Page 11 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires (Diabolic Romance #3)

Wally

Bez always worried the devil essence would eventually attempt to overtake my body. It lacked sentience, so we hoped the drive for control would remain dormant while I learned to control my powers. Control. Mastery. Skill. If I had the ability to direct my essence I could stop this agonizing feeling.

Sharp pains stabbed at my insides, at first like the worst stomachache, but soon, that gnawing feeling hit every muscle of my body one by one. It was as if the essence struck my insides and squeezed out all the mana I harnessed. Not only mana. I quaked as it shredded my insides, the horrifying sensation of my organs being gutted and devoured and then rebuilt by essence.

Pain met with relief, then pain again.

Every part of me wanted to lash out, to strike Bez, to strike every demon here simply for some type of soothing distraction.

When I thought I’d buckle, tumble forward, and collapse, the essence sprang out of me. Only it didn’t. I stifled a gasp, expecting to feel the wriggle of living tarlike energy funneling out of my mouth, but there was nothing there. I feared looking down at my chest, prepared to see my exposed heart as surely my bones had exploded outward, and my ribcage turned into an open floor plan for the essence that sought an escape. That hadn’t happened either. All the pain fizzled away, and the sensation of release hit like the gentlest hug after the hardest day, yet it was as if nothing had happened at all.

Was I imagining this pain?

“What’s happening?” Bez asked, his voice the only thing grounding me as the world washed away.

“I’m not sure.” I clamped my jaw, biting back a snarl that nearly slipped out of my mouth or the twist of pain that almost covered my face. “I think your concerns, the trip itself…”

Was my mortal body having a negative reaction to stepping into a Hell world?

The layers of this dimension vanished, but not before allowing me another bout with the agonizing infinity of passing through Lilith’s dimension. Had I fled from Hell? I shook my head. No. I stood firmly in the temple, surrounded by demons who maintained a distance, but my mind had splintered and traveled beyond this world.

That was why my essence had this bizarre confusing feeling. It reeled my consciousness—an invisible and intangible form of energy—out of Hell and back to the mortal world. Not simply the mortal world, but through the gates of the Diabolic Oasis.

I floated through the city more a ghost than a devil, zipping past every single building in a blink and appearing within the walls of the Well of Wonders. My store. I couldn’t explain it, couldn’t comprehend it, but this didn’t feel like I was breaking apart. The essence melded with my being on a cellular level, soothing the anxiety before it had a chance to stir inside my head. There were no answers from the base power coursing through my veins, but I knew everything was fine. This weird development was natural, or as natural as a mortal devil hybrid could be.

Once I entered the store and my being hovered over my familiar, Tony, the jarring confusion finally settled. The tiny scorpion skittered across the floorboards, utilizing telekinesis he’d borrowed from our bond to access Diabolic abilities. Was that what this was?

Nothing I’d ever studied about the Pentacles of Powers suggested a familiar bond would result in this dual-like vision, so it had to be a Diabolic development. Because honestly, while I might not hold mastery over my mage magics, I certainly knew every component, including the rare outliers, because I spent years wishing I was a late-blooming outlier.

“Not the point or the focus at the moment,” I muttered, pulling my vision away from Tony and back to the temple of demons. It was weird because I could still see Tony like an overlapping faded image of what I physically stared at.

“Quite fascinating.” Corson waltzed forward, no longer frightened by my command to back away. His voice was lighter but still layered with the same deepness he usually spoke with, too.

Every demon had offered space, turned their gazes, and stood in silence. And I meant complete silence. There was a stillness to them which made everyone in this temple appear statuesque, awaiting a reprieve from the command I’d yelled a moment ago.

Bez went to intercept, froze for a second, and then turned away from me and the blue-skinned demon without a word. He stood motionless with the demon lords in attendance. Even his essence stilled.

“Is this your first takeover?” Corson asked, the sapphire in his eyes washed away into complete blackness. They were as black as mine probably were right now, with so much essence surging throughout me. “I don’t recall my first takeover. Time has withered that experience. Such confusion is permeating from your scent. It’s curious and concerned yet confident, too. Such a sweet fragrance.”

“What?” I threaded the dual vision of following Tony’s clicking steps while observing Corson, who studied me with a deep fascination. His expression had changed entirely, almost making him appear like a different person. It wasn’t only the change in his expression; his essence had a different radiance to it. Deeper and darker with no hues of blue like when I’d first encountered him. “Who are you?”

“Of course, introductions are to be made.” Corson extended his arms, gesturing to himself. “I am Lilith, ruler of Hell and overseer to the remaining emptiness of the universe.”

Lilith. The Lilith. She was here. Well, she was housed inside the body of one of her demons.

“How are you possessing him?”

“A devil’s takeover allows us complete control over anything created with or containing our essence,” he said—correction, she said. Lilith spoke through Corson’s body. “Our takeover is most potent when in our dominion. We stand in my Hell, and as such, Corson is easy enough to access. A quick pluck of his strings and his being is mine until I choose to relinquish it. If I choose so.”

“Could you keep his body forever?”

“I could.” She examined Corson’s muscular arms, channeling essence to coat her blue skin, creating deadly blades from the pooled tar. “But what good would such a weak form do me?”

She shook her arms, waving away the weapons she’d manifested with Corson’s essence.

“How are you controlling him without sharing your essence?” I asked. “I mean, your essence is here, but it’s not.”

It was bizarre, like I could see her very being coiled around Corson’s body, but not in a tangible sense. Still, it held a very tangible grip over the demon’s will. She wouldn’t share her essence because, according to Bez, no devil did such a thing. That was what made my existence such a rarity. Even demons with devil essence—such as Bez previously—were few and far apart.

“He is created by the grace of my willpower. I birthed his existence as I have with all the Diabolics of this dimension.” Lilith circled me, black eyes studying every part of my being. It took all I had not to tremble, to ooze with weakness, to collapse from terror in her presence. “I’m more intrigued by how you control your beast.”

Beast? She meant Tony. My familiar. “Do you mean because of the distance?”

“In part. But also, my connection is through creation. Everything I’ve created is mine by extension if and when I so choose to repurpose it to my desires.” Lilith stared at the translucent thread of my essence stretched infinitely far to link my sight to Tony’s. “You have not created this beast or given it your essence.”

“Well, I am sharing it in a sense.” I ran my fingers through the back of my hair, scratching my head nervously and trying to find the most simplified answer possible. Wordy rambles might bore or offend Lilith, and I didn’t want to chance it. “We have a familiar bond. Or we did before I gained the essence. My current theory is that it allows Tony access to my Diabolic abilities.”

“You share your power with this beast?” Corson’s expression fell into confusion. Correction, Lilith’s expression, since she currently possessed him. “Equally?”

“I don’t share it exactly. I mean, I do. Um, it’s still all my power, but I allow him access.” I struggled to find the words to express how Tony had access without possessing essence. The familiar bond offered this almost phantom’s touch on my abilities and gave Tony a link.

The only real example that popped in my head was how banks held money and Tony was the bank in this scenario but that didn’t make sense because money would’ve represented essence which would still technically reside inside me not inside the bank and now my head hurt trying to make the terrible example fit.

Suddenly, the perfect example struck, one connected to Lilith herself. “It’s like your key. It’s your power, your way to and from Hell, but you let me and Bez borrow it. We only have access—”

“Because I allow it.” Lilith nodded knowingly, then crinkled her brow with another questioning expression. “And even though my essence isn’t in the flames, my power is.”

“Exactly,” I said.

“I’m more surprised you’re capable of threading your sight beyond the dimensional walls.”

“Because your Hell realm is locked?”

“No.” Lilith waved away the question. “You still hold the key I’ve offered.”

I did? I focused my essence inward, searching on a cellular level. Deep within me, deep within Bez, lay tiny flames meant to offer passage to and from Lilith’s dimension.

“What’s perplexing is the way you’ve reached out and found such easy unity with this creature of yours,” Lilith said as if it were actually easy when I felt like my head was about to pop off. “I have reigned since the beginning of existence, and even I must make laborious efforts to gaze through the eyes of my children who step outside my realm.”

“It’s probably due to my familiar bond,” I said, extrapolating the very limited data I had in an effort to teach the devil something neither of us had much insight into. “Since that’s the only variable I can think of. I mean, there’s a lot of variables. My essence belongs to a different devil—unless all devils are identical in power and ability. There’s also the fact that I’m human. A mage, too. Magic is involved. Yeah, lots of variables, but really, I think it’s the familiar bond because…”

I swallowed the next string of words bouncing in my head, worried I’d upset Lilith based on the glazed expression.

“Do continue.” Intrigue filled Corson’s face, and I shook away the self-doubt.

If I could offer knowledge to Lilith, perhaps she’d offer life and freedom and peace to me.

“You see, mages can share a magical connection with animals, offering them access to their magic. This sort of makes us joined—spiritually, emotionally—and that unity might extend beyond dimensions. It’s only a working theory, but it’d make for an interesting case study.”

“Are you suggesting your familiar bond is stronger than the connection I share with my children?” Lilith asked. The veins on Corson’s body bulged and spread like a necrotic rot of Lilith’s essence overtaking him entirely.

“I, um, well…” No. I needed to say no. Why was that suddenly the hardest word to utter? Any word. All words. I’d already blundered, offended Lilith. Offended a devil! She was going to kill me.

“Fascinating.” Lilith cackled, her light voice bellowed alongside Corson’s, and the two created a melody of chaotic entertainment with a dark undertone reverberating between the beats of their laughter. “Perhaps I, too, should get a pet for bonding. I keep Diabolic pets but have never once considered enslaving lower beings. Seems so wasteful. What could a creature so simplistic offer me?”

“Um, Tony’s not my—”

“But I suppose even the lowest grain of dirt offers solid ground when gathered with the masses,” Lilith said, no longer acknowledging my presence as she strutted in circles, adding a sway to Corson’s hips. “I should like to learn this method of sharing essence without offering essence. Then, I will claim a million beasts from lesser realms and send them to scout worlds. Explore these pathetic realities without enduring the stink and filth of them. There must be something fascinating about those lowly realms. So many of my children crave the glitz and glimmer of these tragic dwellings.”

I kept my opinions to myself. The fact she’d have to actually step foot into those lowly worlds to establish a familiar bond. The fact she was a devil and how the ability to link spiritually with an animal wasn’t exactly a Diabolic skillset. The fact she’d need to possess a mage or witch or something beneath her stature to harness this power. Honestly, her whim seemed shortsighted and poorly planned. But then again, I overthought everything, so maybe Lilith had more ideas she simply didn’t share when conceptualizing this plan.

“Come.” Lilith extended a hand, gesturing for me to grab it. “Let us begin the first course while you explore Hell and your new takeover ability.”

“Oh, so still having the banquet.” I nodded nervously and fixated on the delicate blue hand instead of the tiny black scorpion scuttling about the room. Not this room. A room a whole dimension away.

“Surely, you can handle both tasks, correct?” The black gleam in Corson’s eyes revealed how closely Lilith observed me, studying for any hint of a weakness in this new devil hybrid.

“Absolutely.” I feigned a smile.

Bez sat on the floor beside me while I lay on a couch closer to the size of a stretched chair, doing my best to appear pleasantly at ease while navigating dual vision. Far away, I remained close to Tony, a ghost floating beside him while he worked. It was difficult to know if my connection waned at times or if the distance created a fluctuation in time, but Tony’s position constantly changed in a blink. One second, he sat in the store; the next, he walked Weather; in the instant afterward, he basked under the hot sun, and then a single breath later, he stared at the starlit sky with longing.

Tony missed me as much as I missed him. More so, since it seemed days had passed for him, whereas only a few hours had gone by for me. Truthfully, I couldn’t be certain if time had moved a sliver, as Hell didn’t obey the laws of physics or really any laws unless Lilith deemed them appropriate to the current theme.

But I couldn’t fixate too much on Tony and this second sight because I had to contend with where I currently found myself. I suffered silently in a dining hall surrounded by hundreds of demons who sat lined up at long wooden tables carved out of essence and made to appear properly themed for the Devil’s Banquet and its Ancient Roman décor. The couch kept me positioned in the center of the room with a table between Lilith and myself.

A triclinium was a traditional Roman seating to indicate wealth and status, though they were never placed in the center of a feast. This was Lilith’s way for the devils to exude power, attention, or whatever. Triclinium also had three small couches, which Bez knew not to fall for. We kept the third seat empty as only two devils attended this banquet.

“You must tell me how you acquired the essence,” Lilith said, her head tilted ever so, turning the gaze of her haunting black eyes down at Bez. “I’d heard whispers of the coup for centuries but never expected Beelzebub would allow for such a rise.”

“Beelzebub always liked a challenge.”

“Still does.” Lilith locked her eyes on Bez, veins fluctuating to heighten her senses. “If the rumors hold true.”

She studied Bez’s reaction down to a cellular level, but he gave her nothing.

His time in Hell still haunted Bez most days, even though he didn’t mention it. Occasionally, our minds would meld when we slept, and I’d fall into one of his memories. This was a side effect of my saturation ability, a mage skill that hadn’t been altered despite possessing essence of my own. It was how I’d first learned Bez paraded himself as a devil to the mortal world when he was actually a demon. It was how I’d learned a handful of the horrors he’d endured for eons.

Bez kept silent for a long pause, then grabbed a piece of wriggling meat with his tail from the table and chomped down. Delight filled his face when he chewed, and I shuddered immediately at the tiny, dying sound of whatever he shoved into his mouth. It was a whisper of a wail, one replicated from everything in the dining hall, from every bite of food the demon lords shoveled down their gullets. Or gullet equivalent in some cases.

I’d already hesitated about indulging in the meat, considering Hell didn’t exactly have livestock, but I’d contemplated picking at the grapes in a bowl. However, seeing how clearly every piece of food, down to the fruit on display, was actually essence made to be festive, I lost my appetite entirely.

Either Bez and every demon in attendance were unphased by the dying gurgles of essence, or the noise was so soft, only a devil could hear the haunting howls.

“Interesting how a devil can lose a piece of themselves, and BAM!” Bez smacked the table before snatching another piece of meat. “The doors to the Hell are slammed shut forever.”

“It is fascinating how such a tiny piece of power can be so potent.” Lilith’s gaze shifted to me. Was she doubting my strength? Did she suspect I didn’t know how to use my abilities? Did she assume it didn’t matter since I had such a meager amount of essence compared to hers? “Still, Beelzebub wouldn’t be trapped if he knew how to make friends.”

“Devils make friends?” I asked, ignoring Bez, who sucked his teeth. Did he want me to lean into the comment or to steer away from the bravado?

“We make the best of friends,” Lilith hissed, soft and slow, so the sound of her voice alone slithered above Corson’s and silenced his deep baritone. “That is why I’ve invited you, Walter. Being allies will strengthen our causes. It’s imperative devils remain united and independent.”

“Agreed.” I extended my hand to shake. “It’s a custom for unity, agreement, deals.”

“I know what it is.” Lilith chuckled; the haunting horror of her devilish tones rattled behind the girlish giggle she shared with the room. “May our friendship bring us closer together.”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Even if we spend most of our time worlds apart.”

“Even the briefest embrace can last an eternity.” Lilith smiled, so genuine and gentle it would most certainly have deceived me in another lifetime. “I must take my leave for now, but I will find you for another course of the banquet. I plan to make the most of our time, Walter Alden.”

And like that, the blackness of Corson’s eyes vanished as his shimmering sapphire irises took sight of me. The sweet smile crumbled away, and confusion filled Corson’s face.

“How I hate when she does that.” The perplexed expression turned into a twisted smirk. “Then again, look at this fortune.”

He took in the sight of the feast, the seating arrangement with us center stage for the demon lords and Bez on the floor.

“Well, well, well.” He kissed the back of my hand. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Corson’s tongue rolled out, and he licked my skin.

“And we’re done.” Bez’s tail wrapped around Corson’s throat, and he hurled the demon to the other side of the room. Others applauded the crash, and some mended the broken wall, with Corson still inside it, using a quick spell of channeled essence.

No love was lost for the demon or the action on Bez’s part. It didn’t seem anyone cared to note Lilith’s absence or deign to acknowledge me as I sat alone. I grabbed Bez by the bicep and guided him to the empty seat.

“Wally.”

“Sit,” I demanded.

He didn’t protest, and no one stared or shuffled to alert Lilith.

I needed to clear my mind, focus my split vision.

Flames from my phantom sight stole my concentration.

I blinked away the confusion of the dual sight I’d nearly buried while prioritizing Lilith’s attention. But my connection to Tony persisted a whole dimension away, and I wanted to explore it. Every part of me wanted to panic, but I willed myself to be still, even steadying my breathing and hoping the patter of my heart didn’t catch any Diabolic attention. Most of them likely didn’t understand how or why organs functioned, so maybe they wouldn’t notice the fear I quelled.

“Since my expectations here have lessened, for the time being, I’d like to study my new ability.”

“Of course,” Bez agreed. “I will keep anyone beneath your worry occupied if they approach for an audience.”

“Thank you,” I said as I let Tony’s aggravation for the fire fill my sight.

Tony hissed loudly, clacking his claws at the flames which nearly engulfed him.

I tensed, stifling every desire to call out to Tony. He couldn’t hear or sense me. But I had more than a visual connection. This devil’s takeover allowed Lilith to embed her consciousness inside any Diabolic of her making. It allowed me to cross through the infinite layers of dimensional space and spiritually link to my familiar.

Carefully, he channeled mana and waved the flames away from himself. I tensed for the artifacts, but as swiftly as Tony had saved himself, he went to work redirecting the fire and sending it back toward the corridor it’d tunneled out of.

The click of heels intercepted him as Kell rushed out of her back-room lab and waved the smoke away with her hands, coughing.

Kell. Of course this was Kell. It’d taken her all of five seconds to find a way to destroy the Well of Wonders in my absence.

“Stop being dramatic,” she said, adding a wave of icy mist with the flick of her wrist. Part of me thought she meant me, but then I saw her judgy stare fall to the floor and meet Tony, who clacked his claws.

The frost released in the room cooled everything, sucked up the air to remove the fuel for the fire, and ate away at the stray flames that Tony hadn’t hurled to the back.

In the time it took me to scoff at Kell’s nonchalant attitude, she’d disappeared, and Tony had reappeared at the countertop early in the morning, contending with a customer.

“Bez, when you said this banquet would potentially be six months to six years, did you mean because time dilation seems to be off entirely from one dimension to the next?” In the seconds it took to ask that question, Tony had upsold the customer and talked them out of several artifacts I doubted they wished to part with in exchange for a useless bauble. Honestly, he was less of a scorpion and more of a shark with the way he fleeced our clientele. That said, he acquired some really epic pixie products, and I couldn’t wait to return home and study them.

Home, which seemed to change with every blink of my eyes.

“Time dilation?” Bez tilted his head. “Is time high or having a baby? What kind of dilation are we talking here?”

“What?” I asked with a squeak that I quickly buried by clearing my throat to appear gruff and confident and devillike despite the fact the demon lords continued offering privacy while they focused on their feast and conversation amongst themselves. “I mean, it’s moving differently here and there. There—home—is moving faster. Is that why the banquet is expected to run so long?”

“Oh, fuck.” Bez grimaced. “Yeah, I sort of forgot about time in the whole equation thingy. Devil’s Banquets are painfully long. But yeah, guess that means we should expect a much more delayed passage of time when we return.”

I sighed. A sigh that washed away the day Tony had and brought on an evening where he closed up the shop and tended to his usual checklist of tasks. This was a painful reminder my familiar was far too good for me and worked far harder than he should to keep this business afloat. A business Kell and I treated like an extracurricular while prioritizing our true passions for cataloging, analyzing, and whatever destructive tinkering Kell labeled as research.

The bell chimed despite the sign to the Well of Wonders clearly stating the store was closed—and not at all sorry about it.

“We’re Closed. Come Back Later.” Because Kell and Bez refused to apologize to people who showed up outside of working hours.

A group of cloaked people shuffled inside, levitating in fact, which meant mages or witches or possibly vampires if they’d fed on witches or mages prior to arriving. Not that it mattered. They barreled inside so quickly, they didn’t even notice the tiny arachnid tucked away in the aisles as he dusted the artifacts.

Tony kept quiet and observed the situation.

They were witches, clearly based on how they circled around Kell’s doorway and cast sorcery to check for traps. I furrowed my brow, offended they’d dare and perplexed they’d try. It was no secret Kell was married to the King of the Diabolic Oasis, and Mora did little to hide her bloodthirst. I mean, seriously, the number of odd jobs Bez had taken for her. It was like they thought I was too dense to piece together golems who threatened the status quo had suddenly vanished around the same time Mora would have a marble statue commissioned. Or the time mages mouthed off, and Bez came home with a new host body. There were dozens of examples. While life was mostly content for folks in the Diabolic Oasis, it was no secret Mora didn’t tolerate rivals.

So why the fuck were these witches attempting to break into Kell’s lab?

They managed to unlock her door—which I’d need to make a note to ask Tony if he jotted down whatever spell they used—and then they stepped inside. Not that I’d break and enter into Kell’s private space, but she used top-tier traps to seal off and ward her belongings, which these witches managed to decipher almost instantly. I could use a spell like that when studying deadly artifacts.

One hooded witch approached a fireball sitting atop Kell’s empty desk. The fire was kept in place through intricate sigils sort of locking it. This was the flame she’d copied from my invitation to Hell. Why was a coven of witches trying to steal Kell’s copy of this key? And how did they know it existed?

My heart raced. Bez tilted his head, clearly listening in on the rapid flutter of my heartbeat that pounded against my chest with every word I held back. With every question I had about these witches.

“There are witches breaking into the shop,” I said to Bez with a steady voice and deep breath.

“Mora is such a moron.” He groaned. “This is what peace gets ya.”

“So, she’s aware of witches after Kell’s fire?” I asked without explicitly stating Kell and Bez had the not-so-bright idea of trying to circumvent Lilith’s abilities. “You know, the special fires Kell makes?”

A harrowing scream flooded my ears, and I leapt to my feet, spinning around the room. One demon lord locked his eyes with me, and I swore he could taste the fear pounding in my chest.

In an instant, Bez lunged and smashed the demon into muck, which he sprinkled onto plates of other dishes demons devoured. Everyone ignored the assault, didn’t mind my outburst, and obviously never heard the scream since the sound came from my connection with Tony, and the scream came from a person he heard.

Thankfully, Bez didn’t have to explain my bizarre actions because no one questioned them. Part of me was grateful for the horrifying fear the presence of a devil created, and another part found it disgusting.

“Well, this is fucking great,” Kell said, pulling my attention to the second sight I glimpsed from Tony.

The scene had changed again—because, of course, it had—and Kell stood over three charred corpses, kicking one with the heel of her boot. The burned cloaks made it evident this was from the witches who’d broken in, and based on the fully intact fireball, I’d wager Kell kept even more intricate traps protecting her most recent experiment.

Kell glared at the bodies, held her flame in one hand, and turned her gaze to Tony. “Wanna help me find the rest of this shifty coven that has the audacity to try and steal from the baddest witch in town?”