10. Livy

CHAPTER TEN

LIVY

T he smack of metal hitting wood sounded off. I squeezed my pillow against my tortured ears willing the racket to end. Yet, the noise defiantly raged on outside my bedroom door, only growing more disruptive as the minutes passed.

The door slipped open, and with arms flat at her sides, Ferina gave me a look that said, ‘what the actual fuck?' "For the goddess's sake, didn't you hear me pounding on your door?" She held up the cast iron frying pan in her right hand.

"I was trying not to. Do you know what time it is?" I yawned, pointing at the violet sky outside.

She stepped inside, flipping on the lights, her expression as fierce as an agitated lioness. "It's almost dawn and danger doesn't care about the time of the day. This was a very important emergency invasion drill and guess what? You failed. Now hop out of bed and get dressed, we've got training today."

"Not this again, I thought we covered everything over donuts." I hugged the sheets to me so tightly; it would take a crowbar to rip them from my fingers .

"That was just a quick run through. Mally would never forgive me if we had another mage break in and you got hurt because I didn't prepare you well enough." She placed the pan under her arm and marched over to my bedside.

"Don't look at me like that, Sunny." She peaked over to the doorway and began whispering. "Today won't be all work. Mally's got a special surprise for you tonight. And trust me, you're going to enjoy it." She elbowed the open air beside her winking.

"What's the surprise?" I flashed the blanket off, sprinted to the door, and shut it for privacy.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it? Now get dressed, we leave for the training center in fifteen." She tapped her gold watch.

My shoulders sank as Ferina scooped up my bed sheets with both hands, crushing them into a tight ball and tossing them in the corner so I couldn't go back to bed.

I sighed as she let herself out. Why did everything have to be a big national secret?

Rubbing the last bit of sleep from my eyes, I shuffled over to the bathroom sink. Wetting the toothbrush, I applied the paste and drew the brush to my lips. I paused, noticing something.

Jesus.

The black, enchanted tattoo was no longer hollow. It was a quarter filled in, or was it a third? Apprehension rattled through me as I tiptoed myself nearer the mirror, scrutinizing it.

Oh no. How did it fill in so quickly? A third or a quarter? I still couldn't tell, but either way this wasn't good.

The deal was that if I didn't fall in love with Malek within two months' time, he would abandon his war plans and let me go free.

I didn't expect Malek to honor our agreement. Because there was no way he would throw away all the territorial gains he'd made and foster peace with his enemies all over a silly bet. But still, I did keep the agreement in the back of my mind as one last possible ‘Hail Mary' should all else fail.

Though I had no way of enforcing our bargain, the fact that there was one, gave me a little fighting power.

Perhaps if I won and he refused to honor it, there may have been an option to sue him in a demon court. Magical deals had to have value here, in a place governed by demons who seemed obsessed with deals.

I never considered that even my ‘Hail Mary' last resort might be off the table. Never in a million years did I think Malek could make me feel something remotely resembling love. But I had to be falling in love with him, if not, the tattoo would still be empty.

That seductive demon was too slick. I needed to strengthen my defenses against him. No more letting him get too close, whether physically or emotionally. If I let myself fall deeper under his spell, I'd be playing right into his oversized hands, leaving the whole world vulnerable to his wicked designs.

Dressed in the camouflage suit and black boots I found in my closet; I thudded downstairs. Ferina waited for me at the bottom.

Pride brimming in the deep blue of Ferina's eyes, she parked her left elbow on the staircase railing, swinging her hips to the right. "Green suits you, Sunny. Just try to not get too much blood on it. Those stains are really tough to get out, you know."

"Blood? Are we doing that kind of training today, and is going for donuts instead, off the table?" I met her at the bottom of the stairs.

"No donuts, too much sugar will make you slow on your feet." She lightly flicked my forehead. "And,I'm not going to answer your first question, it'll just scare you away." She squeaked in a girly high pitched sort of way that made warnings sound more adorable than threatening.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Be brave!" She yelled, snatching my wrist and dragging me through the hallway near the TV room .

We ventured past a floor length mirror. I stole another peak at the heart tattoo in the mirror. It was a quarter filled. I was pretty sure this time.

Clearing the TV room and foyer, we exited the castle. Ferina's car reflected the bright morning sun and it decorated the front of the castle.

We hopped inside and she pushed some buttons, she blasted the A/C and turned on some pop music for the ride.

After clearing the palace gates, ignoring any reasonable speed limit, Ferina tore through the streets of Demon City, taking us to the training center in the north part of town.

The center was like a concrete fortress with five separate guard checkpoints to pass before we even got to the parking lot. We parked in the underground and took the elevator up to the third floor.

Outside the elevator, we were met by four heavily armed demon military officers in camouflage and black caps. Standing behind a sleek, glass turn-style, they looked mean and slightly agitated when I walked out of the elevator first. But the second Ferina walked out after me, their expressions went soft like melted butter, some of them even smiled at us.

One of the officers quickly removed a card from his pocket, and scanned it on a monitor attached to the turn style.

The entire barrier retracted into the floor, leaving empty space between us and the officers. I guessed the turn style wasn't meant for VIP's like Princess Ferina.

"Welcome to Fort Sandstorm, Princess Ferina and honored guest." The officers said in unison, bowing to Ferina.

"Thank you, boys, and this is Lady Sunny. Don't forget her name." Ferina strutted past the soldiers swaying her hips from side to side in an exaggerated way, barely looking up at them.

Seemingly worried they'd offended her, their heads fell a foot lower.

"Yes, Princess! And we apologize, Lady Sunny." They piped up .

"It's fine. Don't sweat it," I assured them before sprinting up to Ferina's side. Past the guards, we went down a long hallway and through a guard station. The station had dozens of surveillance monitors on flatscreen TVs, displaying live video streams from all the different rooms in the facility, the entrance and parking lot.

Ferina stalled, watching one of the screens that showed a training simulation. This was nothing like the combat exercises I'd witnessed at the demi-gods' pack. It was like something out of a science fiction movie.

There were robots, armed with stun-guns, lasers, and other weapons, fighting demons. The demons fought the robots with no weapons. Instead, the demons relied on highly technical maneuvers and sophisticated group attacks.

On the screen next to that one, four demons clashed in fierce combat practice, using wooden swords, nun-chucks and other nonlethal weapons. Everything was so state of the art here, futuristic even.

Trainers monitored their students' progress from the sidelines, making notes on a clipboard and yelling comments to the fighters. It was similar to the academy back at the demi-gods' pack, but this was more organized, and systematic.

"Our room is on the fourth floor. A few of my friends are meeting us for today's training." Ferina waved inwardly, calling me to the elevator. I was so interested in the training I didn't realize she had already gone ahead. We entered the elevator.

"So, ready to learn how to fight like a demon?" She pressed the button and the door rolled closed.

"I've been fighting my entire life. Shouldn't be too much harder than fighting with wolves." I lifted my head, clasping my hands behind me and she snorted.

"Hmmph, cocky I see. We'll see about that." She sounded shocked, as if it were ridiculous to compare fighting wolf shifters and demons.

The doors rolled open on the fourth floor. A piercing scream spilled inside, a thunderous bang coming swiftly behind it .

I instinctively raced in the cry's direction, jetting out of the elevator and through the closest open door in the hallway. The door led to a spacious martial arts studio with green, spongy floors and mirrors covering all the walls.

The scent of blood and sweat moistened the warm air.

"Hey! Enough Liza, I surrender. Now get your sasquatch foot off my neck." A red headed demoness howled, clawing at the foot on her neck.

A larger brunette demoness removed her foot from the red head's neck, placing it on the side of her face, further agitating the red head.

"What did you say about my foot? I'll let you know I'm only a size nine. That's perfectly normal for a demoness of my muscle mass." The brunette proudly tilted her chin up and laughed, as the redhead cursed.

"Enough, you two! Princess Ferina and the king's bride are watching us. Get serious." A tall, thin demoness with mahogany skin and piercing green eyes said through clenched teeth.

All three of the demonesses wore camouflage jumpsuits and black caps. They were the type of demon who appeared human. But the faint scent of sulfur they carried made it clear they were very much demonesses. And by the muscle they all carried, they were all very strong.

"Enough horseplay. Let Samantha go." Ferina slinked up from behind me, clapping three times.

Liza removed her foot, a reluctant gleam rolling over her face making it clear she wasn't too happy about releasing her.

"Liza is just jealous of my beauty. Why else would she try to crush my gorgeous face?" Rubbing her cheek, Samantha climbed to her feet, glowering bitterly at Liza.

"Maybe I did it so you'd stop talking so much." Liza made a blabber mouth gesture with her hand, rolling her eyes.

"Don't listen to them. You'll catch them making out in the corner by lunch time, trust me." Ferina whispered to me, brushing her hand over my arm .

"Not if she begged!" Liza hissed dramatically.

Samantha smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear, the uneasy look that scrolled on her face saying she might have gone too far.

"Okay, now that I have your attention. I want to introduce you to the famous Lady Sunny!" Ferina heralded, vigorously tossing both hands my way, palms up.

"We've heard so much about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." The tallest of the trio reached a hand my way. "I'm Tabitha."

"I'm Livy, but I guess Sunny is what I've been going by since I got here, so Sunny it is." I laughed while shaking Tabitha's hand.

"Did you change your name for Princess Ferina's benefit? She can be a bit of a control freak, but having you change your name just because she doesnt like it does seem a bit much, even by her standards." Tabitha pinched her chin thoughtfully.

"Hey, I'm not that spoiled princess the press has tried so hard to label me as! All I know is that my brother introduced her to me as, ‘Sunny' so everyone calls her Sunny. It's that simple." Ferina shrugged wildly. "It's a cute pet name and she does kind of look like a Sunny, right? She smiles so brightly."

"Let me look." Samantha's muscular arm reached for me, her coarse fingers gently pinched my cheeks. Her face drew close to mine, her breath thudding like the bang of a drum.

She was more handsome than pretty, with a square jaw and thick muscles filling out her camouflage uniform. "Smile for me, babe, please." She sang the word please in a way that almost sounded flirtatious.

"Are we here for training or what? We've only got the room for another hour." Liza smacked Samantha in the chest, jealousy forming lines on her forehead as she scowled.

Samantha's hands went up as if she spotted a gun, before shooting a cocky grin at Liza. "I thought you said you wouldn't kiss me if I begged. Looks like you're the one about to start begging."

Liza and Samantha went at it, engaging in a lover's quarrel that was more whimsical than furious.

Ferina and I used the time to lace up our sneakers and did a few stretches, getting good and warmed up.

"Okay ladies, it's time to get to business." Ferina clapped her hands twice, breaking the girls' bickering. "As you know, we had a mage break in at the palace last week. With Sunny being new to the horde, we need to make sure she is fully up to speed on all our group defensive maneuvers, just in case there's a larger scale attack. If that happens, she'll need to fight alongside us and know what to do. So, why don't we start with the vertical swarm maneuver?"

"Sounds fancy. What's that?" I rubbed my hands together.

"For this maneuver, a squad of five demons team up to take down a single opponent who possesses incredible strength. Like a grand mage or an alpha wolf." Samantha explained and immediately my mind wandered to thoughts of Chasten, Blake and Payton. I wondered where they were right now and what they were doing.

I shook those thoughts away. I shouldn't care where they were. After what they did to my parents, I was just happy they weren't anywhere near me.

"The maneuver is simple, yet deadly." Liza folded her hand on her hip. "We surround the enemy on all sides, first attacking their ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders, going all the way up to the neck. Each demon chooses a joint to attack, the fastest demon takes two joints. Once the attack is over, the opponent should be on the ground. By that point we go for the head, crushing it with all our heels combined."

"Ganging up together to take down your enemy with overwhelming and unrelenting force. I like it. But who's going to be the enemy? Will we be using one of those cool robots I saw on the monitor?" Excitement whirled in my voice .

"Sorry, Sunny. Only newbies can use those. We'd wreck every robot in the storage unit if we relied on them. As you can see, my friends don't know the meaning of the word ‘gentle'." Ferina glanced at Samantha from under her lashes.

"Hey, I'm here to please. Liza knows she likes it rough. She told me so." Samantha winked at Liza playfully.

Liza's jaw gaped to say something and before she could utter a word, Tabitha barked, "Assume battle position now! Samantha is the target."

Samantha blinked rapidly, my head jerked in all directions as she messily prepared for the surprise attack.

Liza, Tabitha and Ferina sprang into action like eagles swooping down to strike their prey.

I lunged into the fray after them, trying not to be left behind.

Tabitha struck Samantha's ankle with brute force, Ferina went for the knees, kicking them hard enough that Samantha stumbled, almost falling forward. Samantha threw a fist at Ferina and she twisted out of the way before it could land.

Liza aimed a kick at Samantha's left hip, but she was too slow as Samantha expressly shoved Liza back with a push to her gut.

Samantha was the fastest and possibly strongest of the women here. That had to be why she was chosen as the enemy. Still, as all four of us swarmed her like flies to honey, she began to struggle. We all aimed at her hips and shoulders at once.

Her blocking grew sloppier and slower as she grew exhausted with deflecting our flurried attacks.

Samantha's left side is now wide open as she fended off Ferina's shoulder punch, I took aim at her left hip.

Samantha grunted in pain as my fist connected with her hip bone.

Taking advantage of the fact that she was distracted, Ferina sprang into action. Moving like the wind, Ferina launched a series of quick punches at Samantha's shoulder sending her spinning like a top.

A spark of vindictive rage burning in her eyes, Liza did a high kick, clocking Samantha in the neck. The large demoness fell to the ground like a felled tree.

My heart thundering in my chest, the thrill of the fight pumped pure adrenaline through my veins.

Samantha was on her back, her panicked eyes bouncing off the four of us.

Ferina, Tabitha, Liza and I swung our legs high, showing Samantha what our heels look like before the final blow.

"Okay. I surrender. You win." She waved frantically.

Ferina looked to me then to Liza and Tabitha. "We accept your defeat." Ferina said with the air of a benevolent queen.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I offered Samantha a hand and helped her to her feet.

"You've got one mean left hook, Sunny. King Malek better not do anything to piss you off." Samantha rubbed the soreness from her hip, her jaw rotated until it cracked.

"Mally's been on his best behavior. He's like a real Casanova every time Sunny's around. They're adorable. He's even taking her to the caves tonight." Ferina covered her lips with the pads of her fingers. "Oops."

"Is that the surprise? What's in the caves?" I asked.

"The caves? I'm so jealous." Tabitha said with pinkening cheeks.

"Must be nice. Wish someone would take me on a romantic date into the caves." Liza plastered a smile onto her face, looking disapprovingly up at Samantha.

"Can someone tell me what's so great about the caves?" I asked and Ferina raised a finger as if to warn off the other girls.

"It's a surprise that I've only half ruined. But we can still conserve as much mystery as possible by not letting anymore slip." Ferina laid down the law.

So, I was expected to follow a demon I barely even knew into a deep dark cave, in the middle of the night? Were these demonesses right in the head?

Seeming to notice my uneasiness, Tabitha perched a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Relax, nobody takes someone to the caves unless it's really serious. It'll be one of the most memorable nights of your life. That's all you need to know."

So many words and they all added up to absolutely nothing. A thought crossed my mind, what if they were willing to answer a different question? Now was the perfect opportunity to get some information about Malek.

"Soooo, you guys lived in Demon City long?" I looked at Samantha, then Tabitha, Liza and Ferina. "Did you leave the underworld at the same time as Malek? And while we're on the subject, what made Malek decide to move all his demons to Earth?"

They all stared back at me with a deadened look bleaching their skin. They looked like I'd just pressed a semi-automatic rifle to their temples as they exchanged glances.

"Ummmmmm." Ferina seemed unsure what to say, staring at me like a deer in headlights.

"We don't talk about the before." Samantha said in hushed tones, shaking her head.

"It's forbidden." A stern warning laced her soft words.

"The before? You mean before the demons came to Earth? Why? Every shifter pack has a history. We teach it to our cubs. Why is it different here?"

"Demons are not like wolves. We are not free to speak about anything we wish. Our king has given us so much and asks for so little. Whatever he asks of us must be respected. And he commands that no demon speak of life before we came to Earth." Tabitha said, and by the way her voice shook, that was all she would say on the matter.

A nervous smile creeped along Tabitha's cheek. "Why don't we get back to training? We should go over the ‘forest field ambush attack formation' next."

"All will be revealed to you in time, Sunny. Don't worry." Ferina patted me on the back, and I silently nodded.

We trained until the hour was up and spoke more about what life was like for me in the demi-god pack. Surprisingly, they were all fascinated with wolves. I thought demons hated wolf shifters, but instead, these demonesses were curious about everything to do with us. From how it felt to shift to what it was like for us to bond with our inner wolves. They even followed shifter influencers online, loving their makeup tutorials.

I enjoyed talking to the other women, it made me miss Ray and Aurora just a little bit less and made me feel less lonely in this strange new world.

After the training was over, Ferina and I returned to the castle. We showered, changed, ordered pizza and made cheesy popcorn to celebrate my progress in learning today's attack formations.

In the downstairs living room, Ferina and I sat down to play cards at the round wooden table. A large pepperoni pizza laid to the right of the cards, the oversized bowl of popcorn was to the left.

Ferina played like a hustler, beating me brutally like money was on the line. Or maybe I was just a bit too distracted to play well.

Time passed and the afternoon quickly vanished. The cool evening air wafted inside and I went over to shut the window.

A servant entered the room offering us something to drink.

Setting her cards facedown on the table, Ferina sprang from her seat like a jackrabbit. She went over to collect a metal jug and two mugs from the servants. "Thanks, Jason. It's like you're a mind reader. I've been dying for a cup of your famous cocoa."

"I aim to please, Princess. If you need anything else let me know." Jason acknowledged me with a nod and left.

Setting the two mugs down, she poured hot cocoa for herself and then for me.

"Look alive, Sunny. Don't you want to be able to tell Mally you won at least one round?"

"The next one's mine, just you watch." I took a sip of sweet hot cocoa.

A fierce determination knitted her brows, and she held her hand with all ten fingers.

Was it any wonder I was having trouble focusing on the game? I was living with an ancient demon I knew little about. He claims we were childhood best friends, but I didn't have the faintest memory of him nor was I allowed to pry too deeply into his past. Malek was sketchier than the demi-gods.

The only question was, was he a danger to me? Something told me I'd find that out tonight, when Malek finally showed up and took me to the caves.

The game neared its end with another victory for Ferina all but assured. Malek appeared at the door with a black raven perched on his shoulder.

"I don't believe it! How did you manage to pry Jeffrey from his harem long enough to grace us with his presence?" Ferina queried, unknowingly dropping her hands low enough for me to see her cards.

Malek walked over to the table.

"So, this is the famous Jeffrey, the familiar. It's nice to finally meet you." I set my cards down and stood up to meet Jeffrey.

Without warning, Jeffrey took off from Malek's shoulder, perching on mine. "You're even prettier than I imagined!"He spoke excitedly, rubbing himself into the curve of my neck, tickling me with affection .

"And you're the most handsome raven I've ever seen." I said.

"Why thank you, I had my feathers polished this morning. Your neck is so soft. Much softer than Malek's leathery skin. I could stay here all night." Flattening his wings tight at his sides, he nested right in the curve of my neck, looking too cozy to disturb.

Malek didn't seem to agree as he swiftly but gently plucked Jeffrey from my neck and tucked him under his arm. "Now Jeffrey. You know that Sunny and I won't be staying long. You can play with her after."

"Really, and where are we going?" I asked, pretending to be none the wiser.

Ferina took out her phone and started playing a game, faking innocence.

Malek invited me to go with him on another date, this one he claimed would be ten times better than the last. But he wouldn't say where. Not wanting to get Ferina in any trouble with her brother, I didn't spoil the surprise.

Malek cut quite the figure in a white, loose fitting, long sleeve shirt and tailored black pants. I wore a pair of jeans, a pink crop top and black sweater. Nothing fancy but Malek didn't seem to mind as he offered me a hand, pure seduction emanating from his wide smile.

Unsure of what the future held; my curiosity drew me to his steely, dark gaze. Why was it that every time he looked at me, he made me feel like I was the only woman in the world? That was his strength, against which I was powerless.

Three black ravens waddled into the living room singing a peppy tune.

"They found me." Jeffrey squawked, "Sunny, please take care of my friend. He may seem wise but on the inside he's like a baby. He's always making childish mistakes!"

Malek tossed Jeffrey skyward, "This is why I can't trust you alone with her. You'll tell her nonsense about me."

"I love you too, Malek!" Jeffrey sang before gliding over to meet his friends by the door. The four birds flew deeper into the castle.

Like a baby, huh? I never once imagined that the God of Demons could be compared to something as innocent and helpless as a baby. How could someone so innocent do the things Malek does? Conquering, battle and waging war is hardly what I'd call childlike.

Still, Jeffrey's words made me interested to learn more about the real Malek.

I went with Malek to his car. We left the palace, cruising off into the dark, quiet night, just the two of us.

He dominated the road like it was made for his Bentley alone. The way he revved the engine was brutal but skillful, the harsh way he commanded the steering wheel to move left and right, really exemplified how excessively powerful he was.

I wasn't sure what lay ahead. But something deep in the pit of my stomach told me that Tabitha was right about one thing. Tonight, would be a night I would never forget.