Page 5 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires (Diabolic Romance #3)

Wally

Each flicker of the fireball in my hands cast a shadow of intrigue, of mystery, of utter fucking confusion. That demon—Corson—had snuck into our city to invite me to his Hell. Correction, his devil’s Hell. Lilith. A devil knew me…Walter Alden…and she wanted to throw a banquet for me. One I couldn’t very well reject.

“Wait.” I tilted my head, still studying the movement of the fire, which danced more like the gentle ebb and flow of waves on a beach than of actual flames. “What do you mean I can’t say no to the invitation?”

“Lilith is temperamental like most devils,” Mora said. “She would deem it a slight, and such offense can only be met with measurable retaliation.”

“She’d likely eradicate this entire dimension,” Bez said nonchalantly, though his gaze was lost on the flaming invitation I held. There was a sadness in his crimson eyes, his expression devoid of charm and hiding concern.

“Wait.” The reality of their comments sank in. “What part of destroying an entire world is a measurable response to me rejecting a party invite?”

“It’s not a party. It’s an opportunity to assess you, dear.” Mora sauntered toward me, fixated on the same flames that captured all our attention. The key to Lilith’s Hell. “This is Lilith’s way of reminding everyone of her authority in the universe while she evaluates your place in said universe.”

“You make it sound like I’m…” I bit my lower lip, unsure what it made me sound like because nothing whirling in my mind even came comparatively close to the level of power Lilith suspected me of possessing. My place in the universe? My attendance was the difference between an entire world living or dying? “What the fuck.”

“Basically,” Mora continued, ignoring my muttered outburst. “Rejecting her is like saying she holds no interest to you, and as such, her natural response would be to express how little interest your world is to her.”

“How is that a natural response? Destroying an entire world! That is the opposite of no interest. It’s very spiteful. Spite requires interest.” I studied the key that would access Lilith’s world, the key that would take me to the Devil’s Banquet she had planned. “How do I use this?”

“Easy to activate with any essence,” Bez said softly. Too softly for him. He moved closer and traced a clawed hand along a zigzag pattern of flames burning against a fiery core. “See here. It’s locked right now. I suspect the banquet has not begun yet.”

“Knowing Lilith, this is a last-minute invitation,” Mora said. “She did the same thing to Bael. It was awful. He scrambled to prepare himself before dragging me with him.”

“You’ve been to her Hell?”

“I’ve been to nearly every Hell, darling.”

“Well, that’s good.” I exhaled, releasing a bit of my trepidation. “Having your insight there will be good.”

“Oh, I’m not going to Hell,” Mora said with a laugh. “Only a fool would willingly attend one of Lilith’s banquets.”

“So you don’t think I should go?”

“No,” Bez said.

“I didn’t say that,” Mora clarified. “A willing fool walks to their death. You’re not a willing participant.”

“And we don’t have to be complacent,” Bez said, stepping in front of Mora. “If your instinct is to not attend, then we won’t.”

“We can really do that? What about what you said?”

“We’ll keep a lower profile, make it harder for anyone to find us, learn of us. Vanish entirely.” Bez’s eyes were wide and wild. “Living somewhere called the Diabolic Oasis is like having a beacon on us to begin with. We can do better.”

“There’s not really anywhere to hide if Lilith would destroy our whole world.”

“This world,” Bez clarified. “We can find a new one. I can cut through a hundred different dimensions at once and let you have your pick of new, wonderous treasures to explore.”

“What happens here if I just leave?” I asked. “Would Lilith pursue us? Would she retaliate on this dimension? Would she…I don’t even know. No, I can’t abandon an entire world.”

“What’s the world ever done for you, really?”

“Bez, I can’t just let the entire world burn in my place.”

“I could.” Bez turned away and extended his wings, hiding his face behind the large gray feathers. “Even if Lilith doesn’t kill you for one singular misstep in her realm, you’re still a mortal Walter.”

“One who’s apparently quite devilish.” I reached out, delicately running my fingertips along the contour feathers; they were darker and bigger than most others. “I just have to make sure I don’t misstep in Lilith’s Hell. I can behave. I can be proper. I’m an Alden. Formal ceremony is part of the lineage.”

“You don’t understand.” Bez paused, his voice cracking. “Stepping into Hell is irreversible. It could shatter you the second you arrive.”

I quaked, less from the strength of Bez’s words and more from the tremble as he said them.

“Take some time to consider your options, Wally.” Bez flapped his wings, hovering in place. “It’s okay to let the world fall.”

“No, it’s—”

And just like that, Bez soared off into the night sky.

“I wish he would’ve stuck around to talk about this.”

“Oh, Bezzy’s fine.” Mora waved a dismissive hand in the direction Bez flew. “Worried about the world is all.”

“He only seemed worried about me.”

“That’s what I said.” Mora gave me a matter-of-fact look.

I was Bez’s world, and he was mine. But letting the entire dimension be destroyed because of the possibility a devil might kill me… That was a tough choice.

“Do you think stepping into Hell would actually hurt me?”

“Definitely.” Mora grinned. “But I also think it’s impossible for a mortal to live with devil essence. I think it’s pure fiction that Bezzy would be in love. There are a lot of absolutes I would’ve declared before encountering you, Wally.”

“So, you think the essence will protect me?”

“From the effects of Hell itself, perhaps.” Mora rocked her head side-to-side. “From Lilith’s ire when you inevitably wrong her through mere mortal behavior, unlikely. But maybe you’ll get lucky.”

“On both counts.”

“Fleeing isn’t an option, however.” Mora squared my shoulders, tilted my chin, and adjusted my head until our eyes were locked onto each other. “I’ve known demons who’ve fled from devils after crossing them. They don’t escape. They don’t hide. They merely leave a trail of ruined worlds in their wake as a devil drags out their death.”

“But Bez said—”

“Bez is pulling from his own experience with Beelzebub, the devil he escaped.” Mora’s eyes flickered emerald green for the briefest of seconds before returning to the softer green of her host body. “A very different circumstance.”

Of course. Bez hadn’t been to Hell, to any Hell, since escaping his own ruled over by the cruelest of all devils. He didn’t only flee, though. He took a piece of Beelzebub, the essence now circulating through me, and thus forever locked Beelzebub away in his own dimension. After all, only complete devils can open the doorways to and from Hell realms.

“This is a lot to consider.”

“Take your time. It’s just your life, the world, and a few trillion souls at stake.” Mora sauntered away, lightly laughing. “I’ll let Kell know you ruined her shop. Maybe she can stop by and help clean the place up.”

“Our shop.” I huffed, turning back to the broken glass and small flames eating away at the entrance of the Well of Wonders. “Suppose I can fix this up while I ponder.”

No amount of cleaning cleared my head. I’d never had such an insurmountable decision before. Hell might possibly be the death of me. Entering the dimension itself or simply annoying the devil hosting the banquet in my honor. Which wasn’t really to honor me but to study me.

Tony crawled over the back of my hand, his steps cautious yet familiar. They evoked a memory, our first encounter, our first time working together with a familiar bond. A bond that had grown tremendously since then, allowing me to share a phantom form of my essence with the scorpion and allowing him to share his thoughts with me. Even if they weren’t words, the sensation struck a chord that reverberated through my entire being.

I had faced choices like this before. When I first worked with Tony, I used a spell to merge his shell into a makeshift patch meant to mend my broken arm. An arm broken by Bez, Bez who was under the thrall of Ian, Ian who sought to slaughter The Collective, The Collective who believed me to be a traitor.

“What do you think I should do?” I lifted my hand, staring into his tiny collection of eyes.

He drew upon my mana and activated his sigils to spell out his scarlet words. A vibrant choice meant to convey his feelings on this decision. “Be cautious and remember the world has done nothing for you.”

“Ouch.” I pouted. “Never thought I’d see the day where you agreed with Bez.”

Tony hissed.

“I’m not sure I could actually say ‘screw the world’ and run,” I said, to which Tony hopped off my arm and floated to the floor with a light breeze before scurrying away. “And I guess that’s the end of the conversation.”

“Oh my goddess, I can’t believe you were attacked!” Kell burst into the store—quite literally as she summoned a gust of wind through Nature’s Blessing and flew inside, causing nearly as much damage as I’d just repaired.

Thankfully, chaotic Kell had sorcery sigils at the ready. Their bright glow illuminated Kell’s brown skin and made the fabric of her puffy blouse a bit transparent. Not that the top wasn’t already quite revealing as it cut off at the shoulders and exposed her stomach.

Bristles of her broomstick flung free, controlled by sorcery, catching and restocking anything knocked off a shelf by the mini tornado whirling inside. In fact, the second she landed beside me, her broom fluttered off like an animated cartoon character and went to work tending to the parts of the store I hadn’t cleaned yet. I needed to learn that spell. All my cleaning incantations usually created a bigger mess.

“Wally, how could you!” Kell rushed toward me.

“How could I get attacked?” I raised a brow. “I didn’t really have much say in the matter.”

“What’re you talking about?” She shoved me aside and reached for a box sitting behind the front counter. “How could you nearly let this place burn down with my babies inside?”

“Seriously?” My face fell flat. “You’re worried about stuff? What’s even in here?”

Neatly tucked in the box sat three of Kell’s witch’s hats. They were similar in shape to the one on top of her head now, but each had its own color and differing lengths of curl in the stem of the hat.

“Really?” I eyed Kell up and down, scrutinizing her with my judgiest squint.

The hat she currently wore had green stitching that matched the shade of emerald looped in with her braided black hair.

“You’re more concerned about an item than me?”

“Says the guy who literally let a goblin attack me last month while he prioritized saving some old trinket.”

“First of all, you provoked the goblin,” I replied, biting back every fact on how docile goblins were, which meant Kell really went the extra mile to piss one off. “Secondly, I was saving a one-of-a-kind ancient—”

“Blah, blah, blah.” Kell stuck her tongue out. “There’s countless one-of-a-kind thingies in here.”

Kell squeezed a hat, and it chirped. Another one meowed in response.

“Do you have animals in there?”

“Worry about yourself, Walter.” She chucked the hats back into their box and returned the box under the counter.

I should worry about myself. About everything that’d unfolded today. Gods, one minute, it was just a normal day, and in a blink, this momentous decision had been thrown at me. The worst part, I couldn’t quite discern if it was an obstacle or an opportunity. It seemed more like foreboding death, but there was so much to consider.

“You’re worried.” Kell’s shoulder bumped me, casual yet caring.

“Yeah,” I dragged out the word. “It’s a big decision. Not exactly the choice I thought I’d be making today. Here, I figured topping Bez or not was by big debate for the month, week, something. Year? Ever? All time?”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s nothing. I mean, it’s something. Big. Not outrageously big.”

“I didn’t ask for your measurements, Wally.”

My face turned hot, and I let out a flustered tsk. “Not what I mean. I just mean it was a big choice.”

“Oh, I know.” Kell smirked. “From what Mora’s said, she spent the better part of two centuries trying to coax Bez into bending over. Guessing you’re gonna have your work cut out for you if you’re trying to switch things up.”

“What? No.” Suddenly, the room was sweltering. Usually, when the conversation of sex came up, it involved Kell sharing her many exploits with Mora and occasional adventures with a third partner, or fourth, or fifth, or that time she talked about the Mythic orgy she hosted that somehow resulted in The Collective setting their apartment on fire. Or maybe that was the ifrit rolling in her bed. More often than not, I tuned Kell out when she talked about sex since her conquests ended up quite descriptive.

“Lemme get this right… You were trying to convince Bez to bottom when the demon attacked.”

“Not exactly.” I shuffled a few trinkets displayed on the front counter around, not really liking the placement of anything since picking everything up. “We’d already…yeah. The attack came after.”

“Ooooooh, so you’ve worked up this whole ‘pining for top’ thing in your head?”

“No, it was a mutual thing. Like a moment.”

“Uh-huh.” Kell eyed me, judgment in her gaze. “That boy is a toxic top.”

“Well, he seemed amiable.”

“Ugh. Does Bez like this clinical dirty talk?” Kell shook her head. “It does nothing for me.”

I huffed. “I’m not trying to fuck you.”

“Fair. And honestly, total respect for the conquest.” Kell winked. “Thick tops like Bez need to be bottomed out and railed. Why else would the universe gift those boys with such glorious butts?”

I chuckled. “I think that’s mostly his host bodies.”

“That he chooses. Plus, I’ve seen him undressed, and lemme tell you—those human guys he slips into don’t do that devilish demon half as much justice.”

Kell had a point. Bez picked his host bodies. Plus, they shifted based on the composite, taking on his features as best a human body could, dependent on the demon inside.

“You’ve seen Bez in his demon form?” I asked, having only seen snippets of his true form in memories he’d shared with me.

“Briefly,” Kell clarified. “Usually jumping from one body to another. You know demons don’t like going undressed.”

Their essence reacted differently to our world; they couldn’t feel anything without possession. In their true form, they moved like ghosts, able to interact but numb to every experience.

“As much fun as distracting small talk on the ass to be or not to be banged”—Kell conjured the illusion of a skull in her hand through sorcery—“there’s still a serious question looming in the air.”

“How much lube to use?” I jested, feeding off Kell’s playful banter because she was the most casually comical person I knew in the world. Well, besides Bez. But Kell wasn’t nearly as murderous.

“Funny.” Kell tossed the illusion behind her head, and the skull banged against the wall and hit the floor with a heavy crunch of a thud.

“Wait, was that a real skull?” So much for an illusion. She must’ve used some type of transmutation or teleportation or something wicked. “Whose skull was that?”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s theater.” She shrugged. “What matters is what you plan on doing. Are you attending a Devil’s Banquet in your honor, or are we watching this world go up in flames before dodging an offended devil?”

“We?”

“Mora filled me in, and I’m definitely not hanging around for global eradication.” Kell playfully clapped her hands. “I’ll stick around long enough to watch the prettiest explosions, make a few smores, and then I’m outta here.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about the world,” I said. “I mean, technically, you should be. There’s tons of catastrophic things constantly ticking by on a natural or human-made clock, but as far as vengeful devils, that was never an option.”

“Not even for a second?” Kell cocked her head knowingly.

Sure, for a second. A minute. For a few lingering moments, I considered whether I wanted to roll the dice on my chances of stepping into Hell versus abandoning the world.

“But ultimately, how far would I get?”

“With a wicked witch like me and the baddie boyfriend you plan on bending over?” Kell asked, dimples deepening from the smile that filled her face. “I think we’d make quite a showing outrunning some petty devil.”

“I’ll let Lilith know how little you think of her when I go to her banquet.”

Kell shoved me. “Your banquet, little devil.”

I smirked, letting the weight of this decision roll off my shoulders. “Thank you for the distraction.”

“Thank you for not destroying my things.”

“Well, if you showed up to work regularly like you’re supposed to, then—”

“I hate to interrupt.” Bez knocked as he sheepishly stepped inside. So the opposite of him. He’d even tucked away all his Diabolic features, from the horns on his head to the wings on his back to his three tails, his clawed hands, even his crimson eyes held less luster.

“You’re fine.” I half-smiled, hoping to encourage one of his playful grins, his minxy smirks, or his beaming, full-faced, wicked expressions.

The stoic look he had didn’t shift, but his eyes softened some when he saw my smile.

“You boys talk.” Kell strutted past me. “I’m just gonna sneak a peek at that fiery key Wally received before I head on home.”

“What?” I asked. “No. No tinkering with a devil’s invitation.”

“Not tinkering.” Kell averted her gaze and hid her smile. “I just wanna make a copy of the frequency layers.”

I blinked at her, conveying my most befuddled expression. “You’d like to tamper with a flame created by a literal devil meant to only be used to and from her Hell at her bequest?”

“Yeah. Imagine the breakthroughs in interdimensional traveling I could make.”

“Or you could set yourself on fire a fourth time.”

Kell hopped onto the front counter, kicking her legs up as she crossed them and sat with flair. “Life’s too short to worry about trivial things like burning alive.”

“Says the immortal witch.”

“I’m just throwing it out there.” Kell gestured with her hands, reaching out for the intangible idea that’d likely only flitted across her mind a second or two—after all, the more impromptu the concept, the more enthusiastic it made her. “As a baby devil mortal mixture walking into Hell, it might be wise to have an extra key if you needed to slip out early.”

“You’re gonna get yourself killed.” I flitted my gaze to Bez, who silently watched. “Or us. You’ll get us all killed.”

Admittedly, I itched with curiosity, too. But Bez was already so worried about this Devil’s Banquet, about me choosing to walk through Hell, about how Lilith might very well slaughter me the second I stepped into her world. I didn’t want to add to his concerns. However, devils had an innate way of carving through any world with ease, yet their Hell realms required tremendous strength to open.

The whole reason Beelzebub couldn’t chase Bez was that a fraction of his devil essence had been stolen. That tiny missing piece locked his Hell behind a door that could only be opened by a fully formed devil.

But the Diabolic Oasis? Mora’s hidden kingdom proved no challenge for a devil to slip inside. Well, her proxy diplomat by extension.

“Admit it.” Kell kicked my knee with the tip of her heel. “You wanna know how they got past our system.”

She knew me as well as I knew her.

And it didn’t make any sense. We had countless layers of security. The spell required to make the dimensional walls came from ancient artifacts and darker magics only Kell could harness. It pulled together Diabolic essence, witchcraft, and Fae magics to make something completely unique. Archaic and new simultaneously.

And to top it all off, we added security measures. Spent months upon arriving cataloging every possible way to slip in or out unnoticed and created the most advanced technological checkpoints that tied together the best magical detections to analyze every variable.

“No,” I said firmly. “No messing with stuff.”

“Do you think you could successfully make a copy of the frequency used by the invitation?” Bez asked, leaving me shocked in silence. I’d expected him to play it safe, cautious, careful, calculating.

“Hehehe, yes!” Kell clapped her hands, then took off her hat to rummage through.

She dug her arm in all the way to her shoulder, reaching far through the pocket portal of storage, and tossed a few business cards onto the counter. Not cards. Customized parchment sigils. Sort of the personalized magical house key we’d created for residents of the Diabolic Oasis.

This place wasn’t a prison, Mora wanted people to come and go as they saw fit, but we had to ensure no one unannounced stepped through the barrier. These allowed us to track any movement in or out of the city.

It also kept people from leaving or entering with undocumented items. No need for relics to be removed and returned to Collective hands.

“Make your copy,” Bez said as he approached the front desk to join us. “I will have a request once you achieve that.”

“If,” I interjected. “If Kell achieves making a copy of the devil’s invitation and it doesn’t like self-destruct or something.”

“You assume a devil would feel the need to safeguard their work.”

“Exactly.” Kell shot me a smug smirk. “Nothing better than stumbling onto the so-called invulnerable. They’re always the easiest to exploit.”

“It’s actually how Kell first met me.” Bez shrugged.

“What do you mean?” Kell winked. “I always stab boys before I kiss them.”

“Ha,” Bez snorted. “Didn’t you screw Wally’s brother?”

“Once or twice or five times.” Kell laughed.

“Wait, what?” I widened my eyes.

“But we never kissed.” Kell playfully poked Bez’s chest. “No need for stabby stabs.”

Bez roared with laughter while Kell cackled, and I couldn’t piece together how much of this conversation was nonsense banter between friends and how much of it was the truth because they both had sordid dealings romantically and otherwise.

“You two are impossible.” I glowered. Not at their history of fucking. Their past was their past. But this desire to playfully tamper with primeval powers.

That didn’t sit well with me. Somehow, our roles had returned right back to where they started. I was the overly cautious one, and Bez was once again willing to risk it all on some impulsive idea.

“What is your idea?” I asked him as Kell walked to the back of the store to retrieve the fireball key meant to open a door to the Devil’s Banquet being thrown in my honor.

“It’s a discussion to have later,” Bez said. “Right now, I’d like to apologize for not initially supporting your decision.”

“You’re fine,” I said. “I mean, I hadn’t even really made a decision.”

“You did,” he said. “You made it the moment you found out others would be at risk if you hesitated. Your compassion is your biggest flaw.”

“Thanks?” I raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t call it a flaw.”

“I was hasty when suggesting we run,” Bez said. “There is no running. And as much as it frightens me, the idea of what could happen to you stepping into Hell—the voyage itself, the intricate layers of the dimension, and the inhabitants themselves—I know we don’t have an alternative.”

“We’ve been forced into challenging situations before.”

“This will be unlike anything you’ve faced. It’s imperative you treat this seriously.”

“I’m not you, Bez.” I grabbed his shoulders and squeezed. “I treat everything seriously. Too seriously, sometimes.”

“Know that I will serve as your right hand, your commander, your personal vanguard of protection.” He delicately traced his hand along my face, gently rubbing my cheek. “I will ensure your safety against any and all foes in Hell.”

“And I’ll follow your lead completely.” I tilted my head, leaning into his hand, the soft touch, the longing. “While we walk through Hell itself, you’ll be in charge.”

“How’s that different from any other day?” Bez chuckled.

“Excuse me?”

“Come on, Wally.” He shrugged with this obnoxious expression of arrogance and cockiness. “We both know I run this relationship.”

“Is that so?” I pursed my lips in this questioning disdain.

“It is, and while my natural dominance in the relationship is obvious, we’ll have to downplay it while in Hell.” Bez adjusted his tie. “It must appear that you run things between us.”

“You’re such an ass.”

“I am what I love.” Bez slapped my butt with his hands and squeezed tightly until I yelped.

“Hey!”

“Is for unicorns.” He playfully batted my cheeks. “And we’re fresh outta of those.”

“I’m glad your mood has lightened.”

“I can drag my feet as we face Hell, or I can walk hand-in-hand with you, smile on my face, and something provocative swimming in my thoughts.”

I smiled, giddy and annoyed. Annoyed that his immature charm always soothed me. While I had no idea what to expect in Hell, at this Devil’s Banquet, or from Lilith herself, I would step into danger with ease, knowing I had Bez at my side.