A Devils Number

Chapter 30 <Six>

I panted heavily, staring at Adam with a guarded expression as he wiped the cut on his face, effectively cleaning the liquid blood off. It quickly healed after that. He definitely was holding back, because the punch he landed on my side may have been solid, but I just knew there was no way that's how hard he usually punched. I rubbed my side a little bit and took a step back, causing Adam to take a step forward. It was almost as if he was teasing me. I glared at him which made him smile.

Now he's irritating me.

I turned and ran towards the other end of the mat, Adam running after me as I expected. I stopped and swung my leg around behind me with the goal of kicking Adams face but he ducked quickly and tackled me to the ground. I grunted loudly and pushed my knee up between our struggling form as he tried to pin me. I quickly jabbed my knife forward, growing frustrated and gasped as it lodged in his shoulder. I watched Adam groan and fall off of me, onto his back. I quickly got up, staring down at him, frozen in shock.

"Adam, I'm so sorry-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Adam sighed out, pulled the knife from his shoulder. It was covered in his blood which made me feel a little nauseated. I looked away and sighed shakily. "You're good, you know that? Not everyone can last an hour, sparring with me."

I frowned and looked at him. "You we're going easy on me." I glared at him. He chuckled and leaned forward on his good arm, staring at me in the eyes.

"I wasn't going that easy on you. Besides, if I was going all out, I would kill you. You think I want to kill my favorite person?" He faked a pout at me and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'm telling Ella you said that." I pointed an accusing finger at him and got up, wiping the sweat from my forward with the bottom of my shirt.

"She'll never believe you," He said. I could hear the grin in his voice and rolled my eyes at him. "Okay, that's enough. I think I know exactly how you fight now." Adam stood up and walked past me, throwing the knife over to Anarchy who caught it and chuckled. Adam rolled his shoulder around and peeled his bloody shirt off. I curiously examined his body, finding his wound was nowhere to be found. The blood was still there though.

"So what now?" I asked as he grabbed a wet rat from a water bucket, wiping himself down.

"Well...now you should get naked," He said, smirking down at me. My eyes widened a little.

"What?"

"Your true form has wings, correct?" He tilted his head. "And you tend to grow a little when you transform. Humans are smaller compared to us. So unless you don't mind ruining your clothes, you should take them off." I frowned and glanced over at anarchy who was whistling while clean the knife off.

"In front of the both of you?" I asked. "What if someone walks in?" I leaned against a concrete beam and stared at Adam who scoffed.

"Sweetheart, I promise you no one is going to be staring at you naked, other than me. Anarchy wouldn't dare to look at you unless you say otherwise," He said, crossing his arms over his naked chest. I sighed and glanced over at Anarchy once again before hesitantly taking my clothes off, one piece by one. My face was red by the time I was naked and I glanced at anarchy who was now resting on a bench, his as closed as if he were sleeping. It made me feel a little less exposed, so I followed Adam back onto the mat. Adam looked at me and pointed to the spot a little in front of him. So I walked over and stood there watching him back up a little.

"Okay, close your eyes. Slow down your breathing and I want you to speak with Cael for a moment. Ask him if he's ready. This should be easier for you than for most people. But Cael still needs to be ready and prepared in case something doesn't go right. That way you don't damage your body." Adam sat down on the floor, resting his arms on his knees. I frowned, a little worried about the last part he mentioned but didn't linger on the thought. I shouldn't think too much about that or else I'll mess something up.

"You're thinking too hard, Princess," Adam called out which made me flinch a little.

"I know," I mumbled, hugging myself slowly, feeling a bit cold. "Okay." I breathe out, opening and then closing my eyes again.

'Cael? Are you ready?'

'Yes. I'm ready.' Cael answered softly. 'Keep breathing and focusing on your veins. Your limbs are growing longer and your back is stretching out.'

I could feel my bones aching on my back. It felt almost like I was growing new bones and my veins were extending like tiny little branches. Adam said something but I couldn't make out what it was because of how loud my heart beat sound. It was like someone was banging two loud drums in both my ears. Then, suddenly, it was painful. It hurt so bad, like a white searing pain that caused my eyes to see a bright light behind my eyelids. Black dots appeared in the white and I felt my body lurch forward. I hugged myself tighter and cried out in pain, but kept my eyes shut, not wanting to stop. I fell to the ground but my arms instinctively caught my body.

'You're right there. It's going to be okay, soon.' Cael was encouraging me and I wasn't sure how I could hear them through that loud thumping sound that was overwhelming my ears. But I sort of appreciated it. As much as I could with being in an abnormal amount of pain. I let out a whimper as the pain seemed to only get worse, then it stopped. I gasped for air, not even realizing I was holding my breath. Then my eyes opened and I stared at the ground, my reflection looked tired at first in the pool of sweat beneath me. Then I realized I didn't really look like my self anymore. I frowned and slowly got back up, stumbling a little because I felt dizzy.

"Six." I looked up from the floor and scanned my surroundings. Anarchy was asleep still. My eyes landed on Adam who was standing there, staring at me with an unreadable expression.

"Did...did I do it?"

He grinned. And I have never felt more relieved in my entire life. "Look at you," He almost gushed, walking over to me quickly. I frowned and reached behind my neck, feeling a bit ticklish. I gasped and gently stroked the small wings near the back of my neck. It shocked me that I could actually feel my fingers against them. I could even moved them by stretching them out or folding them. Adam reached out and stroked the large wings on my back. I shivered a little since it tickled and unfolded those to stretch them. It felt good, like I was stretching my legs out after having them in a cramped position for so long.

"You look amazing," Adam said. "Your taller to. Happy about that?" He asked smugly. I looked up at him and tilted my head.

"I'm still shorter than you."

"True. But not as much. I'd say you grew 4 inches," He said, smirking as he measure my height. I was to his chin now. I waved his hand away and reached up to fix my hair, flinching a little when I touched the horns on my head. That's surprising, I guess I look exactly how Cael does. But apparently I can see just fine now.

'I wouldn't say that. Since we're merged, you can switch your vision. Right now you see perfectly normal, to you, at least. But if you wanted to, you could see how I see.'

'How do I do that, then?' I asked a little eagerly.

'Just want it.'

I glanced over Adam who was busy studying my body. Quickly, I decided to squeeze my eyes shut, hoping that would help, and try to "want it" like Cael instructed. I opened my eyes and suddenly everything was so...white and grey. But when I looked around I could make out a figure laying down. It was sort of a blood red.

"Is that...anarchy?"

"...yeah, it is-" Adam paused abruptly, mid sentence. "Your eyes. Can you see?"

"Barely. I can see what Cael sees I think. I like your aura." I smiled, watching the bright red aura step in front of me. I reached out and felt my fingers touch his arm. Adam grasped my hand gently and held it tightly.

"Thank you, baby boy." He kissed the palm of my hand and pulled me into a tight hug.