“If I kill him, which I will, I get Archangel Michael’s sword, and get to keep Brielle and her contract. Is that correct, boy?” he asked.

Lincoln nodded and stepped into the parking lot. “Let’s do this.”

Burdock grinned. “Gladly.”

Moving forward, he then bent over, spewing black fire onto the concrete. It chased along the parking lot, drawing a perimeter in a perfect circle around Lincoln and himself. The flames danced about two feet high, and reeked of brimstone, the acidic sulfur burning my nostrils.

Holy end of days. Lincoln’s going to die.

“That’s hellfire, son, so unless you want to meet the Prince of Darkness, I suggest you don’t touch it,” Burdock growled.

My eyes widened. The fire is a portal to Lucifer?

Lincoln glared at Burdock and flexed, popping out his glorious white wings. They stretched in close to a fifteen-foot span, and he flapped them up and down really hard, blowing out half of the hellfire circle.

“You don’t scare me, old man,” Lincoln spat.

Oh shit.

Burdock was a blur of motion. Like a freaking vampire, he was there one second and then standing before Lincoln the next. He swung his mace out and connected with Lincoln’s chest, knocking into his armor and tearing his shirt.

The breath rushed out of Lincoln, but he held steady and used the close proximity to lunge at Burdock with his sword. The Celestial was able to nick his arm before the demon moved away.

I’d forgotten to tell him Burdock was superfast. Oops.

Burdock swung out with his right arm, intending to clip Lincoln in the face, but the Celestial pumped his wings and shot up into the air, hovering above the demon, out of his grasp. That enraged Burdock, who spewed orange flames from his mouth, without warning, catching the tips of Lincoln’s wings. Lincoln panicked, flying higher into the sky, flapping his wings faster and faster in an effort to douse the flames. I chewed my nails as I watched everything go down, wondering how the hell all of this had happened so fast.

The fire sputtered out and then Lincoln suddenly let go. He tucked his wings in, right above Burdock, so he dropped like a hundred and fifty-pound weight, fast and hard. He landed on top of the tall demon, taking him to the ground, and with one hard slash of the sword, hacked Burdock’s left horn off.

“Kill this fool!” Shea’s boss roared.

Black smoke burst from the gaping hole where the horn was, and Lincoln started to cough. The smoke covered their bodies, hiding them from view, until all I could hear was grunting, and the clanging of metal against metal.

My startled gaze found Shea across the lot, looking completely shocked and confused. Her slack jaw and death mark tattoo had a thought forming in my mind. A crazy thought. A thought that could get me killed.

Suddenly, a bright blue light rose above the black smoke, and then Lincoln was flying out of it with Burdock in his arms. My master was hornless, bleeding, and freaking enraged. He shouted in anger as Lincoln flew them higher and higher.

Then he dropped Master Burdock.

From fifty feet up.

The demon screamed the entire way down, spewing fire and smoke as he fell. When he crashed into the parking lot, pavement caved in like a crater, and chipped up at the edges. His legs had to have been broken, but he didn’t seem to care. He pulled a dagger from his boot, and as Lincoln sped toward him, sword outstretched, the demon flung the dagger straight at him. I screamed, but it was no use. It sailed through the space between them and sank into Lincoln’s thigh. With a painful roar, the Celestial dropped clumsily the last few feet and landed awkwardly, snapping his ankle. I could hear the crack of bone from where I stood.

I winced, stepping forward to help in some way, when my mom pulled me back. “No interference or it voids the whole thing. He’s got this.”

I wanted to protest, to run in there and help, but she was right. It was probably against the rules, and he was so close. It looked like he really had a chance.

I could be free.

Lincoln and Burdock were staring at each other, both bleeding and broken. Lincoln took a calming breath and then opened his eyes. They were an eerie blue, and glowing.

“Back to Hell with you, demon!” he roared and then swung his sword. Burdock swung his mace in circles around his head, and then, just as Lincoln got close, he let go, intending for the mace to smack Lincoln in the face. Lincoln raised his sword, and a blinding blue light shot out, sending the mace to the ground, and shattering it into a hundred pieces.

Whoa.

You could see it on Burdock’s face, the moment when he knew he had lost. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lincoln came down sideways with his sword, and took the demon’s head clean off before he could utter a word.

Holy freaking shit. Burdock’s dead.

The glowing red contract in my mom’s hands puffed to ash, and we both gasped.

I was free. I was a free soul.

Tears slid down my mom’s face, and I wanted to enjoy the moment with her. It was everything I’d wanted, to be free of this shithole, everything my mother wanted for my life as well, but I couldn’t enjoy it. Not with my best friend standing across the way, death mark on her arm, dark circles around her eyes and bruises on her face. Tainted Academy was going to break her. Her strong, beautiful spirit was fading day by day, and I’d made a promise to never let that happen. I wouldn’t let her go dark.

“Your slave mark is gone,” my mom said, mystified.

I rubbed my forehead in shock.

Lincoln is so going to kill me.

I reached out, and took Michael’s sword from her. “I love you, Mom,” I told her, then advanced into the circle, stepping over Burdock’s severed head.

I pulled my dagger from my boot and it flared to life, emitting a golden yellow buttery light. I pointed the tip of the blade at Shea’s master.

“Grim, I challenge you in a fight to the death. If I win, Shea’s contract is absolved, and she’s a free soul.”

Chaos erupted. My mother, Shea, and Lincoln all screamed in protest. If Lincoln hadn’t just killed my mom’s boss, I would have fought him to free her but seeing as though he was dead, there was no way to get my mom’s contract. I had to fight for Shea while I had the chance. I knew my mother would understand. Eventually. Assuming I survived.

Master Grim just smirked, his eyes flashing red. “And if I win?” He took off his jacket, revealing a hairy, scarred chest with leathery skin.

I threw Michael’s sword at his feet. “The sword of Archangel Michael. Freely given.” I tried to remember the wording Lincoln had used.

More like freely stolen but I was hoping that wouldn’t matter.

He grinned. “And you. If I win, I want the sword and you. And I change the terms from fight to the death to forfeit. If one of us forfeits, we may keep our life.”

“Fine!” I replied through gritted teeth, before my nerves got the best of me.

“Absolutely not!” Lincoln burst forward, limping. The knife still stuck out of his leg, the tips of his wings were burned, and his hands looked bloody and battered. He hooked a hand under my armpit and started to drag me toward my car. “Are you crazy?” Blood-tinged spittle flew from his mouth in rage.

‘We can do this,’ Sera egged me on. ‘Shea is family.’

I clenched my jaw and pointed to Shea, standing with my mother at the edge of the circle in shock.

“The girl right there is my sister,” I told him.

He furrowed his brow as he looked from my pale skin to her brown tones.

“And I know you don’t trust me, or know me that well yet, but one thing you will learn is that I’m loyal as fuck, and I’m not leaving her behind. I’d rather die!”

He looked defeated, weak, and tired. “Then you might just get your wish.” Lincoln collapsed onto the back of my car, blood leaking from his leg.

Does that mean he’s allowing it? I didn’t wait to find out. Turning, I faced the Grimlock demon. “I accept your terms.”

He sneered and clapped, producing Shea’s contract and handing it to my mother.

“My witness will be here any moment,” he stated.

Lincoln was mumbling something, reaching for me. Shit. He was getting worse by the minute. I opened the back of the car, and helped him inside.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked. “Should I call for help?”

He shook his head. “No one can help me in here. Just make this quick. The longer you draw it out, the better chance you have of losing.”

Thanks for the confidence.

I turned and came face-to-face with Shea, tears pouring down her cheeks. “What the hell are you doing? Call it off!”

I shook my head. “I’m not leaving without you. You’ll go dark, we’ll stop talking, and my mom will cry all the time. So no.”

She barked a laugh through her tears, and threw herself at me for a bone-crunching hug. “He has an old left knee injury, pains him all the time. His throat skin is the thinnest. Everywhere else is like rubber,” she whispered, then pulled back.

It hit me then that I was about to kill a man, or at least attempt to. The thought was horrifying. Demon or not, I was about to become a killer. Looking across the parking lot, I saw his witness was the Abrus demon that was going to buy my contract.

Great.

I moved to walk into the circle, when Lincoln snaked an arm out, and grabbed my wrist. “If she’s really your family, then there’s nothing that can stop your seraph blade from defending her.”

Whatever I was going to do, I needed to hurry. The back of my SUV was overflowing with crimson blood.

It started to rain, as it often did in Demon City, mercifully snuffing the black portal fire.

‘When he advances, kick his left knee out and then go for his throat,’ Sera told me.

It was like having my own personal battle instructor in my head.

Taking a deep breath, I popped out my wings. I didn’t exactly know how to fly yet, but I could at least hover, which could be useful in a bad situation.

The demon grinned, black leathery bat-like wings erupting from his back.