I was bundled on the couch with Celix and Wrathhog. Wrathhog was eating popcorn and Celix and I were practically holding each other. I was covering my eyes. Kujo was only half Fury and hated everything they stood for, but he still had Fury magic. They wanted justice for every slight.
Kujo was actually unpredictable on a good day, so I couldn’t even imagine how he was going to get his revenge.
Kujo took a fighting stance and Sydney stood there twirling her hair, which just pissed Kujo off.
“Try to take this seriously, princess. There are four of us and one of you, but a smart demon or fallen angel could get you alone.”
“I learn better by doing. Why don’t you show me?” she said batting her eyelashes.
I liked her, but she was actually insane. Maybe we hadn’t explained Furies to her enough, and she hadn’t spent enough time around Kujo? Did mortal men not plot revenge when their nuts got smashed and they had shampoo squirted in their eyes? Oh, this was going to be ugly.
Kujo exploded and Sydney exploded right back. I wasn’t sure what kind of fights they had in the eighties in the mortal realm, but Sydney laid Kujo flat on his ass and punched him right in the stomach. Celix and I just sat there with our mouths open and Wrathhog fell out laughing. Sydney gave Kujo a mock curtsy and offered him her hand.
“Did I mentionThe Karate Kidmovies had a profound effect on me and I asked Mom for lessons? Kept up with it in college for self-defense and still take classes because it keeps me in shape. Imighthave a black belt.”
“Bitch,” Kujo snarled. “You omitted that so you could hit me again.”
“You were coming at me like you were going to hitme.”
“I don’t beat women, even if they kicked me in the nuts, and I’mtryingto keep them from dying. Are you even taking this seriously?”
“Yes, asshole. Maybe I just wanted to show off a bit since I’m magicless at the moment and know barely anything about this place. I’ve got a black belt, so I’m not starting from nothing. Teach me how to use it against demons.”
“It’s a good thing,” Wrathhog said. “And it looked like you were going at her full out. She used your momentum to drop a Fury, and that’s pretty hard to do. Her form is excellent. We can work with that.”
We could. It was a good start, and it just made me feel better. She could handle herself. I didn’t really see anyone being able to isolate her from us if they tried. She clearly wasn’t scared of Kujo and as soon as she heard every single sick soul in Hell was terrified of Wrathhog, she wanted to meet her.
Yeah, I kinda had this thing for badass women.
Kujo was sulking because his whole revenge plot was in the toilet and she technically got him again, but the rest of us could work with this.
“First things first. Demons fight dirty, but then again, I think you do, too,” Wrathhog said.
Yeah, she did. She fought just like she grew up in Hell. If Kujo ever calmed down, he’d see that and that he probably had it coming.
“I mean, kinda,” Sydney said.
“Okay, so angels have their own style of fighting. They keep it to themselves because they don’t want anyone to know how to fight it off. Except Dad taught me and Lucifer would have taught you. I can teach you, but you’re honestly going to want to practice against my dad so you know what it’s like to fight against a fallen angel.”
“You want me to get in a fist fight with Satan? He’s like, ten
feet tall.”
“He’s the biggest of the fallen angels. Satan and Lucifer are the best fighters out of their group if Abaddon is on the bench. If you can best my dad, you can beat any of them.”
Yeah, we’d all heard that story. Lucifer was the general of the rebellion and Satan was his right-hand man. The only reason they lost and got kicked to Hell was that they just didn’t havethe numbers. They took plenty of angels out and that was how Lucifer and Satan became the boogeymen while the rest of the princes were pretty much forgotten. The other angels thought they were just followers.
“I know it’s some big angel secret, but I actually like these guys and I don’t want to see Kujo obliterated, either, even if he’s a douche. Is it taboo to teach them this style?”
Holy shit, did she even know what she was asking? Every lower demon in Hell wanted to learn that style of fighting. It would give us an edge to change things. Wrathhog had been insanely cool so far, but she couldn’t do that, right? I wouldn’t blame her if she said no.
Celix was tense beside me and Kujo was glowering that Sydney even asked. Wecouldlearn that style of fighting, but the fallen decided it wasn’t allowed, so that’s just how things were. Sydney wouldn’t be able to change that. Any of the princes could have overthrown the entire court by teaching demons that fighting style and taking the court by force. And none of them had done that.
“Done. And Dad would be tickled to teach them. Abaddon might even get out of bed for it.”
Holy fuck.
The guys were looking at me like I’d just turned into the demon equivalent of a unicorn and I was standing there in all my magnificence getting glitter on the rug. Shit, were unicorns real? Wrathhog was just rolling her eyes.
