It hit me then, how messed up the world had become. We were participating in a televised fight to the death to win money that could buy a human being’s slave contract back. As if a human should even be kept a slave in the first place.
“Good luck, girls. I’ll try to stay as long as I can,” Mrs. Greely stated, though already she looked positively green. No doubt this was her first time in Demon City.
What was so wrong with me that I could stand to live in Demon City without being affected? Shit, I’d even walked through Hell without much discomfort—what did that say about me as a person?
‘It says your Lucifer powers allow it. That’s all. Do you overthink everything?’ Sera asked.
I groaned. ‘Do you listen to all of my deeply personal thoughts or just some of them?’ I snapped back.
‘Pretty much all of them. It’s my only form of entertainment,’ she retorted.
A chuckle escaped me, I couldn’t help it.
“Come on, crazy lady.” Shea dragged me up.
Whoops. I’d forgotten the task at hand. If I was ever stranded on a desert island and could only take one item, it would definitely have to be Sera. She’d amuse me until we both died of thirst.
‘I don’t drink water,’ she interjected.
‘Hush. It’s go time,’ I told my infinity weapon.
As we entered the ring, I relaxed a little. We were up against Steph and Ben. They looked beat, Steph holding a hastily wrapped hand to her chest and Ben limping. I guessed they weren’t able to afford a healing demon.
They’d said they wouldn’t fight us, not for real. But trust was a fickle thing. I didn’t want to put my guard down too much, and then have them come out swinging full throttle.
As with the other times, the gate slammed, the fence electrified, and the buzzer sounded all within seconds. Just like that, the fight had begun.
Shea and I shared a look, and I decided to trust. Maybe it was because I wanted to embrace my lighter side and have faith. I didn’t let the black whip come shooting out like I’d promised Shea. Instead I held Sera up and she shot a concentrated beam of light into Steph’s thigh, making her drop to the ground screaming.
Ben burst forward and loosed an arrow at Shea’s head, but it went over, missing her by mere inches.
Was that miss intentional?
I knew it would need to look real in order for them to save face after we left, but I didn’t want to seriously injure them.
‘Don’t hurt her too badly,’ I told Sera, and then my wings burst from my back and I launched into the air. The tips of my wings hit the edges of the cage, and a slight shock zipped through my shoulders.
Argh, freaking electrified fence!
I tucked my wings in a bit and sailed over Steph’s crumpled form, landing behind her. Gripping her hair in my hand, I held Sera to her neck.
‘Just enough to draw blood,’ I instructed.
I felt Sera pull forward and nick Steph’s throat, a single drop of blood falling.
“I submit!” Stephanie screamed.
The crowd booed. It was a short and easy fight, but I was grateful. I wanted to thank her, hug her, tell her my mom and I were so grateful.
Instead, I just lowered my knife, letting Ben scoop her up and walk away without even glancing in my direction.
A part of my childhood died then, watching my two old school friends walk out of a ring where I’d just tried to kill them. After the night was over, I’d never be coming back, and I’d probably never see Steph or Ben again.
I just hoped they knew how grateful I was.
The next two fights were hell on my body and my mind. When the freaking psycho Necromancer and Beast Shifter we’d been fighting finally submitted, I burst into tears. The adrenaline surges and exhaustion were getting to me, and I could feel my sanity waxing and waning.
“We have a submission!” the announcer roared rather dully, like he wanted more blood.
The door to the cage burst open and the Necromancer and Beast Shifter scurried out, looking back at my black whip hand and me like I was the devil.
Shea’s whimper in the corner drew my gaze to find her holding her chest. I glared at the Necro’s back and went to help my friend.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, tears streaming down my face.
“I think he chipped my collarbone,” she gritted out.
I wanted to give up. I wanted to pick up my best friend, fly her out of there, and never speak of the day we’d entered this stupid fight again. I wanted to die.
“All right, fighters! One last fight left, between our sweet angel girls and two of the most powerful students we have at this school—Nadia and Gor!”