Page 46 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

“Can I help?” Kell shouted, barging through the portal; a smile already plastered on her face and grabby hands at the ready before the glowing black glob of dimensional travel faded away.

“I thought you wanted to finish working on the library construction?” Mora asked.

Construction? More like destruction. Half the books ended up flung off the shelves thanks to her new cataloging system,and since she’d fucked up the framework of the original design, whatever protective warding of rejuvenation was put in place to keep the texts in mint condition had also broken.

“Yes, a curious musing which I plan to return to, but this is business,” Kell said. “Important. Takes priority over everything. Besides, you know I know engine systems like the back of my hand. I’ll learn how this baby works in…”

“Back of her hand?” I ground my teeth. “Bet she doesn’t even know how many fingers are on her damn hand.”

“Someone’s still testy, I see.” Bez stood next to me, invading my space and blocking my light.

“No.” I pointed to the orbs and his shadow. “Do you mind?”

“Quite testy,” he snickered. “Please bring all that rage to the bedroom this evening. I can think of a hundred ways to release all that pent-up frustration.”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, sir.” Bez mimicked zipping his lips, remaining far too close to focus.

“Do you mind?”

He grinned, finally stepping away, then smacked my butt.

I jumped. Wide-eyed shock replaced my furrowed brow.

“I love you and all your crafting ways,” Mora said, leading Kell back to the portal, “but Diabolic orbs are quite fragile and—”

“And she’s worried you’ll break them all in some haphazard improvement and call it a renovation,” I blurted a bit louder than intended.

“That’s not fair,” Kell protested. “The library was mostly your fault.”

“Excuse me?” My blood boiled.

Kell turned her attention to Mora. “Plus, isn’t he the only one here who actually broke a Diabolic orb?”

“Yes,” Bez and Mora said in unison.

“Not true,” I snapped.

I simply failed to stop it from breaking—something Bez should have shown a bit more gratitude for instead of rewriting history.

“He’s also the only one here who’s examined these artifacts,” Mora said. “We need his expertise.”

“And we don’t need hundreds of demons running rampant around the villa because of your tinkering,” Bez said.

“What if I’m extra careful with them?” Kell pleaded.

“No,” we all said.

Kell scowled, dragging her feet as she left. Honestly, given all the unfamiliar equipment here, Kell would make the better choice for examining—assuming she could investigate without touching things—since I had no idea how the wires drew energy from the orbs to power the villa. After all, the purpose of the orbed artifacts was to completely cut off the energy from everything. It kept Bez discombobulated and unable to cast, interact, or even fully feel, but somehow Baron Novus combined Fae magic to Diabolic essence with technology and superseded the basic design of Diabolic orbs.

Bez continued flicking his tails, as careless about fragile artifacts as Kell.

“Careful,” I said as one of his tails moved over the furthest orb, causing the essence inside to stir.

“Wait. Do that again.” I pointed to Bez’s tail. “The demon reacted.”

He swung a tail over the orbs, each recoiling from his presence.

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