned for a moment before asking, “And what’s the problem with that? They might not have a demon problem, but I can understand them wanting the cure just in case.”

“The problem,” Rebecca explained, “is that they’d also have everything they need to make their own enhanced soldiers…and demons. You can bet that almost every country would start to secretly create their own super soldiers and I’d bet there will be a few more demon type outbreaks as a result.”

“So everything is a stall,” Nicole added with an expression that was identical to Rebecca’s. “Officially, they want to do their own cure research too, but everyone knows they want more than that.”

“Just imagine if you ended up with a bunch of different demon strains,” Dani added. “And we can’t just look for a vaccine on our own because those same countries threatened to attack any country that they catch doing harkon research. Some even suggested that they’d consider using nuclear weapons.”

I nodded at that, understanding exactly what they meant. “So, we’re stuck either dealing with the demons, giving other countries the ability to create their own, or facing World War Three.”

“It’s a lose lose situation,” Rebecca agreed.

This conversation was getting depressing fast, so I asked Dani, “What’s up with you and that Mike guy? I mean, even after we beat him yesterday, he still came by to challenge you again today…”

Of course, today Dani had been too busy to race Mike, but she had promised to give him another chance later on. I shook my head, wondering what was up with that. After all, from what I’d seen he didn’t have a chance.

Dani chuckled at that and responded, “He usually challenges me every week or so…” Then she grinned smugly, “I usually hold back a bit so he at least comes close enough to think he might be able to do it if he works a little hard.”

I stared at her for a moment before saying, “So you keep playing with him and making him think he might win…”

“Of course,” she responded with a smirk. “It’s good training for him. Besides, I’ve won a lot of money from him and plan on winning a lot more.”

“But why does he keep doing it?” I asked. “I mean, if you keep winning all his money…”

“He’s stubborn,” Dani responded with a grin.

Then Nicole laughed and added, “She also promised him a date if he could ever beat her.”

Dani actually looked a little embarrassed at that, though she quickly covered it up and stated, “And that is why he is NEVER going to win.”

“That’s just mean,” Julie told her with a scowl. “Everyone knows he likes you and you just keep stringing him along…”

Julie shook her head and then gave Dani a look of annoyance. It was obvious that Julie was a little jealous because she had a hard time getting the attention of the guy she liked while Dani had one chasing after her.

“Mike is just playing a game,” Dani explained to Julie. “He’s only interested because I’m a challenge. If I ever went on a date with him, he’d lose interest and start looking for another girl.” She paused for a moment before adding, “Trust me. I know how guys like him think.”

“Then if you’re annoyed with him bothering you,” Julie asked, looking confused, “why don’t you just let him win.”

“Because this is a lot more fun,” Dani pointed out with a grin. “Besides, I figure I can get another hundred or so out of him before he calls it quits.”

I stared at Dani for a moment, not quite sure what to make of her. Was she messing with Mike because she could keep winning money from him like she claimed, or was it something else? Dani might be my sister now, but in spite of that and our similar backgrounds, I still wasn’t sure what she was thinking half the time.

Once we’d all finished eating, Nicole put her arm around Julie’s shoulder and exclaimed, “Come on… I’ll help you put a date outfit together…”

“But I don’t have a date lined up yet,” Julie protested.

“Details,” Nicole responded with a grin. “We can talk about that too…”

Nicole and Julie left while I went back to Heaven with Dani and Rebecca. I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that they didn’t have more training planned. Instead, I could get a nice hot shower and maybe even a soak in the hot tub.

My sisters seemed to have the same thoughts as me because they both began getting undressed and going right into the showers as well. After showering with them several times, it wasn’t quite that big a deal to me anymore so I didn’t even hesitate to go in with them.

After the shower, Rebecca and I went down to the hot tub to soak while Dani wandered off to do whatever it was she did. I wasn’t quite sure but was too tired to bother asking.

“Now this feels good,” I said as I slipped into the bubbling water, closing my eyes and enjoying the sensation.

“It really helps ease sore muscles until they clear up,” Rebecca told me with a happy look on her face. “Of course, half the time our sore muscles are better by the time we get a chance to soak.”

“How long until I’m ready?” I asked her nervously. “I mean, how long until you think I can go on missions?”

Rebecca thought about it for a moment before answering, “Not too long. Physically, you’re already in shape and you’re getting a pretty good idea of what you can do. Your marksmanship could improve a bit more, but I think you’re doing all right there.”

“So what else do I need to learn?” I asked.

“A lot of things,” Rebecca told me with a wry smile. “How to find hand to hand or use random weapons you find if you need to. But since we fight monsters rather than human soldiers, we don’t need to know how to charge a machine gun next or anything like that. After we’re done here, I do have some mission reports and files on demons that I want you to read.”

“Great,” I said with an exaggerated sigh. “More reading. Hannah already gave me a bunch to read…”

Rebecca chuckled at that. “She told me.”

I nodded and just leaned back with my eyes closed for a minute, then said, “She also told me that every angel is a genius. Is that part of our augmentation?”

“Sort of,” Rebecca told me, frowning thoughtfully. “But I don’t think it was really intentional. You see, I’ve always been pretty smart. I mean, my mom was a genius scientist…”

“And we got the DNA you inherited from her,” I stated in understanding.

“Exactly,” she agreed, looking a little self-conscious. “But I think our intelligence may have been enhanced a little as an unintended side effect of another augmentation. Part of our enhanced reflexes are due to an increased ability to absorb and process stimuli.”

“But don’t spread that around,” Dani called out as she stepped into the room, wearing her bathing suit and holding three margaritas. She handed one of the drinks to Rebecca and one to me before climbing into the hot tub with us. “People tend to be intimidated by us enough as it is. They don’t need another reason.”

“So says the girl who keeps showing off on the obstacle course,” I teased her.

Dani shrugged at that while Rebecca laughed. “She does have a point,” she commented, though she wasn’t clear about which of us she meant.

“Besides,” Dani said, leaning over and telling me almost in a whisper, “it’s always a good idea to have an ace up our sleeves. You never know when some asshole will decide we need to be quarantined or treated the same way we do the demons. Colonel Roberts would never go for that, but there’s only so much he can do if his superiors give the order.”

I stared at Dani, sure that she was just being paranoid. However, Rebecca had a grim look on her face and was nodding agreement.

“Then why do we…?” I started to ask, taking a clue from Dani and keeping my voice low.

“We’re still the best option for keeping the demons contained,” Rebecca pointed out with a scowl. “The higher ups all know that, but you never know when things may change. “I’m not saying they will, only that we should be prepared…just in case.”

“I think that’s the real reason Merrit is here,” Dani added with a grimace. “Just in case it comes to that.”

“Damn,” I whispered, not sure what else to think.

“To being useful,” Dani exclaimed, holding out her drink in a toast.

“To being useful,” Rebecca and I echoed before touching glasses and taking a long drink.

I leaned back in the hot tub, no longer feeling quite so relaxed now that I had yet another thing to worry about. My sisters didn’t seem to think that this was an immediate concern, but I could tell that they both thought it was a realistic possibility. If that ever did happen, at least I wouldn’t be facing it alone.