Page 62 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

“Fae?” She twisted her head, hair draped over her face as she turned to me. “Where is the Fae?”

“Huh?”

She approached, moving her hair, revealing her eyes that matched Bez’s in crimson irises and pink where the whites should be. She stared at her hand, the one with visible black veins of Diabolic essence circulating through her.

“Right. I am a Fae now.” She laughed, loud and erratic, her entire body shaking. I shuddered. “I never wanted to possess a Fae, just taste one. They always smelled so delectable, like sugary acid mixed with glittering blood and so much meat. Never got the chance, though. Trick. Tricked by the pretty Fae. He promised me the world, then gave me nothing but a tiny marble.”

Was she talking about Baron Novus? If he captured her, how was she here?Marble.The orbs. Was Eligos unleashing other demons? There were hundreds of them. If he released them all, it wouldn’t matter if Bez returned to full strength—they’d eviscerate us.

The demon possessing the pink Fae lifted her arm close to her mouth and bit down. She tore a huge chunk of flesh out of her wrist, nearly severing the hand entirely before tendrils reached out and properly reattached the limb.

“Still tastes a little sweet.” She licked her bloody lips. “Shame my essence has almost soured the seasoning.”

I kicked my feet against the ground, backing away without breaking eye contact. One blink, and she’d likely vanish in a blur. Her gaze tightened.

“Tell me, mage”—she bit off two of her fingers, allowing black tendrils to replace them—“what do you taste like?”

18

Beelzebub

My consciousness floated between the ether of realities like a phantom in search of my essence. I tracked it back to the engine room, where all the Diabolics were stored. Fuck. Drifting through the portal, I arrived to find the headless body of my former mortal host body. So frustrating after all the work I did to get that cheap piece of thread roomy enough to contain me in all my glory. Now it sat, slowly dying, and I couldn’t interact with anything in this incorporeal state.

The only thing keeping blood flowing and the muscles from stiffening was my potent essence coursing through the veins, though all the Diabolic features had faded. Perhaps they’d retreated inward to conserve the life of this host. I didn’t have a lot of experience losing my head. Lost an arm once, that was annoying trying to retrieve, but this was an entire fucking body. How was I going to get this back to the rest of me? When I lost my arm, I still had control over the receptors, but that proved pretty useless because it turned out that walking with fingerswasn’t all that simple. Still, I had fully functioning limbs all attached, minus the head. If I focused, I might be able to steer it.

Metal clinked. I saw Eligos at the end of the railing, surrounded by unconscious Fae. Their magic was palpable in the air, despite the stillness of their bodies and shallow breaths. Great. What was he up to? He grabbed one of the five orbs powering the dimensional travel. Wait—weren’t there supposed to be six?

Eligos squeezed the orb, breaking it open but holding the wildly whipping essence to keep it from flying throughout the room.

“Calm yourself,” he said. “I mean to offer you freedom, yet you need to obey my guidance.”

Arrogant asshole.

He held the essence over the head of a feathered Fae, lying completely unaware of the essence spilling into his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. The essence poured from Eligos’ grip like yolk slowly seeping from an eggshell. The body convulsed, the former person screaming as a demon burrowed their way into a new home and made it more accommodating without the presence of a Fae roomie. I’d deal with a second demon once I regained my strength; with these demons distracted, now was my chance to get it back.

I called out to my lost essence, attempting to bring back some of the composure in my limp limbs, but struggled to access full autonomy over my essence still circulating within the dead host body. Ugh. If I hadn’t killed the former tenant, I might’ve been able to sway the anatomy better. Well, unlikely. Mortals didn’t move too well without their heads. Still, I struggled to control my former body. Former limbs. Guide them to obey my essence’s will, tugging on the ghostly strings like a puppeteer in the shadows.

The only way I could interact with the body was as a specter, whispering from the ether between reality, practically dipping my toes into the dream world. It didn’t help Wally’s soothing voice reeled me away from this objective, speaking sweet words and offering support. Why was he trying to comfort me?

My body jostled in his grip. Were we moving? What the actual fuck was he doing? I ignored it. If I allowed myself in the moment, I’d lose the weak hold I had over my lost essence. I trusted Wally. Whatever was going on, he had a reason and would handle it. This was my only opportunity to reclaim my lost essence before it fully faded from my grasp.

I stared at the body, willing it to move, demanding it in this astral form to heed my call and obey. Fingers wiggled. I focused again, and then… Nothing.

“Move, you piece of garbage!” I kicked the air, wishing I could kick myself. I’d kick my own ass, given half the chance.

The fingers tightened, and a fist formed.

“Yes.” I snarled. “You got this, you beautiful bastard. Now, carefully lift yourself up.”

My headless body wobbled, grabbing the railing and pulling itself upright. I turned back to Eligos, who continued helping ease the demon into the reality of their newfound freedom.

“One foot at a time,” I instructed. “Make your way, quietly, through the portal, and then we’ll meet up halfway.”

I waited for my bumbling body to slowly approach the exit, knowing I’d have to move quickly once it’d escaped into the labyrinth. My chest tightened, reeling me away. Why was Walter hugging me so tightly? I shook it off.Damn, I know I’m cute, but can’t he tell I’m too busy for cuddles?

“Devils truly are wickedly marvelous.” Eligos appeared in front of my body, armor fuzzy as his body settled from the blurred movement. “I knew obtaining one, obtaining Beelzebub,would be all this vessel required to run eternally through any and all worlds.”

I scoffed. He’d be quite disappointed when he figured out he’d been conned with second-rate demon essence and a small lump sum of devil essence.

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