Page 39 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

“I gotta say, I didn’t expect the demonstration this early,” I said without the whisper, knowing full well every demon kept a cautious distance from Wally, going as far as dampening their senses so as to not intrude or observe something above their station. “We can play this to our advantage, Corson being acocky cunt and all, so it won’t look like you’re emotional over lil ole me. Merely a devil displeased with lowly demon antics.”

Not a single demon here would dare eavesdrop on an angry devil.

“Bez, I can’t turn it off.” Wally’s expression remained firm and hostile toward anyone who met his gaze, but there was an anxious crinkle in his forehead. One I’d seen a thousand times over without the show of toughness. This authority was him doing his part to appear devilish, but the fear—the fear was real. “My essence is boiling. Like it’s trying to eat me from the inside.”

11

Wally

Bez always worried the devil essence would eventually attempt to overtake my body. It lacked sentience, so we hoped the drive for control would remain dormant while I learned to control my powers. Control. Mastery. Skill. If I had the ability to direct my essence I could stop this agonizing feeling.

Sharp pains stabbed at my insides, at first like the worst stomachache, but soon, that gnawing feeling hit every muscle of my body one by one. It was as if the essence struck my insides and squeezed out all the mana I harnessed. Not only mana. I quaked as it shredded my insides, the horrifying sensation of my organs being gutted and devoured and then rebuilt by essence.

Pain met with relief, then pain again.

Every part of me wanted to lash out, to strike Bez, to strike every demon here simply for some type of soothing distraction.

When I thought I’d buckle, tumble forward, and collapse, the essence sprang out of me. Only it didn’t. I stifled a gasp,expecting to feel the wriggle of living tarlike energy funneling out of my mouth, but there was nothing there. I feared looking down at my chest, prepared to see my exposed heart as surely my bones had exploded outward, and my ribcage turned into an open floor plan for the essence that sought an escape. That hadn’t happened either. All the pain fizzled away, and the sensation of release hit like the gentlest hug after the hardest day, yet it was as if nothing had happened at all.

Was I imagining this pain?

“What’s happening?” Bez asked, his voice the only thing grounding me as the world washed away.

“I’m not sure.” I clamped my jaw, biting back a snarl that nearly slipped out of my mouth or the twist of pain that almost covered my face. “I think your concerns, the trip itself…”

Was my mortal body having a negative reaction to stepping into a Hell world?

The layers of this dimension vanished, but not before allowing me another bout with the agonizing infinity of passing through Lilith’s dimension. Had I fled from Hell? I shook my head. No. I stood firmly in the temple, surrounded by demons who maintained a distance, but my mind had splintered and traveled beyond this world.

That was why my essence had this bizarre confusing feeling. It reeled my consciousness—an invisible and intangible form of energy—out of Hell and back to the mortal world. Not simply the mortal world, but through the gates of the Diabolic Oasis.

I floated through the city more a ghost than a devil, zipping past every single building in a blink and appearing within the walls of the Well of Wonders. My store. I couldn’t explain it, couldn’t comprehend it, but this didn’t feel like I was breaking apart. The essence melded with my being on a cellular level, soothing the anxiety before it had a chance to stir inside my head. There were no answers from the base power coursingthrough my veins, but I knew everything was fine. This weird development was natural, or as natural as a mortal devil hybrid could be.

Once I entered the store and my being hovered over my familiar, Tony, the jarring confusion finally settled. The tiny scorpion skittered across the floorboards, utilizing telekinesis he’d borrowed from our bond to access Diabolic abilities. Was that what this was?

Nothing I’d ever studied about the Pentacles of Powers suggested a familiar bond would result in this dual-like vision, so it had to be a Diabolic development. Because honestly, while I might not hold mastery over my mage magics, I certainly knew every component, including the rare outliers, because I spent years wishing I was a late-blooming outlier.

“Not the point or the focus at the moment,” I muttered, pulling my vision away from Tony and back to the temple of demons. It was weird because I could still see Tony like an overlapping faded image of what I physically stared at.

“Quite fascinating.” Corson waltzed forward, no longer frightened by my command to back away. His voice was lighter but still layered with the same deepness he usually spoke with, too.

Every demon had offered space, turned their gazes, and stood in silence. And I meant complete silence. There was a stillness to them which made everyone in this temple appear statuesque, awaiting a reprieve from the command I’d yelled a moment ago.

Bez went to intercept, froze for a second, and then turned away from me and the blue-skinned demon without a word. He stood motionless with the demon lords in attendance. Even his essence stilled.

“Is this your first takeover?” Corson asked, the sapphire in his eyes washed away into complete blackness. They were asblack as mine probably were right now, with so much essence surging throughout me. “I don’t recall my first takeover. Time has withered that experience. Such confusion is permeating from your scent. It’s curious and concerned yet confident, too. Such a sweet fragrance.”

“What?” I threaded the dual vision of following Tony’s clicking steps while observing Corson, who studied me with a deep fascination. His expression had changed entirely, almost making him appear like a different person. It wasn’t only the change in his expression; his essence had a different radiance to it. Deeper and darker with no hues of blue like when I’d first encountered him. “Who are you?”

“Of course, introductions are to be made.” Corson extended his arms, gesturing to himself. “I am Lilith, ruler of Hell and overseer to the remaining emptiness of the universe.”

Lilith. The Lilith. She was here. Well, she was housed inside the body of one of her demons.

“How are you possessing him?”

“A devil’s takeover allows us complete control over anything created with or containing our essence,” he said—correction, she said. Lilith spoke through Corson’s body. “Our takeover is most potent when in our dominion. We stand in my Hell, and as such, Corson is easy enough to access. A quick pluck of his strings and his being is mine until I choose to relinquish it. If I choose so.”

“Could you keep his body forever?”

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