Chapter 18 Vada
Iquietly snuck behind the Fomorian, or water demon, and kicked out his knee, making him shout in pain instead of rousing the crowd.
I wasn’t the bitch who would fight fair.
This fight made eighteen challenges in the last few weeks, and I was ready to end it.
I’d let every single demon who’d challenged me go when they tapped out, but tonight, I was out of patience, and out for fucking blood.
“Listen here you little fuckstain. I’m not fucking around. Either you fight or you fucking get out of my face. I don’t have all night,” I snarled.
He quickly turned around, face serious, and stood to his almost seven-foot form.
I smirked up at him. He blasted a vicious attack on me with his water magic, conjuring up a megalodon out of the water to try and eat me in one bite.
I laughed out loud as I blocked the advance, remembering the night that Adaela and I read that book about the megalodon Shifter.
I then remembered what else happened that night, and I was instantly turned on.
I decided to use my succubus powers for all they were worth.
His water magic could’ve easily taken me down, but I couldn’t be killed.
I would always withstand the test of time, because that was how Hashem created me.
This demon wasn’t immortal, and he’d chosen the wrong person to fuck with.
I walked toward him seductively, swaying my hips and stripping my armor off slowly.
My magic had him tracing my every step, and I focused my attention on his reactions so that my power would have its full effects.
I had a tight black tank top underneath the armor, but my seduction magic had him believing that he saw my naked body.
“Oh, you poor boy, you’ve been bad for mommy, haven’t you?” I cooed, disgusted with myself. I had enough practice to not let it show.
He quickly released his megalodon, pouring water all over the coliseum, making the dirt floor muddy around us, but it landed without injuring me.
My favorite boots now had mud on them, and my annoyance ratcheted up a notch.
As he walked toward me, thinking he was going to get some, I kneed him in the groin, then threw an uppercut to his jaw as he bent over in pain.
I didn’t hold back. I sent him flying across the arena, crashing into a boulder about fifteen feet away.
I used a burst of speed to meet him where he landed and watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
“I don’t have time for this shit. This is your last chance to tap out and accept that I’m your new leader, or I’m taking your head and the head of every single one of you motherfuckers who believes they stand a chance against me,” I whispered in his ear.
“Fuck you, cunt. You’ve been here all of a minute. You don’t deserve the place you’ve been put in,” he spat.
I sighed, taking Vindicta out of its sheath. “It’s your funeral. I didn’t want the role to begin with. You guys voted me in, and I take my responsibilities seriously—whether I wanted them or not.”
He had yet to notice that I stole most of his energy when I seduced him, feeding into my strength.
I focused that energy down the blade, swinging my double-handed sword around in circles around my head, waiting for him to realize it.
He stood up, a snarl on his face, and I knew in that moment that he was going to make a mistake.
He reached for his magic, but there was nothing left, and I laughed.
“Missing something there, big boy?” I taunted.
In his anger, he rushed toward me, no weapon in hand.
I moved out of the way of his huge fists, then slammed the hilt of my sword into the back of his head.
He went down again. If there was anything I could tell with these fools who have tried to fight me over the last few weeks, it was that they had completely let their fight training go.
“Grab your weapon, you fucking idiot. I’m not going to fight you without it,” I yelled, hearing the crowd starting to boo the Fomorian soldier.
I hoped that they were beginning to see why I was put in this position, much as I didn’t want it.
I was concerned about what would happen when the real war began.
He recovered quickly for someone who’d received several blows to the head in minutes. Grabbing his sword, he faced me, a challenge in his eyes. “You won’t beat me in hand-to-hand or weapons, bitch.”
“Yeah, I doubt that. When was the last time you trained instead of talking shit? I would bet it was when you started to experience a modicum of safety here that you forgot your training, didn’t you? Now all you have is words.” I shifted my weight so I was more balanced and waited.
He came at me, thrusting his sword down toward my head.
I caught his sword with mine, and I had to admit, this demon was strong.
My weight was preventing him from being able to move his blade, and I twisted out of the struggle.
Circling around him, I noticed that he favored his left side, often keeping his right open and ready for attack.
I faked left, watching his eyes light up as I maneuvered around him, getting to his back and stabbing my blade deep into his kidney.
He choked on air as he went to his knees again.
Coming up behind him, I pulled his head back by his hair as I whipped out a dagger, dropping Vindicta to the ground and kicking it out of his reach.
“I told you, I will not tolerate any more challenges to my authority. Either you’re here to help the Pax, or you’re here for something more nefarious.
I won’t accept it anymore.” I slit his throat deep, then pushed him back to the dirt floor, watching the life bleed out of him with no emotion on my face.
Death didn’t mean much to me anymore. I’d become numb to it after living under Asmodaeus.
Other than losing demons a few weeks ago, this likely was the first death most of these demons had seen in years.
I knew without a doubt that there’d be beings in the stands who supported the Formorian, but I acknowledged those who were cheering for me while making note of those who seemed out for blood.
I’d have to change their thinking, and soon.
“I am done with the challenges. I’m done wasting my time and breath telling you fuckers that I didn’t want this position, but there’s enough of you out there who voted to put me here.
It’s likely that you’d heard of me before, and you know my worth in battle.
Every challenge after today will be met with a violent end,” I yelled into the stands.
The crowd grew quiet.
“It is obvious to me that every single being who has challenged me has been living in the past, believing that their strengths would tide them over. You have become too complacent, too comfortable. Beginning tomorrow, anyone who was a warrior before the Pax will report to me. War is coming, it has been seen by the Fates. It should not have been this easy to kill him,” I spat, kicking at his dead form to make my point.
I walked away from the coliseum seething in anger and frustration.
What the fuck had Pan been doing all these years?
The Demon Faction was a wreck full of lazy, entitled assholes, and that was changing now.
We were a class of warriors. I understood that safety and comfort meant something, but not to the detriment of protecting what we had here.
They had to know that peace wouldn’t last.
I was pissed and still running high on endorphins when I hit the elevator.
I would be damned if this faction decided that the way I entered the faction meant that I’d sit on my fucking ass and let them continue to act like children.
We were in the middle of what could be the end of the Catervae Pax and a new rise to fascism, and I wasn’t about to go back to letting men believe they had the power to run shit.
I’d spent thousands of years in Hell listening to the same type of men reminisce about how they’d fooled everybody.
They hadn’t fooled anyone, but they knew how to play the game they’d designed.
I wouldn’t play by their rules, and they hated it.
I exited the elevator, spotting both Medb and Adaela walking toward the conference room we’d used that first day we were here.
I figured I’d divert their interests in favor of lunch and maybe a walk downtown, since I hadn’t had the opportunity to really learn what this part of the city had to offer yet.
I walked in after them, hoping I wasn’t imposing too much.
Adaela’s face shut down in annoyance as if she were about to interrupt whoever was walking in, but when she saw me, it was like watching sunshine peek out through the clouds.
Her smile completely transformed her face, and it made my sour mood vanish.
Medb was on her laptop with two of her hands, while the other two held a croissant and a cup of coffee.
I hadn’t been in her presence in centuries, so I was sure my own smile reflected Adaela’s.
“Vada, it’s great to see you. We were just talking about the men I murdered a few weeks ago. Medb figured out who the culprits are, and the Elves are tracking down our leads,” Adaela said, walking over to give me a hug.
I embraced her, putting my hand on the back of her head to pull her in closer, taking in her petrichor scent as I relaxed even further. “That’s great news. When should we expect them?” I asked.
“Soon, I’d think,” Medb said, and Adaela leaned over her laptop as Medb pointed out something.