Chapter 9

Lucifer's POV

"Are you sure she's coming?" Gabriel asked as he began his endless annoying pacing back and forth.

"She'll be here, just relax and finish stretching or you'll pull something later." Gabriel released a breath and walked back towards me.

"I'm surprised she made that deal with you if I'm being honest," I smirked back at him,

A deal with the devil, what could go wrong?

"Why are you so surprised brother?" Gabriel shrugged as he continued to stretch,

"Catalina usually likes to keep to herself, so opening up, especially about her past, is difficult for her."

"She mentioned the accident in which she was injured a few years ago when you both met,"

Gabriel stopped and looked at me,

"She said she only had a few broken bones but I have a feeling it was more than that?"

Gabriel tensed, his fists clenched tightly at his side

"How badly was she injured Gabriel?"

For some reason, neither of them wanted to talk about the incident. It was as if they wanted to paint over it, to forget it even happened. But why?

"What happened that day is none of your business."

I stared back at him,

"Very well then answer me this, How bad was the abuse she went through?"

Gabriel's gaze slightly softened as he sat down,

"I saw the scars on her back, Gabriel. Do you want me to help her? Then be honest with me about her."

Gabriel remained silent for a moment, staring at his hands as he clutched them together.

"What she went through almost broke her. At one point she had considered.. alternative solutions," I could feel my fists clench at my sides, and slowly that anger in my chest began to rise again.

"It made her stronger though." That was honestly one of the worst things I could say by the look on Gabriel's face.

"She was a child Lucifer! She didn't need to be strong, she needed to be safe. She needed to be protected, cared for, and loved! she-"

The sound of the back door opening caused us both to look up and see Catalina walking down the steps towards us. I glanced at Gabriel as he struggled to pull himself together.

"You kept her safe for years, let me help you keep her alive."

Gabriel nodded as I offered a hand to help him up just as Catalina finally joined us.

"So what's the first order of business?"

I smirked at her as I took in her attire. Her all-black, fitted workout attire. The outfit hugged her curves in every right way. Accentuating the dips at her full hips as the ends of her dark hair draped over her shoulder, the rest of her hair high up in a ponytail. She looked ready. She looked powerful.

"First things first is learning to control your emotions so you can control your fire."

Catalina looked at me as if I had grown three heads.

"It makes sense to start with your emotions since that will take longer to learn to control," Gabriel explained to Catalina as she stared at him. The irritation flared in her eyes before she glanced at me, her eyes meeting mine briefly before she turned back to Gabriel.

"Are you two insinuating that I am emotional?"

"Maybe."

I smirked at her as she rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and murmured under her breath,

"Assholes."

"Assholes we might be, but learning to keep your emotions in check will help you from reaching for your gift in troublesome situations."

"I guess that makes sense."

Catalina's soft green eyes found mine once again,

"You lose control when you are angry, so we're going to need you to get very angry."

"What?"

"Simple you get angry and we work on techniques that will help you calm down so that you control that anger and don't lose control."

Learning to control your emotions is one of the first things we were taught on the battlefields. Out there, there's no room for emotions. Only the task at hand.

"How will you be able to tell when I'm about to lose control?"

Gabriel answered her this time,

"The angrier you get, the orange in your eyes gets slightly bigger."

"I thought the orange was from the iron deficiency?"

"Regardless, once the orange begins to take over we will begin the calming technique."

"Which is?" She asked, a hint of irritation in her voice as she uncrossed her arms, planting them on her hips, and looked at me.

"Simple. Breathing." I said as I looked down into her eyes,

"Breath and think of one good memory and hold on to it."

Catalina glanced at Gabriel and they shared a look. Sadness took over her eyes as they started to gloss over.

"What if I don't have one?"

"Everyone has at least one happy memory."

Right?

Gabriel lowered his head and gently whispered to her,

"Just try your best, I'll be right here."

She sighed and closed her eyes for just a moment.

"Alright let's go."

I smiled as a feeling of pride washed over me and before she could even realize what was happening, I struck. knocking her on her ass. Her eyes slightly turned orange.

Oh, we can do better than that.

"What the fuck was that!" She yelled as she looked up at me from where she landed on the ground.

"That was me showing you how easy it would be to kill you," I smirked back at her as the orange in her eyes started to rise,

"Oh, I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Catalina rose, making the expected attempt to tackle me.

Rookie move.

I dodged her fairly easily, stepping to the side as I moved behind her, gripping her arms behind her back, and holding her wrists.

"When you get angry you make dumb decisions that can get you hurt or killed,"

She tried to shake me off but I just grasped her tighter,

"When you are in situations like this you need to remain calm."

I released her wrists and slowly backed away.

"Try it. Take a few seconds and breathe."

I watched as she slowly closed her doubtful eyes.

One.

She inhaled and exhaled

Two.

Her shoulders began to relax

Three.

Her face softened

Four.

She began to un-clenched her fists

Five.

Her eyes opened. No hint of orange in sight.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded back at me,

"Do your worst."

* * *

Catalina's POV:

Lucifer immediately went on the offensive so I was stuck being on the defense.

Shit!

Before I could even blink he was standing right in front of me.

Damn, he's fast.

He tried to go for the same maneuver as earlier to knock me down on my ass, I caught his arm and tossed him back a few inches. It wasn't a great move but it put some distance between us. Within seconds he was on me again, this time he went for a punch but I was able to back away at the last second before he connected with my face. He was relentless and just kept going. I backed up a step, ducking low to avoid yet another punch. I managed to raise my foot, hoping to at least kick him back and put more distance between us. Lucifer's hand gripped my calf. I expected him to push off, forcing me to land on my back. Instead, he pulled me in close, until he was a few mere inches from me. Lucifer's dark eyes roamed over my face and I could feel his fingers tighten even more around my calf.

"I win," Lucifer said with a cruel cold smile plastered on his face.

I win? What the hell does he mean?

I didn't have time to react as Lucifer's fist connected to my cheek. A familiar warmth dripped down my jaw after his fist managed to connect.

Fucking Bastard!

"Breath or you'll be on your fucking ass again," he whispered as he tried to land another blow to my face.

One

Dodge.

Two

Dodge again.

Three

Dodge again.

Four

Dodge again.

Five

I caught his wrist, just before his fist made contact with my face again, and twisted it. Lucifer moaned in pain but he was smiling.

Why the hell is he smiling?

"Let's go again," I said as I pushed him back and wiped the blood from my mouth. A viscous bloody smile decorated my face as I charged for him.

* * *

"You're getting good but I'm better," Gabriel said as he twisted my arms behind me.

Cocky son of a bitch.

"Just tap before I have to-"

I cut him off as I put all of my force into stepping on his left foot. He released my arms and I was able to twist around and kick him in a particularly sensitive area.

"Low blow Cat, low fucking blow." He said breathlessly as he lowered to the ground on his knees, clutching himself.

"No such thing as low blows when fighting for your life, right Lucifer?"

I looked over and saw him smiling at me,

"Absolutely."

"You're both assholes, you know that," Gabriel said as he finally managed to stand up and make his way over and grabbed his water bottle and phone.

"Shit, I gotta go," Gabriel said as he grabbed his keys and wallet.

"Where are you running off to this time?" Lucifer asked

Gabriel shrugged,

"Inventory day at the shop, sorry guys I'll catch up later."

Within seconds Gabriel was back inside the house. Leaving Lucifer and me outside. Alone. Again.

"You're further along than I had originally thought. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a natural. It's almost as if you like to fight."

Lucifer said as he tossed me my water bottle.

"I've always liked to fight."

"Have you fought with a weapon before?"

I took a seat in the grass and stretched out.

"I mean I have my dagger but that's about it."

He smirked at me as he took a seat beside me and a small laugh escaped his lips.

"Why am I not surprised that you own a dagger."

"It's a dangerous world out there, especially for women nowadays. I carry it around for safety purposes."

Anything could happen nowadays. Having that dagger on me at all times gave me a slight peace of mind and comfort. It gave Gabriel peace of mind as well. Knowing that if all else failed I had a weapon just within reach.

"But do you know how to use it?"

Did he think I carried it around for aesthetics?

"Of course I do!"

"Prove it." Lucifer stood and pointed to a tree 30 yards away.

"Hit the tree."

"You can't be serious."

"Afraid you'll prove me right?"

I stood and pulled my dagger out of my bag I took a moment to steady myself and focused on the one single target I had. I pulled my arm back and threw it.

Dammit.

I watched as the dagger went blade-first into a bush.

Well, that sucked.

I expected some kind of laugh or smart-ass remark from him, instead, he walked over to the bush my dagger had embedded itself in and handed it back to me.

"You've got good form, you just need to practice how much force you put into throwing and where to aim."

He walked over, placing the dagger back in my hand.

"If you want I can show you how to wield this properly, so long as you promise not to use my face as a target."

I grinned at him. As much as he pissed me off and despite how much I actually wouldn't mind using his face as a target, I couldn't deny that Lucifer was…devilishly handsome. It would be a shame to mark up such a handsome face.

"I think I would like that very much."

A soft smile appeared on his face and he made his way to his gym bag and pulled out his own dagger. A silver blade with a twisted matte black hilt and some inscription on it. It was honestly quite a beautiful weapon. A beautiful weapon for a beautiful man.

"We'll go easy for today just so I can get a sense of where you are." He tossed a roll of tape at me,

"Tape the point so you don't hurt yourself."

"I'm not going to hurt myself," I said as I caught the roll of tape just as it was about to land in front of me.

"Humor me then."

"Fine." I grabbed the tape and slowly began to wrap the tip of my dagger.

"Just remember to breathe if you start to get angry."

I nodded.

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

He winked as his lips tilted up into a smile.

"Then let's see what you got princess," Lucifer said as he charged at me. Everything in the world seemed to disappear as the sound of our daggers clashing against each other rang out.