After interrogating Mikey for every last scrap of info on this Fight Night, I informed him that he was now the new groundskeeper. At least for the summer.

Once he got over the fact that he was going to have to actually do work to earn his keep, we all settled into a nice flow. He did the grounds keeping, and Shea and I trained our asses off. I told Raphael about the Tainted Army thing, but he didn’t seem surprised, only saddened.

Now we only had a few days left of summer, and the Awakening ceremony was tomorrow.

Shea stood in the gym, clutching her disc weapons, sweat dripping down her chest and a badass look in her eye. Lincoln stood before her, blue fiery sword held aloft.

“Cut me!” he roared, and Shea advanced. Her fists held the flat grips of the blades while the sharp semicircles lashed out, seeking to cut my man. Lincoln was a blur, so fast I could barely track him.

He and the boys had been training us hard. As I was distracted watching them, Noah kicked out my feet and suddenly I was falling. Next thing I knew, his blade was at my neck.

Frick.

He looked down at me, sweat glistening against his perfect porcelain skin. “When fighting two on two, you need to keep your eye on your own fight. Getting distracted with what Shea’s doing will only get you killed.”

He was right. When the time came, I needed to just worry about my own fight.

With a rapid spin, I turned out of reach of his sword and used my legs to scissor-kick him. As I connected with his legs, he came tumbling down, and I grappled to gain leverage, moving on top of him. As I was crawling up his body, in an effort to straddle him and try to pin him down, his hand shot out, chopping me in the throat.

Holy shitballs.

Pain exploded in my neck as I fought to breathe. A lump had formed in my throat, and I’d keeled over to the side in a weak defense.

Noah looked sideways at me. “That was a dirty move, and I feel really bad for using it, but the Tainted Academy kids are going to fight dirty like that, so you need to be prepared.”

With tears leaking out of the sides of my eyes, all I could do was nod. He was right. He was so right it hurt.

Lincoln and Shea had paused their fight and were taking a break.

“You’re right,” Lincoln said to Noah. “Which gives me an idea.”

“Oh no. I don’t like that face. You’re doing the face,” I told him.

He just grinned and then looked at Shea. “Okay, when are you calling him?”

Air blew through Shea’s full lips. “I dunno. Now-ish.”

We decided Shea would be the one to call Master Grim and ask his permission for us to enter Demon City to register for the fight contest, since I’d been the one to try and kill him and all.

Lincoln shook his head. “Okay, get three passes. I’m going with you girls.”

A frown pulled at Noah’s lips. “Hey, I’ve never been to Demon City. I want to go too.”

Shea’s conspiratorial look connected with his. “Trust me, you aren’t missing anything.”

“Just ask,” Lincoln told her, holding out her phone.

She chewed her bottom lip. “Man, I feel sick. What if he says no? All this time will have been wasted.”

“Don’t let him say no. You know him. Use everything you got,” I encouraged.

She took a deep breath and dialed his number on speakerphone, then started to pace.

“What do you want!” he barked the second he picked up. She’d worked for him for six years, so of course he’d have her number saved in his phone.

Shea stopped in her tracks and rubbed her sweaty palm on her pants leg. “To give you a million bucks for Kate Atwater’s demon contract,” she replied, voice as smooth as butter.

Grim laughed good-naturedly. “Don’t waste my time with fairy tales, angel lover,” he spat.

My bestie chewed her lip. “I’m not. I just need you to get me four passes into Demon City so I can sign up for Fight Night. When my team wins, I’ll give you the money. All of it. In return, you release Kate’s contract.”

Silence. Long-ass, terrifying silence. Did he hang up?

“You can’t win. You’ve no doubt gotten weak in Angel City. Don’t waste my time.” Then he hung up.

He freaking hung up.

“Bastard!” Shea screamed at the phone, then sat down on the floor, and started typing furiously on the keyboard.

Frowning, I walked over. “What are you…?” My question faded when I noticed she’d pulled up Grim’s picture from one of his strip club websites.

“I’ll show him who’s weak.” She started to rock back and forth, chanting and moving her hands left and right as dark blue magic leaked out, covering the phone.

“Is that light magic?” Lincoln’s voice held concern.

I raised an eyebrow, but Shea ignored his question.

“It’s, make his horns fall off, magic,” she declared, and I blanched.

“Shea—” Before I could talk her off the ledge, the phone lit up with a call from Pansy-Ass Boss Man.

Shea stopped her magic and grinned, answering with a purr, “Why, hello there?”

“What are you doing!” he roared. I could practically imagine the spittle flying from his mouth.

“Who’s weak now?” Shea sneered into the phone. “Two months ago, I helped kill four demons, so don’t tell me I can’t win. That million bucks is mine,” she growled.

Silence.

More silence.

“No, it’s mine. You’ve got a deal. Now, stop fucking with my horns,” he rumbled and hung up.

Shea smiled as we all looked at each other in shock and relief. Two minutes later, he texted her a one-hour travel pass for four people from Angel City.

“Let’s ride,” Lincoln called out.

Chapter Three

The next day, we set out to register for Fight Night. After getting past the border with our passes, Shea instructed Lincoln on how to get to Tainted Academy. The longer we drove, the more Noah and Lincoln shifted in their seats, looking uncomfortable.

“How come Shea and I don’t feel like shit when we’re here but you do?” I asked Lincoln.

He gave me a side glance. “Shea doesn’t feel it because only Celestials do, and you don’t because….” He eyed the mark on my chest.

Ah. Interesting. Because I wasn’t a full-fledged Celestial, I was a Lucifer hybrid.

Ugh. Sorry I asked.

“Left down this alley,” Shea added, leaning forward.

We careened between two brick buildings and down a skinny alleyway. When we reached the end, there was a black wrought-iron gate guarded by a demon slave who looked like a WWE wrestler. He was clutching a sleek black gun in his oversized left hand.

Lincoln rolled down the window and the guard glared at him, nostrils flaring.

“What are you doing here?” he spat.

Lincoln handed him his phone, which had the barcode showing we were approved to be in Demon City. “We’re here to enroll in Fight Night,” Lincoln told him.

The guard glanced at it and shrugged. “Says you can be in Demon City. Doesn’t say I have to let you in Tainted Academy.”

Dammit.

I was about to speak when Shea rolled down her window, directly behind Lincoln. The guard snapped his eyes in her direction.

“What’s the matter, sugar tits? Afraid you’ll lose to a couple Fallen Academy kids?” Shea questioned.

He glared at her, his eyebrows drawing together to form one bushy scowl. “You the one entering?”

“Me and my bestie,” Shea answered with a nod, waving her thumb towards me. “Gonna wipe the floor with these Tainted Academy kids.”

His glare turned to a grin and then a full-blown laugh. Reaching down, he pulled out his walkie-talkie. “I need an escort for some Fallen Academy douchebags. Keep your eye on the dark-haired one. He’s one of the leaders of the Fallen Army.”

He looked at Lincoln and winked, then slapped the hood of the car.

We drove on through, my man at the wheel, scowling.

Noah turned to Shea. “How did you know that would work?”

She smiled, shaking her head. “Please. Men are run by two things: their dick and their ego. Dick, ego, dick, ego—”

Noah waved a hand in her face, shutting her up. “Got it.”

I chuckled and looked over at Lincoln, who was grimacing behind the steering wheel. “How did he know you?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “I’ve never seen that guy before in my life.”

Noah leaned forward, popping his head between us. “Yeah, that was weird. We should tell Raph.”

Lincoln just nodded and pulled into a parking spot near the entrance, where two large men were standing with automatic rifles.

“Shit, man, they’re packing here. This is a school, right?” Lincoln leaned back to glance at Shea.

A dark look crossed her face and she nodded. “A messed-up school, yeah.”

Now the guys were walking to our car. Lincoln opened the door and stood tall.

“No weapons on campus,” the big brute with black bushy hair, and a red crescent moon tattoo on his forehead warned.

Lincoln was quiet for a whole forty-five seconds before he leaned into the car and whispered, “Noah, you stay here with the weapons. If I text you, drive onto campus and bring me my sword.”

Holy shit, does he think we’re going to have trouble?

Unstrapping his sword, he placed it on the center console.

Noah’s gaze filled with longing while he focused on the campus. It was clear he wanted to see the inside, but he just nodded to Lincoln as Shea and I got out. I wasn’t sure if they were going to check us, and I couldn’t risk Sera getting taken, so I left her on the seat.

As I made my way around the car to stand next to Lincoln, I saw the men looking him over, checking him for weapons.

“What about him?” They pointed to Noah, who had crawled into the front seat.

“My driver isn’t feeling well. He’s going to stay in the car,” Lincoln answered with a straight face.