I would wear my birthright and demand my rights as the Princess of Hell.
I’d downplayed my status in the Half-Blood Academy, for I’d been hiding my heritage, and I’d been sheltered. Here, I would have to use every available weapon at my disposal, including my heritage.
I was who I was.
I accepted that now. I couldn’t choose the circumstances of my birth, but I would never give up the freedom to choose what I wanted to become, to choose my own path to ascension.
My heritage could no longer hinder me, only elevate me.
My enemies were determined to re-forge me in Hell, but I’d rise from the fire and give them hell.
The demon guards posted at the gate didn’t stop me or question me—if they had, I’d have shown them an example of how Hell’s princess ran her blades through her inferiors’ guts. The guards grinned at me viciously, which warned that they expected some nastiness waiting for me in my first class.
Angel growled at them while leading me through the gate into the courtyard. My hands stayed close to the hilts of my swords while my gait remained a brisk swagger. I would show anyone lurking in the shadows and watching that I wasn’t afraid of them, and I would gleefully cut down anyone who got in my way.
The campus bore two color schemes—red and black. Red represented violence, and black meant death. They were Hell’s primary colors. This place, derivative and bleak, was the opposite of the lovely campus of the Half-Blood Academy. I’d hated it here the second I’d stepped in.
I felt worse as the smell of sulfur, brimstone, and ash assaulted my nostrils.
My hands started to twitch, responding to the vibrating violence in the air. Angel turned one head and gave me a thrilling look while his other head stared ahead, looking for trouble. Violence was the hellhound’s language.
He led me down a black-stoned corridor until we stopped before a black door. Screams and shouts came from behind the door. I tilted my head and listened to steel crossing steel, claws slashing flesh, and bones cracking.
This was the class Angel had brought me to.
I pulled out my twin swords and booted open the black door with my Titan might. The door tumbled down with a loud thud.
The battle noises suddenly stopped, and all heads turned to me as I scanned the room.
The walls were also black, except for the blood splashed on it. Red blood was from the halflings—anyone who had an ounce of human DNA. Black stains belonged to the pureblood demons.
Judging from the way everyone stared at me, I was probably the only one who had kicked down the door of the classroom.
“Who the fuck is she?” a demon demanded.
“Fresh meat,” a demoness purred. The bitch had pink horns. How could a demon wear pink? Unbelievable and tacky.
“Let’s chop off her arms first. Teach her some manners.”
A green-horned demon sniffed. “She isn’t human. She’s—”
“What are you waiting for, non-human newbie?” a gray-horned, gray-skinned demon, who looked like a troll, yelled at me. “Get in line. Cut down a halfling, and you’ll be spared.”
Even in Hell’s Academy, half-bloods were targets. I darted a glance around. The one hundred or so students were divided into three groups—half-bloods, purebloods, and witches and mages. One-third of the halflings were down, the wounded still groaning on the ground. The witches and mages stood by, not joining the battle.
I understood why they were spared. Their magic was valued, and they often joined the winning side. I’d fought the black witches and dark mages who served demons near the Brooklyn-Queens border.
I leapt into the air, hellfire hissing on my blades. I swung my left sword in an arc and decapitated the giant demon right beside the gray-horned demon. The gray demon widened his eyes. My blade ran through his throat before he could bring his ax down on a female half-blood.
“Shut you up, motherfucking demon,” I murmured hoarsely. “I might not be a human, but I’m still a half-blood.”
I stood with the half-blood prince.
Bloodthirsty roars rolled across the room, and the rest of the demons rushed toward me. I jumped to meet them, crashing into them, and cutting into their ranks like the meanest demoness. I was their princess, and I carried war in my blood. I had been born for this.
I roared in joy as I slaughtered each pureblood demon that came at me.
“That’s the bitch who killed many of our brethren in the trial,” a demon shouted from the corner. “She then insulted and attacked Lord Lucifer.”