Better Let Them Know Who's Boss {mxm}

20.

"No, you throw your hand out with the pivot of your foot so you use all force."

Without asking for permission, I pushed the demon's hand forward, using my knee to push his leg in unison. "Yea, just like that," I mumbled, nodding as he demonstrated a work in progress. I really had nothing to say to him because he was getting all of the good points, but I just felt like he wasn't taking it seriously. Though he had some of the utmost power in the world, humans were not to be taken lightly.

"Yea, put a little more arm into it," I muttered, rubbing my face as I watched the other demons swarm around each other. The demon looked at me with a confused expression, surprised to not hear a furrow of curse words leaving my lips but I just wasn't feeling it today. I was happy they wanted to learn, but too much was happening. People could tell that I wasn't myself because I was oddly quiet and even I knew it. I just had a lot on my mind and there was a lot of truths coming out and I had no idea what to do with them because it wasn't even my problem or my people, to begin with.

"And I care because?"

I wasn't sure what she was getting at because I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me. "So what if your name is Adira or whatever the hell you just said? What does that have to do with me?" My demon servant opened the necklace, revealing it to be a locket. I peered in closer to see a picture of a man, who looked oddly human.

"Long, long ago," Availa began, holding her hand out to summon a small beam of light. "I was the third division commander of the demon code enforcement," She chuckled darkly and I stared, wondering if I was hearing shit. "That was the best time of my life because I had worked long and hard to get that position. I had so much respect because I was so dedicated," Her voice cracked as the beam of light in her hand reflected the silhouette of a male.

"Sir Alistair decided to take Lexica, Nya, and I to a city, Auckland in New Zealand so that we could see just how bad the world had gotten since he had taken over," I furrowed my brows at her wording, questioning what she meant. "You should've seen how terrible the city was. It was in so many ruins and there was chaos, all because our lord was trying to keep them from being killed," Availa took a deep breath, wiping a tear from her eye as she went silent, trying to find the courage to continue.

"I fell in love."

I bit my lip as she chuckled. "I swear to you, I had never fallen so hard in all of my many years of life, but this one person managed to take my heart." The silhouette in her hand became clearer and prominent, allowing me to see a vision of who she loved. "What happened?" I swallowed tightly, knowing what happened from the look on her face. "It is a sin to fall in love with someone, regardless of whether they're human or not. Sir Alistair doesn't permit it," I took a deep breath and awaited her words.

"You can imagine what happened when he found out," Availa whispered quietly, weeping to herself. "I was demoted to a servant and Leo, I really don't know what happened to him. I don't know if he was killed or if he just died off, but I never saw him again," She finished and her last tear tugged on the strands of my nonexistent heart. I really felt for her, I did. "Then, Adira," Her eyes widened, a soft smile pulling at her lips. "Then why don't you hate Maddox?" I folded my arms and she shook her head. "Because Sir is a man who never does things without a reason," She had so much blind faith in him as well as everyone, but I needed more.

"But why is your name different?" I asked and she sighed, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "I don't know. I don't remember that much but I do know one thing," She looked up at the sky. "None of us were born demons."

I had no clue what to make of that information.

No one said it, but it was blatantly obvious that there was even a hierarchy here in Hell. Maddox was most definitely at the top, then came Nya, Zero, Jexan, the demon code enforcement commanders, the demon code enforcement soldiers, the chefs, the servants and everyone else, and then the humans. I had no idea where Hannah nor the angel children stood, but it was clear that even I was below them.