Page 62 of In the Devil's Shadow

“Trust me, princess, I’m not stopping until you tell me to. Whatever you say. I never want out of these holes,” he growled.

“Lucifer’s ears, you can almost hear them through the walls without any magical assistance,” Desmond said in disbelief.

“Don’t kill my mood by bringing her dad up, ew,” Ares said in disgust as he palmed himself through his joggers.

“It’s an expression,” Desmond argued. “It’s not my fault her dad is an infamous household name our entire society is obsessed with.” He stilled Ares’ hand, scowling at him. “We’re not going to jerk ourselves off or break out into an orgy in the kitchen. We have shit to do.”

Hypocrite, he instigated the last kitchen orgy,Ares linked me.That was a meal, for sure.

A throaty, feminine scream came from the direction of Diana’s room. A hoarse masculine grunt followed. Fifteen minutes later, they ambled out of her bedroom, Mal’s hair disheveled and Diana’s lips puffy and red. Her activewear was tight as skin around her bottom. Her midriff showed beneath her cropped top, showing me glimpses of little scratches I was sure Mal had left behind with his claws. The whole outfit reminded me of what she wore that day I saw her in that park in Brooklyn, which made me less pissy. Mal was smiling…not a snide one, but a happy one. He actually lookedelated, cum-drunk as fuck in a band tee, sweats and Converse trainers.Is this the fuckingTwilight Zone?

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting,” Diana coyly smiled. “Mal taught me how to levitate myself…then he ate me out while I was floating, I sucked his dick, and time got away from us.” She lifted herself off the floor by a few feet as a demonstration, then lowered herself back to the floor.

“Yeah, I make learning fun,” he bragged, kissing a bite mark on her neck. He backed her into the island counter and hoisted her up, shoving his tongue down her throat.

She slid her hands down his sweats, grabbing his ass. They seemed to be gearing up for round two.

“Diana...” Az said, barely audible over their lips smacking together. “Nonna, Angie, and Oisín have been waiting for us in the training room. It’s time to give it a rest for now.”

Mal broke it off, stepping back from her and frowning slightly. “He has a point, princess. I can’t get enough of you, but we have a day full of plans. Maybe later we can work some of that training tension off though…”

She took her hands out of his pants and pouted. “Yeah, you’re right.” Hopping off the island, she hugged him and made her way to her trainers by the door.

“You went from barely being able to stand her, to promising her a quickie because youcan’t get enough of her,” I razzed him, mocking his very American accent. I liked taking the piss out of Mal; he was so easy to get a rise out of.

“I know. There’s a fine line between love and hate. Crossing it for her was worth checking my pride and admitting I was wrong.” He patted me on the back, giving me a knowing look over his shoulder as he followed her. Kneeling at her feet, he tied her laces for her. He had never done anything like that for someone before, and it spoke to how far he was willing to go to make our girl happy.Fuck, I feel bad for trying to fuck with him.

The training room looked like a state of the art combat gym. It had sparring dummies, boxing equipment, blue mats, and tons of open space. The walls were spell-proofed, so any magic created in this room would stay in this room.That feature will come in handy when Ares teaches Diana about larger scale ways to use her fire magic. The one corner had free weights and the opposite one had a jacuzzi-sized pool of water. The far wall had a rock-climbing structure that reached the vaulted ceiling. Judas had hooked us up with a great space.

We had been here for a few hours already, and Diana was doing well. She full-body glowed as she floated off the floor, throwing energy bolts shaped like lightning at me. I managed to block or dodge most of them, but she cackled when one grazed my ribcage, leaving a deep cut behind.

“Good work. You can come down now,” I instructed her. The cut was already starting to heal, so I ignored it. She flew through the air, using swimming motions to propel herself forward.

“Never! I feel like this siren, Loralie, from a book I read last year calledThe Siren’s Seduction. All I need is a mermaid tail and red hair and I can be just like her!” she exclaimed.

“Oh! This may be hard because it’s a book with a character you’ve never actually seen, but try to envision what you think she looks like. Then turn into it. I want to see how far this body morphism goes,” Oisín requested. He had told Diana his theory earlier and she agreed with him. We wouldn’t know for sure until her powers were unlocked. “Some people truly have the gift, while others can just slightly manipulate their features.”

“Worth a shot,” Angie agreed. She sipped her water bottle, her other hand on her hip. “If that’s too hard, try to turn into someone you see regularly.”

Diana focused, closing her eyes as she paused her floating. Scales erupted on her hands and neck, while her legs were partially trapped in the beginning of a mermaid tail. She held the look for a minute or two, but lost it. She almost came hurtling toward the ground, but I caught her at the last minute and set her on her feet.

“Be careful,” I warned. “Just because you're immortal doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt. Not every wound heals quickly.”

“Try turning into one of the guys?!” Angie asked excitedly, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet.

Diana curled her lips to the right, deep in thought as she pondered her choice. She closed her eyes again, and the curls in her hair became less frizzy and tightened into more uniformed spirals, cascading down her back instead of at their normal length. She grew several inches, and her body shape changed to a lean, muscular one very reminiscent of Az’s. Her eyes turned to a warm amber brown as her facial shape became more oval.

“Az, come here and see this!” I yelled over to him. He sprinted from the other side, where he was sparring with Ares.

“Whoa, hold on” he declared in surprise. He tied her hair in a top knot. “Now we’re practically twins.”

Diana closed her eyes again, turning back to herself. The hair tie fell to the floor as her regular hair came back. She looked at Ares, and tried to morph into him, but her glow short circuited. She pouted, and even though I knew she was frustrated, I couldn’t help but think it was insanely sexy.

“No worries, Birdie, you’re doing great. Your magic is already so much more controlled and focused than it was the last time. You’ve made so much progress,” I praised her, throwing my hand over her shoulder and bringing her under my arm.

“I just feel so…good. So happy. I think I just woke up on the right side of the bed today,” she giggled, looking over at Mal, who was already staring at her from the chairs set up by the far corner near the rock-climbing wall.

So, all we have to do is keep her well-fucked and rolling in orgasms, and she’ll be a magical whiz?I asked Az and Ares. They both looked at me with thoughtful expressions.

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