Lucifer Reborn by Dante King (the reader ebook .TXT) 📗

She blew a lock of hair out of her face, her expression brightening as she saw me. Then she noticed the looming Gothic castle of the Academy behind me and the demons crowded around the back of the hot rod, and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“What the fuck!?” Maddie shrieked, tucking herself deeper into the trunk. “There are monsters behind you, Luke! Look out!”

I wanted to tell her that these weren’t monsters—that these people were my fellow students. Only I realized a second later that they were anything but. The moment the trunk opened to reveal Maddie hiding inside, every demon within smelling distance of my car froze in place, sniffing the air. A rich, feral scent filled the parking circle as necks snapped, the attention of everyone in the area focused solely on Maddie. The cheerleader, the valet—even Xora—stared straight at the trunk, their expressions filling with an utterly terrifying hunger.

“Fuck,” I growled, putting myself between the brunette and the crowd. “Mareth, why’s everyone gone all scary all of a sudden?”

Even Mareth was affected by whatever was going on. The succubus’s voice trembled with something dark and hungry as she spoke. “You shouldn’t have let her come here,” Mareth whispered, terror cutting through the hunger. “Oh shit, you really should not have let her come here…”

“I didn’t do anything!” I protested, holding up my hands. “She snuck in the fucking trunk! It’s not like I gave her permission!”

The crowd advanced slowly, as if they were a little frightened of me, but it was clear that fear would only last a few more moments at most. Whatever chain reaction I’d set off by letting these people see and smell Maddie, it was taking control of these people.

“You let a mortal enter the Infernal Academy,” Mareth whispered, ignoring my protests.

“I’m a mortal,” I growled, putting my hands on the cheerleader’s shoulders and pushing her away. She stuttered and missed a step, moving like a zombie. The glazed expression in her eyes faded somewhat as she picked herself up, growling. “They didn’t do this to me—”

“You’ve got Lucifer’s favor,” Mareth said. “This girl doesn’t even have so much as a contract binding her to a demon! She’s totally helpless!”

In other words, I’d just thrown a hunk of meat into the lion’s den. With no demonic power to protect her, there’d be a free-for-all to claim Maddie. These demons were about to eat her alive.

Literally.

“Step the fuck back!” I roared, reaching for my powers. Next to me, Christina did the same, extending her claws and hissing at the approaching horde of demons. I still didn’t understand exactly how they worked, but there was no reason for these demons to know that. Intimidating the hell out of them just might work. “I’m an Archlord candidate—a favorite of Lucifer himself! I claim this mortal—”

It wasn’t working. The crowd surged forward, grins stretching to demonic proportions as they tried to shove me over. A feeding frenzy ensued. Within the space of a single heartbeat, all the pretensions of the Infernal Academy fell away. This place had seemed almost civilized when I first set foot here—a real institute of higher learning. Ten seconds of Maddie in their midst cured me of all that.

These people were savages. And despite all appearances to the contrary, this was indeed Hell.

As the demons piled in, climbing over top of each other in their zeal to devour Maddie, something inside of me reacted. A red film spread over my vision, the world blurring and going dim as I reached for something deep down inside my soul. I’d felt this before —the familiar rush in my veins reminded me of the way I’d charmed everyone around me in the diner —but where that had been tinged with fun, this was filled with anger.

How dare they try and harm her, I thought, seething with rage. Just let them try!

Something black wriggled at the edges of my vision, like dark tendrils. I tensed, fearing an attack. When the tendrils of darkness failed to strike, I realized the truth: they hadn’t been summoned by one of the attacking demons. They’d come from me. I’d summoned them somehow. Another one of my powers?

No time to think. More demons closed in, bearing slavering fangs as they closed in on their prize.

I slugged the demon in the varsity jacket in the face as he tried to rush past me, hissing like a snake as he reached out for Maddie. Hitting his face felt like punching a concrete block, but he staggered backward into the two demons behind him, knocking both off their feet.

The tendrils moved like an extension of my will. They reached out and grabbed the nearest demon—with the body of an utterly gorgeous woman and the head of an elk—and did the same with her, lifting her off the ground and pushing her into the crowd. The elk demon let out a surprised yell as she flew through the crowd, as if she hadn’t seen the attack coming.

The crowd reared back, startled by the appearance of the tendrils. They’d smelled easy meat, but they hadn’t expected this. Pressing the advantage, I sent the tendrils into the crowd, scattering bodies and knocking the nearest demons off their feet. I had to create some distance, open up space for us to...what, exactly? Drive out of here?

We were surrounded by Hell. Demons as far as the eye could see.

The demon in the cheerleader outfit jumped into the trunk, reaching for Maddie. Maddie let out another one of those horror-movie shrieks and dug into the seat cushions, moving like an animal caught in a trap. Claws ripped through the demon’s fingers, extending like Freddy Kreuger’s knives as the cheerleader’s jaw unlatched and expanded.

I reached for her with a mass of tendrils, intending to pluck her from the back of the car and chuck her