As for me, I actually liked her. I thought she was exactly what Hell needed and she could shake things up. Sydney might not be able to changeeverythingbut she was going to change a lot.
And I just liked how she looked at me.
I gathered everyone into a huddle.
“So, we need a plan.”
Ishouldn’t be having this much fun. I’d pissed off a whole mess of fallen angels by poking at their daddy issues.Ihad daddy issues. I was loads younger than them and I’d still found the time to get therapy about mine and I wasn’t going to going to murder someone because they brought mine up.
But yeah, I asked Mom to bring me to seeThe Karate Kidand then I asked if she’d enroll me. Bless Mom, she did, even though I wanted to play soccer and quit and I went through a very brief two-month phase where I was going to be a princess ballerina astronaut right up until I set foot in ballet class.
But karate? I just clicked with it. It was fun, and I loved every minute of it. It made me strong and confident. I didn’tneedtofight, but I knew if it ever came down to it, I could end one. Of course, that was just with humans.
Learning to fight angels with my new demon friends was rad. I was in a huddle with Nero, Celix, and Kujo. Notexactlylike my first karate lesson, but I was enjoying myself all the same.
“So, we actually have an advantage,” Nero said. “Sydney’s wings aren’t in yet, but Kujo and I have ours. Sydney was able to lay Kujo out, so she can handle herself. I’m pretty sure if we pair her with Celix on the ground, they will be unstoppable. Kujo and I know how to fight in the air, but so would Wrathhog.
“We outnumber her and she gave us her weakness. She’ll be fighting, but she’ll also be trying to avoid us. Kujo and I will try to corral her to you on the ground, so she’s outnumbered further.”
“Okay, so Sydneyonlygot the jump on me because she lied about not having fight training, but?—”
“Did I lie or did you just make an ass of yourself and assume?”
“Anyway,you’ve got a good foundation, but watch us in the air so you get an idea how we fight in the air for when you get your wings. I’m Cambion, so I have more experience with the mortal realm than these guys.
“I never had a foster family give a shit enough to put me in karate, but I know about it. This is Hell. You’re either a demon or a fallen angel. No one fights fair. They’ve either made their weaknesses secret or they’ve made our strengths illegal. We fight dirty and we fight to win. This isn’t a tournament. Someone is bigger and badder than you with better magic. As the daughter of Lucifer, you’re near the top of the food chain, but you don’t have any of your magic yet, so it would be easier for a lower demon to take you out. Keep that in mind when we send Wrathhog your way.”
“Back-to-back,” Celix said. “We can keep an eye on each other’s sixes. She’s outnumbered. She’s not fighting to kill, but she will knock us the fuck out to even things up.”
“Noted.”
I bounced on my feet. I wasready.I guess being immortal was starting to make a bit of sense. My ex used to tell me I should stop going to the dojo because I was getting old and it would be expensive when I got hurt. I would have stopped if I felt like Ineededto, but I didn’t. It didn’t hurt any more now than it did when I was younger and I needed the outlet. It made me feel alive.
This? This was a million times better than that. I’d probably change my mind if I ever had to take on an angel who actually wanted to kill me, but I couldn’twaitfor this.
Right up until Wrathhog called the fight to start and shot in the air. Holy shit. It was brutal. Damn. Nero was such a golden retriever except for when he was fighting. I already knew Kujo was deadly.
They went straight for Wrathhog like they intended to kill her. She did a graceful backflip in the air and zipped towards the ceiling. Nero and Kujo went after her with murder in their eyes. There wasn’t anywhere else she could go, so I thought she was done for.
I didn’t know why she let herself get cornered. From what I understood, her dad was a general. And she was just hovering in the air like she was going toletthem.
Oh. Wrathhog had a plan. As soon as they got close, she did some kind of pirouette in the air and bitch smacked both of them at least twenty feet with her wings. Kujo smashed against the wall and nearly fell to the ground, but righted himself and was back in the fight.
Wrathhog flipped them both off.
“I’m insulted you fell for that and thought it would be that easy.”
Nero just grinned.
“Kujo fell for it. I was backing up my partner, so you didn’t obliterate him.”
“Oh, fuck you. I knew what she was doing. She was going to sit there until we did something.”
They all looked like they were having a blast.Iwas having fun. Did I just find my group of psychos? I wanted to be up in the air with themsobad. This was better than that time Randy Savage and the Undertaker did WrestleMania on Pay Per View and Mom had the night off.
They were utterly brutal, but they were also laughing their asses off. I wanted in. Either Wrathhog was getting tired because she was fighting off two big demons or she thought I was feeling left out and needed practice. They were slowly pushing her towards Celix and me.
I bounced on my toes because I couldn’t wait. Wrathhog made it to the ground before Nero and Kujo. She kept her wings out and swept it at Celix and me. Celix went high and leapt over it since he was part fucking cat. I went low and tried to roll under. I managed to avoid getting smacked into the wall, but I did take a face full of feathers.
