Page 74 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

“Hey, you’re sounding less levelheaded now.”

“What? He immediately went to grab you after decapitating Bezzy. I say we use that to our advantage.”

“You’re not wrong,” I said.

“Yes, she is,” Bez snapped.

“Not about Eligos being after me. But she is wrong about what we should do. You both are.”

I studied Eligos’ obvious stance meant to lure us there. He’d taken careful precautions to observe us the entire time since arriving in the villa. That type of analytical behavior indicated he probably already knew Kell had messed with the control panel; he might’ve also realized we had access to the security system or had some way of locating him. What he didn’t plan for, what I suspect, anyway—was us gaining access to the engine room. The locking mechanism on the doorway was different from the others, and once we’d examined the engine and orbs containing demons, he made his assault, revealing himself that day.

“Walter, care to share with the class?” Bez stared at my lips because I was muttering. Oops.

“Right. We need to go to the engine room. Eligos won’t suspect that or, at the very least, won’t like it one bit,” I explained. “We can retrieve Bez’s body, more essence for our side, secure and fortify the room, and have Kell hack the system to sync the engine room with the helm, which will give us access to all the controls in the villa. Portals, travel, defenses, and basically turn this entire place against Eligos and his demons.”

“That sounds incredibly complicated,” Kell said with a wide-eyed confused expression. “And like it’ll require a lot of improvising on my part.”

“So that’s a no?” I gulped.

“No,” she said firmly. “It’s a hell yes. I love this plan.”

“I don’t like it,” Mora said.

“I like it even more now.” Bez grinned. “If Walter’s maze of a brain has deduced this to be the best course of action, I support it. Let’s get going.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing his chest against my back and lifting my feet off the ground.

“Wait,” Mora said as Bez zipped past her. “Shouldn’t we discuss…”

Her echoed voice faded once Bez whipped through the labyrinth, moving so quickly everything blurred.

“No time,” Bez shouted. “Move your ass!”

I didn’t realize how hard it was to breathe when he moved at that speed. Since meeting him, I’d always had a piece of his essence inside me, something helping me grasp the complexities of Diabolic power even when I lacked any understanding of how it worked. When Bez stopped in front of the sealed portal, I finally exhaled.

“Oh, no time to stop and talk?” Mora arrived, gracefully releasing Kell, who fluttered beside her in a telekinetic hold. “Guess since I’m the only one who understands how to open the door, we have all the time in the world.”

“Shut up.” Bez rearranged symbols lining the doorframe while I closely watched, completely incapable of making sense for a single phrase.

It all looked like gibberish slapped together. All the same, the portal glowed a luminescent black, rippling like water.

“Damn. Guess you do pay attention sometimes.” Mora scoffed. “Well? Let’s go then.”

She grabbed Kell’s hand and stepped through the portal. Bez and I quickly followed. The blackness ran like water across my skin, warm and soothing, carrying us to the pocket dimension containing the sealed-off engine room. But in an instant, everything turned white, so harsh against my eyes that I had to squeeze them shut. I shivered as the warmth turned icy.

Landing in the engine room, I brushed away the white flakes of Fae magic like brushing snow from my face. I turned to see Kell and a plain metallic wall with absolutely no sign of Bez or Mora. Not just that. No signs of symbols to open the doorway. It was one way.

“Shit.” I panicked. “What happened? Where are—”

“I know, Bez looks rough,” Kell said, not even glancing back at the missing fucking portal.

“What?” I followed her gaze and saw Bez’s former bloody, headless body propped up by a lance impaled through his stomach connected to hundreds of wires.

I struggled to breathe. Six shattered orbs lay on the railing under the corpse’s dangling feet.

“We have to find a way out of here.” I pointed to the space where the portal should’ve been.

“No worries. It’s probably just a glitch,” Kell said, unfazed as she trotted onto the railing toward Bez’s former body. “I can hack the system no matter what’s up; the plan is very much still a go.”

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