Page 21 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

“In her workshop.” Mora pointed. “Tinkering with projects.”

Wally went to find his bestie with Weather at his heels and Tony perched on his shoulder.

“Aren’t you going to join your man?” Mora pushed between me and the door, quickly closing it behind us and ushering me away. “You’ll have to get used to sticking close with him in Hell. Wouldn’t want him to wander.”

“Why are you rushing me?”

“I’m not. Merely assumed you wouldn’t want to miss any of Kell’s work on copying that damned invitation Wally received.”Mora folded her arms, keeping her expression even, but the subtle shift of a scowl formed at her brow. “The unnecessary risk you always bring into my life, Bezzy.”

“You love it.” I grinned. And exploited it. Mora had turned nearly every major event in my life since arriving at the mortal realm into a serendipitous fortune of favors for herself. “I’d think you’d enjoy your witch finding a way to circumvent devil abilities.”

“I don’t like anything that lands their attention.” She sighed. “I assumed my little pocket world had a few centuries before even my devil deigned to acknowledge its existence. Now, thanks to your misfit mage baby devil adjacent boyfriend, I’ll be contending with ambassadors from Lilith’s realm likely forever.”

“It could always be worse,” I said. “You could be dragged to this Devil’s Banquet, too.”

One of the guards under Mora’s employment stepped into the foyer and whispered to her.

“Bring them to my office.” She waved the guard away, then turned to me. “I might welcome Hell again if I get dragged into another meeting with these damned witches.”

“Perish the thought.” I smirked. “If you like, I could handle your problem before my departure. It’d be nice to get my hands a bit bloody before the party. Practice and all that.”

“Tempting.” Mora traced a finger along my sharp jawline. “But until the witches do more than bully their way into overtaking other Mythic territories, I think it’s best to be civil.”

“What’s the real reason?”

“These witches might also be studying Diabolics.” She fluffed her hair, fighting the growing frown on her face in the process. “It’s not unheard of or unwarranted. I actually met a witch a few centuries back who streamlined possession thanks to her research. Obviously, I had to kill her for other reasons, but I’ll always be grateful for the wealth of knowledge she provided.”

“What are they studying?”

“No clue. Nothing of Novus’ caliber, not that I’ve observed, but when people try to analyze essence, decipher demons, I pay attention.”

“You should do yourself a favor and slaughter them. They can’t research if they’re dead.”

“It doesn’t benefit me to end them until they achieve the fruits of their labor, at least enough to pique my curiosities.”

“You’re placating their actions, and in turn, these witches are overstepping, intentionally testing how far they can push boundaries. This whole compassionate thing you’re trying out is gonna get you ousted.”

“Not placating,” Mora said. “I merely wish to ensure that when I do move, everyone knows I did everything within my power—my vastly incredible power—to avoid bloodshed. Thanks to your ruthless presence, some have considered me a hostile ruler. In truth, your brief absence will do my image wonders.”

“Bah.” I stomped by her. “They think I’m ruthless when it’s your orders for carnage.”

Between Mora and Wally, though, I supposed my hands had been tied these days. Murder was always an alternative option, never the first, second, or even third option with them.

I left Mora to contend with this witch drama and prepare for my own. How I’d much rather spend my night ripping out hearts to help Mora maintain her kingly crown bullshit than navigate the etiquette of Hell.

“You okay?” Wally asked, joining me in the study now that he’d settled Tony and Weather somewhere for the evening. “Today has been long.”

“I’m fine.”

“Cue my go-to line for every exhausting family dinner I attended after feeling utterly devastated and defeated by literally anything in my life.” Wally chuckled.

Even without saying all the things that used to get him down at every turn, I recalled them. I’d listened to much of his sadness vented aloud and alone inside the repository where he worked, and I lay imprisoned inside an orb. So much had broken him to pieces over the years until he was this tragically meek man with no will or wonder in his life.

As annoying as it was, I enjoyed seeing him happy, content, absurdly brave in the face of even more absurd threats.

“There’s just so much happening.” I sighed. “Not what I had on the agenda.”

“Planning a trip to Hell certainly wasn’t the direction I saw this evening going,” Wally said. “I mean, considering the afternoon delight we had, I sort of expected an evening delight to follow up.”

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