Page 21 of Jackal's Pride
“Like I’ve adopted a stray dog,” she grumbled in a light tone of voice. Friendlier than she’d ever spoken to me which told me she was comfortable around the warlock. “Be right back. Gonna tell Molly to hook me up with a fight. I’ve got some steam to blow off.” My hearing enhanced, concentrating solely on her as she strolled over to the bar and spoke to a skinny woman behind it. “Where’s Ryan?”
“Out with Grim and Melanie,” the lady replied, sliding a drink to Maureen.
“Put me in the ring,” Maureen held the drink to her mouth and threw her head back, swallowing it all in one gulp. She slammed the glass down. “Put one more in too.”
“Who?”
“The giant man throwing daggers at me with his green eyes. Bronze skin. Built like a god.”
I met the woman’s gaze, and she smirked before glancing back to Maureen. “Oh, that one.”
“Yeah, he wants to fight too.” Maureen turned around and peered over at me through the hundreds of demons. “Don’t ya, Jackal?”
“Jackal?” the woman startled.
“Relax. I got it under control.”
“I hope so,” was the woman’s wary response.
I pushed and shoved as I made my way to Maureen. “What is this place? And what did you say about fights?” I flashed my teeth, touching the tip of one of my canines with my tongue. “I know you didn’t say I was fighting.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go first.” She winked. “This is The Den. It’s a bar, fight club, sex den, and poker house—all in one. Pick your poison.” She rolled her eyes at my expression. “I forgot how old you are. Why would you sleep so long?” she practically growled at me.
“I haven’t missed anything,” I told her dryly. “Everything smells like decay and disease in here.”
“You’re a real party pooper, Jackal.” She shook her head.
I peered around trying to figure out the appeal she saw and found none. A giant ogre tore a head off of a small fairy-like demon in the ring. The crunch and crack of bones breaking and separating put me on edge. My skin rippled as I bared my lengthened canines at everyone that so much as glanced in my direction. When a tiny banshee female bumped my side, I whipped my head around. A deep guttural hiss tumbled out of my throat, and she dipped her head and scurried away.
“Jesus, will you relax? I’m serious. I’ll make you leave if you don’t chill. I came here to get away from you,” Maureen muttered next to me.
I knew her words were empty. If she could make me leave, she would have done so already. I sighed. “Do what I ask and I’ll leave.”After I cause her pain.
“Yeah, and you’ll spend the seconds after I take off the collar trying to hurt me.”
Could she read minds? I squinted my eyes at the side of her face as she took another drink.
“Here.” She handed me a glass. I peered down at it like it was poison. “Oh, God. You’ve been eating out of the palm of my hands the last few hours, and now you’re acting suspicious?”
Her tone only spiked my anger.
Even so, I picked up the diminutive glass and sniffed, and promptly sneezed. It had a stout odor to it. Maureen’s cackling caught my attention. She rolled her eyes when she noticed my glare. Refocusing on the curious drink before me, I held the glass up and swallowed the liquid before it could hit my tongue. A burning sensation filled my neck and chest as it went down. I grabbed my chest and peered at her. Should I ask if that was normal to assume I swallowed dragon flames? Seeing her giddy expression, I chose not to. I set the glass down, strangely intrigued by the heat still tickling my insides.
“More?” she asked.
“More,” I agreed.
From inside the octagonal cage, a short stocky demon called Maureen’s name. Yells along with a few snarled comments rang out as she made her way to the cage and stepped inside. Instead of allowing the jeers to distract her, they only fueled her pent-up fury.
“You know the rules with an entity. You only have to kill her once to win, that is, if she doesn’t kill you first.” The small man was talking to her opponent—a demon with pointy fur-covered ears and a tail. His demeanor, hunched over and eyes shifting side to side, reminded me of a feline creature.
His yellow eyes flashed at Maureen. “Soon all those lives will run out, aye?”
The beast goaded her by bringing up her fate. Although her body remained calm, her power angrily flared around her. It was true then. The Reapers were going to die.
The moment the lesser demon left the ring the match began. Maureen cocked her head to the side, one hand on her hip, the other beckoning her opponent with the other. He rushed forth, extending his nails like weapons. Maureen took a deep, audible breath, looking away like she was bored and ducked just as his claws swung out. His second hand was already in motion, coming from the right and she dipped back. He swung hard and fast, left and right. She bobbed and weaved every single one until he surprised her with a jump kick. Quickly, Maureen crisscrossed her arms over her chest. The force of his hit made her stumble a few steps back, and by then he was already mid-air, claws out. She dodged his strike, but a few lone strands of her hair were nipped and fell to the floor. Time seemed to stand still in the ring as she stared at where her strands lay.
Her dark eyes swirled with anger as they hardened on her attacker. She rushed forward, body hunkered low then all at once, she rose and swung her fist out at the same time, almost like she was using the force of her lower body strength to deliver her attack. He blocked the punch with an arm, hissing and cupping the battered limb. The next throw was dead-on. A crack echoed from the ring, blood squirting from his nose as he bent to hide his face from her. She was already grabbing his shirt collar. He clawed at her arms, ripping her skin but she ignored it, completely focused on what she was doing. I watched as she gripped his chin and shoved her fingers up his nostrils, forcing him to open his mouth until another sickening crunch filtered over everything around me. What she did next stunned everyone into silence. She rammed her hand in his mouth, grabbing his tongue, having to do so several times before she got a good grip and yanked it out. Blood poured from the feline’s mouth.