Page 114 of Not Today, Satan
I narrow my eyes, and a cold hand clamps around my insides at the calm on his face. The same calm Alex had when he talked of killing his father. “What are you talking about?”
“Goodbye, Princess.” He smiles wide, revealing his sharp teeth. “Or maybe it’s just Devica now.”
Before I can call after him, Ferus flaps his stolen wings and soars out of the throne room, my ring clutched in his palm, my dagger still planted in his chest.
LIII.
I fight the urge to sink to the ground beside Diripo.
It should be over. The dagger should’ve sapped his energy like the cuffs depleted mine. Except he isn’t fighting with only his own strength. Pieces of my father have become part of him, raging through his blood like they do mine.
Ferus has the strength of two demons now. My body still shakes from exhaustion. I can’t beat him. I should let him go.
My gaze trails over Diripo’s body, and my throat tightens. If I give up, Ferus will keep hurting the people I care about. Nate, Atty, my mother. Ferus will punish them in order to harm me.
Beyond them, there’s the rest of humanity to contend with. They’re not as awful as I was taught to believe. Mal’s smile drifts through my mind. His reminders that my genetics don’t mean I’m broken—they make me who I am.
And I’m better than a narcissistic red demon with muscles where a brain should be.
I close my eyes and take a shaking breath. Ferus may be strong, but I have the blood of my father and mother in me. And I have me. I don’t need anything or anyone else.
I’m ready to kick his ass.
My body’s healed some since I removed the cuff. My arm still aches, but it’s no longer bent at an awkward angle. I test my wings. My feet rise off the carpet, then land back softly. “You want to keep fighting, Ferus?” I say to the empty room. “Bring it.”
I dash to where he threw my sword and secure it to my waist before taking off after him.
It’s not hard for me to spot him.
My father’s wings are massive, three times the size of mine. And because they don’t belong to him, they don’t allow Ferus to fly smoothly.
He staggers through the air, gaining then losing elevation. He bobs up and down like people on the roller coaster Nate showed me at the Santa Monica Pier. They screamed with every drop, but Ferus is relishing the falls.
He doesn’t scream. He howls with laughter. A choked sound that echoes over the stones of Dominus and sends chills up my spine.
Once I get a good angle on him, I aim with my hand stretched in front of me and attempt to fling a fireball his way. But only smoke puffs from my palms.
I’m not at full power yet. Dammit.
I trail Ferus over Hell, my eyes locking on the places I traversed with Nate.
Lot Thirteen—where in the worst of humanity, I found one of the best. Even if he gets on my nerves sometimes.
Lot Eleven—a place that made me think I saw a beast in the mirrors when what I was seeing were the parts of me that make me powerful and strong.
Lot Eight—where I followed the ghost of my mom through the mud before finding the real thing on Earth.
And ahead, the ice castle. The place where I spent the night with Nate and found my angel side.
I fought so hard to escape these places, and now I’m battling a demon with a stitched-on pair of wings and a sword in his chest so that I can stay here forever. Yet this doesn’t feel wrong. None of it. Not how I got here or how I jet through the air after Ferus. Fighting for my home now feels like what I was born to do.
Far below, the escaped shadelings battle with the souldiers, wails from both sides rising through the air, but I cut through their cries like thread, my eyes finding my target.
Ferus lands on one of the ice castle’s parapets to catch his breath, and I attempt to lob another fireball. I’m back at full power, but the flame misses him by inches.
Instead, it melts a hole into the castle wall. Through it, I can make out the bedroom my father furnished for a woman who would never sleep there. The room where I first kissed Nate. Where I fell in love. I can’t do anything but watch as the flame falls to the rug in front of the bed and catches.
Horrified, I freeze midair.
