by Dante King
Siobhan took a step backward, intimidated by the instructor’s presence. “A Divinatrix? Why did neither of you tell me?”
Rather than answer her, Eiko turned to me. “Now that I’m in this moment, I can see things more clearly. The only way for you to succeed is to free Oni and claim the item your faithful servant brought with him to the Fae Realm.”
The questions that statement provoked tantalized me.
“What is it?” I asked. “A spell? Some kind of weapon?”
Eiko shook her head. “I can’t see it,” the instructor admitted, looking pained by the fact. “I don’t know who gave this item to Oni in the first place, but whatever it is, it’s the key to everything—to defeating Titania, to you succeeding Lucifer as Lord of Hell… all of it.”
As she spoke, I felt purpose well in my chest. Eiko was right—I didn’t have all the details, but this truly felt like it. The threshold. The moment I stepped into glory, or ruin, and either took my throne or was cast from paradise the way Lucifer had been before me.
The effect was only slightly ruined by Siobhan’s snort. I hadn’t known a creature as ethereally beautiful as her could act so ordinary—or look so cute while doing it.
“What? Listen, kitty—I’ve been dancing around it out of politeness, but the fact is, Archlord’s demon is as good as dead. Titania has him in the Castle of Days, and nobody comes back from there.”
That enigmatic smile spread across my harem girl’s face.
“He will,” Eiko said, pointing at me. “Just watch him.”
Siobhan sighed heavily and put her face in her hands.
“Lilith sent me crazy people,” she muttered, her shimmering red locks shaking back and forth in a silent sob of frustration. “She must hate me. Either that or she’s pranking me, that’s the only explanation…”
I’d already moved on.
“Tell me about the place they’re holding Oni,” I asked Siobhan. “Where is this ‘Castle of Days’?”
Siobhan hesitated.
“It’s not really in one place,” she admitted, a strange hitch entering her tone. “It moves around quite a bit, though it’s generally quite easy to locate for someone with the will sufficient to find it.”
“It sounds like one of the schools from the Infernal Academy,” I said with a snicker.
In Hell’s college, I’d run into all manner of tricks and traps woven into the fabric of school life: from a phantom Christina that tried to insult me to a maze of mirrors intended to deflect from the truth. A mobile prison castle just felt like par for the course after all that.
“Can you help me find it?” I asked the Fae woman.
“Maybe,” Siobhan said, “but I have to warn you. Getting your demon back will be nowhere near as easy as your woman makes it sound. I’m not joking about the Castle—no one comes back from there, not unless Titania wants them released.”
“Can you help me find it?” I grunted, irritated.
Siobhan sighed. “It’s easy enough to find, but it doesn’t fully exist in the Fae Realm—or any Realm. It’s a strange place where time and space are flexible, which makes it a convenient hole for Queen Titania to toss anyone she never wants to see again.”
“I’m not interested in its exploits,” I said. I’d fought my way through Karl’s subspace, a pocket universe which my enemies controlled and could twist around me at will. Titania’s prison didn’t worry me in the least. “I just need directions.”
Siobhan pursed her lips, her hands on her hips.
“I understand you have a stowaway in your vehicle,” she said, the sudden change of topic giving me whiplash.
“She asked me not to tell anyone she was here,” I said with a shrug. “I’m not in the habit of turning down requests from people who treat me fairly.”
Poppy had tried to steal my name, but I wasn’t about to tell Siobhan that. Besides, something about the amoral little pixie charmed me.
If you weren’t occasionally keeping your friends sharp by trying to steal their souls, could you even really call them your friends?
“She owes me a debt,” Siobhan said, her eyes narrowing. “One she cannot possibly repay. But she can start by being your guide to the Castle of Days. She knows perfectly well where it is, and I’d rather not waste any of my troops on some damnfool crusade.”
I’d heard that line more than once, too. I wondered how much pop culture managed to drip its way into the Fae Realm, despite all the barriers separating them from our world.
“Very good,” I said, careful not to thank Siobhan for her services.
That would have put me in her debt, as Lilith warned me, and I shuddered to think what the leader of the Seelie Fae resistance would consider a just repayment for her assistance.
Probably slaying Titania singlehanded, no doubt.
“I’ll come back here once I have Oni and the object, then,” I said. “As long as my Divinatrix here says it’s alright, we’ll plan our assault on Queen Titania then.”
Siobhan looked as if she didn’t want me to go. There was the issue of mine and my team’s strength, of course, but that wasn’t the whole story by a long shot.
Interest flashed in those ice-blue eyes—the prurient kind. Siobhan had to be wondering—how did I manage to keep so many women satisfied and serving me?
Even the potential Queen of the Seelie Fae had to be a little curious. And with so much of her life devoted to strategy and tactics, I doubted Siobhan had a lot of time for relationships.
No, what she needed was a good, hard fuck. And I was just the man to give it to her.
“I still think this is a mistake,” Siobhan protested, making a face at Eiko. “We should attack Titania directly and free the Fae Realm from her influence. I’m loathe to lose you all so soon—”
“You won’t be losing us,” Eiko said, as smooth as silk. “My master will be traveling to the Castle of Days alone. It’s the only way he’ll succeed.”
Before I could absorb this information, Eiko slipped her arm through mine, snuggling up to me as naturally as a maiden about to be introduced at a ball.
“Come along, Master. We have to tell the rest of the harem the news.”
The last view I got of the tent was Siobhan’s shocked face as we walked right out on the leader of the Seelie Fae.
Chapter 12
“You have to do what!?” Mareth protested, her flawless eyebrows shooting skyward. “No, that’s not happening. There has to be some kind of mistake. You need us, Master!”
My group and I huddled just outside of the Seelie Fae’s resistance base, a few minutes after my meeting with Siobhan.
Word must have gotten around that me and my harem were on the same side as the Seelie, as the atmosphere around the base had grown relaxed while I was inside the canvas tent negotiating with the leader. With the news that new blood had come to refresh the ranks revolting against Queen Titania, the mood around the encampment could even be called celebratory.
For everyone except my girls, that is.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m with Mareth on this one,” Raquelle said. The angel’s black and white wings had been the subject of much whispered gossip by the Seelie Fae. I gathered they’d never seen a creature quite like her before. “You have to let us come with you, L… Archlord. You’re going to need every bit of help you can get to bring Oni back.”
I’d had to explain this three times already. My patience had already begun to wear thin, and I’d quickly learned that getting this much pushback from my harem was not something I enjoyed.
“This is the way it has to be,” I told Raquelle and Mareth firmly. “You all knew the drill when you agreed to accompany me out here. “It’s not just enough for us to come here and make decisions—they have to be the right decisions, otherwise the Infernal Academy is doomed.”
My harem girls shared looks that ranged from worried to outright annoyed. Clearly, none of them wanted me venturing into the lair of that snake Queen Titania alone. Worse, each of
them thought that they were the one who’d make the difference; who I needed to keep by my side. Normally I loved it when my girls competed to be my favorite, but outside the bedroom it was a major headache.
Just then, Godfrey rolled up to the front gates.
Saved by the bell, I thought, turning away from my harem. Or the Humvee, in this case.
“Look, I’ll be fine,” I told the girls. “While I’m gone, I want you all on your best behavior. Help Siobhan with her preparations against Queen Titania. I want this camp ready to strike out the second I walk back in here with Oni by my side.”
I didn’t even want them thinking that I might not come back. Victory had to look like an absolute certainty; otherwise, my girls would worry.
Maddie, as always, showed herself to be the best possible example for the rest of the girls. Her clear eyes shined as she planted a kiss on my cheek, nodding submissively as she saw me off. “I trust you,” she said, loud enough for the group to hear. Then, in a whisper too quiet for the Fae to pick up her name. “And I trust Eiko. It’s just—normally when you go on some crazy suicide mission, the rest of us are there to help you out!”
“It’s no fun to sit on the sidelines,” I agreed, going down the line and giving each girl a goodbye. None of them were as coy about it as Maddie. Mareth straight up reached into my pants and gave my cock a stroke as she kissed my goodbye, while Christina gyrated her hips against me like a stripper and bit down on my bottom lip to let me know how much she was going to miss me while I was gone. “But none of you are going to be doing that. You’ll be playing an important role. I just won’t be here to see it. But I will see the result.”
None of them looked happy about that. Yet they let me climb into the front seat of the Humvee, and the expressions of desire each of them had on their faces as I looked back at them from the driver’s seat made me want to call the whole thing off and fuck each of them into the ground.
Ah, the life of a future Lord of Hell, I thought, shaking my head and checking myself out in the rearview mirror. The Humvee pulled away, leaving my harem behind to wave me goodbye and flash me their tits and asses one last time before the journey. I’ll have to throw a party once all of this is over. Make each of my girls feel special—
Something jumped out from the backseat, throwing hands over my eyes.
“Hi, Archlord!” That manic, bubbly voice could only belong to Poppy—who I’d forgotten was there. “How was your meeting with Siobhan? You didn’t bring any revenue agents back with you, did you?”
Grimacing, I tugged the pixie’s hands off my face.
“Sit right there,” I commanded, pointing to the passenger seat. “I didn’t tell Siobhan about you, Poppy. But she already knew.”
Poppy’s face paled as white as new-fallen snow. “She did?”
“Yep.” Something occurred to me. “You don’t seem freaked out at all that we’re driving away from the Fae encampment. Aren’t you curious where we’re going?”
Poppy’s horror-stricken look was suddenly shot through with naughtiness. “Oh. Well, I figured that since we’re alone, you wanted to drive me out into the forest and bind me to you!”
What!? I hadn’t received a proposition that frank in a long time. “You must think I’m some kind of a monster,” I said, suddenly glad Godfrey was doing the driving for me. “That I just grab any girl who interests me, knock her out like a caveman, and drag her back to my lair…”
The look on Poppy’s face told me she wouldn’t have minded if I did that one bit. “You do seem a bit beastly,” the pixie admitted. “And you are Lucifer’s heir. But both of those things are okay with me.” She leaned back against the seat, letting her skirt ride up her smooth thighs. “I like rough sex, Archlord. If you’re not going to get fucked good and hard, why fuck at all?”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “Jesus, you do hit the gas, don’t you?” I whispered, shocked by this shameless little freak living in the Fae Realm who talked about rough sex as easily as stealing souls. “You’re a dirty little perv, aren’t you, fairy girl?”
“Look who’s talking,” Poppy growled, her voice full of heat. “You’ve got a hard-on right now—don’t bother denying it. I’ve got eyes; I can see what’s going on in your pants.” She leaned over, unconstrained by the seat belt, pressing her short, curvy body against mine. “I’m literally half your size,” the pixie whimpered, batting her eyelashes up at me. “If that doesn’t make you think of all the fun positions you could fit me into, then I don’t know if you can even call yourself a man!”
Oh fuck. I was rapidly losing control. Was I actually about to fuck Poppy in the front seat of my magical Humvee, while on the way to save the Realms from total destruction? It felt so selfish to put my desire to get laid over the fate of the Infernal and Celestial Academies, but when a tiny, filthy thing like Poppy couldn’t stop talking to me that way…”
“Actually,” I growled, “I’ve been thinking about how I could put you on my dick and spin you like a top. Like a living Fleshlight—do you even know what that is?”
“I can guess,” Poppy laughed. “You want to make me your sex toy, ‘Archlord’? Want to see if you can make me scream my true name while I’m coming all over your cock?”
In a flash, Poppy was in my lap. Part of it was her wings, which lifted her into the air while beating madly. But most of it was me, grabbing her and slamming her down on the bulge between my legs as we ground our bodies together. Her lips met mine and opened, allowing me to shove my tongue deep into her warm, wet mouth. She tasted like cinnamon candy and some spice I couldn’t identify, and her nipples were achingly stiff against my shirt.
Poppy hiked up her skirt as she felt for my zipper. “Yeah, fuck me, human,” she purred, nibbling her bottom lip. “I can’t fucking wait to fit this cock inside me. I’m so tiny, you’re going to be able to fuck me all the way to the back of my throat…”
“Master?” Godfrey’s chipper, mechanical voice echoed through the cab of the Humvee. Outside the windshield, the trees of the forest had been static for some time now. “I’m afraid my in-built directions have run out at this point. I’ll need guidance from our passenger in order to locate the Castle of Days. Sorry for the interruption.”
Poppy’s hand froze, my zipper halfway down. Her pixie face formed into an ‘O’ of shock, her jaw dropping almost all the way to my cock. “Wait—you’re going to the Castle of Days? Oh fuck!”
She climbed off me, shooting back into the passenger seat. “You can let me out here, thanks. If you manage to come back alive, we can pick up where we left off. Not that you will—”
“Freeze!” I commanded, a tentacle erupting from my shoulder. It grabbed the handle of the passenger side door before Poppy could, holding it closed. My cock throbbed with unresolved need; I could hardly think straight.
The sight of the tentacle brought a surprised shriek from the pixie girl. “Look, I’m not going to the fucking Castle of Days. I’ve spent my whole adult life trying to stay away from that place! Titania would lock me in there in an instant if she knew how much tax I’d been skipping out on!”
“You don’t have a choice,” I growled, blinking away my sexual frustration. “Siobhan’s got your number, little girl. She made this a condition of allowing you to leave her camp in one piece.”
To my surprise, the pixie’s gaze returned to my cock. Poppy sighed and blew a lock of hair out of her face, her eyes rolling in their sockets. “Sheesh. Then I’m dead one way or another, aren’t I? I guess I should fuck you after all, human—”
As she moved to climb back into my lap, I held up a hand. “Stop.”
Poppy did, though she looked very confused to be doing so.
“I didn’t say you had to go into the fucking prison with me,” I snapped, hating the way the situation had broken apart so quickly. And hating myself a bit, to be honest. How had I let my cock get the better of me so fast? Unless Poppy was secreting some kind of aphrodisiac fairy dust, I should’ve been a
ble to keep my dick in my pants for ten fucking minutes until I saved my demon. “You just have to give me directions to get there. Once it’s done, Godfrey can take you back to your cart.”
Poppy didn’t look like she believed me. “This is a trick,” she whispered, smoothing down her skirt. “Siobhan wants you to toss me in prison.”
I held up both my hands. “I swear it’s not.”
“Then how come you’re going alone? You’ve got all those girls waiting for you back at camp—some of them look like they could’ve captured Siobhan’s entire camp single-handed. But you’re not taking them with you to the Castle?”
“Nope.” I shook my head.
“Why not?”
A shrug. “That’s just the way it has to be. Whatever’s waiting for me in the Castle of Days, I have to face it down alone.”
Poppy stared at me for so long, I wondered what the hell had gotten into her. She looked like she couldn’t decide whether to try and pry the door open, tentacle or no, or climb into my lap and pick back up where we’d started. Maybe neither—or even both.
Eventually she let out a little sigh, pursing her lips like she couldn’t quite figure out what to make of me. “You really aren’t like most humans who come to the Fae Realm, are you?” she asked.
The change of topic threw me off-balance. “No, I’m not.”
“You’re different,” Poppy said, something like wonder entering her eyes. The interest was still there—the coals of pure lust that had blazed into a bonfire while she sat in my lap still smouldered. But something deeper rested there now, as if waiting for the right spark. “I understand why all those women follow you, Archlord. You’re the kind of man who doesn’t blanch at the thought of walking alone into the worst prison in all the Realms.”
“I do what has to be done,” I said with a shrug. My cock continued pulsing in my briefs, but the overwhelming wave of lust that had ripped control from my senses began to ebb. I could control myself around Poppy—for now, at least. “Nothing else is going to get me made the Lord of Hell.”