Page 75 of Sweet Violence
I was thoroughly unshocked when he narrowed green eyes and barked, "New girl. Get over here; Izan's decided on your task. Bring your guards if you feel like it. And everyone else," he added, noticing he'd drawn the attention of everyone who was left in the courtyard, stretching out aches in their legs, "feel free to come and watch."
I wasn't a huge fan of the low murmur of laughter that answered him.
"If this is a hazing, I'm not getting tied to a lamppost naked or kissing anyone I don't like. You'll have to take one for the team," I told my mates. "Not on the kissing," I added quickly,
"As if any lips could ever compare to yours, Av," X said, shaking his head.
"We'd better go over; the drill sergeant looks angry," Joseph murmured, a protective shadow at our backs.
"Drill Bastard," I corrected, setting off in a low saunter, "and I think that's just his face. My guess is he swallowed a wasp as a kid and his face stuck that way."
X snorted, dark blue eyes glittering.
The crowd eerily parted to let us through, the looks thrown our way either mean and anticipatory or sympathetic. I didn't spot my new friends, so there was no awe aimed my way. I kinda missed it; I wanted my cheerleaders, dammit.
"Present," I said when we reached Drill Bastard, watching his green nostrils flare at my tone.
"Follow me," he barked, and didn't wait for our reply before storming down a path around the side of the blocky building.
Okaaay. If I was being led to my death, I was gonna be angry.
X, Joseph, and I followed the big, dark green bastard around the back of the training hall, a crowd of onlookers trailing behind, murmuring theories about what our task would be.
Although let's not kid ourselves; this trial was for me, and me alone. I doubted anyone, especially Izan, had taken one look at X and Joseph. And that was exactly how we liked it.
They'd learn they were more than muscle and guards a second before X made them explode and Joseph reaped their souls.
I wondered if anyone noticed Trett was missing yet. A smug bastard like that definitely had his own room; no roommate to report him absent for a while. Maybe I'd leave his head spiked to my footboard when we left, as a little gift for whoever took over the building when its current residents were dead.
"Huh," I said when Drill Bastard led us into a beautiful country garden, with wildflowers and tall, majestic trees.
Ha, just kidding, it was an empty concrete lot. The place smelled of asphalt and blood, and in the middle of the space was a drain. Not such a great sign for the ten demons lined up, frozen no doubt by Izan's compulsion, with their hands bound in front of them.
I nearly fell over in surprise when I realised they were clothed. It took me another moment to realise I recognised the uniform. These were Dev's people.
"Let me guess," I drawled, looking from Drill Bastard to Izan when the big bad waltzed into the yard, his cloak flouncing around his ankles and spitting sparks of magic and fire.3"You want me to kill these people."
Izan inclined his dark head. "You say the devil took you in. There are concerns you're working for him."
I snorted. "Suuuure. I'm working for that giant knob.That'swhy I killed his staff."
Someone snickered in the crowd. Ha! Points to me.
"But if you want me to kill these people, no problem. You're in for a mighty shock if you think I was overexaggerating my murdery prowess."
Izan swept a hand at the frozen demons, their heights, shapes, and colouring all different but that black and silver uniform making them all the same.
Sorry, Dev. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
He didn't reply. I ignored the twinge of worry that he was pissed at me, and stalked forward. This back yard was full of pain, the violence and suffering sunk into the concrete itself, so it was easy to tug a thread of my magic so fire blazed in my hand. I moulded it into a dagger, having quick flashbacks of the funfair in Orchid Vale.
I gave Izan and Drill Bastard a smirk each and walked up to the sacrificial lambs.
"Have a nice sleep," I told the big, grey-skinned man, and slammed my knife into his heart. I left it burning there as the life drained from his eyes, making magic shudder through me, joining the pool of writhing power already there.
I formed more daggers and did the same thing to each demon. I felt a teensy bit bad, but nothing major. If this was how these people accepted me as one of them, this was what needed to be done. They'd let their guard slip, and then I'd find the people planning Dev's murder.
And I'd follow the bastards all the way to my dad, and kill him as many times as it took for him to stay permanently dead.
