Page 32 of How to Accidentally Become the Devil

Hell's sake I’ve made a mess.

“That's fineAvus, I have to check on the castle, and mom, you get some rest and tomorrow we can figure everything out.”

Gathering my men who still stand around mouths gaping and leaving Fireball behind to get to know his new mate, I pop us outside Mom's door, hopefully she’s fine now too.

fourteen

Oz

Maddy pops us to Zo’s room and we find her exactly as Georgym described her, in her chair, looking devastated. She looks eerily like Luc did just moments ago.

“Why is she like this?” Maddy cries. “All the other demons were just crying. They weren’t catatonic like Luc. What’s wrong with her?”

Zar steps in front of Zo and touches her shoulder. “It must be her connection with Luc. I can sense his power smothering her. It’s even stronger than it was with me.”

“Why didn’t fixing Luc stop his power from affecting her?” Maddy growls.

I understand her frustration. I figured all we’d have to do was fix Luc and everyone would go back to normal. Did the other demons?

“Why don't you try what you did with Luc?” Belz offers.

Maddy takes Zarreth’s place, laying her hands on Zofina's shoulders, and the now familiar glow of her magic surrounds Zo.

“Fuck! It's not working!” Maddy whines as she puts her hands to her head.

“Maybe she doesn't have any more mates?” Zeph shrugs, shrinking back from Maddy’s death glare.

“We have to get my dad here, like yesterday.” Maddy paces the floor in front of her mom.

“Ugh, now is so not the time,”I mutter under my breath. Putting my head in my hands doesn't stop the feeling of every set of eyes on me.Someone is trying to escape their assigned room, feels big, maybe Luc’s torture room.I think it directly at Maddy and the look on her face tells me she got that one loud and clear. I don't want to interrupt the current crisis, but this feels like a bigger issue at the moment.

“Those fucking fucks!” she curses and in a puff of black smoke we’re gone.

We appear in Luc’s torture room to seeChadattempting to unchain Marjorkorie.

How the fucking hell did he get in here?

Belzar, my Hell sword, if you will.The soon-to-be dead demon hasn’t noticed our appearance yet, so I use our new bond to get my weapon without alerting him.

My sword materializes in my hands and I swing without hesitation. His head leaves his body with a spray of blood as it flies across the room much like Bartleby’s did only days ago. His body crashes to the floor, revealing a stunned frozen Marjorkorie.

“You just don’t know when to give up, do you?” Maddy seethes. “I don’t know how he even fucking got here, but it sure didn’t end the way you wanted, did it?” She chuckles darkly.

Marjorkorie tilts her chin up in some fictitious show of strength, but her voice wobbles when she says, “Let me out of these chains and we’ll see who's laughing then you ungrateful little bitch.”

Maddy’s eyes turn black and the next instant, Marjorkorie falls from her place on Luc’s cross. She’s been chained up so long she can’t even hold herself up.

Maddy takes slow, determined steps toward her aunt, the heel of her shiny black boots clicking on the white tile floor as she crosses the room. When she stops in front of Marjorkorie, she pushes her over with the toe of her patent leather boot and cocks her head as she studies the pathetic demon before her.

“Are you laughing yet,Auntie?”

She manages to push herself up enough to glare at Maddy. I feel an unfamiliar magic brush against me whispering for me to attack my mate and I laugh.

“You thought you could use your power on me? That I would be easy to control? I am a fully bonded demon. You couldn’t force me to harm my mate if you were at full strength,” I sneer.

“Shewhat?” Maddy fumes. “You thought you could use my mate against me? Oh, you foolish, foolish girl.”

She throws her hands out and her magic bursts forth in a magnificent display as it slams into Marjorkorie. She convulses on the floor before falling still.

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