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

When I leaned over, I saw a laptop on the other side with a floor plan of the dorms—along with a generous expanse of Sophe’s cleavage. She caught me looking and winked, fully enchanted with me now.

“I’ve got just the thing,” she said, tapping a button on the laptop. “It looks like it’s the only one of its class available right now, so it is going to cost you.” She put a finger to her lips, pursing them in thought. “But an Archlord candidate should be able to afford it, right?”

I should? That was news to me. “How much are we talking?” I asked, glancing at Mareth. She’d know better than me about a thing like this.

With a start, I realized I didn’t have a clue about demonic currency, or how it corresponded to Earth money. I only knew about coins and jewels because I’d seen them in the Greed School, being guarded by that dragon. But those had been special cases—a living emblem of the contract for a mortal or demon’s soul. Surely these demons didn’t use such precious currency in vending machines?

“Two hundred shards,” Sophe said, her tone telling me that was quite a bit of money, indeed. “I’m sorry—normally I’d try to cut you in on a better rate. But it really is the only one available…”

I could see the frustration in Mareth’s eyes. “Screw it,” the succubus growled, speaking low enough that Sophe couldn’t hear. “The things I do to get laid…”

As Sophe pulled out a device connected to the laptop by a long cord, Mareth sighed and raised her palm. A glowing symbol appeared at the center, stretched between her fingers. Sophe’s device pressed against the golden aura on Mareth’s palm, and it flickered before an electronic ding filled the stall.

“Payment processed,” Sophe said, glancing at the screen. “It’ll take them just a minute to get the room ready.”

I decided to take this moment to get some more clarification about money. After all, it sounded like Mareth had just spent quite a lot of it on me.

“What are shards?” I asked, turning to the succubus while Sophe busied herself behind the desk.

“The primary currency of Hell,” Mareth said, looking down at her now symbolless palm. “What I just did was the demonic equivalent of swiping your credit card at a cash register. Only you definitely wouldn’t want to apply for credit down in Hell. The rates are killer, and I’m not talking about interest.”

“Duly noted,” I said, vowing to avoid them whenever possible. “Was that a lot of money, Mareth? I didn’t put you out at all, did I?”

Mareth remained staring at her palm for a moment longer, then shook herself out of her trance. “It’s really no big deal,” she said, shrugging. “I can always call my Mom and ask for some shards if things get really tight.”

Christina perked up. “Actually, shouldn’t you have some money?” she asked me, glancing at my palm. “Lucifer probably gave you some spending money back when he activated your powers. It wouldn’t do for an Archlord candidate to not have at least a little walking around change…”

Really? Interesting. “I might be sitting on a goldmine—who knows?” I held up my palm and ran a finger over it in a spiral, concentrating. “How do I make it work, exactly?”

“You’re doing it right,” Mareth assured me, taking hold of my wrist. “Just concentrate a little harder…”

I did. Numbers appeared on my palm, backed by a sigil that looked like two pentagrams layered on top of each other. Everyone must have their own personal design, I thought. Kind of like how credit cards have different numbers and pictures on them…

I should have expected my total. 666 shards, the glowing aura on my palm informed me.

Christina and Mareth watched it shimmer, each of them leaning over my opposite side. Like the angel and the devil on a guy’s shoulders, except in this case both of them were up to no good.

“Not too shabby,” Mareth said, nodding approvingly. “Lucifer definitely left you with enough to go shopping in the Market, but not so much that you won’t have to work a little bit to catch up. I know it seems like a lot, but it’ll run out eventually.”

“Let me pay you back,” I told the succubus, holding up my palm. Was it as easy as pushing mine against hers and thinking about it? Or did we need to go somewhere special for the transfer? “You just spent two hundred shards on my room.”

In response, Mareth just grinned. “Nah, it’s totally cool. But if you’re feeling guilty, maybe you could pay me in another kind of coin…”

I knew what she meant. Her hands gripped my belt, like she wanted to tear it off me and go down right there in the middle of the student lounge.

My hands went to her hips. “I get it,” I growled, pinning her to me. My lips went to her ear, dropping to a husky whisper. “Don’t you worry about a thing, little demon girl — you’re getting bound. If you think I could go without feeling that hot demon pussy again, you’re sadly mistaken.”

Mareth let out a pleased squeal. “I’m not mistaken,” she purred, “just eager.” She batted her eyelashes hopefully. “As soon as we get to the dorms, right?”

“The very second there’s a locked door between us and the rest of the world,” I told her, my eyes boring holes into hers. “Then it’s on.”

The succubus held my gaze a moment longer, her thighs squeezing together. “Fuck yes,” she panted, her cheeks flushing with heat. “Sophe, how’s that room cleaning coming along? Is it ready yet?”

“Just finished up,” Sophe said, looking up from her laptop. “Everything’s linked up. It’s room 777, down at the end of the hall on the left.” She pointed, a look on her face like she