Page 13 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires (Diabolic Romance #3)

Wally

My fragmented molecules corporealized, and each cell of my body tetrised together seamlessly, though thanks to my Diabolic senses, the experience was grueling and detailed. Each fraction of a second ticked by even slower. There was a low, slow whoosh of my body colliding from a billion puzzle pieces to one entity. And then, after the euphoric afterglow of vanishing from one location and reappearing elsewhere, I took in the new room.

“By the gods, is that what teleportation is always gonna feel like?” I asked aloud, partially because of this need to verbalize my thoughts and half hoping to hear Bez’s snarky response sneak up on me. “But I hadn’t seen him swept into the magic of Lilith’s essence.”

Because I had seen it. That was when my senses expanded, taking in full sight of the energy hurled by the wave of Lilith’s hand.

I took in the new room where I’d arrived. It kept with the theme, cluttered with marble statues, decorative vases, and everything else that made this appear less like a room oozing opulence and more like a museum trying a little hard for authenticity. But this was a bedroom. The raised bed with a lavender canopy made of silk.

My vision flickered, and the essence that’d instinctually swirled into a defensive state had once again stretched infinitely long and pierced through the dimensional walls of Hell.

Flashes of my second sight, which linked me to Tony, to my world, showed a kaleidoscope of moments. Tony and Kell analyzing a map of the city. Sorcery searching for witches. Witches tracked in the dead of night. An array of bright sunlight and starry evenings. Weather’s goofy smile. Weather’s sad puppy eyes. Weather’s grumpy growls. Moments twisted into snapshots, and the images seemed stretched infinitely long, like seconds spread out into a warped collage.

The passage of time in the city I’d left to attend this Devil’s Banquet really became more apparent with each surge of connection that seized a hold over me. I couldn’t make sense of what I saw, so I ignored it, waiting for the link to falter and fade, all while hoping my time in Hell would soon come to an end. I hoped even more that Bez and I could safely depart without incurring a devil’s ire or an expectation of regular visits.

This one very brief trip had left my thirst for knowledge about Hell quenched. Well, not really. But I’d gladly bury my curiosities if it kept me and the whole world alive and unharmed.

“Walter, I do hope this room is to your liking.” Lilith entered the room, a pep in her step, a bounce her long blonde curls, and a coy smile.

“Yes,” I said with a strained smile. “The next course wouldn’t happen to be scheduled nap time?”

She laughed, loud and bold and echoing throughout the entirety of this suddenly smaller room. Maybe it felt smaller because of her presence, or maybe she’d used some devil abilities to actually subtly shrink the size.

Something about Lilith’s glamoured human form emulating my appearance reminded me of my sisters. Not that any of them really looked like feminine versions of me. Honestly, the only sibling who looked like my double was my brother, Alistair—minus being taller and buffer and the all-around jockier build.

Really, the only thing about Lilith that reminded me of my sisters was the carefree giggle that had this aloofness of my youngest sister. The innocent grin with a subtle mischief hidden behind it reminded me of my older sister. But the fierce, stern sharpness in Lilith’s gaze was completely reminiscent of my oldest sister. But the confidence in her sultry swagger, the pop of her hips with each step, was definitely a move my brother would make. There was this air of bravado without effort in the movements. A carefree strut. Squared shoulders. Arched back. Cocky tilt in her neck.

A twinge of guilt hit me, dwelling on how little time I spent missing my family, how little time I thought about them, how much time had passed since I’d seen any of them, and how much more time would be lost while I attended a party in Hell and days passed every time I blinked.

What would they think of the mage I’d turned into? The fact that I wasn’t very much a mage anymore at all. The irony of finally feeling comfortable with my proficiency over the Pentacles of Power only for a whole new set of Diabolic skills to consume my every waking thought. Devilish Diabolic abilities at that, ones that seemed to differ from known devils and pretty much meant I had no manual to rely on.

It was weird to think about my family while here in Hell. But this banquet, this party that required caution with every action, reaction, inaction, and instant contemplation for everything in between, brought all the Collective galas I’d been forced to attend as an Alden rushing back. A name that meant everything in my world, yet nothing at the same time. Aldens walked among titans in the world of magic, but to mere mortals, we were simple nobodies with too much old wealth.

The same could be said for my name in Hell. Alden would hold no authority to the Diabolics, to the devils, to even the weakest and most broken demons. But the name Alden tied to the title of a devil hybrid seemed to mean everything here. Here in Hell. Hell, belonging to Lilith. Lilith, who studied me. Me, the simple overthinking fool who’d landed a piece of devil essence he couldn’t fully control and needed a few more centuries of studying to properly prepare for this Devil’s Banquet in my honor.

“You spend a lot of time in your head.” Lilith stood with barely a breath of distance between us.

Her essence burned so hot it hit with an icy sting, sending a shiver coursing over my body. My hairs rose. My legs quaked. My teeth chattered.

“Paradoxical cold is the sensation,” I said, searching for any flimsy excuse that might’ve explained why I appeared so frightened and frail. Only, I probably should’ve led with an explanation to a question Lilith hadn’t asked. “The reaction of my body is because your essence is cold.”

“Is the temperature too much for you?” Lilith brushed her hand along my face, and I froze—almost literally from the cold but also in an effort not to react negatively. “Does contact bother you? You seemed quite content with contact earlier. Though, I understand some touching should remain civil lest your little demon find himself in a mood to slaughter.”

“Oh, Bez is fine,” I said, realizing Lilith referenced the demon he’d killed.

The demon he’d burned to a crisp. The demon who died when Lilith was supposedly nowhere nearby.

“Are you talking about the demon that pricked my nail? I’m sor…” I cleared my throat, swallowing the apology and my anxious need to fill the silence before redirecting my words. “I’m surprised you’d deign to acknowledge a demon in your service that’d failed so spectacularly.”

The silence between us was haunting. Lilith’s gaze was reminiscent of every judgmental look I’d ever received, threatening to rip me apart and reveal the awkward coward who desperately wanted to apologize for his sharp words. But this was Hell, this was my banquet, we were a pair of devils presumably on equal footing, and if I faltered, stumbled, then the most powerful force I’d ever encountered would devour me.

“No real loss,” Lilith finally said. “A few centuries or eons in Oblivion does a demon good. How else will they learn to value eternity unless they’re given a taste of nothingness?”

It seemed I’d done what Bez hoped, avoided a misstep. Now, I just needed to casually turn the conversation to a ‘thanks for the invite, lovely party, but I should be moseying on home.’ I tsked. Who was I kidding? There was absolutely no way I’d steer the conversation in that direction, so I might as well see how much curiosity I could lean on before this branch holding me up cracked.

Metaphoric branch, though, given how the entirety of my experience in Hell was filtered by this themed party, then technically speaking, I could be standing on literal branches without even knowing it.

“Speaking of glamours or filters which is just…” I bit my lip, realizing I’d muttered aloud. That had to stop. I didn’t need one of my rambling tangents pissing off Lilith.

“Continue.” Her black eyes locked onto my mouth. “Now.”

“Um, yeah, sure. I was just thinking how, you know, I’m flattered by the human glamour, but you don’t have to dress for the theme,” I said because, quite frankly, even I’d grown tired of this tunic. It was already a couple of inches away from flashing my privates, and the slits Bez ripped into my clothes didn’t help matters.

“I like the mortal getup.” Lilith twirled a few times, letting her long blonde hair whirl and stretch further. By the time she stopped spinning, the curls had lost their bounce, and her hair reached past her knees. “I also wouldn’t fit in this tiny dwelling.”

“Oh.” I quirked a brow. “Why not make a bigger building?”

“Orias insisted it was important for the theme,” Lilith said. “Apparently, size is quite important to mortals despite them all being so tiny.”

“I wouldn’t say we’re obsessed with size.” I quizzically considered everything from homes, wealth, bodies, vehicles, reputation, partner count, partner parts, personal parts, measurements that needed to be smaller or bigger or… “Yeah, okay. Maybe a little bit.”

“Though, part of me is curious if someone with the eyes of a devil can grasp the sheer magnitude of my glory.” Lilith held a hand over her mousy smile, feigning this coy, girlish giggle. “Lower beings can’t view the magnificence of my true form. The purity of my being overwhelms their senses and obliterates those beneath. Even my weaker children struggle to take in my full splendor.”

“Wow.” I gulped. “I’m not sure I wanna, um, test that theory.”

“It won’t kill you. Not one so strong, one who clawed his way out of Oblivion.” Lilith strutted by me. “Not an easy feat for a devil. Retrieving our demon spawn, sure. But ourselves? Broken and no longer in existence. It’s fascinating the Walter Alden devil managed such glory.”

She heard about that? When I’d fought against Eligos, it took everything I had, including devouring Diabolic essence, which sort of overwhelmed my body, and since I’d ended up so entangled with demonic substance, I kind of unintentionally fell into the demon afterlife. Not that Oblivion was much of an afterlife, merely a dimension devoid of everything except the slumbering consciousness of every fallen Diabolic entity.

Still, it wasn’t exactly something we advertised, but I supposed. in theory, anyone in Oblivion could’ve known about my brief time spent there. And, of course, Lilith’s demon prince Corson was in Oblivion at the same time as me. Once she pulled Corson out of that nothingness afterlife, he could’ve told her everything. I mean, that was why he got assigned to deliver the invitation to begin with, since he encountered us at the villa.

“How about I unveil a layer at a time?” Lilith pursed her lips; the plump pink turned black as the soft peach skin of her face transformed into a deep purple. Flesh became scales. Essence coated her arms, and her fingers stretched far with seven nimble knifelike digits.

“Still humanoid, but I can see elements of something different.” It was difficult to form into words, almost as if a phantom shape of Lilith’s true body glimmered beyond the portrayal she slowly unraveled.

She peeled away her glamour delicately, but I carefully observed, ready to turn my gaze if I felt my insides ready to explode. I wasn’t exactly sure what would happen, but it was safe to assume it’d be a painful reaction prior to being obliterated from glimpsing too closely.

“I knew someone of your caliber would be able to see a god queen in all her glory,” Lilith hissed, the words slithering around me, coiling tightly and dancing against my skin. Each syllable sent a different sensation.

“Yeah, about that,” I said, sidestepping from her intangible voice that seemed to follow me no matter where in the room I moved. “You still haven’t clarified how I’m different from other devil hybrids.”

“There are no other devil hybrids.”

“That doesn’t make sense. I’ve met some.” Bez was a demon fused with devil essence. And now, I’d met or seen another Diabolic who’d consumed a piece of their fallen devil. “So, why am I classified as a hybrid whereas Satan would only be a demon in possession of devil essence?”

“Ah, yes. I heard you were an inquisitive devil. Few devils are curious of things outside their realm,” Lilith said in this matter-of-fact tone. No condescension or contempt in her comment, which was something my curiosity often received over the years. “You differ from Satan and other Diabolics like him because they can never transcend with essence they take from a devil. Too much, and it’d overtake them, allowing the devil to be reborn in a meager body. Too little, and the power is futile, like what Satan possesses. Just a demon playing pretend.”

Like how Bez pretended to be Beelzebub.

“The main difference is that while essence can remain intact inside a demon, it is merely a piece of power.”

“That’s not any different,” I said. “I ingested a small portion, not too much to overpower my body, so it fused with my being.”

“Not even remotely true, Walter.” Lilith swished her clawed fingers back and forth in a ‘no’ motion. “The tiny piece of devil essence you merged with has swelled and grown. It’s merely a fraction of a fraction right now, hardly noticeable or anything a lesser being would distinguish. But in a few centuries or a millennium, the evolution of your hybridized essence will spawn a new type of devil. A truly devastating force.”

“W-what?” I trembled at the idea of a millennium of living. Of life.

I knew it was a thing. It was something always looming in my future with Bez, even when I shared his essence before acquiring this piece of a devil, but the idea of forever was a lot to comprehend. Who would I be in a thousand years? Who would I be if the devil essence inside me evolved and changed? How much would it change me?

“In all the eons of my existence, there has never been a new type of devil.” Lilith circled me, always circling me as she evaluated me down to a cellular level. “Every single one of us was birthed into the universe identical in our structure and design, merely created with differing levels of capability. Even that was more by chance and training than anything else.”

“That’s fascinating.” I meekly smiled. And bizarre, which I held back because explaining to a devil why their unchanging, unaltering, uniformed essence seemed unhealthy.

“Something about your lowly, feeble design as a mortal or a mage or both has culminated in something truly spectacular.”

“Thanks?” I quirked a brow.

“It is a true honor. Something such as yourself would have never caught my attention, but now you’ve intrigued me, enthralled me, left me desiring my curiosity to be sated.”

“Um…I don’t know what to say.”

“I suspect your lack of Diabolic origins plays a pivotal role in making the essence more malleable.” Lilith placed a hand on my shoulder. “I wonder what type of demons you’ll create.”

“I doubt I could make any.” I searched my insides, trying to quantify the amount of actual essence stitched throughout my cells, wondering how much was required to create a demon. “Plus, I don’t really know how procreation works for devils. I’m assuming it’s sort of like parthenogenesis—basically asexual reproduction—but instead of biology finding a way to keep a species moving forward, it’s more of a magical quantifier established based on the vast array of Diabolic versatility in emulating and imitating other forms of existence while simultaneously maintaining its individuality in structured…”

I paused. I was talking a lot. Too much, probably. Possibly. Potentially.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Lilith said. “I look forward to consummating our bond.”

“W-w-what?” I choked on the question.

“Surely, the demon born of our union will be unlike any other I’ve breathed life into.”

Lilith didn’t invite me to a Devil’s Banquet to determine if I was worthy of my newly appointed title as a devil but instead to figure out if I would make a suitable mate. A partner. A devil daddy.

“Fuck.” I gulped.

“If you insist.” Lilith sprawled onto the edge of the bed, poised in a seductive pose.

My eyes widened in absolute horror, having no idea how to politely reject the ruler of this entire Hell dimension that didn’t result in me dying, Bez dying, and the world dying.