The Prince of Darkness erupted into laughter and applause on the bleachers, and that’s when shit hit the fan.

Brimstone’s head snapped up to look at me, and then he roared. Black smoke spewed from his horns, falling in tendrils to the floor. Shoving the Abrus demon beside him out of the way, he started to run right for me at full speed.

All normal laws of nature dictated that I should’ve been scared right then, but I wasn’t. Something deep and dark snapped within me.

Rage.

I’d been taken from my home, ripped away from my family who were made to think I was dead, and now I had to fight these assholes just to prove I was worthy to the Devil?

Screw him. Screw this whole place.

I gripped the large sword tightly, and burst from the ground, pumping my black wings. The Brimstone demon was right below me. As I flew over him, he pulled the dagger from his shoulder and tossed it upward, trying to hit me with it. I dodged it successfully, curling my wings around my body to spin in mid-air.

Once I’d flown past him, I quickly dropped to the ground just behind him and spun, slashing out with my sword, cutting into his back like a maniac.

“Bitch!” he roared, pivoting on his feet, and swinging his right fist toward my abdomen.

I tried to back out of the way in time but was too late; all I could do was flex my muscles and brace for impact. His fist connected with my stomach and knocked the wind out of me. The rest of the group went wild with applause.

Assholes.

Gasping for breath, I brought my sword up and sliced off one of his horns. As it fell to the ground, I faltered. This was just a training practice, and I’d cut off his freaking horn. Granted, he was a demon who’d just socked me in the stomach, but…

“Kill him!” Lucifer roared.

Well that explained that. Training in Hell ended in death.

Awesome.

While I was having my moral dilemma, the Brimstone demon took in a deep breath, and then spewed fire from his mouth in my direction. I saw it coming, since that’s what Brimstones were known for, so I was able to bring my arms up to cover my face and hair, but the hot flames splashed onto the backs of my forearms and elbows, singeing the skin there. With a yelp, I jumped and dropped my sword, pain sizzling along my arms as I staggered backward.

The Brimstone demon grinned, stooping low to pick up my sword, and then advanced on me.

“Show him what you’re capable of!” Lucifer screamed like an enraged father, watching his kid lose a soccer game.

I wanted to flip him my charred middle finger, but I was in too much pain to move. Instead, I flapped my wings and shot up into the air once more. The ceilings were pretty high in this room, twenty feet at least, so I decided to get some air and think. My skin was burning so badly that I found myself wondering if it would scar. Hopefully my angelic healing would kick in soon.

Thoughts of healing led me to think about Raphael and how much I missed him. He was like a father to me, not this crazy asshole leering at me down below with matching wings.

Raphael’s words came to me then, the ones he’d spoken in his office about me needing to stop feeding my dark magic.

Yes, I was angry. Livid really. But more than that, more than anything in this world, I was in love. With Lincoln. That love was like the brightest light I’d ever known, and it was inside of me, right now. Even as painful as it was to be apart from each other, it didn’t diminish what I felt for him. It was this ever-present force inside of me.

‘Yes. Now you see. You have no idea what the light magic is capable of, Brielle. More than all dark magic in this world,’ Sera encouraged.

In that moment, everything became clear to me. I had a choice. I was in control of my reactions and thoughts, and I could choose not to go down this dark path.

It was as if the future laid itself out before me in that moment. If I kept letting Lucifer and his demons enrage me, I used my black magic powers, and fed the darkness inside of me, I would lose myself. I would lose that one thing that was most important to me.

Love.

Love for Shea, my mom, my brother.

For Lincoln.

The feeling of being in love was like nothing I’d ever experienced in my life. Like my mother always said, it could make or break a person, and I think it did both to me, though it was broken only because we were apart. I wouldn’t allow the darkness to snuff out the one light force that was left inside of me.

With a smirk, I dropped to the ground, no longer aware of the pain along my arms.

Lucifer wanted an archdemon, an evil daughter, a prodigy. I wasn’t going to give him that.

I felt the light inside of me rip through the darkness then, like a zipper tearing open. Thrusting my hands out to the Brimstone demon, I screamed at the top of my lungs. A bright white light shot from my palms as he roared, more fire spewing from his mouth. With a loud crash, the fire and white light slammed into each other, and my light threw the demon on his ass, simultaneously extinguishing the fire.

I pushed then, just a little bit, letting the Celestial power flow from me. It wound around the demon like a cocoon, and he writhed in agony, shrieking as if I’d covered him in fire.

Walking over, I picked up the sword I’d been using before, then stood over the screaming demon, holding the sword to his chest.

“I would say to go to Hell, but you’re already here.” Gripping the hilt tightly, I slammed the sword into his chest, and he stopped moving. The white light dissipated, breaking apart into a fine mist.

Turning to meet the eyes of the crowd, there was only one pair I searched for.

Lucy’s.

He looked beyond livid, staring at my feet and seething, like he was a second away from beating the shit out of me.

Following his gaze I gasped. It wasn’t my feet he was looking at, but the tips of my wings.

They’d turned white.

“You’re excused for the rest of the day,” the Prince of Darkness snapped, fuming.

Raksha’s eyes met mine, and I knew there would be hell to pay.

Chapter Seven

Raksha was silent all the way back to my room. Only after we were inside did she unload on me.

“Do you or do you not have dark powers? What the hell was that back there?” she shouted.

I rubbed my arms, then stopped because they were still red, and swollen from the burns. “That was Celestial magic. I have the blood and tattoos of four Celestials inside of me. “Was Lucy really surprised?” I snapped.

Her face clouded over. “Don’t call him that. Are you trying to get us all killed?”

I sighed dryly. “No! I gave you what you wanted! I went in and picked a fight with that demon. I gave Lucifer what he wanted. I killed the demon! Now, I’m trying to keep a little something for myself. I can’t lose myself to the darkness. I won’t allow that.”

She rubbed her temples. “He watched you in the Tainted Academy fights. He wants that dark magic.”

I’d suspected he was watching me somehow, and now this confirmed it.

I shrugged. “I only did that to save my mom. I’m not doing it again. If he wants a warrior, I can do that, but on my own terms.”

She looked down at me with an unreadable gaze while I crossed my arms in defiance. Finally she sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re too good for this place. You’ll never be what he needs.”

Then she threw open the door and slammed it shut behind her, locking me inside.

With a sigh, I fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

‘I’m never going to survive here,’ I confessed to Sera.

She was silent for a whole minute until finally she spoke. ‘Yes you will. I have a plan.’

It was about damn time.

“You wanted to speak with me.”

Lucifer scowled over his desk, which was littered with maps of what looked like Angel City. The moment he saw me looking, he covered them.

Play the part, Brielle.

Casually, I shrugged. “I know you’re pissed about yesterday, but there’s a reason I’m fighting with Celestial magic.”

He glared at me, raising one well-manicured eyebrow. “You’re too weak to handle my magic?”

With effort, I refrained from rolling my eyes. “No. Your goal is to storm the gates of Heaven, right? Training with dark magic users is easy, but teach your demons to fight my magic, and they’ll be well equipped to handle other Celestials.”

Obvious delight crossed his face, before he quickly stowed it away. “And what about you? What about your training?”

I shifted my stance. Did he honestly want me to become some evil little archdemon? It was never going to happen.

‘Lie. Quickly,’ Sera commanded.

“Honestly, using the dark magic is easy for me. I don’t need to train with it.” I shrugged. “But I would like to learn more about making the creatures.” I gestured to his creepy-ass gurney, where jars of bones and batwings sat.

He grinned, and dammit he was so good-looking, which was utterly revolting considering what a douchebag he was.

“You liked that, didn’t you?”

Ew, that sounded sexual.

I just nodded.

He stood, stepping out from behind the desk and advancing on me.

‘Oh God, what if he can read my mind?’ I asked Sera.

‘He can’t. I’ll protect your mind. Be cool.’

Lucifer looked at the white tips of my wings and tsked. “You know, the art of demon creation is one of the darkest gifts out there. To master that would make you truly evil.”

Shit.

I gave him a light smile. “Where do I sign up?”

I had to do this. It was all part of the plan. Demon creation happened right here in his office, near Sera. If I could earn his trust, I’d be close enough to break her out one day.

The pleasure became evident in his gaze before he turned to walk over to the table. With his back to me, my eyes darted around the room quickly, looking for the case that held Sera.

‘Where are you?’ I finally asked her, unable to locate it on my own.

‘In a safe under his desk.’

Great.

‘Does Raksha have the key?’