My stomach dropped.
“Am I going to lose tonight?” I really had thought I’d win this fight, and come back with my mom. If he told me otherwise, I would be devastated.
He waved his hand. “I’m not talking about tonight. Brielle, Lucifer wants you.”
That statement sent chills crawling up my back and down my arms.
“I know.” I peeled open my shirt and showed him my chest tattoo.
He shook his head. “No. You know the vision every Sighted at Fallen Academy gets, that you’ll go into the underworld and kill him? It’s not the only vision.”
My eyes widened. He knows about that? “What do you mean?”
James sighed. “Every Sighted here sees something different. I… I saw you training with him. Becoming like him. Living down there with him.” He pointed to the ground, to Hell.
Bile rose in my throat.
No.
“I would never do that!” I whisper-screamed.
He looked sad. “I’ve seen it. He trains you. You… create demons with him. Down there.”
I was going to throw up. It was absolute lies. I crossed my arms. “James, there’s no freaking way. Your vision is wrong!”
He shrugged. “I just wanted to warn you. There is another side, another vision, and that’s the one Lucifer believes in.”
I softened, knowing he was only trying to help. “Thank you. You’re a good friend.”
He looked off into the distance. “Either way, you’ll change the world, Bri. I just haven’t decided if for better or worse.”
Not what I wanted to hear. That sick feeling was back.
Then he turned and started to walk away.
“Wait! Will I get my mom out of here tonight?”
I mean, after dropping all that shit on me, the least he could do would be to give me some good news.
“If I tell you, it changes the future,” he called back. Turning to face me, he glanced at my necklace, the one that pushed the darkness back so I could use my light gifts. “Take the necklace off for tonight. It’ll only hinder you.”
Then he was gone.
Mother eff.
I felt a panic attack at the edges of my mind. Me training with Lucifer and living in Hell? Was James completely mad? I would never do that. There was no situation I could think of that would ever make that happen. Not even with a gun to my head.
The door popped open then and Shea urged me inside.
“We’ve been paired for our first fight,” she told me, slightly paler than her usual color.
I’d have to push this to the back of my mind—way back—and focus on my mom and Mikey. She was all we had left, and I was bringing her home tonight.
I unclasped my necklace and slipped it in my pocket, earning me a raised eyebrow from Shea.
“If they’re going to fight dirty, so are we,” I exclaimed.
Besides, I was pretty sure the necklace didn’t really work anyway. Not like it did before I went into Hell to get Sera.
Chapter Seventeen
They’d also assigned us the big fenced-in ring for our fight, while others were stationed at various taped-off areas outside on the field. The first few fights were just to whittle the numbers down, take out the weak.
As we made our way out to the main ring, the booing started. Shea flipped them off, and they started to roar in excitement. Demon City loved people who were pissed off.
My eyes flicked to the upper corners of the room, to where there were cameras stationed in the eaves. This was totally televised, and even though I’d told her not to, I knew my mother would watch.
“Oh good. This dude grabbed my ass first day of school, and that chick pinned me down when I got my death mark. They’re both dead,” Shea informed me through gritted teeth, pointing to our new fighters. The guy was a mountain of a man and clearly over the age limit of twenty-one. He had a full-on beard and smelled of a Beast Shifter. The chick was totally a Dark Mage; looking into her glassy black eyes made my skin crawl. Of course they’d paired us with one of the strongest teams for our first fight. Trying to take us out or injure us in the very beginning seemed to be their plan.
The crowd roared as the gates to the cage opened and the two fighters made their way in.
I saw Lincoln, Chloe, and Luke just off to the side, smooshed into the front row.
My hand caught Shea’s arm. “If it gets life threatening, you make a portal back to the academy, okay?” I told her.
She rolled her eyes. “We’re not leaving here without Mom.”
She’d said it again. Not “your mom,” but “Mom.” That meant our mom. Everything within me welled up at our shared love for that woman.
“I love you, Shea.” I tried not to let my voice catch.
“Stop it.” She punched my arm lightly. “We got this.”
A laugh escaped my throat but quickly died down when I caught sight of Grim. The demon was standing near the open cage gates, glaring at us.
I figured he’d be there, but why did he look like he wanted to talk to me? He’d signed the deal in blood; there was no way he could go back.
When we reached him, and his sulfuric scent, he leaned in. “I found a buyer for your mom and the clinic. Five hundred grand. If you don’t win tonight, I sell her.”
If that didn’t add fuel to the fire, I didn’t know what would.
“We’re going to win. You’re going to get your prize money, and we’re taking my mom,” I spat, then blasted past him and into the cage.
“Allllllll right, Demon City!” an announcer roared. “We have a special treat tonight. Two students from Fallen Academy think they’re better than our fighters!”
The crowd booed, except for three distinct cheers. Lincoln, Chloe, and Luke were going to get jumped by the crowd if they didn’t shut up, but I couldn’t focus on them right now.
I let my black wings pop out then and the booing stopped, turning into complete silence marked with a few gasps.
Take that, you judgy bastards.
“Shall we see what these two princesses have for us?” the announcers asked, and the crowd went wild.
An older man, an Abrus demon with gray streaks in his hair, stepped into the cage and met our eyes, looking briefly at my tattoo. He had an evil air about him, above and beyond that of the searing yellow eyes and red felt horns protruding from his forehead. When his eyes met mine, gooseflesh broke out on my arms. “Place your weapons on the floor in the middle of the cage,” he instructed.
“What?” My head snapped back. What kind of freaking rule was that?
The Abrus demon grinned, showcasing pointy teeth. “We heard you had a seraph blade. Let’s see what it can do. First come, first serve. If you reach the weapons first, you get to pick whichever one you want.”
The Dark Mage chick grinned, eyeing Sera on my thigh.
‘Let her try. I’ll burn her hand off and blind her!’ Sera spat.
I tried to keep from smiling as I pulled Sera from the holster, placing her in the center of the room. It felt absolutely awful to be without her, but I knew she could handle herself. If they wanted to play by those rules, I would beat them by those rules.
With a grunt, Shea did the same, leaving her two discs on the floor.
We both backed up to the far wall, weaponless. The other fighters placed their weapons on the ground as well, a large serrated sword and a spiky mace at the end of a chain.
The Abrus demon held his hands against the cage, and the metal began to light up an electric blue.
“When I leave, this cage will be electrified. The only way out is if you kill your opponent or they submit. If one teammate submits, the entire team is disqualified. No other rules exist,” he said with a grin, his blazing yellow eyes gazing over my tattooed chest and black wings with lust.
Freaking creeper.
“Let’s get this night started! Last team left standing, gets ooooone miiiiiillion dollars!” the announcer roared.