Page 84 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

Whether this would kill me or not, I didn’t care. Whether the world fell away to dust in the wake of Lilith’s rage, I didn’t care. What I did worry about was Wally. Even with the strength of a devil, his skills were untested and not nearly trained enough. I couldn’t do this, couldn’t focus unless I knew Wally remained safe.

“You are helping,” I said with a surly edge in my tone, swallowing all the kind nothings I wished to whisper. “Reinforce the barriers. Leave the rest to those of us accustomed to battle.”

“I can do more than reinforce barriers.”

“I’m not even sure you can manage that much, lil misfit devil boy.” Corson barged through the front door, a smile on his face.

His sapphire blue eyes shimmered as two others stormed in beside him. Mortal in appearance, unlike Corson, who remained in his demon form, but these two were absolutely Diabolic. The glow of crimson eyes from one and emerald from the other indicated that much.

“Ah, Hells.”

The last thing we needed was demons invading the realm at the behest of their devil.

25

Wally

Corson stood at the door in tattered armor, not like the Roman gear he sported the last time they crossed paths. He looked more like a knight errant, except his chest plate had several holes, the right arm piece had broken off entirely, and his clawed feet clicked against the floor free of any armor. Though, that might’ve been an aesthetic choice given his long claws and the hooked arch of his feet, similar to a werewolf. The men on either side of him didn’t dress nearly as distinguished or ready for war.

“Those pitiful magics you call a barrier didn’t even register our essence,” Corson said. “We just waltzed right inside.”

“Biggest mistake of your soon-to-end lives.” Bez’s stance shifted as he prepared to lunge forward.

“We’re not here as enemies.” Corson raised his hands in surrender. “Just here to help. Starting with the shitty barriers.”

“It’s devil-proofed,” I explained.

“You sure about that?” asked a man with crimson red eyes, indicating a similar aura to Bez’s Diabolic essence.

Although, that was where the similarities came to an end. He possessed a slim athletic guy with a deep amber complexion wearing a white crop top and glittery skinny jeans with more rips than fabric to cover his legs and nearly exposed ass. His top revealed his stomach, but his arms were covered in hot pink-mesh sleeved stockings that went all the way to his wrist, where he wore bubblegum pink fingerless gloves that matched his combat boots.

Did he possess the guy in this outfit or modify the wardrobe to his liking upon taking over? His fashion sense seemed as eclectic as Bez’s tastebuds.

“We are sure,” Kell chimed in, answering the guy’s question, even though her focus needed to be locked on the task. “I know my way around essence, and those barriers are absolutely devil-proofed.”

“I’m a devil.” The guy in the crop top boasted, flexing his washboard abs.

My eyes widened. Lilith. Fuck. She’d possessed this body and slipped right inside with two demons at her side. So much for Corson wishing for her downfall. He’d likely turned on us the second we fled.

“The name’s Satan.” He grinned.

“Oh.” My face dropped, along with my heart rate. I couldn’t believe I was meeting Satan. The actual Satan. Again! Properly. Sort of. Considering the whole end-of-the-world thing. “You look different than the last time I saw you.”

“We’ve met?”

“I saw your performance.”

“Aww. My dance. Perhaps the only thing I’ll miss about Lilith’s Hell.” He twirled around, performing what looked likea pirouette, followed by a high kick and a flawless bow. “She spared no expense on choreography.”

“Your body has some nice moves to it,” Corson said.

“Thank you. It’s called a twunk, and it specializes in dancing of the grinding variety. Also, gym life, parties, sex, and something called ecstasy.” He spun around one more time. “And I found it the cutest little outfit.”

“To be clear, you’re not a devil,” Kell said. “The barriers aren’t designed to shield against knockoff devils.”

“Yeah, or else Wally would get stuck too.” Bez pointed his tails at me.

“Hey!”

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