Page 99 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

“You’d be amazed what three partial devils can do.” He grinned, no hidden anxiety in his expression, just a face brimming with confidence.

Satan and Corson. They weren’t partial devils, merely demons trotting about with stolen essence.

“It doesn’t matter what they are,” Wally said, making me swallow my own thoughts because, in this void of a world, nothing was hidden. “It was enough to carve a path here, enough to retrieve you, to save you.”

“You tore into Oblivion to save me?” My eyes watered.

I hated how Walter made me feel…feel seen. Feel at all. I loved hating it. Loathed that I couldn’t accept it at value. Hated how much I enjoyed resisting his genuine spirit. His kindness. His loyalty. His love. But more than anything, I appreciated it, wanted to explore it forever and ever and more than time itself could offer.

“There you are.” He reached out, hands cupping around my face, running them down my shoulders, caressing my silhouette, and giving me a shape outside the shadows. “We need to go.”

“You in a rush?”

“Maybe. Only a fully intact devil is supposed to be able to open Oblivion, so I’d rather not test the timer.” Wally held my hand, pulling me ahead. “Plus, we dropped Lilith and Beelzebub down here. Up here? Between? The location is very unspecific. Point is, while I don’t imagine them working together to break loose from the orb any time soon, I don’t want to be here if or when they do.”

“Do not worry about that, Wally.” Agares fluttered between the shadows, taking deliberate steps. “We demons reign in Oblivion, enjoying the slumber it offers. No devil dwelling here has a voice. They will sleep. We will make them.”

“Thank you, Agares.” Wally nodded, careful about his horns, which had grown and swirled in odd directions, symbolizing what I imagined as the maze of his thoughts. “It’s nice to see you again.”

That was right. They briefly encountered each other when Wally died. Dead. Fallen into Oblivion.

“May our paths never cross again,” Agares said. “But if they do, know you are always welcome in Oblivion, Walter Alden.”

With that farewell from an ancient demon, Wally flew through the shadows, holding me in his grasp and moving faster and faster until light split the darkness away.

“Wait.” I pushed away. “I have to say goodbye.”

“What?”

I sank back into the darkness, whispering every thought I’d ever had as loud as fucking possible until a glimmering orb appeared in the shadows before me.

“Everything you did to me.” I floated toward the orb, watching broken essence swirl round and round. “Everythingyou did to control me. To make me yours. To own me. To kill me. To break me.”

Essence ripped at itself. It was Beelzebub shredding Lilith, knocking her presence away as he moved closer to the edge of his glass prison.

“It failed,” I said with tears welling in my eyes. I needed him to know that after everything, he meant nothing. I needed him to know because I needed to leave this hatred, this regret, this poison, this passion, this rage in the depths of Oblivion. “I will forget you. Whether it takes a century or a thousand, you don’t own me. You don’t control my happiness. You don’t haunt my dreams. You don’t stir in my memories anymore.”

Wally descended, hovering close behind me but allowing this moment between me and the devil who’d haunted my eternity.

“Last time I ran away from you, locking you up in your Hell. This time, I am running toward something, toward someone.” I backed away, letting Wally hold me, carry me away. “Someone who knows me in ways you never understood. Someone who loves me more than the world itself. Enjoy Oblivion. May you be forgotten until the end of time.”

The broken essence sank into its orb, not fighting, not furious, but finally accepting failure.

I smiled, free from Beelzebub’s grasp, and ascended through the depths of nothingness until the world took hold of me.

Everything burned. I gasped. I roared. I thrashed and raged and collapsed into muck.

“His essence is still too broken,” Mora shouted. “He needs a body, something to stabilize his recovery.”

Wally shouted something. I turned to see but found only light in his face. Light everywhere.

Then darkness again.

“Wakey, wakey, sleepy head.” The voice was faint, gentle.

Wally.

His hand caressed my cheek, then traced along my jawline, and finally worked its way down to my pecs, getting a good solid grip on my chest.

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