Page 41 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

She shouldn’t need to harness both when summoning a silly hat.

“Where did I put that lever?” She held the hat upside-down and rifled through it, digging her arms all the way in up to her shoulders.

Oh. I widened my eyes. She’d added a small temporal fold into the stitching, probably repurposing carbon dioxide or other odorless gasses to cloak her items in a nearby storage facility housed by the earth itself. That was really sophisticated.

Okay. Admittedly, she hadsomeskill for someone so impulsive and chaotic.

“There it is.” She withdrew a long, metal lever and tossed her hat on. “Now, I don’t have nearly as much experience driving stick as you, or so I hear.” She batted her eyes in Bez’s direction, making me blush. “Wanna show me the ropes of steering this bad boy?”

I grabbed the lever she offered, intent on snatching it away. Instead, she dragged me along and jabbed the lever into the navigation system.

I couldn’t decide who I hated most in this situation. Kell for jumping in and ignoring all my hard work, Mora for bringing her flighty witch wife, or Bez for inviting them to begin with when I was so close to figuring out the correct course of action.

Electricity crackled on the dismantled panel; I screamed; Kell cackled; lights flickered in and out; the lever trembled in our grasp.

“Hold tight, everybody,” she shouted. “This is gonna be one hell of a ride.”

Everything vibrated, and the helm turned fuzzy.

12

Beelzebub

“No, no, no!” Wally frantically waved his hands, trying to catch countless books that flew off shelves in the library. “You need to stop this right now.”

He’d remained pouty since Mora and Kell showed up, spending all his time in the library determined to make a major discovery on the missing Diabolics. Given how Kell waltzed into the villa and started up the control panel before he had a chance to finish studying, I sort of understood. Wally did love understanding all the ins and outs before making a careless move, making him a terrible pairing for Kell, who lacked self-control when anything caught her interest. She was a dog with a bone, worse than the three-headed mongrel Wally finally locked out of the library after he ate a half-dozen books.

And Walter had the nerve to say my tastebuds were terrible.

Books flipped open, pages rippling as some were torn loose from their spines after the extra speedy flight that sent them hurling off one shelf and crashing into another. Wally scrambledto catch a few, protect their pristine covers, and shield them from colliding into each other in the interstate-level traffic Kell had created. A whirlwind of chocolates, earthy, woody aromas permeated throughout from the musky pages. Wally couldn’t keep up with it all, probably couldn’t fathom the hundreds flying about, but he did have his eyes on the one who conjured this mess.

Kell sprinted up the side of a bookcase abandoning the wards she’d attempted chiseling away. Like the minxy cat she was, Kell used a mix of sorcery in her boots and telekinesis lent to her from Mora’s essence coursing inside her. Gracefully, she landed on top of the bookcase and sprang to a nearby one hovering in the opposite direction.

“I absolutely one-hundred percent draw the line at dismantling the library.” Wally pursued her, distrustful his protests would make her yield—they wouldn’t; she wouldn’t.

I huffed. Why’d Mora have to bring Kell of all the witches in the world?

“I’m going to streamline the system,” Kell said.

“You don’t even know how the system works,” Wally accurately stated since she’d spent the last few days recalibrating the navigation system after our swift ascent between realms fizzled out somewhere in Alaska, of all fucking places.

Our windows offered a clear view of snowy mountains—which Wally immediately knew the name of, Mount something, showcasing his completely useless trivia trick—but the villa and our presence remained tucked behind the veil. Whether inside or outside, like the villa itself, we were intangible to the mortal realm unless using the official Fae portal exit. Even as a demon who could tear through layers of dimensional fabric, I couldn’t find the hidden strings which kept the villa divided from everything else. Novus certainly had created a complex system.

“I know I can make the library more functional,” Kell said, continuing to tinker with the tops of the bookcases. “You just have to trust me, Wally.”

“I don’t have to do anything!” He snapped his fingers, calling a broom forth.

“Neither does Kell,” Mora sighed. “I literally only brought her to assist in disassembling whatever device is being used to hide and detain the demons here.”

Gods. Was Walter really going to chase Kell throughout this entire library?

“I’m going to update the cataloging system,” Kell said, hopping onto another bookcase every time Wally’s pursuit closed in. “There were some clear design oversights when constructing this place.”

Kell had always possessed nimble dexterity; it was what kept her alive every time she drew the ire of covens or the wrath of the Mythic Council. Nice to see she hadn’t lost her edge after such a long relationship with Mora. Truthfully, I always figured Kell needed an indomitable force for protection against the mighty enemies her curiosities had cultivated. Hence why she’d cozied up to the most cunning demon in the mortal world.

Still, as spry as she remained, Wally continued giving her chase, refusing to let up. I smirked, observing the few close calls between the two of them. My heart pattered with joy from the bubbling rage swelling in his chest.

“Don’t you think there should be a one-click step when searching for a book?” Kell asked, weaving around the chains Wally thrust at her with an incantation.

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