Lilith Saintcrow - Working for the Devil

"Shut up, dirtwitch." Jace snarled back. "Want to switch to blades?"

"You'll fuckin' kill yourself," Eddie scooped up Jace's staff, tossed it at him. Jace's hand flashed up; he caught the smooth wood, then turned it vertically. "Thanks anyway. Been a while since I saw you make an amateur move like that. Hey, Danny!" He glanced over Jace's shoulder at me. "Come on over here and work his fidgets out, will you? Goddamn boy can't even hold his staff."

I sighed. I had expected this. "Fine," I said, shrugging. "We'd come to this sooner or later." I looked up at the demon's face, quiet and shuttered. "I'm going to spar with Jace. I want you to stay out of it, all right?"

Japhrimel nodded his dark head.

"Cool," Gabe said, bouncing to her feet. "I've missed watching you two fight. Better than a holovid."

I ignored her. What would piss Jace off most ? I thought, looking up at the demon again. A faint breeze swept through the room, carrying the promise of thunder with it. Okay .

I stepped close to the demon, went up on tiptoe, my hand curling around his shoulder, the smell of musk and dark Power enveloping me. "Hey." I pulled on his shoulder and he bent a little, obediently. I kissed his cheek—just a peck, but I heard Jace's indrawn breath and knew I was halfway to winning.

He fought better when he was angry, anyway.

"Thanks." I repeated to Japhrimel, whose eyes had half-closed. He looked surprised. "It helps to have someone there while I'm in pain." My tone was a little more intimate than I'd planned. "I appreciate it."

He nodded once, sharply, and straightened, his gaze flicking away from me. I turned back to the practice room.

Gabe's jaw dropped. She sidled back, almost to the mirrored wall. Eddie followed her, watching Jace, white teeth showing in a wide grin.

Jace walked deliberately over to a rack near the windows and put his staff up, scooped up his scabbarded sword. "I'm game for it, if Danny is," he said quietly, and I had to fight the smile that wanted to pull my lips up. Careful, Danny. You haven't fought him in a while, ease into this .

I made it to the center of the room and yawned. I hadn't even stretched out beyond my usual morning routine. Jace carried his sword, approached me cautiously, his booted feet shushing over the tatami. "Hi, sweetheart," he said, his blue eyes locking with mine. It was his usual greeting, usually followed by a kiss. My body remembered the sound of that voice. I let myself smile, then. My rings gave out a low, sustained humming.

"You're in for a treat," Gabe said to the demon. "Jace and Danny are the best in the biz. They used to do naked-blade slicboard duels, back in the day. And—"

"Shh," Eddie said. "I wanta see this."

"Hi, baby," I said quietly, holding my sword, fingers curled loosely around scabbard and hilt. "Missed me?"

"Every damn day." Jace's face was set. His shoulders were loose and easy. Maybe I didn't piss him off as much as I thought . "Every single motherfucking day."

"Hmm." I smiled sweetly. "Shouldn't have left."

"Didn't have a choice," he returned.

We circled each other, wary. I shifted my weight forward, playing through the sequence that would end with his head separated from his body. He countered almost immediately, and we went back to circling.

Point for him, he'd made me twitch first.

"Yeah," I said. "You were in such a hurry you didn't even leave a note. Must have been really deep and hot, Jace, for you to just get up and leave." I let my smile broaden. "What was her name?"

"I've been a fucking monk since our last time, sweetheart," he said, the easy smile dropping from his voice.

Second point for me. I'd pushed him too far.

"I hope it's made you a better fighter… than you were as a lover." I tacked that on just to goose him.

"You had no complaints."

"None I told you to your face."

He was smiling again. He moved in, testing, and I countered.

"When are they going to—" Eddie began. I tuned him out.

"Wait." Gabe replied.

I caught a flash of Japhrimel watching, hands behind his back, his eyes almost spitting sparks.

"Try me again, sweetheart," Jace said, his tone low and purring. "I've been dying for it."

"Good for you." I shuffled back, to the side; things were rapidly heating up. "Get used to disappointment."

"You don't want an explanation?"

"Three years too late, Jace. All I want to do now is forget you ever existed." My own voice dropped to a whisper. His eyes narrowed.

"Good luck," he said. "I just bought myself free of the Corvin Family, sweets, and I have some time on my hands. Want to help me fill it?"

"I'd rather turn into a Chillfreak whore." My blade whispered free of the sheath just as his did.

"Now?" Eddie asked.

"Just wait," Gabe whispered back.

"Mmh." Jace said. "You say the sweetest—"

He moved in then, with no warning. Metal clashed and rang. We separated, both of us breathing fast and deep.

"You've gotten quicker," he said.

"And you still talk too goddamn much," I said, wishing I could spit. That would add something to the festivities.

"I should put my tongue to better use," he muttered, and gave me a flash of the famous Monroe grin, the one that had Mob groupies following him around all the time.

"Try it on someone who cares, fucker," I spat at him, and that broke the tension.

We moved in on each other, feet shuffling, sparks spraying from the metal and the Power in the air. He wasn't trying very hard, and I almost got him twice before he realized I was serious and began to scramble. Cut overhand, spin-kick, he tried to lock me into a corps-a-corps where his height and weight could overpower me but that was an old trick, move move move , scabbard flying in to jab him in the ribs, it was a cheap shot but every little bit told, I had speed and endurance, he had power and a different type of endurance—

Parry, parry, a short thrust he had to shuffle back to escape, metal sliding, wall coming up fast, was I going to cheat or was I going to—

I cheated.

I popped my left hand forward, the scabbard held horizontal, and a dart of Power flashed from my rings, spattered on his defenses.

We separated, both breathing hard now. It bought me some breathing room.

"Cheater," he said. Sweat rolled down his forehead, his hair truly soaked now. Thunder rumbled outside.

"Anything for you," I answered, showing my teeth. Sweat dripped down the shallow channel of my spine. My ribs flared with deep rasping breaths. "You going to come and get me, baby?"

"You should be so lucky," he said. "We're full-on now, sweetheart? You sure? Last time we did this I spanked your ass."

"I was holding back," I said. "Since you always bitched when you lost."

He grinned. "You sure, Valentine?"

"Come over here and find out, Monroe," I dared him, katana dipping into guard . He was coming in low, his shielding swirling with the peculiar spiky turbulence of a Shaman, impossible to predict. I was glowing, glitter spattering through my aura; reacting to his nearness and to my own defenses springing up, locking with his.

We closed in again, and this time he was serious. Metal screamed and Power tore through the air, ozone, smell of musk, the mark on my shoulder suddenly coming alive. Spray of sparks, he was using a pattern I didn't recognize but muscle memory took over again and it was like riding a slicboard, trembling on the outer edge of adrenaline control, fully alive, fully aware , kiss of breeze against my sweaty forehead, clap of thunder like angels striking and neither of us flinched, spin, half-falling, get up get up , kicked his bad knee, felt the flare of sick pain from his shielding but he was too hyped on adrenaline to slow down, we closed again but I had momentum, push , Power crackling, across the room, running, his face inches from mine, eyes locked, my lips peeled back with effort, familiar, every other time we'd fought blurring under my skin, memory and intuition and action—