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

This woman didn’t particularly look like she’d like that—at least, not right now. She was in the middle of yelling at two other demons, one of whom cowered on the other side of the desk while the other kept trying to defend themself. Neither approach seemed to be calming her down in the least.

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times,” the short demon growled, sounding like every overworked RA I’d ever met, “no spells after midnight!”

“We were just having fun,” the demon who hadn’t cowered tried to explain, wiggling his arms. He had long, flexible tendrils like an octopus, only even more than the eight an octopus would have. “We weren’t trying to hurt anyone…!”

The short demon in charge sighed. “We were this close to having a full-on hex drill last night, Carlton. At three in the morning! Both of you know the hex alarms get super sensitive after midnight, because no one in the dorms is supposed to be casting any spells. So do me a favor, and take care of all your dick charms and weed duplication cantrips before the magic hour, okay? Save us all the trouble?”

“Yes, Sophe,” both demons grumbled. Within moments, they’d left the desk, looking properly chastened. The small woman wiped her hands on her leggings, noticed us standing there, then gave a start and came around the desk. When she did, I nearly whistled—damn, this girl was stacked. She might have been a spinner, but she had curves in all the right places.

“Hey, Mareth,” the woman the demons had called Sophe said. Instead of shaking hands or hugging, she and Mareth did a strange thing where they kind of bumped their boobs together, leaving them both jiggling. “Who are the new kids? You need me to find them a room?”

“Sophe,” Mareth giggled, holding a hand toward the two of us with great pride, “this is Luke and Christina. The new Archlord candidate and his Mog—so she’ll need a pass to share his bed.” Mareth waited a beat. “So will I.”

This last bit escaped Sophe’s notice for the moment. She was too intent on the both of us to hear it.

“Hold up,” Sophe said, her face lighting up. “You’re the two demons who kicked Bryan and Aztomund’s asses in the Wrath Arena?”

There wasn’t much to the entrance to the dorms proper, but there were a couple of couches sitting around and a TV on the wall in one corner. It looked to be some sort of demonic cooking show, where a gorgeous female demon in a chef’s outfit showed off recipes sure to claim the stomachs and souls of mortals. I was pretty sure the cookbook she had on and kept holding up about ‘serving man’ meant it in more ways than one.

The few demons who’d gathered there to hang out recognized the name Aztomund, and suddenly all eyes in the lounge moved to stare at us. Great.

“That would be us,” I said, sliding a hand around Christina’s side. She took my hand and slid it under one of her breasts, because she knew everyone was watching. “I guess word travels fast in the Academy, huh?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” the demoness said with a smile. “I’m Sophe, by the way. RA for the Eastern Wing of the Seventh Floor—home to just over a hundred demons. Probably well over a hundred now with you here. It’s nice to meet you!”

Unlike Mareth, I didn’t get the bumping-boob treatment, which was probably just as well. I still didn’t know my own strength, and I would’ve hated to knock a little thing like her over.

“I’m going to apologize in advance if this is a rude question,” I said, stepping between the gawkers and Sophe. “But when we first got to this floor, I almost thought you were another human. I’ve never seen a demoness quite like you before, Sophe.”

Her jaw dropped. “You think I’m exotic?” she asked, looking down at herself like I’d just told her she should consider a career as a runway model. “Geez, I’m just a garden variety yokai, Luke. We make good choices for jobs like Resident Assistant, because we’re very territorial. You’ll probably see plenty of girls like me around the Academy…”

She’s shy, I thought, smirking to myself. Well, maybe not shy—but definitely unused to compliments…

Something dark flashed in my vision. It was like I was seeing this girl the way Lucifer would see her—as a resource, something that could improve my fortunes if used in the right way. And being on good footing with the RA of my dorm could only be a good thing…

I took her hand and kissed it, like the good guy in an old movie. I felt her pulse quicken, thumping like a hummingbird’s wings where my thumb caressed her wrist. Oh yeah, that dark thing inside of me whispered. She’s into me. A little attention and this girl could be putty in my hands…

Where was this coming from? I didn’t care—it felt good.

“Wow,” Sophe whimpered, slowly bringing her hand to her cleavage. “I, uh, I don’t know what to say, Luke…”

“He’s a charmer,” Mareth said with a wry smile. Yet there was a touch of irritation there, too. Looks like someone’s jealous, I told myself. She hasn’t been bound yet, and she really, REALLY wants to be…

If I didn’t plow Mareth’s field soon and make her mine, she’d probably rip my clothes off in public and make what Christina did in the Lust School look tame by comparison. We had to get on the move.

“I was thinking Luke needs one of the special rooms,” Mareth said, wiggling her eyebrows. “As an Archlord candidate, he’s already got a subspace you could drive a truck through. Maybe one of the ‘bring your own kit’ suites?”

Sophe thought it over for a moment, then moved back behind the desk.