Page 28 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires (Diabolic Romance #3)

Bez

Damn. Dead. Again. It’d been so long since Beelzebub had struck me down, shattered my being to nothingness, that I’d forgotten the sensation. The agony of burning. So much fire. Blistering heat that seared every cell of my being.

Merely a handful of seconds, yet this excruciating phantom burn clung to me as I drifted in darkness. Everything was nothing, dull, but Beelzebub made sure I’d hold onto this radiating icy cold grip of death.

My only hope was that his vindictive spite was a sign of his faltering success against the orb. Gods, I hoped it held. I hoped Wally and the others managed to defeat him without more loss.

“Dwelling on the world—any world—of the living will only make your time spent here painful,” a feminine silhouette of lavender light stepped from the shadows. “Seek solace from Oblivion’s embrace, and this world can offer you clarity, peace, and even happiness.”

Great. Was this demon about to give me a tour? I’d protest, but I couldn’t recall the fundamentals of stitching together my being to speak through the shadows.

I floated silently, studying every curve of lavender light, the sculpted face created, the talons, tails, and soon the details formed a memory.

I recognized this demon. Agares.

“That’s what they used to call me, yes,” they replied to my thoughts because the filter between thinking and speaking didn’t exist here in Oblivion. Even without a mouth or a voice, I still expressed myself.

“You’re an ancient demon.” Eligos had told me harrowing legends of Agares and the way they bucked Beelzebub’s authority, escaped his world, carved out a name for themself a thousand dimensions away.

Perhaps it was what motivated the fallen knight in his venture for glory, his dream to give voice to the demons. Perhaps it also encouraged me in some small way to run and hide and build a new name for myself.

But seeing the truth of things, seeing how this ancient demon of legend hadn’t lived so happily, hadn’t escaped Beelzebub and exchanged his Hell for freedom. No. They ended up bested by Eligos, locked in an orb by that Fae Novus, and now they lay dead and forgotten in Oblivion like me and trillions of others.

“To hear my eons of life surmised in such a swift and sullen manner frames quite the picture,” Agares said, shifting around the darkness, offering the gentlest of lavender light.

“Apologies.”

“No need. You know of me, in part,” they said. “And I know you, favorite child of Beelzebub.”

I tsked. “Favorite to slaughter, to cast down here again and again and again. To drag through dimensions, paraded for my shame.”

“A project he never gave up on,” Agares said. “Unlike so many of us.”

Shadows slithered all around me, and whispers echoed everywhere.

“When Beelzebub found himself bound to his singular Hell, bested in a coup against a weaker foe, he slaughtered every demon in his dimension.” Agares extended their arms, casting lavender light on the moving darkness.

“And they’re here for their revenge.” I sank into the darkness. “I abandoned them, fled, left every demon locked behind a doorway.”

“There is no resentment,” Agares said. “Winning a war against Beelzebub was never in their future. Many see that now. Understand they were always meant for Oblivion. We are here to embrace you.”

What?

“We’re honored to meet you…” Agares paused at my name, a name I felt on the tip of every tongue. A thousand souls. A billion. More. Each calling out a name that didn’t belong to me anymore. Each biting back a name that shouldn’t have been given to me. A name that wasn’t me. A name I’d heard in a thousand lives, lives I didn’t recognize. Not anymore.

“I expected my next trip to Oblivion to be met with malice.”

“This is not Hell,” Agares said.

“There could be worse ways to spend my eternity.”

“And there could be better ways still.” Agares lifted their head, face locked on a moving glimmer in the distance. “Something tells me it’ll be a much longer wait before we’re reunited—”

“Bez!” Wally’s voice sliced through the shadows, a beacon calling to me and silencing the millions of nearby souls.

“Not you, too.” I sank into myself, watching Wally descend into the dark nothingness with me.

Beelzebub had taken everything from me, even Wally’s life, his future, his happiness. I could only hope to hold onto myself long enough here to shield him from the somber existence of no longer existing.

“I’m so glad I found you,” Wally said, his bright smile lighting up the darkness.

In fact, everything about him illuminated this place. Wally’s entire form held tangibility, physical shape, a breath of life. His devilish features shimmered, providing power and precision as he navigated this nothingness.

Wally hadn’t died. Wally had leapt in here the same way a devil would.

“How? How did you get here?” I swam around Wally, incorporeal and fragmented energy with no body to speak of, to speak with, but I had the sheer will to ask.

“You’d be amazed what three partial devils can do.” He grinned, no hidden anxiety in his expression, just a face brimming with confidence.

Satan and Corson. They weren’t partial devils, merely demons trotting about with stolen essence.

“It doesn’t matter what they are,” Wally said, making me swallow my own thoughts because, in this void of a world, nothing was hidden. “It was enough to carve a path here, enough to retrieve you, to save you.”

“You tore into Oblivion to save me?” My eyes watered.

I hated how Walter made me feel…feel seen. Feel at all. I loved hating it. Loathed that I couldn’t accept it at value. Hated how much I enjoyed resisting his genuine spirit. His kindness. His loyalty. His love. But more than anything, I appreciated it, wanted to explore it forever and ever and more than time itself could offer.

“There you are.” He reached out, hands cupping around my face, running them down my shoulders, caressing my silhouette, and giving me a shape outside the shadows. “We need to go.”

“You in a rush?”

“Maybe. Only a fully intact devil is supposed to be able to open Oblivion, so I’d rather not test the timer.” Wally held my hand, pulling me ahead. “Plus, we dropped Lilith and Beelzebub down here. Up here? Between? The location is very unspecific. Point is, while I don’t imagine them working together to break loose from the orb any time soon, I don’t want to be here if or when they do.”

“Do not worry about that, Wally.” Agares fluttered between the shadows, taking deliberate steps. “We demons reign in Oblivion, enjoying the slumber it offers. No devil dwelling here has a voice. They will sleep. We will make them.”

“Thank you, Agares.” Wally nodded, careful about his horns, which had grown and swirled in odd directions, symbolizing what I imagined as the maze of his thoughts. “It’s nice to see you again.”

That was right. They briefly encountered each other when Wally died. Dead. Fallen into Oblivion.

“May our paths never cross again,” Agares said. “But if they do, know you are always welcome in Oblivion, Walter Alden.”

With that farewell from an ancient demon, Wally flew through the shadows, holding me in his grasp and moving faster and faster until light split the darkness away.

“Wait.” I pushed away. “I have to say goodbye.”

“What?”

I sank back into the darkness, whispering every thought I’d ever had as loud as fucking possible until a glimmering orb appeared in the shadows before me.

“Everything you did to me.” I floated toward the orb, watching broken essence swirl round and round. “Everything you did to control me. To make me yours. To own me. To kill me. To break me.”

Essence ripped at itself. It was Beelzebub shredding Lilith, knocking her presence away as he moved closer to the edge of his glass prison.

“It failed,” I said with tears welling in my eyes. I needed him to know that after everything, he meant nothing. I needed him to know because I needed to leave this hatred, this regret, this poison, this passion, this rage in the depths of Oblivion. “I will forget you. Whether it takes a century or a thousand, you don’t own me. You don’t control my happiness. You don’t haunt my dreams. You don’t stir in my memories anymore.”

Wally descended, hovering close behind me but allowing this moment between me and the devil who’d haunted my eternity.

“Last time I ran away from you, locking you up in your Hell. This time, I am running toward something, toward someone.” I backed away, letting Wally hold me, carry me away. “Someone who knows me in ways you never understood. Someone who loves me more than the world itself. Enjoy Oblivion. May you be forgotten until the end of time.”

The broken essence sank into its orb, not fighting, not furious, but finally accepting failure.

I smiled, free from Beelzebub’s grasp, and ascended through the depths of nothingness until the world took hold of me.

Everything burned. I gasped. I roared. I thrashed and raged and collapsed into muck.

“His essence is still too broken,” Mora shouted. “He needs a body, something to stabilize his recovery.”

Wally shouted something. I turned to see but found only light in his face. Light everywhere.

Then darkness again.

“Wakey, wakey, sleepy head.” The voice was faint, gentle.

Wally.

His hand caressed my cheek, then traced along my jawline, and finally worked its way down to my pecs, getting a good solid grip on my chest.

“While I very much prefer you in your own flesh, this suit is awfully cute, too,” he said with a light cackle.

“Motherfucker.” I shot up in the bed where I lay, tails out and piercing Corson’s wrist, his throat, and his heart. I should’ve aimed for his crotch. “You handsy prick!”

“I was a total gentleman.” He puckered his lips. “I just needed you to wake up before I headed out.”

I retracted my tails, coiling them back inside this mortal body where my essence continued recovering. Getting dragged out of Oblivion often left demons drained; I recalled several occasions where Beelzebub had pulled me out and thrown me back onto the battlefield of some war. And while exhausted for certain, I usually wasn’t this busted up.

“Guessing three makeshift devils don’t know how to bring back a demon the right way.”

“Is there a wrong way?” Corson cocked his head. “You’re alive again. Yippee. A little worn down but nothing some R now, you own it.” Corson winked and then turned his attention back to Wally. “See you around, Walter Devil Boy of Great Mortal Human Things, First of His Hybridization or whatever and all that jizz.”

“Goodbye,” Wally said with pure malice in his heart. It was intoxicating. “Try not to maim and murder.”

“Toodaloo.” Corson waved as he left. “If I do, I’ll think of you.”

With that, Wally telekinetically slammed the door shut.

“He’s frustrating.”

“Pretty sure you said that about me…a lot.”

“Yeah, but…” Wally paused, taking a deep, calming breath. “He’s worse. Much. The last three months were excruciating. I kept waiting for him to leave. Satan and Orias were ready the second the dust settled, but Corson… So obnoxious.”

“Three months, huh?”

“Give or take.” Wally shrugged nonchalantly like he wasn’t mouthing the time I slept down to the very second.

“And you decided to put me in a host?” I stared at my hands, extending my claws momentarily to test their limits. “Guessing from Mora’s collection since the selection is probably limited here in the city.”

“Yeah. She’s already called in her favor for that one, too.”

“At least you got me a cute body.” I gave Wally my best smoldering expression, something to draw him closer, calm his nerves, elicit the right tension. “I’m just surprised you lot put me in a body to begin with.”

“You were in really rough shape, Bez.” Wally got quiet for a moment, biting his lower lip. “We’re not exactly experts on reviving demons. I swear, Corson intentionally led me in circles when searching for Oblivion.”

“Well, it all worked out,” I said, dragging Wally away from whatever somber feelings he almost stirred up. “I’m just surprised you were cool kicking some poor fool out of his own skin for my sake. After all that work you did so I could feel sensations in my own body. But seeing as I didn’t have much of one left, thank you for your valiant efforts.”

“To be clear, I only helped you feel in your own demon skin so you could feel in your own demon skin, you know?” Wally’s expression quirked into this confused, frowny smile. “I just want you to be comfortable with who you are. If you’re comfortable as a sexy brute of a demon with killer abs, flawless gray skin, and a thick build in all the right places. Then that’s great.”

He winked, then giggled, because it was Walter, and despite all he did to be charming and sexy and suave, he was still a little geeky nerd who blushed when sex came up in idol conversation amongst others. Funny, considering how demanding he was behind closed doors and the number of frisky ventures he jumped at exploring.

“But also, if you prefer rocking out in mortal flesh while flaunting your tails, your wings, your horns, and your claws, and the crimson eyes, and wow, you really do show off a lot of your Diabolic features now that I think about it. Hmm…uh, the point is, I want you to be happy, Bez.”

“Well, I’ll be happy once I break this body in.” I lifted the blanket a bit, eyeing myself beneath the covers to draw Wally’s interest. “The composite is slipping in nicely, so we’ll have to test my stamina soon.”

“Oh?” Wally’s eyes widened. “What’d you have in mind?”

A scratch at the door caught his attention before I could answer. The whiny sniffles that followed made it clear the hound had realized I’d awakened and come to pester me for fiery treats. I bet that was the only reason Weather bothered to come begging. Wally didn’t make fireball snacks nearly as well, always worried he’d burn the Cerberus’ tongues. Like a beast born of fire and meant to serve over the gates of the underworld needed to worry about too much heat.

“Don’t,” I protested as Wally went to open the door. “He can wait five minutes.”

“How much stamina were you planning on testing?” Wally shot me a judgy smirk.

“I literally just came back into existence a few moments ago.” I folded my arms. “You’d think I could enjoy a quick blowjob in peace.”

“He’s missed you, though.” Wally opened the door, allowing the three-headed mongrel to barge inside, sniffing everything inside the room, tail wagging and paws ambling about aimlessly in the room. “But I will say in your absence, I finally won Weather back to my side.”

“Is that so?” I squinted.

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded. “You wanna see? Sunny and I have six tricks mastered.”

“Psst.” I gestured a wave of demonstration. “Proceed.”

Sunny was easy to train and win over. He was an attention whore, doing anything for pets, smiles, affection, acknowledgment, a snack, a treat, an extra serving in his bowl, and really anything that said he was the center of the universe.

“Let’s show Bez the new trick I taught you,” Wally said with a side-eye of cockiness. “One that doesn’t involve pretending to murder folks.”

“Who’s pretending?” I grinned.

“Weather—”

“Sit,” I interrupted.

Sunny’s ears perked up, but he kept his eyes trained on Wally. All the same, the Cerberus sat down. When Sunny whimpered apologetically for Wally’s plight, Cloudy nudged the center head, and Stormy growled. It took a few seconds longer than usual, but the beast remained obedient.

“Yeah, you definitely won him over.”

“One out of three.” Wally huffed.

I whistled enough to command Weather up onto the bed. “You better get over here, Walter, unless you want the hound to take the best cuddling spots.”

Wally slipped beside me, wrapping his leg over mine before Weather plopped down. The Cerberus lay with Stormy on my hip, Sunny on my stomach, and Cloudy resting on Wally’s side.

“So, what’s next?” I asked, clearing the hoarseness from my voice, which Weather mimicked like it were some type of game. Either that or the hound was mocking me for being unwell.

“Literally whatever you wanna do,” Wally answered. “We can chill at home or get back into the shop routine. Oh, we could explore the city—restoration has been going well. Mora’s completely obsessed with getting the Diabolic Oasis back to 100%. We could travel, too. The rest of the world seems fine. I mean, from what I’ve heard. Kell’s explored some. Seems Nature kept most of the destruction at bay, and the Collective is doing its part to glamour away a near apocalypse from the minds of the masses. Honestly, not sure people really noticed how close to the end of the world they really were.”

I scoffed. “Are they ever?”

Wally didn’t respond. He just had this pensive little expression mixed with an inquisitive gaze. All the insight he shared was secondhand knowledge. The state of the world. The repairs on the city. Everything. Because it seemed this entire time I’d been gone, all of Wally’s efforts were focused on opening Oblivion to pull me free.

“Do you want to venture out there?” I asked. “Check on your family, friends?”

“No. Like I said, Kell kept me updated,” he said with a hug. “Now, things can go back to normal. Or whatever we had before Hell. Before devils.”

We lay together in this cozy half-sleep, and I found myself truly at peace in Wally’s embrace.