Page 102 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

“How much stamina were you planning on testing?” Wally shot me a judgy smirk.

“I literally just came back into existence a few moments ago.” I folded my arms. “You’d think I could enjoy a quick blowjob in peace.”

“He’s missed you, though.” Wally opened the door, allowing the three-headed mongrel to barge inside, sniffing everything inside the room, tail wagging and paws ambling about aimlessly in the room. “But I will say in your absence, I finally won Weather back to my side.”

“Is that so?” I squinted.

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded. “You wanna see? Sunny and I have six tricks mastered.”

“Psst.” I gestured a wave of demonstration. “Proceed.”

Sunny was easy to train and win over. He was an attention whore, doing anything for pets, smiles, affection, acknowledgment, a snack, a treat, an extra serving in his bowl, and really anything that said he was the center of the universe.

“Let’s show Bez the new trick I taught you,” Wally said with a side-eye of cockiness. “One that doesn’t involve pretending to murder folks.”

“Who’s pretending?” I grinned.

“Weather—”

“Sit,” I interrupted.

Sunny’s ears perked up, but he kept his eyes trained on Wally. All the same, the Cerberus sat down. When Sunny whimpered apologetically for Wally’s plight, Cloudy nudged the center head, and Stormy growled. It took a few seconds longer than usual, but the beast remained obedient.

“Yeah, you definitely won him over.”

“One out of three.” Wally huffed.

I whistled enough to command Weather up onto the bed. “You better get over here, Walter, unless you want the hound to take the best cuddling spots.”

Wally slipped beside me, wrapping his leg over mine before Weather plopped down. The Cerberus lay with Stormy on my hip, Sunny on my stomach, and Cloudy resting on Wally’s side.

“So, what’s next?” I asked, clearing the hoarseness from my voice, which Weather mimicked like it were some type of game. Either that or the hound was mocking me for being unwell.

“Literally whatever you wanna do,” Wally answered. “We can chill at home or get back into the shop routine. Oh, we could explore the city—restoration has been going well. Mora’s completely obsessed with getting the Diabolic Oasis back to 100%. We could travel, too. The rest of the world seems fine. I mean, from what I’ve heard. Kell’s explored some. Seems Nature kept most of the destruction at bay, and the Collective is doingits part to glamour away a near apocalypse from the minds of the masses. Honestly, not sure people really noticed how close to the end of the world they really were.”

I scoffed. “Are they ever?”

Wally didn’t respond. He just had this pensive little expression mixed with an inquisitive gaze. All the insight he shared was secondhand knowledge. The state of the world. The repairs on the city. Everything. Because it seemed this entire time I’d been gone, all of Wally’s efforts were focused on opening Oblivion to pull me free.

“Do you want to venture out there?” I asked. “Check on your family, friends?”

“No. Like I said, Kell kept me updated,” he said with a hug. “Now, things can go back to normal. Or whatever we had before Hell. Before devils.”

We lay together in this cozy half-sleep, and I found myself truly at peace in Wally’s embrace.

29

Wally

Bez had taken less time to recover than I preferred, accompanying Mora on her ventures to secure the city now that the threat of devils had passed. I was pretty disappointed in the Collective using the gaps in the dimensional walls of the Diabolic Oasis to attempt slipping infiltration units inside, and while I didn’t approve of Mora’s kill first, show leniency second philosophy, I understood the sentiment. We’d endured a lot. This city had wounds of its own to heal. We didn’t have time for mage drama.

Tony hissed. Not aloud, but through sheer thought rattling through the familiar link we shared. It rang through from the other side of the city, proving our bond continued blossoming and would hopefully grow over the centuries.

I unveiled my wings and soared through the skies, calmly searching for Tony’s location.

While my essence prevented me from forming a new bond with any other animals, it helped sync my scorpion and me on a different level altogether. So long as I lived, fueled by Diabolic powers and magical forces, so would Tony. He’d thrive and grow and evolve. I couldn’t wait to study all the amazing things he’d accomplish with magic, with essence, with me.

I glamoured myself once I reached the pinged location.

---