Page 82 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

“She’s got as much to lose with a rampaging devil as anyone else,” Kell said, leading us inside and away from the raging duel between the earth herself. Away from Lilith, a living entity of a dimension of her very own.

“Wait, you dated Nature?” Wally asked, attention fixed on Kell and unwilling to gloss over the fact the witch dated a deity. “LiketheeNature. Like she’s actually sentient and capable of candlelit dinners?”

“We didn’t really do dinners, but her vine work is divine.” Kell winked. “Speaking of divine, every witch is currently channeling Nature, offering their magics, their spells, their everything.”

“Why?” Mora asked.

“It’s happening everywhere,” Kell said, a tremble in her voice I’d never heard before. “Essence ripping through reality and consuming anything in its path.”

“A matter of hours before she destroys this world,” I said. “We need to flee this realm.”

“We can’t abandon the world,” Wally declared. It was met with silence, which made him swallow his anxiety and his chivalry. “Can we?”

“Fuck ‘em.” Mora retrieved a nail file from her pocket purse. Correction, a dagger that grew to full size once removed from the tiny tote. “I can start fresh anywhere and everywhere. Bez, Walter, I’m more than willing to drop you lot off in any world of your liking, but this is where we part.”

“Not a fan of the heat?” I asked.

“Lilith is gonna chase you two to the end of the universe and back around again.” Mora stabbed the air, tearing the dimensional lining apart with her blade. “Stay and die nobly with the world if you wish, or leave with me to breathe another day.”

“Figuratively,” I said.

“Precisely.” Mora carved open a doorway. “I love you, Bezzy. And your boyfriend’s okay, but I won’t be greeting Oblivion for anyone except Kell.”

“I can’t leave,” Kell said. “I can’t abandon my world.”

“Watching your first world die out and meet its end is sad,” Mora explained. “After a while, it’s like any other death. Numb. Routine. Inconvenient. Circle of life and all that.”

“I’m connected to the pool of witches,” Kell said. “I bound my soul and magic to this battle.”

“Dammit, Kell.” Mora lowered her dagger. “To be clear, I’m pissed by your unilateral decision for self-sacrificing moves of heroism.”

“I know, hun.” Kell pursed her lips. “Total turn-off, right?”

“The biggest.”

“Look out.” Wally lunged ahead and tackled Mora as black tar seeped through the tear Mora carved.

The pair rolled onto the floor as Kell and I went to work sealing the dimension and revoking access to this room.

My role mostly entailed slashing at Lilith’s essence until it retreated back into the portal while Kell cast sorcery to seal it.

“Oh, fuck me!” Mora shoved Wally off her and brushed her dress smooth as she stood up. “That bitch surrounded the dimension. I thought she was fleeing. Who takes the time to create a barricade around the world that they fled to?”

Mora stomped off, cursing in every language known to mortal, Mythic, Diabolic, and probably a few dozen unknown profanities.

“We need to finish repairing the Diabolic orbs,” Wally said. “One at the very least.”

“I can focus on that,” Kell said. “I’m basically spent anyway since I relinquished all my magic to Nature. And I do mean all of it. Like max out your credit cards and apply for a loan with terrible interest rates kind of spent.”

“You okay?” Wally asked.

“Not feeling it now.” Kell shrugged. “But if the world doesn’t die, best believe I’m gonna be hassling you for spells the next decade.”

“Not to be rude,” Wally said before barreling into blunt data—I knew he planned on slapping Kell with facts based on how he politely picked up a book to reference. “Piecing together the orbs requires magic. It’s in the instructions.”

“I’m still fucking up my credit score before anyone revokes my spending habits.” Kell waved a hand, conjuring a slew of supplies onto the front counter. “Basic spell work is fine for me. Life or death combat…” Kell snapped her fingers four times before a flame sparked between her fingertips. “Not so much.”

“How long will it take you to put together a Diabolic orb?” I asked.

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