Lucifer Reborn

by Dante King

  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 still trying to figure out what to do with the big guy, Xora came around the corner. The rusalka carried a basket under her arm, filled with potions she’d picked up at stalls while we met with Lilith. Her eyes crinkled in a smile as she saw Mareth, Christina, and I together—then narrowed with curiosity when she saw Oni.

  “I trust your meeting with Lilith went well,” Xora said wryly, “since you’re still in one piece. Who’s your friend, and why does he look like someone kicked his puppy?”

  As if Xora’s words were the trigger to some hidden signal, Oni snapped out of whatever trance he’d been in. The big demon’s face lit up when he saw me. He charged forward, dropping to his knees before the tent and lowering his face to the stones.

  “Master,” Oni said, sounding almost comically relieved. “Finally, I have found you…!”

  Heads snapped up and down the market square. This wasn’t something you saw every day—especially not in Pride.

  “Get him up, get him up!” Mareth hissed, poking me in the side. “Quick, before someone comes over here, Luke!”

  Yeah, I definitely didn’t like this guy bowing to me. “Uh, Oni—stand up, dude,” I commanded, patting his slab-like shoulders. “Try to look a little bit more normal, please.”

  “Hmm? Oh yes.” Oni rose to his feet, more tears opening in his already threadbare pants as his leg muscles flexed. “My will is yours to command, Master. I have traveled to the Infernal Academy as you ordered. I await your next request.”

  Two demons so close in appearance they could have been twins craned their necks, passing the intersection in front of the tent. “Everything okay here?” one of them asked, looking Oni up and down.

  I struggled to find the words. To my surprise, it was Xora who stepped.

  “Prank,” the rusalka said, making a ‘jerking-off’ motion with her hand. “They love hazing the new demons, don’t they?”

  The two demons snickered and moved on. Almost as soon they’d gone, I relaxed. “Thanks, Xora,” I said, turning back to the rusalka. “I owe you one—”

  Xora grabbed the collar of my shirt. “Please tell me,” the rusalka hissed, dropping her voice to an angry whisper, “that this isn’t what it looks like. That it’s anything other than what it looks like.”

  The fabric clutched at my throat. “What does it look like?” I asked hoarsely.

  She let go of my shirt, turning with an irritated expression to Mareth. “It looks like you’ve bound a demon to you in an extremely illegal act of magical dominance,” the rusalka growled. “Furthermore, from her reaction it looks like your shadow knew about this ever since your arrival, and failed to tell me.”

  “It was an accident,” Mareth said, holding up her hands in a placating manner. She’d seen the way Xora grabbed me and didn’t want to be next. “Luke had no idea what he was doing. Oni attacked our car while we were driving through Christina’s neighborhood. He was just trying to protect me and her.”

  Xora gave the succubus a skeptical look. “Is this true, Luke?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

  I stared back. “Look, you’ve seen me do things like three times already without even knowing I could do them,” I said, feeling a little miffed at not being believed. “Clearly my demonic powers work on instinct, at least some of them do. Mareth’s right: Oni was threatening us, and I reacted without thinking.” I turned to the succubus with a glare. “You could have warned me, though. I had no idea what I was doing to Oni was illegal. And I did try to release him from his bond.”

  For a moment, Xora’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “I think I’d have liked to see you try that,” she said, looking up at the big demon with a sigh. The whole time we’d talked, he’d just been standing there placidly, waiting for me to give him a new set of commands. “This will certainly make your first semester at the Infernal Academy more interesting. Not to mention more difficult. ”

  “I would have warned Luke,” Mareth said, giving Xora a sideways glance. “I didn’t know he was that powerful. I mean, he’s a brand-new student—he’s never even set foot inside a classroom! What kind of novice demon could perform a full-on domination spell?” She shrugged. “I assumed he’d done an ordinary charm: the kind of thing that would wear off in a day or two. If I’d known he was going to steal Oni’s will and bind him for a full-on thirty years, well—shit, I’d have tried to stop him…”

  Xora drew up short. “Is that what you think happened?” the rusalka asked sharply.

  Mareth realized too late that she’d just walked onto thin ice. “It’s not the worst thing in the world, Xora. Luke’s probably going to need some muscle at the Academy, and Oni’s a prime candidate.”

  The rusalka shook her head. “I’m surprised you can’t feel the difference in the magic,” she said, sniffing dismissively. “The binding Luke cast on Oni is much stronger than a thirty-year bond. He’s obligated Oni to serve him in perpetuity.”

  I’d never seen Mareth look so shocked. “Oh shit,” the succubus murmured, turning her wide eyes on me. “In that case, I’d definitely have tried to stop him…”

  “What...what does that mean?” I asked. “Oni’s my slave forever? Fuck, I didn’t mean to make him do that! There’s got to be some way to reverse this!”

  “What’s done is done,” Christina said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “Luke did the right thing, and both of you should stop doubting him. Oni seems docile now, but you should have seen him during that accident. He would have torn Mareth and I apart…”

  Oni looked hurt. “I would never harm one of Master’s demons,” the hulking brute protested, frowning deeply. “You are his women—I can sense that he has bound you, and the succubus is not far behind. I will protect you just as stridently as I protect Master himself.”

  “Okay, we need to make something clear right out of the gate,” I snapped, stepping into the fray. Every time Oni said it—or rather, rumbled it like a boulder breaking apart—more demons did a double-take. Thanks, Lucifer, I thought, wishing for the first time th
at maybe I hadn’t been given quite as much power at the jump. “It’s right and proper that you should call me Master, Oni—because that’s what I am. But if you keep using that word out in public, you’re going to get us all in a lot of trouble. Could you maybe keep it to only when we’re alone?” An idea occurred to me. “You could just call me ‘sir’ otherwise. That seems like a fair enough compromise.”

  Oni nodded. “Yes, sir,” the hulking demon said, slipping the word on easily. “But in my heart, I will always be saying Master.”

  “That’s fine. And stop acting like you’re my servant—it just looks weird when you’re, like, twice as tall as me. People are going to ask questions if you look too much like a slave. You need to be more like a Mafia don’s enforcer. You know what that is?”

  Oni’s posture changed. It was subtle, but he looked less submissive—more like a friend hanging out with his Academy clique, instead of a butler waiting on the man of the house.

  “Yes, sir,” Oni said, nodding. “I will do both of those things for you.”

  Xora looked with deepening dismay from Oni to me. “I need to get out of here,” the rusalka said, shaking her head. “I was going to turn you over to Mareth at this point anyway. Technically, I really should not know that you’ve got a demon bound to you, Luke. For your sake, I’m going to pretend I didn’t see any of”—she waved all around her, indicating Oni— “this.”

  “Sure,” I said with a laugh. “Catch you later?”

  Xora winked. “You know it.” Then the rusalka was gone, sashaying down the lane like she owned it.

  I watched her go for a few moments, my gaze fixed on her fabulous ass. Then I turned my attention back to Oni, and my girls. “Alright, big guy,” I said, looking up at him, “I guess you’re coming with us. Let’s hit the dorms.”

  As we walked, putting Pride behind us, I kept turning the situation with Oni over in my mind. I wondered if, like I’d seen in the Greed School, there was a jewel somewhere representing the accidental bond I’d formed between myself and this huge demon. If so, I wanted to know what shape and cut it took—and if anyone else might recognize it for what it was. It wouldn’t do for a secret like this to get out.

  It’s so unfair, I thought, stepping off of the elevator. We’d taken it straight down to the entrance of the building, a shortcut accessed after the complete tour of the seven schools. After all, Pride came before a fall. No one’s complaining that I bound Christina to me, or that I’m going to do the same to Mareth as soon as I get the chance. These demons consider it proper and natural that I should turn the hottest, most powerful demons into my personal harem squad. But something I did completely by ACCIDENT might get me in trouble?

  I glanced over my shoulder. Oni followed in my, Christina, and Mareth’s wake, like he was guarding our back. One thing was certainly clear—he didn’t ‘serve’ me in the same way that Christina did. The demoness kept her free will (and her ability to be a pain in my ass), even though she now found me irresistible and loved the idea of helping me build a harem of demon babes.

  It came down to this: Christina could tell me ‘no.’ She could contradict me, even though she’d never do that in public. Oni wasn’t capable of any rebellion—he was like a slave. It disturbed me, even as it made me realize what an immense power such an ability could be in the hands of an amoral demon.

  By the time we reached the dormitories, the fires of Hell had begun to burn low. There was no true night down here—it was hard to have a day and night circle without a sun or any stars to steer by. With the lake of fire burning lower, it provided a contrast all the same, bathing the green in a crepuscular glow that meant fewer sports, more beers, and couples cuddling in the grass.

  “I’m not sure what we should do about you, Oni,” I said as we reached the short set of steps leading to the entrance.

  Demons streamed in and out, some in their academic robes and some dressed up as if for a night on the town. My eyes were caught for a moment by an absurdly hot demoness in a skintight minidress: it was the topless girl I’d seen beaming at me earlier. She flashed a naughty wink and wiggled her fingers at me as she passed, as if to say I’ll be seeing you later.

  “I don’t understand the question, Master,” Oni rumbled. “I will do whatever you command.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” I said, looking to Mareth and Christina for help. “I’m not sure what you can do here at the Academy. I mean, you can’t stay with me a hundred percent of the time. If nothing else, I need my privacy.”

  Mareth and Christina shared a look. They knew exactly what I meant by that.

  “I’m sure there’s plenty of things we could sign a big guy like him up for,” the succubus agreed. “Have you ever been to the Infernal Academy, Oni?”

  He shrugged. On him, that was enough to make the pavement shudder. “I used to be in the Wrath school,” he explained, nodding at Mareth. “I had to drop out after a year. My family fell on hard times, and needed me to help make ends meet.”

  Ice filled my stomach. “Oh shit,” I muttered, putting my hand against my forehead. “I’m taking you away from working for your family? You’ve got a Mom Oni and a Pop Oni who are wondering where their oldest has run off to?”

  Oni chuckled and shook his head. “No need to worry about them, Luke. They bet on Karl in the most recent high-stakes Archlord head-to-head. They won themselves more shards than they know what to do with. I’m not costing them anything by being here—they will be fine without me.”

  That made me feel a little bit better. I would’ve hated to think there was some innocent family out there suffering because of me, even if they were demons.

  “I guess you should just stick with us for now,” I said, staring up at the sleek obsidian building. The evening flames cast eerie shadows across its surface, making the whole thing look even more like a demonic fingernail than it did in the daytime. “We’ll see if we can’t hook you up with some quarters, along with the rest of us. Actually, something’s just occurred to me. Mareth, do I even need a dorm room?”

  The succubus frowned. “Why would you not need a place to stay?” she asked. “Were you planning on bed hopping through your entire stay at the Academy?”

  “He’d probably be able to do it, too,” Christina added, waggling her long tongue. “Every girl we’ve run into so far has been all over him. If I was still human, I might even be jealous.”

  I ignored that for the moment, as well as the images the idea put in my head. “I have a subspace,” I said, thinking of the small but cozy apartment I’d created with my powers. Maddie was still inside, waiting for me. I wondered how many books she’d read while I was gone—and what she might be wearing when I popped back in to see her. “I get the impression most people use theirs as storage space, the way Lilith did, but I’ve built mine into a whole living space. Why not just hop in and out of my subspace whenever I need to?”

  To Mareth’s credit, she took the question seriously. “Technically, you can,” she said, looking up at a high window in the building’s obsidian frame. “Most demon’s subspaces aren’t much bigger than a suitcase or a broom closet—they’re typically used for storage space, like Lilith did. Yours being big enough to have sex inside is something of an anomaly, and like most of your powers, it probably comes from Lucifer.”

  I nodded to show I understood.

  “You don’t have to stay at the dorms—although if you do, and you link your subspace to it, you’ll get a ton of extra benefits. Like more power to upgrade your subspace. And you can still keep the time difference, with time passing slower in your subspace. It’s pretty much one hour in Hell for every eight hours in your subspace. It’ll leave more time for study, sleeping, and. . . other things.”

  “Understood.” Mareth was right—being able to spend a long period in subspace with only a short time passing in Hell was a useful trick. And more time for sex was never a bad thing. “What’s the other reason most people choose the dorms?”

  To this, Mareth lau
ghed. “Because they’re dorms. Half the fun of the Infernal Academy is getting the authentic college experience. Keggers, sneaking your girlfriend into your room past the RA—although you won’t have to do that, bound demons are always permitted to visit—and general chaos and mayhem. You know, the fun part of college!”

  By the end of her spiel, I found myself grinning. “I do want that,” I told her, thinking of all the crazy memories I’d likely make during my time at the Academy. “I certainly don’t want to miss out on anything. But I also like using my subspace. I guess I’ll just flip between the two for now on while I figure things out.”

  “Just remember to synchronize your watches,” Mareth said with a grin, watching a gorgeous demoness in gym clothes make her way down the stairs. “Passing out for eight hours in subspace to find only one has elapsed back on campus can be a... disorienting experience.”

  “Gives a whole new meaning to the ‘walk of shame’,” I said with a smirk. “I need to check on Maddie in my subspace soon, Mareth—but first, you think you can get me and Christina a place to lay our heads?”

  “Fuck yes,” Christina added, putting an arm over my shoulder. “I’m so looking forward to getting a bed underneath us, baby…”

  Mareth’s grin widened. “I know the RA on the Eastern Wing of the 7th floor,” she said, glancing up toward that level of the building. “It’s one of the cooler places to hang out. I bet she can find a way to make it work for you—they’re always looking to give new students a leg up.”

  We entered the lobby of the dormitory, Oni needing to duck low to avoid bumping his head on the top of the door frame. Mareth, Christina, and I paused before a circular desk at the room’s center, where a green-skinned imp in a security outfit checked residents in and out of the building.