Fierce Lessons (Ghosts & Demons Series Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

everyone should learn in debating club.
    I stood slowly and looked Douglas up and down. Remembering Manny’s trick in the limo, my eyes never left him, but I talked loud enough for everyone present to hear.
    “You lost face,” I said. “I didn’t know I was half-demon. I didn’t know Trick was half-demon. Victor sent us away on a mission to unleash the demon in me so I could fight for the Choir. So…look at you and look at me. The little town where I grew up is gone and a lot of people are dead. Do you really want to put up what you’ve lost against my losses, Mr. Douglas?”
    His Adam’s apple bobbed again. Its quivering movement reminded me of a small, fearful animal. Its motion felt like an invitation to rip it out and see what the little thing looked like in the light of day.  
    “You and your team want some props?” I asked. “Fine. Your Spooks did spot something. Good for you. That’s what you’re here for. But you want more than that. You want heavy respect.”
    “I’ve earned it,” he said.
    “Sure. You dare to stand with us. But you aren’t with us, are you? Not really.”
    “That’s rich!” He raised his voice to match mine, performing for our audience. “Coming from somebody who looks like the things everyone in this room is sworn to kill — ”
    “You aren’t with us,” I said, “because you look down on us. You refuse to train with us. You think of us as a bunch of amateurs playing war. Not one of the Spooks has strapped on a sword or taken the name of the place you defend. You want respect? Show some.”
    He looked uncertain and hesitated. That’s when I knew I had him.
    “If you want to chat, sit at my table and tell me your life story or tell me a joke because I could sure use one right now. You might want to learn some charm. I mean, dude! Seriously! Some people here may not be sure about me, but before I got these horns, at least I can say I made a lot of friends. Nobody likes you.”
    By the look on his face, I couldn’t tell if this revelation was a possibility that had never occurred to him or a secret fear now realized. His jaw dropped and a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. He’d wanted an audience a minute ago. Now the Choir Invisible was a witness to his evisceration.
    (Verbal evisceration. Not the other kind…for now.)
    “Look, if you’ve come to accuse me of something, we can take it to the courtyard and duel about it with bokkens in an old fashioned Tombstone throw down. You ever see that movie? I’ll play Val Kilmer’s part and I will be your huckleberry. When I’m done, your new name will be Lumpy. But if all you want is to stand and jabber, you are boring me.”
    “I…uh — ”
    Manny leaned close and whispered, “Walk away, man. She’s already got your balls in her hand. Don’t make her squeeze ’em harder.”
    Douglas spun on his heel and marched away.
    That felt good. Besides the taste of hot cocoa with a fudge brownie, my encounter with Mr. Douglas was the first thing I’d done that had felt good in days.
    Lesson 158: Just because you’ve won an argument doesn’t mean you’ve changed anyone’s mind.

4
    I was stronger now, so my archery instructor, Devin Anguloora, worked me harder than ever. While I did pushups, the big Samoan planted his foot on my back. When that didn’t slow me down, he sat on me. I wasn’t breathing hard enough for his liking, so he switched to psychological warfare. “I heard you shot a shaman.”
    “Arrow in the shin,” I said. “He’ll be fine, sir.”
    Anguloora ordered me to switch to the kind of pushups where you stop halfway down so I got twice the work out of each rep.
    “Should I be counting?” I asked.
    “I’ll let you know when you’re done. How did it feel, shooting the holy man in the leg?”
    “Bad.”
    “The periosteum of the tibia is very sensitive. Getting an arrow there must have hurt him bad.”
    “He’ll live.”
    “So you don’t care so much?”
    “I care that I was aiming for