Lucifer Reborn by Dante King (ebook reader play store .txt) 📕

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 that 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