Page 127 of Hell Bound

“Mixed martial arts, Commander!” Now that he was being taken seriously, some of his nearly irrepressible enthusiasm was coming back.

He did his lunging little dance around me again, and I raised a hand to block his strike—but Deasley was frozen in place, his eyes focused somewhere over my shoulder.

Chains whispered in my ears, drawing tighter. His scent—a reek of cigars and liquor—burned my nose as it breezed through the courtyard.

“You can see how hard my pack works.” Asmodeus’s smug voice was the last thing I wanted to hear. “Almost all elite fighters. Within five years, and after a few choice Cullings, I will have a force to rival the Abyssian Guard of the Fallen Court.”

I turned slowly, prickles running over my skin.

The King watched us, a knowing glint in his eye, flanked by a retinue of nobles and courtiers.

In the comparative filth of the courtyard—all stone and packed mud, the smell of sweat, and splintered fences—they stood out like jewels scattered on shit.

I knew many of them by face: the Baron and Baroness Cthurhain, their daughter, Braith, a slinking shadow near them.

Duke Sorath of the Illicit Court, surrounded by men who looked like they’d be of more use in a boudoir than on a battlefield.

But more than a few were strangers to me, new courtiers who were looking over every inch of the Infernal Court with varying degrees of awe or distaste.

It wasn’t until Asmodeus shifted that I saw the dark shadow behind him.

Lilith had been dressed like the Spectrals, a semi-sheer veil covering half her face and leaving her crimson lips exposed. Her dark hair had been twisted into horns that held the veil, letting it flow down her back.

Ifelther watching me through that sheer cloth, her gaze like burning brands.

But I forced my eyes away from her.

What better sport could Asmodeus come up with than having me demonstrate my undying servitude by strangling her with that veil right here in the mud of the training yard?

The Baron was looking around with the most curiosity, his leaking eyes trained on Pypentha. “You think you can rival the most powerful warriors in all of Hell withthem? The Abyssians have a history going back a thousand years.”

Asmodeus smiled thinly. “And yet it only took one to acquire their most promising student.” His gaze on me was as sharp as daggers, and he waved a magnanimous hand. “Do not stop on my account. Let them see your prowess.”

I ignored the muscle that began to twitch in my jaw, setting up Deasley with Jovran. “Leave the hopping until after they’re gone,” I muttered.

Instead of throwing out a snappy comeback, he just nodded, his face the color of curdled milk.

He turned his back on the audience, and when I glanced over, Duke Sorath was watching him, his lips curled into a nasty expression that couldn’t quite be called a smile.

“Pypentha, with me,” I ordered, throwing her a practice sword. She caught it easily, rolling her shoulders as she went.

Lilith’s gaze was a mountain weighing on my back as I sparred with Pypentha.

Maybe I hit a little harder than necessary, but knowing she was only feet away and I couldn’t do anything about it…

Pypentha finally growled, bringing her sword up between my legs in a savage stroke that would’ve connected if Braith’s gasp hadn’t warned me in time.

I jumped back, narrowly avoiding the possibility of never being able to have children, and drove her back with a series of chopping blows.

When Pypentha surrendered, bowing to me amid polite applause, it took all of my effort not to look at the one demoness in this courtyard who really mattered to me.

“The Tainted wolf is fierce enough,” Sorath said admiringly, running his eyes over Pypentha. Her lip curled before she remembered who he was, and she forced a bow to him, although nothing would ever get her to smile at him.

Braith drifted closer to us, a wraith in the wind. The breeze lifted her face veil the smallest amount, showing the black tears dripping down her cheeks.

“Only the strong will remain.” Asmodeus stepped forward towards Braith, Lilith at his side like a silent shadow. That hidden gaze crawled over my face. “Do you like what you see, Lady Cthurhain? The strength? The ferocity?”

Braith tilted her head, looking me up and down. When the veil flickered, I saw her pale tongue dart out and run over her lips. “They are… well, intriguing.”

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