The pit was where we held all the fights. We had three cages: two on the sides for anyone to sign up that day to fight and make some money, and the main event cage that had six major fights between known fighters—all of them some form of supernatural beings. We didn't discriminate between demons and Others in the pits.
We had a few dance floors with DJs, a blood corner for the vamps, a forest alcove with a magically created full moon for the wolves, an alchemy corner for dark witches to get rare ingredients, and some magical plants from faerie in a section for the elves to feel welcome. All were welcome here. Everyone’s money was green in the pits.
It also ensured that I oversaw some of the seedier things that happen in the demon/Other world, making sure nothing got too out of hand. So that while vampires were here feeding, it was from willing participants that were being taken care of. The rare ingredients, that were usually stolen from the bodies of the living, were now being taken from corpses that didn't need them anymore and magically kept fresh. The elves were not luring people into their realm to live out a life of dancing and drinking so they could feed off their life source; they can feed here freely in a controlled environment where the humans can go home at closing, just a little more tired. The wolves didn't need to feel on edge up above, trying desperately to keep their wolf contained because they got to wolf out in a designed and comfortable environment in tune with their wilder side.
Cass’s voice popped into my mind, telling me I was a shitty demon again, but my whole caveat to that was that all of it cost money—loads and loads of money—and for some reason, supernatural beings tended to have money, so it was a win-win.
It was always a different vibe down in the pits. Where upstairs I was looked at as a major player with respect, down here, I was just another sexy female men wanted to fuck.
“Oh fuck. You look fucking yummy, baby. How ‘bout you give this dick a ride and I promise to cum in that sweet cunt of yours?”
I didn’t know who it was behind me that said that, but I quickly formed a whip of Wrath in my hands and snapped it back, telling it to grab the punk who’d spoken. I turned around before I yanked on it, slamming this cock sucker to his knees before me.
He wasn’t bad-looking. In fact, if I didn’t hate how he’d tried to get my attention, I might’ve fucked him for fun if I was in a better mood, but at this moment all his catcalling did was make me mad and make me feel disrespected, and no one disrespects me in my house. No one.
He flinched as I shoved my hand into his hair and yanked his head back. The force caused him to wince in pain, but he didn’t whimper, at least not yet. I got up into his face, talking in a low sultry tone.
“Want to say that again, cowboy?”
He shook his head, or as much as he could, and his eyes skittered to the sides, looking for help from anyone, but this was a demon hang, and no one helped anyone here for free.
“It seems to me that you need a lesson in manners, and lucky you, you’ve come to the right woman.” A cruel smile formed on my lips as I showed him some teeth. “Now, if you wanted to fuck me, all you needed to do was fall to my feet, like you are now, and tell me how much you wanted to eat up my pussy. Beg to me about how you wanted to lick it clean until I dirtied your face again and again. Then once I deemed you worthy, I would let you fuck me until my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I orgasmed for a third time.”
I heard a few groans from the onlookers, and a few mumbled that they were up to the task, but I didn't have time for them. Oh no, I was in teacher mode.
Since it was Fight Night, I’d had my fake nails taken off and cut my natural nails short for the fight, but I still had them painted all pretty in a blood red shade, alternating between skulls and knives. I took my pointer finger that had a knife on it and placed it on the back of his jaw as I took the blunt nail and scraped as hard as I could up to his chin.
“Now, since you are already in the position I require, I'm going to give you a second chance at that catcall. See if you”—I looked him up and down like the pitiful creature he was—“can learn something before this lesson gets real painful.”
He started to recite exactly what I’d said before and I frowned down at him. I snapped out an uppercut that would make his teeth rattle as he immediately clutched at his face, crying out in pain as blood spattered the floor.
“Not what I said before, idiot! You need to come up with your own version!” I learned long ago, sometimes you just needed to punch the stupid out of them.
I could feel his anger rising, his demon pulling at his magic to make me pay for being better than him, feel him thinking how unfair it was that I was so strong. Which meant he was an Envy demon. They were always the ones that couldn't handle me, never able to match my boss energy and getting all pissy about it. I pulled at the magic that was rising within him to lash out at me, sucking it into my void as soon as he unleashed it. His eyes went wide, and for the first time since I had him in my hands, true fear flashed across his face as he wavered.
I leaned down to his ear, whispering in a harsh tone, “Now, you were not trying to do any harm to me, right? ‘Cuz if you were, I would need to flay you alive in front of all of these people to make sure no one thought I was weak and they, too, could mess with me. You don’t want that, right?”
He whimpered as he shook his head, making sure to keep his eyes down at the ground before him. “Don’t cry out,” I warned him.
I used my Hell magic, the one that signals me as royalty, to heat up just my hand, so no one saw, bringing the licks of the Hell flames through my palm and placing it on his arm. His eyes flew open, looking up at me in panic as his mouth threatened to open in a scream, but I drilled my eyes into his, sending him a final warning. He bit his lip so hard blood started to drip out before he looked back at the ground like a good puppy. The flames marked him with a brand, so if or when he went back to Hell, he would have a hard time making friends as an enemy to the crown. I quickly used my Envy sin magic, creating an illusion to make the burn not look like it was made from Hellfire.
“Now you're going to be a good boy from now on, right?”
He shook his head like a dog, clutching his weeping, wounded arm, still not looking up.
I released my Wrath magic whip, letting it disappear as I backed up a step.
“Get out of here.” I didn't need to yell at him. My low, rough voice—which I saved for when I intimidated people—was enough to make him shit his pants as he scrambled up and ran out of sight.
Having had enough of this, I turned and headed to one of the side cages that a lot of noise was coming from. Now that I’d taken care of that dick, I could really enjoy the reason for the pits in the first place: good old fashioned brutality.
I made my way over to a cage in which a Slag demon and a Harpy demon fought. That was an interesting match. His strength was that of ten men, and her speed was as fast as light. If he landed a punch, it could be hard to come back from, but she could slash him to death before he laid a hit if he wasn’t good at defense.
I swaggered up to the front of the cage to get a better look at the fight. The harpy was doing her best, but she took a punch to her gut, which already looked bruised. As I watched, her anger cooled and she relaxed her body, eyeing the other demon up and down. She was trying to figure out how to win, not just fight.
When he dropped his left guard because of his punch, she struck. Her claws raked into the side of his face and ripped it apart. The blood sprayed everywhere. The sin of Wrath burst forward, slithering around on the floor wanting to be consumed, calling for me to suck up all that violent goodness. I placed my hands on the cage, the call to get closer to the sin taking over my body for a second. Being up against the cage gave me easier access to it.
The tendrils of sin slithered up the cage, and as soon as it touched my fingers, it soaked into my skin, feeding the hunger I always had. It tasted savory and smokey, like a medium rare New York strip steak, bloody and tender. I licked my lips at the taste.
