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

an official student of the Infernal Academy. Both of you might be a little drained after this ritual, despite the simplicity of it.”

I nodded, although I didn’t feel anything. The set of Christina’s shoulders belied a touch of weariness, but I felt as fresh as a spring daisy. Maybe it was the coffee—or perhaps Lucifer’s blessing gave me abilities beyond other demons.

“I know right now, the two of you probably want to go exploring,” the demoness laughed, as if remembering her own freshman days at the Academy. “Have some fun, see the sights—maybe even sow a few wild oats. But I highly recommend you get some rest. Your classes begin after next Sinday—which is the day after tomorrow—and you won’t get any leeway from your instructors just because you’re new. You have two days to get settled in, dears. Trust me, you’ll have plenty of time to have fun.”

As if Lilith had cast a spell for just that moment to illustrate her point, Christina yawned explosively. “Excuse me,” she said, holding the back of her hand over her mouth. “Yikes, I’m so sorry…”

“It’s quite alright,” Lilith said, rising from her chair. Apparently, our meeting with her was over. “My niece will escort you to the dorms. Give her my best—to all appearances to the contrary, I do care about her. I wish she’d be a little bit nicer to her Auntie, that’s all.”

“Sure thing,” I said, flashing Lilith a big, fake smile. I’d seen what was behind those gorgeous, demonic eyes. Lucifer’s wife might have been one of the most talented charmers I’d ever seen, but there was something inside of her more ancient than the first shark who chowed down on an unsuspecting fish. I was damned sure Mareth had good reason to dislike her.

Mareth waited for us outside the tent, leaning against one of the pillars in the Market. She let out a relieved sigh as Christina and I emerged into the afternoon sun, as if she hadn’t expected us to escape in one piece.

“Luke,” she whispered, practically jumping into my arms. “Did she do the whole thing with the blood and the pricked finger?”

I started to laugh. Mareth felt good in my arms—hell, she even smelled good. I liked having her with us a lot.

“She does that with everyone, huh?” I asked. “I guess we should feel flattered.”

Mareth groaned and rolled her eyes. “She’s such a drama queen,” the succubus said, her tail running up my thigh. “The shit I could tell you about her, Luke. She’s been at the center of nearly every scandal the Infernal Academy’s had in the last thousand years.”

I could imagine. “Don’t worry,” I said, mentally going over my interactions with Lilith. “I’m pretty sure I let her know exactly which girls I’m looking to chase in my time here at this school.”

Mareth beamed. And yet, I couldn’t forget the crack about ‘older women’ I’d made in Lilith’s presence. Christina hadn’t forgotten, either, though she was good enough to not say anything. I had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time I ended up in a room with the beautiful Lilith: and it wouldn’t be the only time she made a pass at me.

Getting involved with one of Lucifer’s wives was probably one of the worst things I could do at the Infernal Academy—but when she looked like that, well...it might be too much temptation to resist. Up until that vision, I’d thought Lilith was bound by the same kind of magic that kept Christina and Mareth faithful to me. But after seeing the demoness suspended from the ceiling, I wondered if she’d found some way around Lucifer’s restrictions.

I set Mareth back on her feet, watching proudly as she gave Christina the same hug and welcome to the student body. “Let’s hit the dorms,” I told her, already mentally counting the number of times I’d need to make her come in order to bind her to me. “Christina and I are both exhausted—maybe we could get some takeout and spend the night in…”

A giant stepped out from behind a pillar.

For a moment as I stepped between Mareth, Christina, and the newcomer, my brain was telling me the three of us were under attack. I thought that maybe one of the guys who’d been staring at us in the Market had decided to take a crack at me, or a candidate for Archlord had already decided to move against the competition. I felt for my powers, preparing to snap my fingers and toss another salvo of those fireballs from the Wrath arena at the intruder.

Then I recognized the huge, hulking brute standing before me, and my stomach dropped.

He hadn’t been waiting for us at the dorms. That would have been too easy—and not what his new Master wanted.

Oni had followed us all the way to Pride.

 

Chapter 21

“You’re really lucky I didn’t go in the tent with you,” Mareth explained. “I found this big lug walking around the market square, asking demons if they’d seen you. He was using your name and everything. Another few minutes and people would have started asking questions…”

Oni couldn’t have looked more out of place in the market if he’d tried. He still wore the tattered clothes he’d had on in the middle of the street when he’d transformed, ripping out of the body of a possessed human like a snake shedding its skin. The big horn in the center of his forehead drooped as he stared at a point between his feet, like a chastened child. He got more than a few stares from demonic passersby as they made their way across the market. With the metal all over his teeth and the intricate runes covering every inch of his massive biceps, he looked like a fairly high-level demon—but he sure as hell didn’t act like it.

As I was