Page 13 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

There was one devil in existence who attended Lilith’s ceremony and declared war in the midst of a party—Beelzebub himself. It was before my time, but the recounting of the tales passed for eons from the mouths of the demons who attended the banquet with Beelzebub as he tore his way through Lilith’s Hell to challenge her. A sign of his boldness but also a sign of her strength. Beelzebub only believed in war, conquering, and death. Yet, he left Lilith’s realm at a stalemate where the two clashed for millennia in between other wars.

“I look forward to your attendance, Walter Alden.” Corson took a bow, waved a hand in some frilly bid to add levity to his formal behavior, and then used a tail to rip through the dimensional barrier of the city.

Lilith’s added strength to her diplomat allowed him to slice through the intricately woven layers of this hidden world with ease. Corson backstepped and vanished as the tear in the dimension sowed itself shut as swiftly as it’d fallen apart.

“Is this real life?” Wally blinked several times at the fire in his hands, wondering about a million things based on the frazzled expression. “Did I just get invited to Hell?”

“You did,” I answered, resisting the tremble in my voice.

“I mean, that’s cool and all, but I’m not ready for Hell.” Wally grinned. “I’m totally gonna study this key, though. I bet I can figure out the frequencies Lilith harnessed to hack into our dimension. Maybe even find a way to prevent it in the future. Actually, I bet—”

“You can’t,” I interjected. “You can’t say no to a devil’s invitation.”

“What?”

This Devil’s Banquet sent an icy chill of horror through my being. Hell was unlike any experience. Lilith’s domain might not be as horrid as Beelzebub’s, but none were gentle on the mortal coil. A single step into Hell would shatter a human’s sanity beyond repair. Would the devil essence coursing inside Wally be enough to protect him from such horrors?

5

Wally

Each flicker of the fireball in my hands cast a shadow of intrigue, of mystery, of utter fucking confusion. That demon—Corson—had snuck into our city to invite me to his Hell. Correction, his devil’s Hell. Lilith. A devil knew me…Walter Alden…and she wanted to throw a banquet for me. One I couldn’t very well reject.

“Wait.” I tilted my head, still studying the movement of the fire, which danced more like the gentle ebb and flow of waves on a beach than of actual flames. “What do you mean I can’t say no to the invitation?”

“Lilith is temperamental like most devils,” Mora said. “She would deem it a slight, and such offense can only be met with measurable retaliation.”

“She’d likely eradicate this entire dimension,” Bez said nonchalantly, though his gaze was lost on the flaming invitationI held. There was a sadness in his crimson eyes, his expression devoid of charm and hiding concern.

“Wait.” The reality of their comments sank in. “What part of destroying an entire world is a measurable response to me rejecting a party invite?”

“It’s not a party. It’s an opportunity to assess you, dear.” Mora sauntered toward me, fixated on the same flames that captured all our attention. The key to Lilith’s Hell. “This is Lilith’s way of reminding everyone of her authority in the universe while she evaluates your place in said universe.”

“You make it sound like I’m…” I bit my lower lip, unsure what it made me sound like because nothing whirling in my mind even came comparatively close to the level of power Lilith suspected me of possessing. My place in the universe? My attendance was the difference between an entire world living or dying? “What the fuck.”

“Basically,” Mora continued, ignoring my muttered outburst. “Rejecting her is like saying she holds no interest to you, and as such, her natural response would be to express how little interest your world is to her.”

“How is that a natural response? Destroying an entire world! That is the opposite of no interest. It’s very spiteful. Spite requires interest.” I studied the key that would access Lilith’s world, the key that would take me to the Devil’s Banquet she had planned. “How do I use this?”

“Easy to activate with any essence,” Bez said softly. Too softly for him. He moved closer and traced a clawed hand along a zigzag pattern of flames burning against a fiery core. “See here. It’s locked right now. I suspect the banquet has not begun yet.”

“Knowing Lilith, this is a last-minute invitation,” Mora said. “She did the same thing to Bael. It was awful. He scrambled to prepare himself before dragging me with him.”

“You’ve been to her Hell?”

“I’ve been to nearly every Hell, darling.”

“Well, that’s good.” I exhaled, releasing a bit of my trepidation. “Having your insight there will be good.”

“Oh, I’m not going to Hell,” Mora said with a laugh. “Only a fool would willingly attend one of Lilith’s banquets.”

“So you don’t think I should go?”

“No,” Bez said.

“I didn’t say that,” Mora clarified. “A willing fool walks to their death. You’re not a willing participant.”

“And we don’t have to be complacent,” Bez said, stepping in front of Mora. “If your instinct is to not attend, then we won’t.”

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