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Chapter 1

PACA

My body feels pulled in five different directions as I fight to keepwith the effort it takes A harsh grunt coly painful phantom hit that strikes me across my middle

Forced to flip head over heels, I curse over the sh h the mound of boulders

Debris flies up and little pebbles rain down on , I push up to my knees I crack my neck to the side…and then I reach over to pop my shoulder back into place for the fifth time today

The blood sizzles against the ground when I spit out a generous mouthful, and I step over the slick, acidic stain, as I feel

Jude is stalking toward el paces back and forth, slapping his head and talking to himself

Jude’s eyes snap to mine, just as Azrael appears in front of Rafael

“When the hell are you going to start fighting back?” Jude barks, just as Ezekiel appears in front ofevery bit as murderous as the other tho also pop in next to me

“It’s been three weeks and you haven’t thrown a single punch,” Ezekiel adds on a growl

I reach back and slap Ezekiel’s ass, earning an annoyed look “I’ll knohen I’ve had enough, Cupcake,” I chirp, spitting out more blood

“Just why?” Kai shouts

My eyes cut to his “I’rin

No one is in a jokingtheir asses kicked

“I can kick anyone’s ass in hell Apparently my powers topside also include the ocean and the storatory,” I go on “This thing has been growing iatory It took me a month to heal from an echo of a death or whatever It took me five-hundred years to co one of you die to pull out the true fire inside el”

They continue to stare blankly at me

“You sae’re up against I need to be able to take a beating And I need to be as strong as possible in any way I’ el who personally had a hand in training a Chaer than him And atched most of the very brutal death of said Champion”

Gage exhales harshly

“You’re facing your nighter Let me do my part,” I add

They don’t stopless than fifty yards away

“Again!” I shout

He’s still slapping his head and pacing back and forth, when the next invisible hit slaps ainst it, feeling the pressure trying to crush my bones

My foot slips, and I flip head-over-heels into Azrael, tackling the Angel of Death to the ground by mistake

My knee also accidentally slaroin when I fumble s to my evil heart

“Total accident,” I assure hi innocently

He grunts and squeezes his eyes shut, a pained expression still on his face, as he resists the urge to cup his balls like a weaker male

“You truly are terrible at deception,” he says through strain

The Twins give me a slow clap, as I brush myself off

“I can’t believe she’s allowing us to watch her get her ass handed to her day-after-day Is it justher lips “Never thought that could even happen But it’s like it’s just not special anymore”

Little prickles of annoyance slither up my spine

“Why are you doing this?” Azrael finally says on a groan, shoving up to his feet with a noticeable, so limp

“I told you…total accident”

He givesmy heart

The Twins start playing their phanto to see who is better They even twirl their iinary drumsticks

The sinful manifestation of lust hisses at Lilith—literally—when she moves too close to Hera’s crown

“Little mood music?” I shout to the twins

“This is nothing but a waste of ti a horrified look over to the Twins, as This Means War blares through the air

“No, that’s motivation,” one of them corrects

“It’s absurd All of this is absurd And Rafael is becoed every tiues

“Don’t be such a…Peter,” one of the twins says, grinning like he’s the funniest person in the world