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

“It should be fine,” Mareth assured me. A mischievous look entered her eyes. “If you’re worried, though, we could grab a snack. This is the school with all the food, after all. Right, Xora?”

For a moment, Xora looked pissed at the suggestion. Then some knowledge passed between them, carried in a look, and the rusalka smiled. “Absolutely.”

Well, why not? I could use a little Gluttony myself, I thought. Shit, I’m famished all of a sudden…

Xora and Mareth led us to a room at the far end of the hall. Unlike the rest, there were no students in here cooking meals or mixing potions. It felt almost sedate in comparison. Three tables had been arranged into the shape of a ‘U’, and on them were plates of cooling food.

“These dishes were designed by demons in training for their latest exam,” Xora explained, gesturing across the table of food. “They’ve already been judged, so they were set to be thrown away shortly. Try whatever you like.”

An obvious barb sat in the middle of those words, but I was too hungry to care. My stomach felt like an empty sack, dangerously in need of filling, and each plate of food looked more inviting than the last. My eyes settled on a devildog: a pastry made of two long pieces of chocolate cake with whipped cream in the middle. They’d been one of my favorite treats ever since I was a kid, and I had to have it.

Before Xora or Mareth could warn me, I ate half the treat in a single bite. The rich, creamy goodness of the filling exploded in my mouth, along with the darker tang of the chocolate. I let out a very unmanly moan as I chewed, more than a little surprised to feel some kind of savory flakes suspended inside of the cream. Coconut?

“That’s amazing,” I groaned, wiping the side of my mouth. “Holy shit, if this is what your students are capable of, I can’t wait to sample what your chefs can do…”

Both Xora and Mareth stared at me like I’d grown a second head.

“What?” I asked, polishing off the devildog with another bite. “Whoo, that’s got a kick to it, doesn’t it? Spicy and sweet…”

“I can’t believe you managed to eat the whole thing,” Xora said, amazed. “That pastry’s enchanted with a high-level pyromancy spell, Luke.”

“I guess we know who likes it spicy,” Mareth giggled behind her fingertips. “Damn, Luke!”

I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. “That wasn’t spicy,” I said, wiping my brow. “Not that spicy, at least—I’ve had worse—”

A burp wormed its way up from my throat. I slammed a hand over my mouth to stifle it at the last moment, and flames shot from the corners of my mouth. Christina let out a little yelp and looked around, evidently searching for a fire extinguisher.

“Wow,” I said, my eyes watering as I started to laugh.

“So this is how I learn you’ve got a high level affinity for pyromancy on top of everything else,” Xora said, pouting spectacularly. “I was so hoping to prank you…”

“My bad,” I said. “Wait, what would’ve happened to me there if I didn’t have high-level pyromancy skill?”

“Oh, nothing the Academy’s infirmary couldn’t fix,” Xora told me, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “Our medical demons can do the most interesting things with skin grafts these days…”

I swallowed hard. If that’s what passes for a ‘prank’ among demons, I thought, then I better watch out when one actually wants to put one over on me...

Xora’s face softened. “It is what it is,” the rusalka said. “Clearly I’m just going to have to try harder.” She examined the rest of the table with a naughty look. “Want to sample any more dishes, or are you done?”

After what had happened with the devildog, I didn’t feel like taking chances. Besides, it had hit the spot—I felt much better. “Nah, that’s cool,” I said, stepping away from the table. “Christina?”

“Working on my figure,” Christina said quickly. I could tell she was hungry, too, but she was not about to let Mareth and Xora see her pig out. Also she obviously wanted to see the rest of the schools.

So did I. “Lead the way.”

Xora led us through a door at the back of the Gluttony School, and we stepped back in time.

I don’t know why it surprised me so much. Maybe it was because, after the big, modern entrance hall and the clean fixtures of the Gluttony school, I’d started thinking of the Infernal Academy as...well, as an Academy. A college. Sure, a college for hot demons and devils, but with recognizable rules and structures. Lecture halls, cafeterias, sororities—that kind of thing.

All that got blown to hell as we stepped into the next wing of the Academy.

Chapter 13

A black sky stretched above our heads, roiling with purple clouds. In front of us lay a massive stone plateau, suspended above a great dark vortex far beneath. Thick rusted chains dropped from the platform down into the darkness, with smaller chains connecting the plateau to various floating islands by means of narrow, swinging bridges.

“Oh, wow!” Christina’s face lit up as our feet touched stone. Her wings flapped excitedly across her back. “I’ve heard of this place—or at least, I think I have. This is the Arena!”

Xora gave the blonde a bewildered look. “So astute,” the rusalka murmured, as if she’d never expected a human to have that kind of knowledge. I thought of the books in Latin in Christina’s study and chuckled. “You’re correct, demoness. This the School of Wrath, where the high and mighty ideals of theory meet the blood and bone of practice.”

“This is where the fights happen,” Christina said, nudging me. A look of pure euphoria shone in her eyes, almost like when the two of us were about to