Ch 31 – It’s like that one time I got swept off my feet by a hot demon lady…hey—wait a minute!

I took a moment to get a good look at the demon standing in front of me, becoming uncomfortably aware of the fact that she stood at what had to be almost three feet taller than me. Two bare, muscular arms crossed beneath her chest and across the form-fitting and well worn leather tunic. The two large horns that poked up from her forehead were bone white, contrasting with her short black hair and red skin. That, plus the long tail swaying behind her made me realize just how similar ogres and succubi were, and for a moment I pondered how closely related the two were.

“So what happens now?” I queried.

She smiled down at me. “Now? Well, I suppose I finish my daring rescue.”

The ogre stepped forward, and I took a step back, only to bump back up against the wall.

“And what exactly does that involve?”

I scooted to the side as she stepped forward again.

“Whisking you off to somewhere safe—or safer, at least,” she replied.

“W-well, if you could perhaps help me find Lilis, that would be much ap—”

My words cut off as she dashed forward. An arm swept up beneath my knees, pulling them into the air as her other clutched around my back. The ogre stood back up to her full height, and I found myself in her arms.

“P-put me back down!” I shouted with an indignant squeak, jabbing my elbow into her, for what little good it did.

“Sorry, princess. No can do.”

Then she dashed forward once more, sprinting down the winding halls at a speed I couldn’t hope to match. An undignified squeal slipped out of me, and to my utter shame, I gripped around her neck and shoulders in fear that I’d be dropped and trampled over.

Her dark red eyes glanced down at me as her lips curled up into a wide sharp-toothed grin. Despite the way my stomach was queasily churning and flipping at every wall and corner we approached at rapid pace, I managed to give her a glare back, making my displeasure known.

“Where are we going?” I hissed.

“I’m sure you can guess.”

I gripped her tighter as we swirled around a sharp bend. The demon was able to somehow keep her hold of me, despite needing to lean forward as she ran to not scrape her horns along the weathered brick ceiling.

I had to assume she was taking me to Melkar. It was the only thing that made sense.

“You’ve still got time to change your mind,” she said, to which I gave her another glare.

Her continued insistence over wanting me to become “hers” was annoying, yet as we began to glide up the narrow stairway out of the ancient crypt, my nerves began to catch up with me. Would she truly even be able to protect me if I took her up on what sounded suspiciously similar to some type of demonic marriage proposal? And was her implication that I had a limited amount of time to decide just a way for her to pressure me, or was there something else behind it?

My thoughts drifted back to my previous encounter with Melkar, and how certain he’d been that I’d be his. I almost didn’t want to consider how he planned to coerce me into some kind of demonic contract with him. Would he stoop as low as torture, or did he have some other plan in mind? Surely he wouldn’t try something as despicable as the banned practice of noetic magic—magic that altered the mind. He would never get away with it. The academy had methods of detecting such things. Nor did I think even he was that foolish. Still, I couldn’t help but feel that there was something I was missing.

Worse, the demon was frustratingly right that Lilis appeared entirely unable to help protect me when it mattered. And as much as I hated the idea, I needed some variety of protection at this point, regardless of what Melkar’s plan was. I was no longer dealing with just that fool and his demons. The Writt brothers were simply too much for me to handle, and their involvement suggested there was someone else behind the scenes. Likely whoever was responsible for my demonic transformation in the first place.

Still, the idea of allowing a demon of all things to have any amount of control over me was… both ludicrous and unnerving. Would that be worse or better than Melkar and the mystery individual? I couldn’t imagine that becoming “hers” in some way would be an enjoyable experience. Though I was quite certain that whatever Melkar had planned would be torturous.

There was too much to consider—too much that I simply didn’t know.

I opened my mouth to ask the ogre just how much time I had and what she meant by it, hoping to pry some information out of her, yet before a word could leave my mouth, a voice interrupted me.

‘Do not take her up on her offer until you reach a point of desperation that truly calls for it.’

I sucked in a breath, causing the ogre woman to stare questioningly down at me. My eyes flickered over to the ring on my finger, confirming that it was still there. Had the demon in my head already found a way around it?

I held back the urge to curse under my breath. Just what did I have to do to get rid of her?

Somewhat to my surprise, the demon did not respond to my provocations. Had the ring even worked at all, I wondered? Had she been here the whole time, silently observing? And just what role did she play in all of this? I had to assume she was just another pawn, yet I fretted over the possibility that she wasn’t. Either way, the fiend certainly had her own motives.

The same would be true for the ogre, of course. Was I truly so foolish that I’d been considering trusting myself to a demon?

As my thoughts whirled, time ran short. The ogre only slowed slightly as we made our way into the familiar halls of the men’s dorm. It felt more like a lifetime ago that I’d walked these halls as my old self. Rather than facing them with the confident stride of the past, I was a bundle of nerves and being carried through like some helpless damsel. There weren’t many students around, given that classes were underway. Though I couldn’t help but grip her tighter at every person we passed.

“What is your name?” I asked her suddenly, though I wasn’t entirely sure why.

“Karga,” she replied in a steamy breath.

Then we reached Melkar’s room, and my eyes narrowed into a glare. To my surprise, she didn’t slow or stop, instead continuing past it.

I frowned. “Where are we going again?”

“To my ‘master’s’ charming little hideout room. Though he likes to refer to it as his ‘domain.’”

Her tone made it quite clear just how much she respected the boy. Not that I could blame her. Being stuck dealing with him daily had to be torturous. I winced, realizing that if he had his way, I would be in that situation rather soon myself.

From the dorm, we moved down into the underhalls once more, before going back up into some unfamiliar building. Karga sprinted forth down a long stretch of hall, skidding to a halt in front of a nondescript doorway. She entered without pause, and I quickly scanned the dim room, ignoring the musky smell. To me, it looked like a disorganized mess thrown together. A couple of half-empty bookshelves covered old pipes that no longer held any purpose. Several chairs sat scattered around them. Opposite was a leather couch. Its elaborately carved and polished wood combined with sleek and soft leather made it stick out within the decrepit room like a golden crown on a hog.

Melkar sat on what could only be described as a tall, wooden throne opposite of the doorway. He looked up from a book in hand—two others sitting at his feet—and blinked in apparent surprise.

As the door closed behind us, Karga finally put me back down on my feet.

“Well, if it isn’t the academy succubus. ‘Ruby,’ wasn’t it?” he said, all smiles.

“I don’t believe I recall giving you my name.”

Melkar uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, sitting his book down on the arm rest. “Alas, you did not. Though your name has been on the lips of many a student the past couple of days. It would be difficult not to have heard it by now. Still, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Rather than the smirk I’d expected, he appeared as though he was actually curious.

“Oh, fuck off, would you?” I growled back. “I think we can skip past the part where you pretend you had nothing to do with this.”

He raised a brow. “To do with what exactly? I’ll admit that I assigned dear Karga here to watch out for you. Given your presence, can I assume you found yourself endangered enough for her to feel the need to bring you here?”

I still had no idea on what the best way to handle this would be, though I knew I couldn’t just let my anger guide me. Would feigning ignorance buy me time to think of a way out of this? Melkar certainly seemed to think I was stupid enough to fall for his nonsense ploy—a fact that made my anger only boil further.

For better or worse, the boy took my silence for apparent uncertainty.

“Why would I seek to put you in danger? I’d rather you joined me of your own choosing, both alive and well. Besides, there are enough dangers present at this school that I knew you’d run into some variety of trouble before long.” He gave a light chuckle before gesturing toward the ogre at my side. “Hence why I had Karga follow you.”

I pursed my lips, keeping my eyes narrowed on him. “And why should I believe you?”

Melkar shook his head before rising to his feet. As he took several slow steps forward, I took one back. “My dear Ruby, an uncooperative and disloyal servant is rather useless to me, wouldn’t you say? What would be the point of having you if you fought against me every moment of the day? It would be an accession of sorts, sure, but a false one—a tasteless one.”

The expression on his face appeared surprisingly genuine, as though he actually believed the words coming out of his mouth. The prick was certainly good at this, I’d give him that.

As he reached me, both his hands gripped one of my own, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Call me greedy, but I do not simply want you, Ruby; I want your heart.” Melkar gave me a lazy smile, his eyes soft.

My lips parted, though I was so stunned I couldn’t say a word.

His words were so unexpectedly ridiculous that it took all I had not to burst into laughter and to keep my face placid. Melkar’s gaze held a brief flash of amusement before he released my hand and stepped to my side, sliding an arm around my lower back. “You need not decide anything immediately, of course. I propose that we talk and get to know each other first—find out how we get along and what we could each offer the other in contract.”

We stopped in front of the couch, and he turned to face me once again, giving me another soft smile. As he grabbed my hand once again, the urge to snatch it away nearly outdid me. Then, to my complete and total astonishment, he brought the back of my hand up to his lips. “I’m sure that a beauty such as yourself has much to give.” He leaned forward and whispered, “I could bring you to heights you’ve never experienced.”

My left eye twitched at his suggestive words, and a moment later, my fist smashed into his nose as my composure finally broke. Melkar stumbled back, and I stepped forward, jabbing another fist toward his face. Truthfully, it spoke to my coolheadedness that I’d lasted as long as I had before beating him senseless. Barely a hair away, my fist halted in place as a large, red hand gripped painfully around my forearm.

“Release me!” I yelled, jabbing an elbow into her side before twisting around in an effort to throw her off of me.

Rather than throwing her to the ground as the move should have, the ogre didn’t budge an inch, like some immovable rock. Instead, I found my arm pulled painfully up in the air as her other hand gripped around one of my horns.

“Calm yourself, little vyxa. Fighting me will do you no good,” she said as though calmly discussing the weather.

My growl turned into a yelp as she squeezed both arm and horn hard enough that I worried something might snap. Melkar gave out a string of curses as he stood back up to his feet, a hand clutching his nose. Blood pooled out between his fingers.

“Fuck!” he hissed out, before mumbling, “Should have fucking expected that.” For once, I agreed with the imbecile. To my surprise, his angry gaze turned to the ogre rather than at me. “Why didn’t you stop her first punch?”

Karga gave a nonchalant shrug. “She was too quick.”

Something about Melkar’s expression suggested he didn’t believe her. Then his fury shifted over to me. “Take her to her room,” he commanded.

Karga pulled my horn, directing me to a small door I’d assumed to be some kind of closet. She twisted my arm down behind my back and pushed me forward. I fought back, though knowing I had little chance of escaping her; it was largely for the principle of it. The ogre was completely unaffected, not even slowed by my kicks and jabs.

Opening the door, she thrust me in. I swirled around, only for it to shut in my face, followed by the sound of a heavy bolt locking it in place. Then I turned to eye the small room, finding nothing but four empty walls, dust, and a small mattress with an even smaller blanket. Above it was a fogged window, too small to squeeze through even without the solid metal bars across it.

I growled, crossing my arms as I turned to stare at the door locking me in. Had losing my composure like that been a mistake? Most assuredly.

But there was no denying the satisfaction I’d gotten from punching the prick in the face. It made my blunder worth it, especially given that the creep had likely intended to lock me up in this room from the start.

The minutes ticked by, and gradually, my anger began to simmer. I sighed, plopping down on the mattress and stared out the opaque window.

Where are you, Lilis?

I hoped desperately that she was working on a plan to get me out of here. On my own, I feared I didn’t stand a chance.