Page 17 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires (Diabolic Romance #3)

Wally

The devils waged a fierce battle. A flick of Beelzebub’s wrist set the land as far as the eye could see on fire. And my eyes saw tens of thousands of demons caught in the raging inferno from every direction. I analyzed their agony, shivering at the piercing pain.

Lilith didn’t ignore their deaths; each of her tendrilled mouths wailed a symphony at the faltering essence. An absence that washed away the delicate layers Lilith and her team had designed for my banquet. The starry sky faded into abstract shapes of cosmic radiance. Tendrilled mouths snatched up those starlit geometric shapes and devoured the literal atmosphere of the dimension.

Suddenly, Lilith spat fiery comets from her mouths, each gullet burning bright as the tendrils released a steam that cloaked Lilith and Beelzebub. A mist meant to join in Lilith’s stranglehold over Beelzebub, but he gripped the steam, literally tearing the gas into shredded physical form. Chunks of steam crashed onto land and exploded, unleashing tidal waves of boiling water that sizzled with everything it collided with, scorching the earth as it washed away Beelzebub’s flames.

Was this what devils were truly capable of? What kind of magic could even come close to the onslaught they cast?

I knew devils were powerful. I’d listened to definitions of their strength. I understood the accuracy of the statement that Lilith would destroy my dimension if I didn’t attend the banquet. Well, the potential for it. But to actually see the carnage unfold, though…

Bez squeezed my bicep, pulling my attention away from the catastrophic battle, the duel between gods, the death of a world.

“We need to leave this area before the warding falls.” Bez eyed the sigils hidden beneath the rubble of the temple.

No wonder this place hadn’t been swept away by the destruction. It remained a tiny haven, an island surrounded by a sea of death and destruction.

“Where would we even go?” My eyes darted around, scanning further than any human could, probably further than most demons, as my essence helped study the land for miles in every direction.

Scalding water.

Flames reborn.

Crackling earth.

Essence trapped beneath devastation. Essence shattered beyond repair. Essence purged from existence.

“Wally.” Bez jerked my arm, forcing me to look at him, to lock eyes with his steady gaze, his calm crimson irises, his stoic, concerned expression. “We need to leave this world.”

“How?” I asked, struggling not to tremble in Bez’s grasp.

“I suggest leaving with those nifty keys Mother bestowed.” Corson smirked, reminding me of his presence and seemingly unphased by the obliteration of his dimension.

“Keys?” The word spilled from my lips with a fog of confusion almost as dense as the mist that hid Lilith during her next barrage of strikes.

Corson nodded in my direction; his sapphire eyes analyzed me the same way I’d studied the dying land. His stare pierced through the deepest construct of my cells where the tiny embers of Lilith’s magic burned. That was right. The flaming key that brought us to Hell still burned deep within our cores, nearly extinguished but enough to see us home for certain.

“Even without the keys,” he said with a playful pause. “It seems we’re all in luck.”

“Luck?” I spat the word. “Bad luck.”

“No.” Bez looked up at the fractured sky, seeing something beyond the literal broken world. “Seems the door’s still ajar.”

“Yes, yes. Mommy went and overestimated herself,” Corson said, glee in his growing smirk. “Or she underestimated Beelzebub.”

“Both,” Bez said.

“I recommend you leave now before she revokes your pass.”

“If she gets the chance.” Bez scoffed. “Chances are the doors will simply seal entirely once Beelzebub slaughters Lilith.”

“Shouldn’t you leave too, then?” I asked Corson, to which Bez scoffed again. “What? He did save you.”

I’d sensed it when Lilith lashed out, casting her essence like a line meant to hook Bez, to hurt Bez. As fast as my essence was, it couldn’t reach him from such a distance in time, but Corson shoved him out of the line of fire. Well, the line of protruding spikes.

“He helped me avoid a minor fatality.” Bez folded his arms and looked away. “I’d hardly call that a rescue.”

Corson turned away from us, looking up to the sky where devils clashed. “I’m just gonna watch this unfold. I’ve always wanted to see Mother meet her end.”

“What if she wins?” I asked.

“She won’t,” Bez firmly said. Corson snorted in response.

“Mommy’s arrogance has granted her eons of success. It’s nice to know that bravado will finally be her undoing.”

The bitterness in his lighthearted words hit hard. I couldn’t say I didn’t understand the sour feelings toward his mother, Lilith was much worse, much more controlling and overbearing than mine, but I couldn’t understand the willingness to accept dying alongside her just to watch her fall.

“If you stay, you’ll be swept into this destruction.” I pointed to the rattling sigils ready to give way any moment.

“No worries.” Corson knelt, patting one nearby. “I’m only keeping them active until you lot leave. I’ve never been afraid of a bit of violence.”

“You’ll die,” Bez said. “When Lilith falls, her world will be sealed until the end of time, and Beelzebub will slaughter all on principal.”

Corson shrugged. “Fun times.”

“Are you sure he’ll kill her?” I asked, nervous about what two devils could do to our world.

“Yes,” Bez said.

“Wouldn’t it be wiser to keep her alive and use her to keep his own Hell portal open?”

“That would require Beelzebub to show humility and a long-standing collaborative partner,” Bez explained. “Things he’d never do. The moment Lilith offered him assistance, she signed her own death. Beelzebub would spend eternity rotting in his Hell before accepting assistance from a fellow devil. That’d make him weak. Beelzebub is a god-king to all things. He is anything but weak.”

The awe-struck terror mixed with the calm collectiveness that spilled from Bez made my heart lurch. I wanted to hug him, hold him, offer some type of comfort to a wound that’d never heal. But I couldn’t do any of that here. We had to escape first.

“Part of why I’m sticking around.” Corson turned back with a smirk. “I might not be able to strike down a devil, but I can most certainly enjoy the show. Then I’ll go off and be a thorn in their sides.”

“Meaning?” I asked.

“Just do your part and make sure you two toss those keys back into Hell once you’re home sweet home and all that jizz.”

“Jazz,” I corrected.

“Whatever.” Corson shrugged. “Liked my saying better.”

“Wait. Why do we have to toss the Hell key?”

“Hell key.” Corson snickered. “Silly name, but it’s for a silly tool, so suppose it evens out.” He rocked his head side to side, hair swaying as he contemplated. “Lilith is a fool but always one with a plan to outwit any man. Those keys are a piece of her without expressly being a piece of her. Meaning, when fished out across the universe, it forces the door slightly ajar to her Hell.”

Bez huffed. “Meaning, even if Beelzebub shredded the bulk of her essence, the door wouldn’t close.”

“Precisely. Mommy is a paranoid type, so while you two head off, I’m gonna enjoy the show, then go pillage and plunder those keys across the various dimensions she’s tucked them away.” Corson waggled his eyebrows. “This’ll ensure she doesn’t get a backup place.”

“I’d ask how, but I truly don’t care.” Bez pulled in the opposite direction. “May your devil’s death provide entertainment and yours be swift.”

“Oblivion hoping.” Corson cackled; lightning above crackled; stars wailed; essence exploded; the world crumbled.

Bez and I stepped forward, falling through the billion layers of dimensional webbing that were met with an agonizing second that lasted ten lifetimes. Then it all fell away, and Hell vanished as the city of home returned.

A night sky hidden by the bright lights of the city.

The reality of the world began to set in. The actual world, not some fabricated setting of a muted dimension or a war-torn realm where two beings collided with such ferocity even armies of millions couldn’t create such a degree of devastation.

Once I’d gained my bearings, Bez snatched the energy pulsating within me and gathered it to the core of my chest before ripping out the blaze meant to carry us between worlds. He smothered the flames Lilith offered between his hands and then tossed them into the abyss.

“Where’d you send them?”

“The cracks between worlds.” He brushed the soot off his palms. “Eventually, they’ll find their way back to Lilith’s realm per their default purpose.”

“So, it’s really done then?”

“Not quite.” Bez glared.

With two devils clashing a world away, it was imperative we made every second count. Otherwise, that war might spill over into our dimension.

We flew across the city to Mora and Kell’s place. Bez flew. Despite my wings and other Diabolic features being actively present since returning from Hell, without the presence of a threat, it seemed my extensions didn’t cooperate. My cherub wings were about as useful as a novelty set. And while I could’ve used an incantation to create a quick broom to fly on, I wouldn’t move half as fast as Bez on my best day.

Bez didn’t even contend with the formality of security protocols, zipping over the front gates while I weaved together a quick incantation to counter any of the wards attuned to Diabolic threats. Though despite the obvious increase in defensive measures lining Mora’s estate, none of it seemed geared toward Diabolics. Odd. Usually, she kept her protective spells crafted by Kell more discreetly placed. Also, while Mora set precautions for anyone, mortal, Mythic, or Diabolic, I expected Corson’s recent infiltration to lead to more demon-resistant traps.

“I dare you.” Bez barred his teeth to the guards who circled us once he landed at the front door.

The door swung open, and Mora greeted us dressed in some tiny, bubbly blonde with a face covered in chocolate sauce and fingers coated in Cheeto dust. I gagged at the junk food wafting from her pores like she’d literally swam through a pool of greasy, fried snacks.

I made a face Mora clearly noticed.

“It’s a cheat day.” She sucked on her orange fingers one by one, slowly pulling them out of her mouth with a loud pop in this bizarre food porn kind of way that I imagined must’ve had a huge audience among Diabolics and their obsession with eating.

“Your devil takeover kicking in again?” Bez asked, caressing my face with his gray hand and brushing his thumb near my eyes.

The touch made me more aware of the veins around my face, the ones that must’ve bulged at my enhanced senses. Senses that allowed me to smell every meal Mora had binged recently. But this wasn’t a takeover. Or so I thought until my eyes fluttered ever so in an annoying, quick way that almost made my lashes visible before another room came into view.

I’d never adjust to seeing two things at the same time, layered over each other. Faded images of books, not quite silhouettes but lacking full depth, lined my sight as I stared inside Mora’s home.

Tony skittered across the collection of tomes, analyzing various spells. He had stacks already annotated more meticulously than mine and piles of discarded texts that didn’t serve a purpose to his goal.

What is his goal?

I tilted my head almost like if I lined my neck up just right, I’d see the answer, the thought dancing along Tony’s mind. It was there in the corner of my vision. Our familiar bond fully restored since my return and somehow slightly stronger.

Tony clacked his claws. He felt my presence, the return of our connection in full effect. The blossoming improvements that seemed seamless when I made no efforts yet staggered for years when I applied myself. Tony scurried out of the library he’d holed up inside to greet us.

“Devil’s takeover.” Mora hmphed. “That’s a classic.”

“Maybe you can share your wealth of knowledge with the class,” Bez said.

“Study guides and slumber parties another time,” Mora said with an obvious note of sarcasm, but truthfully, that sounded absolutely delightful.

I never got invited to many slumber parties—the few I had were pity invites because of my popular brother or my bully of a mother. And a whole party dedicated to studying? My head swam in the daydream, almost escaping the impending dangers we’d come here to warn about.

“You know, that was a quick trip.” Mora gestured, then turned her motion into a movement to telekinetically wave over a cocktail glass. “I expected something closer to six years, not six months.”

“Six months?” My jaw dropped. “Seriously? It was like a day there.”

Bez tsked. “It was much longer; you just have a very linear perspective on time.”

I frowned.

“As an immortal, you should get used to losing track of time. What’s in a century, really?”

“So, I take it Lilith didn’t scrutinize your every action,” Mora said, eyes trained on me as she sipped her drink. “Or in action.”

“About that.” I bit my lip. “Where’s Kell?”

“Must be urgent if you two rushed over to my lil ole home in the middle of the night.” Mora waved us inside.

“Dimensional jetlag.” Bez shrugged as we followed Mora upstairs and deeper into the manor.

Tony finally crossed paths with us. He scrambled toward me, climbed my leg, and nestled in the curls of my blond hair. His claws clinked against something, and when I looked, really examined myself for the first time in a while, I saw the full extent of my Diabolic features. Well, as best I could in the semi-reflective surface of a glass picture frame hanging a piece of artwork in Mora’s hallway.

Tony’s claws had hit one of my horns. A tiny set compared to Bez’s four curled ram horns. Mine were about two inches, maybe three—not that size really mattered—and pointed upward with a slight curve. They popped with a sheen black, standing out in my blond hair nearly as much as Tony himself. Veins were stretched around my solid black eyes. My wings were small but pulled taught, the feathers appearing thicker and sharper than they had in the past.

In Hell, I’d weaponized them, using each feather as an extension of my being. But now I couldn’t even feel them. Not really. Not the way I felt my arms or legs. Not the way I bent my fingers or wiggled my toes. The instinct wasn’t there. Or it was when I didn’t overthink it. A rarity, truly.

When we finally reached Kell’s study, the entire space was covered in half-abandoned projects of things she’d tinkered with and stacks of books. Books that looked similar to the annotated ones Tony had been putting together elsewhere. What had they been doing in the six months since we left?

“Hey, Scorpio,” Kell said. “You’re supposed to be working, not slacking off.”

Tony hissed and nestled deeper into my hair.

“Here, I would’ve figured you’d be the one slacking off in my absence.”

“Wish I had the time.” Kell sighed.

“Do you even have time to say hello?” I asked, lowering my head like it’d somehow catch Kell’s eyes, which had fallen back to a book. So, I imitated her to show a proper greeting. “Oh, hey, Wally! Nice to see you’re back from literal Hell. How was the trip? Did the devil treat you well? Did you bring me a souvenir?”

“Well?” She raised a brow. “Did you bring me a souvenir?”

“Oh, you wanted to know how my meeting with another devil went?” I bulldozed right past her question. “Glad you asked. Lilith was friendly. Really cool theme.”

“Tacky, if you ask me.” Mora side-eyed my tunic and Bez’s warrior skirt.

I sidestepped right around that comment. “She was also super fascinated by lesser worlds and mortal merged devils, so much so that she wanted to mate.”

“That’s right, Bael used to hold the occasional banquet himself when Lilith would let their child visit his Hell.” Mora shrugged. “Forgot what an avid collector she was.”

“I bet.” Bez scoffed.

“Any who,” I continued. “Turns out I was really more of a consolation prize, one she never planned on having to begin with. Her real motive was offering my head to Beelzebub.”

“Who she released from Hell,” Bez added. “His Hell. Currently, they’re both in Lilith’s domain.”

That immediately caught Mora and Kell’s attention. Both women stared wide-eyed with straightened postures and slack jaws as we explained everything about our trip, our escape, and how Corson warned those flaming keys were extensions of Lilith’s power so she’d never find herself trapped inside her own dimension like Beelzebub had. It was a preventive measure in case she was ever overpowered by her demons, by another devil, and afforded her an opportunity to regroup and regather her essence.

“So, if she feels Beelzebub will best her in combat—”

“Which he will,” Bez interjected.

“Then she’s going to flee her Hell—”

“Probably dragging Beelzebub with her,” Bez added. “Since he doesn’t suffer cowardly foes.”

“And since Corson is currently eradicating all of Lilith’s other keys scattered across the universe—”

“Which he never elaborated on,” Bez said, barring the fact he’d told the prince he didn’t care how he did such things.

“Now, we’re here hoping to remove any keys that’d bring Lilith—and possibly Beelzebub—into our world.”

“Smart idea,” Mora said.

“Kell, can you please return the copy of the key you made?” I asked. “I’d like to destroy it just in case.”

“Key?” Kell raised her eyebrows.

“You know the one you and Bez insisted would be a great way to seal a devil away and might actually now be the very thing that unleashes one…or two.”

Bez rolled his crimson eyes. “When you say it like that, you can make anything sound bad in retrospect.”

“I’d love to throw it away along with all my hard work put into creating the damned thing, but unfortunately, I don’t have it anymore.”

What. The. Fuck?