The Larkspur demon hit the ground at an awkward angle and I fell on top of him, plunging Sera into the closest part of his body I could reach, which happened to be his groin.

Take that, you bastard.

Then I crawled over him, straddling his abdomen and trying to pin him down long enough to allow Sera to work. Being that close to him was making me feel like death, my whole body breaking out in chills as nausea rolled into me like waves crashing against a shoreline.

His face contorted in rage, his thick gray leathery skin bunching into a menacing pug-faced look. I thought I had his arms pinned, but then I realized he’d just been letting me as his left arm shot out and his fist connected with my jaw. Pain exploded in my ear and neck, a scream of surprise tearing from my mouth.

I went berserk then, raining blows from both fists along his face, neck, and anywhere else I could reach. Just like Lincoln taught me, I pushed my upper body weight into each blow to make them as powerful as possible.

Suddenly, the demon’s body started to heat beneath me, making the backs of my thighs hot. With crazy speed, his arms shot up into my armpits, and then I was launched off him. I crashed into the ground near Shea, who was heaving on the floor on all fours. Same with Luke’s bear. Only Chloe and I were left, and we were barely functioning.

I shot back up into a standing position, and charged him again. He was sitting up, about to pull Sera out of his groin. And he was… glowing, his skin appearing as though it contained a small fire beneath it. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow, and he was screaming in pain.

He wrapped his hands around Sera’s hilt just as I leapt into the air, and delivered a perfect flying kick to his forehead. His upper body snapped back as Sera’s magic flooded his system. I landed, looking down at him. Light was pouring off his skin, ebbing out of his pores like golden lava.

‘Step back. He’s gonna blow,’ Sera informed me.

I lunged backward, tripping over a desk just as a cracking sound filled the air, and his body exploded outward, sending meat and shards of light splattering across the room. He was destroyed from his knees to his neck, just his head and feet left.

That sudden violent sight finally did it for me. I hunched over and vomited onto the ground.

“Help!” Chloe shrieked.

Shit. I’d forgotten that she was dealing with the freaking Snakeroot demon.

Shea suddenly burst into a standing position—looking better now that the nauseating Larkspur demon was dead. She brandished her circular blade, and made quick strides across the room to help Chloe, as I tried to regain my equilibrium. Chloe had the little sucker pinned under her boot like last time, holding his wriggling body tight. Her black shoe looked to be bubbling—she’d been hit with his acid.

Shea slid on her knees, and thrust the blade across the creature’s stomach. A flow of green acid instantly spewed out onto the floor, sending a stream of phosphorescent steam upward. Chloe leapt backward just as the acid started to eat through the wooden floorboards.

The Nightblood was panting, her hair messed up, parts of it pulled from her ponytail. “I take it back. No more easy-peasy.”

Yeah, no shit.

“Everyone okay?” I asked.

Luke was looking better; he was standing now, and had quit panting. I was pretty sure Chloe was the only one who hadn’t thrown up.

“I feel much better now that it’s dead.” Shea pointed to the Larkspur demon’s remains.

My eyes fell to Chloe’s boot, which was smoking.

“Chloe, take that off or the acid will eat through it to your foot. Trust me.” I had the scar to prove it.

She quickly did as I asked, and I took a deep breath, assessing the next challenge. “Okay, there’s one more demon left. My educated guess is that it’s a Castor demon.”

Castor demons were the most dangerous of the four. They created these little energetic bursts or waves that knocked you on your ass. Getting within two feet of a Castor demon was damn near impossible, and their skin was thick like armor, not much able to pierce it.

“Chloe, you’re our best bet to get close to him. Luke, if you can charge in fast and hard, then hopefully we’ll have the element of surprise. Shea and I can try to take him out once you’ve stunned him.”

Chloe nodded, rolling her neck and pulled her sword from its scabbard. “I can do that.”

Luke nodded his big bear head.

I took another breath, still shaken from the violent death of the Larkspur demon. “Okay. Let’s head up to the next level.”

I grabbed Sera from her place on the floor, and wiped the Larkspur demon’s blood and guts off on the calf of my pant leg. Then I praised her for doing a good job with the demon. I wanted her to know I appreciated her, since she seemed to have feelings and all that.

Slowly and quietly, we took the steps one by one, partly to be stealthy and partly to drag out the inevitable. I was tired, my hip hurt, and I wanted a full-body massage with a four-hour nap. But I wasn’t a quitter.

I reached the doorframe and the stench of brimstone hit me like a truck. It was like a smoky vinegar taste that I’d grown up smelling only around the highest-level demons. Fear tightened my gut as confusion rolled into me, maybe the smell was left over from whatever demon lived here before. There were still two floors left, so this one could very well be empty. Regardless, I pulled Sera from her holster once more, not wanting to take any chances, and stepped into the space. I crouched down, rolling the lantern into the center of the room and then glanced around, trying to see if there was a demon or not.

In the far-right corner of the room, I saw a hunched-over shadowy figure.

Frowning, I looked at my team and motioned for them to follow closely behind me, instead of my initial plan to charge and stun him. I tiptoed slowly and carefully over to it. With each step, I tried to make out what it was, and why it was playing dead. Maybe it wasn’t a Castor demon; maybe it was another Yew demon, or Larkspur.

As I got closer, I saw the shape and size of the body definitely matched a Castor demon, but it was still just hunched there, playing dead.

On my hand signal, Chloe zipped through the room like a bolt of lightning and pounced on him, ramming her sword into his rib cage as Luke burst past me to finish him off.

The demon didn’t move.

“He’s dead,” Chloe said as Luke slowed his approach. The Nightblood rolled the demon over to show his face. His eyes had turned white, and he definitely wasn’t breathing.

Lincoln said we had to kill four demons, so if this one was already dead, then there had to be another. I spun around. “It’s a trick. There’s still one in here.”

A noise from the back of the room had me spinning again. There in the middle of the room was a purple and yellow glowing blob, a circle of colors suspended in the air, growing bigger and bigger each second.

“Uh, Shea… is that?” I asked.

Shea stumbled backward. “A portal.”

I chewed my lip, glancing at my GPS bracelet. “Is this part of the exercise?”

The opening was as big as a door now; only a black and gray stone wall could be seen behind it. A wall not from that building.

Maybe it was a trick. Perhaps a Light Mage was going to portal in another demon from an adjacent building to mess with us.

“It must be,” Chloe offered, moving into a fighting stance.

I snapped my wings, letting them stretch and prepare to fly just as a figure stepped from the portal and out into the room.

Everything within me revolted at the man before me. The hairs stood on my arms and legs, and I felt my knees go weak. He was six feet tall, with dark glossy hair, black sinister eyes, and pale thin skin. He was handsome in a scary way, his looks screaming danger, but the thing that terrified me the most, were the black angel wings on his back. Identical to mine. On his forearm was a tattoo, a skull with a sideways crown, and black wings behind it.

“Hello, Brielle.” His smooth voice made my insides shiver. He looked to be in his early thirties, but the way he carried himself was that of a person much older.

‘Run. Call for help,’ Sera urged.

I swallowed hard. “Who are you?” He wasn’t any demon I’d ever met.

He grinned, showcasing a full set of white teeth, but the look in his eye was assessing me, as you’d assess a good meal.

“I go by many names, but I prefer Prince of Darkness,” he crooned.

That was all I needed to hear.

Reaching over, I pushed the button on my bracelet, then stepped in front of my friends, stretching my wings out to shield them.

“Run!” I told them, holding Sera in front me.

I was standing before the freaking Devil himself.

Lucifer.

He tipped his head back and laughed. The haunting sound echoed off the walls, and made my stomach roil with nausea. His hand lifted, and he waved two fingers toward himself. At the same time, my feet started to unwillingly be dragged in his direction. My body rose a few inches off the floor, controlled by an unseen force, and I was floating against my will right toward the Devil.

No.

“You know, I think it’s unfair that the others have branded you, and yet I’ve been left out of the fun.” He eyed the visible tattoos on each arm.

“Infirmi!” Shea screamed and thrust her hand out, shooting a spell at Lucifer.

He laughed harder, black smoke leaking from his mouth. “That’s cute,” he cooed.

Shea’s spell disintegrated a few feet from him. Chloe grabbed hold of my shoulders and tried to pull me back, while Luke rose up on his hind legs and roared.

Lucifer slammed his palms together and black mist shot out. All three of my friends went flying in different directions, each crashing into the nearby walls, and sinking into unconsciousness. I tried to move but couldn’t. Trailing my eyes over each of my friend’s chests, relief flooded through me that they were all breathing.

I had reached him now. Twelve inches from the maker of evil.

‘What do I do?’ I asked Sera as my knees wobbled in fear.

‘I don’t know.’

Oh God. She’d never said that before. I was totally screwed.

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed at my blade. With one flick of his wrist, Sera was torn from my hand, and sent sailing across the room, hitting the ground with a clink.

“You’re the one from the prophecy.” His eyes glittered in excitement.

The portal was still behind him. If I could possibly kick him through and somehow close it, maybe I had a chance.

“Just leave me be. I won’t hurt you. I’m just a kid,” I pleaded. I knew it was useless to try and gain empathy from the Devil himself, but I couldn’t stand there and do nothing.

He grinned, stepping closer. “You think I’m scared of you?”

The stench of oil and vinegar burned my nose.

His hands lit up, a glowing red that pulled my gaze down to where they rested near his waist. “No, no, no, my child. You’re the first and only human creation of mine. I want to mold you into the great and dark warrior you can be.”