Nadia and Gor looked positively ready to throw down. They had tears in their clothes and some crusted blood on their body, but otherwise they looked injury free. They’d definitely had a healer demon at their disposal.

“What kind of name is that anyway? Gor?” I asked Shea as we made our way to the cage. I’d allowed Noah to do a little healing on me, but the rage and adrenaline were working wonders to keep me from feeling any pain.

The big hairy brute was disrobing, which meant he was probably going to—yep, he was shifting.

Awesome.

“It’s short for Gordon. He’s an asshole. I’m so ready to kill them both, get your mom, and go home.” Shea grunted as we moved through the crowd.

Reaching out, I grabbed her hand and she turned to meet my gaze.

“Thank you. There’s no one else I could count on for this.”

Shea smiled and I ignored the blood on her teeth. “You’re my ride or die, bitch. I love you.”

I laughed and then winced. Add a broken rib to my list of maladies.

My eyes flicked to the black panther pacing the cage, as the crowd erupted in bloodthirsty screams.

“I’ll take the Beast, you get the Mage?” I asked her. She was much more adept at handling a magic user than I was.

“Gladly,” Shea responded, tightening her grip on the semicircular blades in her hands. Purple magic flowed from her wrists and surrounded the sharp edges.

We were both tired as hell and sore and… done. This needed to be a quick and ruthless fight—I wanted it to be, anyway—but something was nagging at my conscience. These were just kids. Or young adults. Whatever. They were fighting for money and a better station in life. Granted, they were all pretty much assholes and evil, but that was because they’d had to grow up here. This shithole Demon City didn’t allow you to dream of anything else. They were doing the best they could with what they’d been given.

Oh God, what the hell am I doing? Softening my heart to these people right before I have to—

The buzzer sounded.

I was so conflicted that I wanted to throw up. Where were the new thoughts coming from?

The pink-haired mage launched a purple ball of magic right at me and I dropped to the ground, rolling away from it. Seeing me on the ground, the panther decided to pounce.

‘You’re a good person. It’s okay to feel sorry for them, but you also need to grab hold of your self-preservation, or we’re about to die!’ Sera yelped as the panther burst into the air and landed on top of me before I could get up.

She was right. What the hell was I doing having a crisis of conscience right now? I thrust Sera up into the animal’s abdomen right as his jaw clamped around my right shoulder.

Sharp pain pierced my shoulder, and the panther and I both howled at the same time.

I had to put this moral dilemma out of my head and survive the match. My fight or flight system officially kicking in, I tucked my leg back as far as I could, wedged my boot underneath the panther’s belly, and kicked out hard, launching him off me. He sailed across the space, taking Sera with him. I’d left her stuck in his gut. When he landed, he immediately pawed at her, ripping her out with one good swipe.

Plan B.

I didn’t want to do this again. Using the dark magic so often was messing with me, making me feel hopeless and depressed whenever I called it up, but I didn’t see any other way. With a deep breath, I called my black magic whip; it flared and grew out of my hand like a snake, and the crowd roared. The inky black energy that coursed along the edges of the whip sizzled as they made their way to the tip.

I reared my hand back, ready to flick the whip at the panther, when something red caught my eye. Too late, I turned to see a rosy spell crash into my chest. Shea screamed in frustration, and launched herself at the Mage while I was overcome with dizziness.

Shit.

Plan C.

The cage was spinning, and suddenly I wasn’t sure if the panther before me was truly there or off to my right. Maybe my left. Either way, he was stalking closer, and I felt like I was falling over. I spread my legs apart in an effort to steady myself, and lashed out at the spot where I thought the animal was. I missed. He was still coming at me.

I didn’t want to risk hurting Shea, so I backed up a bit farther to give myself a moment to gather my thoughts, my wings hitting the electric fence. Again. A cry of frustration left my throat, and I sucked my wings back into my body. Lashing out again, I was rewarded with a panther’s yelp as my whip connected with something.

“Dizzy spell, Shea!” I shouted, hoping that made sense to her. I didn’t have the energy to form complete sentences. Suddenly, two purple glowing balls flew through the air and crashed into me. Shea’s magic. My vision cleared at once, just in time to see the panther arc through the air, jaw open and teeth glistening with saliva.

I flicked my wrist, wrapping the whip securely around his neck in one quick movement. When I tightened the hold, he cried out, falling to the floor.

‘Cut his head off!’ Sera shouted.

His catlike green eyes bored into me and I faltered.

“I don’t want to kill you, but I will,” I shouted, pulling the whip tighter as puffs of smoke rose from around his neck.

At my declaration, the whip started to slowly turn white. A bright Celestial glowing fire left my palm, and pulsed down the whip, changing its color.

‘What the hell is that?’ I asked Sera, hoping she was seeing this even though she didn’t have eyes, and was on the floor in the corner.

‘Angel fire. Just as deadly. I told you that you didn’t need your dark magic.’ I detected pride in her voice.

I’d called up Celestial magic, I didn’t have to be dark, or use dark magic to be a badass!

The white fire licked down the rope, alarmingly close to his face.

“We submit!” Nadia screamed, her voice was heavy with defeat.

The victory buzzer sounded and the cage door opened.

We’d won.

Shock ripped through me as I called the whip back, letting it fall away from the panther’s neck.

My mom was free, and we’d freaking won. I’d never have to come back to this retched place again. I wanted to cry, I wanted a nap, I wanted so many things.

I sagged against the now unelectrified wall of the cage in relief.

My eyes tracked the Abrus demon, the silver-haired man entered the cage holding a tablet.

“Congratulations, ladies. Where would you like the money to be sent?” He was beaming with pride, and it was bothering the hell out of me.

He’s happy to give me a million dollars and watch me go back to Angel City? Why?

His eyes flicked to the corner of the cage where Sera lay. Using the trick Michael taught me, I called her to me. She floated across the cage and into my hand.

The demon’s left eyebrow raised, and a smile quirked the edge of his lips.

I pulled out the card I’d kept in my pocket that had Grim’s bank details on it.

“You can send the money here,” I said, handing him the information.

He took the card and then met my gaze. “I’ll give you ten million each to leave Angel City, and work for me.”

Ten million each? Who had that kind of money? What did this guy do for a living? I had so many questions, but I also really didn’t want to know.

Shea’s eyes grew dollar signs. “Like ten million up front right now?” my bestie asked.

I cut her a glare and shook my head. “No.”

Short simple answer, I wanted to get the hell out of there, and see my mom.

The Abrus demon looked disappointed, but typed a few things out on his keypad, and then stepped closer to me, handing me the card back while leaning forward. “The Dark Prince is very pleased with your progress. He hopes to see you soon.” He whispered in my ear, pulled away, and winked.

Ew. How dare he wink at me? Winks were for Noah and Lincoln, no one else. Well, maybe Archangel Michael, but that was it.

The demon walked away then, taking the stench of brimstone with him, or I would have given him a piece of my mind.

The Dark Prince is pleased with me? He hopes to see me soon? Pretty much everything I didn’t want to hear had come out of that man’s mouth.

‘Forget it. You’re safe now. Get to Lincoln and your mom!’ Sera reminded me of my priorities.

Noah burst into the cage out of nowhere. “Grim got the money. Let’s get the hell out of here. People are pissed Fallen Academy won, and I doubt they’ll keep it to themselves for much longer.”

Yikes.

I glanced at my shoulder, which was mangled and bleeding freely. Using Sera, I cut the bottom half of my right pant leg off and handed it to Noah to make a quick dressing. He infused it with his orange healing light to staunch the wound, and then we were hobbling as fast as we could, Chloe and Luke on our heels.

“My dad’s crew got kicked out,” Chloe whispered.

“What?” I fired back. “Why?”

“They don’t want any Angel City peeps in here anymore,” she called back, and I noticed for the first time that she was wearing a red demon slave tattoo. So was Luke.

My mouth dropped open in horror and she grinned. “Chill. It’s lip liner,” she said in a low voice.

Oh thank God.

We were lost in the throng of demons, and Tainted Academy students heading across the parking lot when someone shouted.

“It’s the Fallen Academy douchebags! They think they’re better than us, and now they’ve taken our money!” an obviously drunk old man bellowed.

I looked up ahead to see they were surrounding our car. Shit.

“Back up!” Noah roared, pulling his blade, which glowed a fiery orange.

No one moved.

I did a quick head count and decided there were about fifty people blocking our way to the car.

‘Got any ideas?’ I asked Sera.

‘Show your boobs?’ she offered.

How did this weapon have anything to do with angels? She had a dirtier mind than me.

“Let’s show them how Demon City really fights!” another person yelled.

The mob mentality kicked in, one person rushing us before they all flew forward.

My wings burst out at the same time as Noah’s, a strangled cry leaving my throat as it ripped open my shoulder wound.

We were going to have to fly everyone out of the city. I’d flown Shea around before in a practice run; I’d gone ten feet up and then dropped her. It was really hard, yet I thought I might be able to do it again. But there was Luke and Chloe too, and we were about to get mauled.

Suddenly, a bright blue light flared in the sky and everyone stopped, covering their eyes.

A loud thump sounded nearby, and I looked up to see Archangel Michael standing on the roof of our SUV, glowing and looking gloriously fit for battle.

“Lincoln said you might need an escort,” he boomed, his voice carrying across the parking lot. “Anyone who gets in the way of these five leaving, is going to spend some time in Hell,” Michael barked, his sword shooting out a blue ball of fire that had everyone scattering and screaming.

“Holy shit,” Chloe breathed.

“I love him,” Shea exclaimed.

‘You should smell him. He smells so good,’ Sera chimed in.

“Get in the car!” Noah ordered.

The mob had parted like the Red Sea as Michael stood atop our SUV, sword raised.

My boyfriend called Archangel Michael to bail me out so he could stay and protect my mom.

Oh my God, I am so marrying him one day.

Once we were all in, Noah threw the car in Reverse and peeled out of the parking lot. I leaned out the window and looked up.

“Michael is flying above our car!” I told my friends.

“He is the patron saint of safe travel,” Luke chimed in, trying to get a view from where he sat, smooshed between Chloe and Shea.

I opened the center console, where I’d stashed my cell phone, and dialed Lincoln.

“I saw everything on TV. I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said in a rush as soon as he answered.

“How’s my mom?” I tried not to panic, but my shaky voice betrayed me.

“I’m fine, honey.” My mom’s voice was laced with fear, I could hear it. Something had scared the shit out of her however long ago, and she was still scared.

“We’re only a few blocks away,” I told them. “Michael is escorting us,” I added, so they wouldn’t worry.

“All right, we’ll meet you outside. Is there anything else you want to take from here?” Lincoln’s voice was full of concern, and it only hit me then that we were permanently leaving my home and all its possessions. I had all the pictures of my dad that I wanted, plus clothes and bedding. None of the other stuff mattered. After what happened in the parking lot, I didn’t think we should linger.

“No. Let’s just get my mom out of here,” I told him.

Noah pulled up to the curb of my old apartment building, and I glanced over to see he was looking quite ill. Sweaty and pale.

“You okay?” I asked.

He just nodded, mouth turned down in a grimace.

Wasting no time, I jumped out of the car, but when my eyes fell on Bernie’s tent, my heart stopped.

Bernie.

I heard the door open behind me and Shea stumbled out.

“Oh God. Who’s going to take care of Bernie?” she whispered.

Since we’d moved to Demon City, we’d always taken care of Bernie and Max. Always. I couldn’t remember a night when my mom, Shea, my brother, or I didn’t bring down a cup of hot soup, a bagel, or something for him. He was one of those misunderstood homeless people. No drug problem, no criminal record, just a blind guy who was human, and couldn’t hold a job.

“We are.” My voice was firm.

He wasn’t a demon slave. The only reason he lived there was because it was the only thing he knew. We were taking him with us.

I approached the tent and could see his shoes were off, feet sticking out.

“Is that you, Brielle?” Before I got too close, his sweet voice rang through the space. He peeked his head out, and Maximus barked in excitement.

“Yeah, Bernie, it’s me. Long time no see.” Bending down, I patted Max’s head and poked my head inside the tent. He had a little setup in there that would take quite a while to break down.

“You okay? You smell of blood.” Bernie frowned.

I swore the guy had the nose of a bloodhound.

“Got in a little fight, but I’m all right. Hey, Bernie? My mom’s moving to Angel City, and I’d like you and Max to come with us there. I can’t explain much right now, but we don’t have time to pack all your stuff.”

His mouth popped open in surprise. “They don’t like my kind on the fancy part of town.”

My kind. Homeless. Anger flared within me at his words. The high-and-mighty fallen were always looking down on these sorts of “unsightly” things. What kind of angel blessed were you, if you couldn’t reach out to those in need?

Lincoln and my mom burst from the back door then. The moment Lincoln saw me stooped down, talking to Bernie, a dawning came over his face. He knew what I was doing.

“I’ve still got my trailer. It’s all his if he wants it,” Lincoln offered.

Tears leaked from my eyes. When did I become such a crier?

“You hear that, Bernie? A silver Airstream just for you and Max, what do you say?” I started to grab his backpack, when he reached out and grasped my wrist lightly.

“I say thank you, Brielle. Thanks for thinking of me. And I’d love to.”

His hand on my wrist was vibrating, like a high-pitched buzzing, sending soothing vibrations up my arm and into my injured shoulder. Before I could think more on it, he let go.

My mom sidestepped Lincoln and gave Shea and I both a gentle hug, which hurt because my body was falling apart. Lincoln propped open the stairwell door, and we started to grab my mother’s boxes and suitcases.

“I’ve got a dead Abrus demon and three Snakeroot demons locked in the bathroom up there, so we need to leave, now,” Lincoln told us as he heaved Bernie into a standing position.

A dead Abrus demon! I didn’t even want to know the details. Not right now.

We opened the back of our large three-row SUV and packed Maximus in the cargo hold, with all of my mom’s stuff.

I’d forgotten about Michael, until he started to descend, and landed lightly on the roof of the car.

“Can you take it from here, Lincoln? I feel sick being in this energy for too long,” he called out to my boyfriend.

Lincoln nodded. “Yes. Thank you, sir.”

Interesting. Even the Archangels can’t be here for too long.

Michael’s gaze snapped to Bernie and a knowing smile lifted his lips. Before I could think any more on it, he was gone, a glowing white dot in the sky.

As we drove away from my home in Demon City, I looked back for the last time at the place that had ruined our lives. My father died here, and my mother and I were enslaved here. There was nothing about this place I wanted to remember.