Page 74 of House of Mages and Raven

After my darkest flame had erupted to preserve me during the fight against the druid and his brotherhood cult, I’d started to develop my own brand of magic instead of having to siphon others’ elemental magic or spells like a leech.

I still had no firm grasp of my new power yet. Neither could I control my darkest flame. And thus, I wasn’t willing to let it loose unless it was absolutely necessary. And this noodle fight couldn’t be considered absolutely necessary.

So, only my dark wind had eased out and collided with Grace’s.

The stream of noodles didn’t land on either of us. The winds turned them into bits and pieces and sent them flying toward the ceiling before they rained down on the mob.

I’d directed where the noodles would go—definitely not on my side, a small win for me, even though I couldn’t get them to stick to Grace’s dumb-fuckface, as her power shielded her.

No one else had been able to counter my dark wind before except for Killian, and only his power could hold me captive, though it couldn’t harm me—he hadn’t exactly tried to hurt me in the past. I wondered if the day would come when Killian and I would go toe-to-toe against each other and fight to the death.

Sy hissed uneasily at the possibility.

Nothing remained certain. Just when I thought up was down, all of a sudden, the world pulled the rug from beneath my feet, and then down was up.

For now, Grace could hold her own against me. She bore the same power as Queen Lilith. I had yet to figure out their magical components. Last time, I’d failed to siphon Queen Lilith’s power when she hijacked me. She’d succeeded in trapping me as well, and I’d shrugged off her formidable mind control. We’d tied, but then again, I hadn’t exactly gone up against her in a real match. A duel with her ward felt like a prelude.

Falling victims to the noodle rain, the mob cried out indignantly as they frantically wiped bits of food from their hair, their clothes, and their tablets.

“I changed my mind.” I giggled. “Let’s party!”

I made a scooping gesture with my hand, my dark wind sweeping up every bit of spilled food from the marble floor and tossing it toward the mob.

“No, you don’t!” Grace yelled, her hellfire wind—hot and humid and reeking of sulfur—rushing toward me.

My cold, dark wind intercepted hers; we were at an impasse. I winked at her, and then I released the funnel of food and dumped it all on her followers. A realization hit her as well—she might be able to shield herself, but the courtesy didn’t extend to her army of minions.

When I had a run-in with the demons, I’d shielded all my geek friends who stood with me. It was funny that now all of them were standing with Grace because they believed she was more powerful and that she could level them up.

A slice of sadness slid down my throat, but I let it go. In life, when you couldn’t hold on to something that wasn’t worth fighting for, you moved on. I swallowed, telling myself that no matter how hard and painful it was, I’d manage to move on from Killian.

I had to believe that I could do it eventually.

“How do you like my leftovers, little shits?” I laughed.

Sy giggled, loving it, despite the mob cursing at us profusely. The line was drawn, and I stood alone against Grace and her army, but I didn’t feel alone. I’d never feel alone as long as Sy stood with me.

Always and forever,she said fiercely.We’re two badass bitches in a pod.

“Must you turn a noble duel into a farce, like you always ruin everything?” Grace spat.

While her face burned red like a tomato, I remained as cool as a cucumber.

“I don’t know much about a noble duel, since I ain’t noble,” I confessed. “Street fights and vulgar brawls are all I know, like what we’re doing at the moment. I blame it on my ignorant parents and my terrible childhood. Perhaps you can teach me to be noble like you? There’s still hope for me. Don’t give up on me yet, please, milady, as I might surprise you with my potential. I might not be as shiny as you, but I’m all raw material. I’m not as cultured as you either, but it doesn’t stop me from improving myself. My first step is to read a truckload of smut recommended by BookTok influencers.ACOTARis added to my TBR list. I’m debating if I should readQuicksilvernext.” I shook my head, mulling it over. “Or maybeMagical Midlife Madness.You should try to read as well, since reading makes dumb people smart. You’re welcome to my leftovers in the House of Chaos.”

There, I’d just used a pun about leftovers to spell it out for Killian that he was nothing but part of my leftovers as well. I hoped he got it, and I hoped it stung.

The heirs bent over laughing.

Venom brimmed over in Grace’s eyes, and their color was no longer honeydew green but dark crimson. I was having an effect on her. I’d turned Barbie 2.0 to Barbie the Creep.

“Smut readers aren’t afraid of shit,” I continued, not done yet when it came to my taste in books. I planned to join the influencers’ ranks in the future. “They aren’t hypocrites but independent thinkers who know what they want. If we all read smut, the world would be filled with lovers instead of killers. There’d be peace instead of war on Earth. So, hear me out, as this is important. We need to start a reading-more-smut campaign and target the corrupt politicians, so we can turn them into lovers instead of the dark hands behind the war machines.”

“The politicians won’t read smut, idiot,” sneered a giant demon whose name was Amon. He had lighter skin and twin horns. “They watch porn and jerk off. They’ll never stop making war; it’s their most profitable business model.”

I eyed him with suspicion. “How do you know? Care to elaborate?”

“I’m a demon,” he said proudly, his crimson eyes trained on me, but he didn’t regard me as prey. He actually grudgingly respected me because I’d beaten the shit out of him last time and taken his hellfire as nutrition. “Demons roam the mortal world and prey on any weak or rotten minds. Violence, greed, and lust draw us like no other.”

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