Page 10 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

“No reaction is big enough for your absence.” Bez craned his neck, glaring at Baron Novus. “And you must be the one who sought to steal from me.”

“I’m not a possession, Bez.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You kind of did.”

Bez snarled, dragging his claws along the backs of burning seats. Those same claws which held me so tenderly shredded the metal backs. He lunged forward, swiping at Baron Novus.

“Wait,” I shouted, no command in my voice but a plea for his patience.

After six months of living with Bez’s essence circulating inside me, I’d learned enough not to accidentally invoke commands upon him. It was something I’d never do, but I didn’t want him to slaughter the Fae over some confusion on appropriate customs.

Baron Novus vanished into thin air.

“I have exhibited the utmost patience, Walter,” Baron Novus said from above us. “I didn’t disturb you during the performance, allowing you to enjoy our modest show, and I’ve given leniency for your untampered Diabolic, but I now wish to continue our conversation.”

“I’m going to fucking gut you,” Bez shouted, flying into the air.

His swipe missed a second time, and Baron Novus appeared on the stage now.

Bez cursed, zipping toward him in a blur.

I channeled essence, stirring it through my body and mixing it with my mana. Not nearly enough to keep up with Bez or hold my own against him, but hopefully enough to make a point. I raced after him, putting everything I had into each blurred step. My body moved so quickly, my eyes couldn’t keep up with it.

“Stop.” I reached out, snatching Bez by the wrist and averting his claws from stabbing…well, the air because Baron Novus had vanished yet again. “Please, Bez. Relax.”

“I can’t. You were gone. In danger. These fucking fairies abducted you. Took you from me, and there wasn’t anything I could do.” His eyes watered until the crimson of his irises burned bright, and rage replaced the sadness in his gaze.

I pressed my forehead against his. “I’m fine. Honestly.”

“You are now.” One of Bez’s tails coiled around my waist and pulled me closer. “I still have to kill them. The audacity—”

“Audacity?” Baron Novus snorted. “I am a Royale of the Fae Court. Your audacious threats would be met with a swift end should your bluster be anything more than a tantrum.”

“We’ve talked about this.” I pressed a hand to Bez’s fast-beating heart, attempting and failing to soothe him. If he didn’t stop, he risked the Fae Court descending upon us. “Killing can’t be the first option every single time.”

“You were abducted. It is the only option.”

“Again, a mis—”

“I’d hardly call it an abduction,” Baron Novus chimed in with the absolute worst timing. “If I sought to abduct Walter, I’d have taken him to a Fae realm, not a simple pocket portal for quiet discussion.”

“And what is it you wished to discuss with Walter?” Bez bared his teeth.

“My intent was to understand how he created such a precise incantation for the gifted seed,” Baron Novus said. “Though I must admit, I became a bit enamored being in the presence of one so grand.”

“Enamored?” The word held disgust falling off Bez’s tongue.

“Walter, please explain your process.”

“Process?” I asked. “For the incantations. I-I don’t know. It’s sort of second nature, I guess. I’m used to identifying the specific hums of magical frequencies in a variety of different Mythic artifacts from when I worked in the repository.”

Though, back then, I required a wand to place incantations, it was only thanks to Bez I finally learned how to stop overthinking every single step.

“Yes, but Fae frequencies tend to shift seamlessly, making our magic difficult to pinpoint and intangible for those brazen enough to try.”

“Oh, well, you see, I used to study what I could in the Dimensional Atrium,” I said, biting back the urge to explain how it was a gifted region for mage use from the Fae since, as a Fae and member of their Court, he probably already knew that much. “I even wrote reports on how the frequencies never quite matched the hum of relics gifted from Fae, which also rarely held Mythic residue. I suppose they did, but never anything stemming from Fae magics, so they were impossible to analyze. And technically speaking, we weren’t supposed to analyzeanything in the Atrium either, but it was mostly harmless musings.”

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