Humanity Rising 3

Dante King & Neil Bimbeau

Copyright © 2024 by Dante King & Neil Bimbeau

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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Contents

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Epilogue

Chapter 1

“My name,” the devil purred, “is Erika.”

I stood rooted in place, the Tempest Fang forgotten in my hand, my mind struggling with the paradox of the gorgeous pink-haired demoness lounging around in our Stronghold’s cafeteria. A Stronghold that only I and my harem were supposed to be able to access.

How the fuck had she gotten in here? How did she know my name? And most of all, what did she want?

The demoness—Erika, as she called herself—licked her lips. “Why don’t you put that sword away?” she suggested, her thighs spreading a little wider. “Have a drink or two. You and I have some catching up to do...”

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” I growled. “How the fuck did you get into my Stronghold?”

“ Your Stronghold?” The demoness let out a little giggle, like a streamer showing off for her favorite subscriber. “This place practically has, like, an open door policy!”

“What the fuck?” Charlie whispered. “Jesus, she’s gorgeous!”

She pouted spectacularly. “I thought you’d be happy to see me, Jax. My sources all told me that you adore beautiful women.” She arched her pelvis even more, showing off the fact that she was practically naked beneath the waist. “Don’t you think I’m hot?”

I did. Erika was so hot that it was honestly a little hard to concentrate when I was looking at her. Which was a big part of the problem. Because I needed to be on my game right now.

I was facing down a representative of Hell.

I cleared my throat. “I was going to have a cup of coffee,” I managed to say. “You think you could manage a cup, Erika?”

The pink-haired demon gave a little start, like I’d slapped her in the face. Then she grinned. “Oh, so that’s how you want to play it. Alright, I can do that.” She rose from her seat and curtsied. “Coming right up, Master!”

What happened next left me speechless. Right before my eyes, the demoness transformed. A wave of magic washed over her body as her corset and panties dissolved, replaced with a maid uniform so short and scandalous anyone trying to wear it in public would have risked an indecency charge. Her rack looked even better in the maid’s outfit, and the fishnet stockings that hugged her thick thighs made her look so fucking delicious it was all I could do not to spread her legs and go down on her right then and there.

Erika giggled. “Oh yeah. I know exactly what you like, Jaxon Bryant.” She gestured at the other side of the table. “All of you better sit down. I’ve heard you’ve had a long day…”

The demoness didn’t know the half of it.

When I woke up that morning, my harem and I had been making our final preparations to sneak into the Ceremony, a secret occult party being thrown by our enemies, a secret society known as the Obsidian Eye. We’d been on the hunt for an ancient relic nicknamed the Demon Core—a control key forged from the fires of Hell itself. It was one of three, each of which was meant to be plugged into the core of my Stronghold to increase its power.

One from Hell. One from Heaven. And one entrusted to humanity, which I’d put together with the help of my girlfriend Fliss when I originally activated the Archon System and accidentally became humanity’s defender: the Powermancer.

Collecting those control keys wouldn’t just make me and my harem stronger. It might be the difference between whether or not humanity survived this phase of the Bellum Aeternum —the endless war between Heaven and Hell, where humanity was little more than an afterthought.

It was my harem’s theory that humanity could do more than merely survive. That if we stuck together, turned our little family into an army of magically enhanced humans, we could resist the opening of the Gates of Hell and force the angelic troops back into their own realm at the same time. That we could thrive, rise , and control our destiny.

Of course, we’d had a few setbacks along the way. The comic book and video store that my childhood friend Charlie owned, the Fortress of Solitude, was in flames thanks to some of those hell-aspected demons. And when we’d broken into the Ceremony to steal the Demon Core out of the hands of Joe Knight, the actor turned cult leader who ran Wasp-17, the gem had turned out to be a fake: a clever piece of confectionery, designed to lure us into the evil Dr. Bodekker’s trap.

Dr. Boddeker had the real Demon Core in his private quarters, a hermetically sealed chamber designed for humanity’s secret leaders, occult men known as Anchorites. The other control key, a golden one carrying the aspect of Heaven itself, hung around the neck of the Nameless Angel who’d turned against Dr. Bodekker, hanging him out to dry in the middle of his own ritual.

I thought about all of this as I took a seat at the table. Doing so helped keep me from focusing on the fact that most of Erika’s maid outfit was see-through. And the parts that weren’t were so tight that anyone with two brain cells to rub together could easily picture what she looked like naked.

“This is… weird.” Fliss settled next to me on the bench and brushed a lock of brunette hair away from her cute, upturned face. “You’re feeling totally weird about this too, right?”

I nodded. It wasn’t every day that I had a servant of Hell waiting on me hand and foot, particularly one who claimed to be a daughter of Lucifer himself. I’d been looking forward to a break from supernatural bullshit when we got back to the Stronghold, not a whole other problem to solve.

Fliss had gone back to human form when Erika walked away, letting go of the Archon System. My other two harem girls hadn’t.

My childhood friend Charlie settled onto the bench at my right, bumping up against me with her round hip as she straddled the wood like she practiced it nightly. She was normally a blonde, but her class within the Archon System was the Noir Knight, which turned her into a purple-skinned dark elf with a chainmail bikini and snow-white hair. Only her face was the same.

“Do we, like, fight her?” Charlie asked. She had a silver rapier strapped to her back. It was a weapon her occult collecting father secured for her called the Bitch’s Blade, but I sensed it wouldn’t last long in a duel against Erika. “I mean, she broke into our hideout. Even if she’s not openly antagonistic, she’s kind of flaunting our security, no?”

I honestly wasn’t sure. “Let’s see how this goes first,” I said.

Mia Morgan and Stephanie took seats on opposite sides of the bench, sitting a little further away from me. The former was a stunning redhead who’d yet to actually join my harem. She’d been promised one of my magical brands in exchange for turning on her former masters among the Obsidian Eye, but she claimed she didn’t want to hop into bed with me and my women as part of the deal. That was fine with me—with three women at my beck and call, I had nothing to complain about—but I thought she’d change her tune once she felt the incredible pleasure the branding process would give her.

The latter was the youngest member of my harem, and the one most like the mysterious Erika. Stephanie had once worked as a cashier at Charlie’s nerd store, a college-age cutie in goth makeup and fishnet stockings who’d definitely made an impression on me the first time I saw her. When she activated her powers she transformed into the Blood Witch: a sort of vampire with low-level hypnotic powers and the ability to amp up members of our team by allowing us to drink her black blood.

It was no joke, either. The power boost she’d given me allowed me to rescue Fliss from the authorities outside of the Ceremony, foiling the plans of the wicked turncoat Detective Tanaka. The police wanted to frame me for the attack on the Fortress of Solitude so they could get me in a jail cell as soon as possible, where I’d be separated from my harem and powerless to stop the multiple assassins Heaven and Hell would undoubtedly send after me when they learned I was imprisoned.

I didn’t just have demons and angels to worry about. I had to stay one step ahead of the Eye and the agencies they controlled, too.

Back in the present moment, Erika finished pouring two cups of coffee. She sashayed across the cafeteria with the steaming mugs in her hands, her tits jiggling with every step she took. The lewd grin on her face told me she knew exactly what effect she was having on me—and she liked it.

“Nice and hot, just for you,” the demoness purred, leaning over to place a mug before me. “Here you go, Master…”

She arched her back as she did it, thrusting her rack in my face, and it was all I could do not to bury my face between her knockers and start kissing and biting them. Fuck she was stacked!

“Enough of that ‘Master’ shit,” I grunted. If not for my sake, than for my dick’s. “I barely know you, Erika. And I doubt you’ve sincerely come here to serve me.”

Erika pouted. I was beginning to understand that she had a truly spectacular pout. “I’m only trying to be a good girl,” she said, using the tone of someone who was a very bad girl, indeed. “I know how much you like it when women are submissive towards you. I figured I could provide you a much warmer welcome than those stuffy old angels…”

Right. Angels.

I’d had some dealings with the heavenly set. One of their number had a jewel around his holy neck that meant a hell of a lot to me. And when I’d first come upon Erika lounging in our cafeteria, she’d told us she’d come to ‘make her offer’.

Apparently Hell believed Heaven had already offered to have me join their team. This gorgeous, seductive little brat of a succubus was the counteroffer from Down Below.

“Thank you,” I said, taking my coffee. Experimentally, I took a sip. It was fucking delicious — even better than usual. I wondered if Erika hadn’t done a little magic to enhance it. Maybe the brew just tasted better after a big fight.

Erika nodded demurely—or as demurely as a creature as openly and aggressively sexual as she could. “I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot,” she said, settling herself onto the bench directly opposite of my own. “I’m not here to cause you trouble, Jaxon Bryant. Believe it or not, I’m here to help you.”

“Yeah,” Mia snickered. “Help you get off, more like.”

I expected Erika to deny that, but the gorgeous demoness just shrugged. “I won’t deny that I find Jaxon extremely attractive,” she said, giving me a little smirk across the table. “It seems I’m not alone in that opinion. But I’m not just here to have sex with the Powermancer.”

“Then why are you here?” asked Stephanie.

And how the fuck did you get inside, was what I wish she’d added.

A sly smile spread across the demoness’s face. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asked. “I’m here to join you.”

My women all shared looks. “Join us?” Charlie asked.

“Like, join us how ?” Stephanie added.

The pink-haired demon grinned from ear to ear. “In every way that matters,” she said. “On the battlefield, and in the bedroom. I’m yours, baby. So why don’t we get started?”

It was a hard sell, to be sure. To cover up how well it was working on me, I took another sip of my coffee. I sure as hell needed it after the night I’d had.

I drank some more of the rich brew and then waited, letting the silence stretch out. My girls devoured Erika with their eyes, their gazes telling me all I needed to know concerning how they felt about the gorgeous demon in their midst. They wanted me to take this girl and add her to the harem.

As quickly as possible.

Once the silence grew too long, I cleared my throat. “All of this feels very sudden,” I said, cocking an eyebrow. “I’m not trying to denigrate you or anything like that, Erika—”

“Oh, I like being denigrated,” the demoness purred. Her tongue slid out of her mouth, longer than an ordinary human’s and forked on the end. “You can call me whatever you want, Master. Whore, slut, cum dumpster… the meaner you are, the wetter I get!”

I tried to ignore the obvious invitation in her words. “I don’t know the first thing about you,” I growled. “I don’t know how the hell you managed to get into my private quarters when no one who isn’t already invited is allowed to enter. And if you think walking around my dining room flaunting your body is going to trick me into overlooking any of this, then you’re wrong. Dead fucking wrong.”

Erika’s face changed. She still looked flirty and down to fuck, but now there was real fire in those eyes. Her pupils were the same pink shade as her hair, and so brilliant that if she weren’t a demon, I’d have assumed she was wearing contacts.

“Fine,” the demoness said, affecting a shrug. “What do you want to know?”

About a hundred questions filled my mind. But there was one I wanted to know the answer to before all the others.

“Who are you?” I demanded. “Really.”

The demoness blinked. “I already told you,” she said, her face betraying a hint of irritation. “My name’s Erika. Lucifer’s favorite daughter.”

A ripple of surprise traveled across the table.

“Lucifer?” Fliss asked, her tone pointed. “The Fallen Angel?”

“The Devil ?” Stephanie added with a yelp. She sounded horrified.

Erika nodded like a bobblehead, clearly enjoying my harem’s distress. “Yep! The King of Hell himself.” She leaned back on the bench and started fiddling with her nails, which I couldn’t help but notice were long and as sharp as a lioness’s claws. “Honestly, his reputation is so undeserved. He is such an asshole.”

I couldn’t help it—I laughed. The idea of someone calling the Devil himself an asshole was just too ridiculous.

Fortunately, Erika didn’t seem to mind. “And as for why I’m here,” she purred, spreading her arms wide. “I’m, like, totally a peace offering!”

My women looked far less enthused with that aspect of it. I couldn’t blame them. I was suspicious, as well. Why would a powerful, beautiful demoness like Erika show up at our Stronghold uninvited?

I can think of a few reasons, I told myself. Like that we’re all fucking awesome, and we’re going to save humanity. Why wouldn’t a demon want to hitch her wagon to us ?

But this wasn’t what Erika had in mind.

“You’re a peace offering?” I asked the pink-haired demon. “An olive branch? From who—Hell?”

Erika giggled. “I’m here for you ,” she said, bowing even lower in her maid uniform. I won’t lie—the idea of having a sexy as fuck demon maid in my Stronghold appealed to me greatly. “I can stay here and keep the home fires burning for you, or I can kick ass on the battlefield! And of course,” she added, lowering her voice with a conspiratory whisper, “I’ll perform any requests you make of me. No limits. And no inhibitions, either.”

Fuck. This was sounding better and better all the time.

And yet, a big part of me was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“So this is a gift,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “ You’re a gift. From Hell.”

Was that a touch of awkwardness in Erika’s smile? I could have been seeing things, but I knew I wasn’t.

“Well, I mean…” The demoness trailed off with a little laugh, casting her gaze back at the food replicators like they were extremely interesting all of a sudden. “We’d be joining forces, Powermancer. Your team… and mine.”

I blinked. “That doesn’t sound like a gift to me.”

“Nor to me.” Mia had been growing grumpier and grumpier throughout this conversation. I understood why. I had unfinished business with the redheaded agent, and the longer I sat around sipping coffee with Erika, the longer she had to wait for that business to begin. “It sounds like a fucking deal to me. And you know what they say about deals with the Devil, Jax.”

I nodded. “I’d shake your hand,” I told Erika, “but I’d have to count my fingers after.”

The pink-haired demon snickered. “You can shake whatever part of me you want,” she purred, her voice sex and smoke. “We’re not asking you to become a demon or anything like that, Jax. Just that we help each other out a little bit. You know?”

No. I didn’t know.

I stared at Erika until her calm facade began to crack. I didn’t need to yell at her or argue. In my life, I’d found that stony silence could often do a hell of a lot more than heated words. People were eager to fill in gaps in the conversation, especially when they felt ashamed or irritated with themselves.

It didn’t take long for Erika to break. “Okay, sure ,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and making a pouty face. “If you want to get all technical about it, what I’m offering you could be considered an alliance. There’d be expectations on your side, alright? But that’s not a big deal!” She arched her back even harder, making those tits of hers strain until they very nearly fell out of her top. “You’d get me , Jax. In any way you could possibly want me.”

Uh huh. That didn’t sound like a very fair tradeoff to me.

“So what you’re saying is, I have to be on your side,” I grunted.

Erika nodded like that was no big deal at all. “Yup!”

I regarded her evenly. “The side of the King of Hell,” I added flatly.

That broke through Erika’s calm. “Look, it probably won’t even end up meaning anything,” the pink-haired demon protested. “Do you have any idea how many cycles the Bellum Aeternum has been through since the beginning of time? It’s a hell of a lot, I can assure you! I wasn’t even born for most of them!”

That was none of my concern. The Cold War between Heaven and Hell was running hot lately; if it boiled over into the streets of the human world, I didn’t want to be tied down to one side or the other. Selling my loyalty like that was the antithesis of everything I stood for.

Any woman who truly supported me understood that. Yet another reason why I couldn’t trust this Erika girl as far as I could throw her.

But she was gorgeous. Sinfully so.

Erika could tell that she was losing me. “You’re really not going to say yes,” she whimpered, doing her best to make it sound like the biggest mistake I would ever make in my life. “You’re not going to hit this? Even when it’s being offered to you, no limits?”

“You’d be surprised,” Charlie drawled. “Jax isn’t like most of the guys you’ve met.”

I really wasn’t. Oh sure, the Jaxon Bryant who’d never left home would have folded like a bad poker hand for Erika’s charms. Even the me who’d sold my company and was nomading it around the country might have fallen under her spell.

But not the Jaxon Bryant in command of the Archon System. And definitely not the Jaxon Bryant with a harem of gorgeous women at his beck and call. Having Fliss, Charlie, Stephanie, and Mia by my side gave me options and reminded me that even if I didn’t get to take some pink-haired demon to bed and see what she could do, it was no great loss. I had all the love and devotion one man could handle on his own.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Mia said, shaking her head. “Now that we know it’s possible for demons to break into the Stronghold, we’ll have to start setting a watch.” She turned to me. “You want the honor of shooing her out, or should I do it?”

Erika’s eyes widened. “Wait, that’s not fair! You can’t just throw me out like a piece of trash! Don’t you have any idea who I am!?”

“You already told me,” I said, carefully controlling my temper. “Erika the succubus, Lucifer’s favorite daughter.”

“Let your dad know we appreciate the offer,” Fliss said, diplomatic as always. “But we prefer to handle these things on our own. We’ll carve our own path for humanity, without Heaven’s or Hell’s help.”

Good speech, I thought. I kind of thought that settled the matter, but as Fliss finished, the demoness got a sly look on her face.

“Are you sure about that?” Erika asked as she returned to her seat. She went from being bent over with her back arched to putting her heels up on the table, as if she’d just moved from a losing position to a winning one. “I mean, you haven’t even properly powered this place up yet. Where’s your control keys?”

Ouch. I couldn’t deny that that one stung. Our Stronghold wasn’t in great shape: this subterranean fortress was a far cry from what it had been back in the days of Earth’s ancient heroes. The reason for that had to do with the control keys: ancient gems filled with magic that once acted as the fortress’s power source. We’d installed one of them in the Stronghold, which was enough to power things like life support and the machines that generated food and drink. But bringing the place up to speed required two more control keys.

One aspected to Hell, the other to Heaven.

The demonic key, nicknamed the Demon Core, was in the hands of our old enemy Dr. Bodekker. He had it in a fortress of his own—an underground holdfast for the Obsidian Eye’s leaders, known as Anchorites. The holy key was in the hands of our new enemy: a nameless angel who’d promised to give it to me following a duel, only to break his word and fly away. I didn’t even know the Almighty’s messengers were capable of lying, but I’d learned pretty quickly.

Erika knew that we were looking for the control keys. Taunting me about it wasn’t doing her any favors with me, but it was reminding me of how much further my harem and I had to go before we could truly safeguard humanity against the forces of the Bellum Aeternum.

“No, we don’t have them,” Charlie admitted. “But we know where they are.”

I nodded. “You know what we’re capable of,” I told the pink-haired demon. “If you’ve seen what we’ve done so far, you know we won’t give up. I won’t give up.” I favored the demoness with my most winning smirk. “I’d wager every dollar in my bank account I’ll have both of those control keys by the end of the month.”

I expected my words to put her in her place. But Erika’s grin just kept growing wider and wider as I spoke. By the time I was done, she was looking at me like she’d just played the world’s funniest prank on me. What the hell was she looking at me like that for?

“What if ,” the demoness purred, drumming on the tabletop with her long nails, “you could have a control key right now ?”

You could have heard a pin drop in the cafeteria.

My mouth hung open. “That’s not possible,” I protested. “There’s only two, and we know where both of them are—”

Erika was already shaking her head. “ Au contraire, Master. You see, I come bearing gifts. And I’m not just talking about my totally banging body and my submissive attitude…”

As she spoke, the pink-haired demon reached into her corset. Her hand flashed between her tits, pushing them apart for a moment so that it seemed impossible that they’d stay locked in the confines of the fabric.

Then she removed her fist. Red light glowed from between her fingers.

When she opened her palm, a glowing red gem rested in her palm. Heat poured from it, so much heat that I could feel it from the other side of the table. The center glowed and pulsed like a tiny heart, while the outer edges glistened like a frozen flame. The gem was roughly flame-shaped, though I couldn’t have told you whether that was intentional or merely an artifact of the way it was created.

No way, I thought, my jaw dropping. It couldn’t be. Another one?

My voice came out rougher than I intended. “What the hell is that?”

Erika giggled. “This, Jax, is your destiny.”

Chapter 2

“It’s a control key,” Mia whispered. “But… how?”

Other than the redhead, no one else dared speak. Erika held the glowing gem between her fingers, allowing its light and heat to radiate throughout the cafeteria. It already felt as if the temperature had risen a degree or two in the hall—though probably if I moved a little bit away, the effect would fade. Hopefully. I’d hate to think of what it was doing to Erika’s maid outfit if it was cumulative.

The pink-haired demon shrugged. “We built one. We made it just for you, Jax. Isn’t it pretty?”

It was. A hundred different shades of red and orange burned within the heart of the frozen flame, making it look like anything from a blazing bonfire to a clever Halloween decoration. It didn’t resemble the Demon Core at all; or at least, it didn’t look anything like the fake control key I’d seen at Dr. Bodekker’s ceremony. That hadn’t been real to begin with, just a clever piece of confectionary, intended to fool a washed-up actor and his cult of Hollywood harem girls.

What it did look like was the gem I’d worn around my neck since I was a child. The one I’d fused with the gem Felicity— Fliss’s—father had given her when she was a kid, promising that one day it would open the door to her destiny.

Yes. This was the genuine article. A brand-new control key, capable of upgrading my Stronghold to the next level of its power.

I swallowed hard. Something told me the beautiful demon wasn’t just going to hand that key over to me with no strings attached.

“My father started having it forged pretty much as soon as we became aware the Archon Tablet was active,” Erika explained. She placed the gem on the top of the table but kept her hand over the top of it, like she feared one of us would try to shove her aside and snatch it away. As if any of us would engage in such disrespectful behavior! “A ten-thousand-year-old demon forged this control key in the fires of the Ninth Circle itself. It’s been designed to fit the central pillar of your Stronghold exactly. With this, Jaxon Bryant, you can achieve the next phase of your destiny.”

So Erika said. I still didn’t trust her, but I didn’t need to trust her to appreciate the craftsmanship and beauty of the treasure she held. The frozen flame was almost as gorgeous as she was, though I didn’t want to take the jewelry to bed with me. Maybe if Erika was wearing nothing but the gem on a chain, though…

I shook my head to clear it. “This will work with the Stronghold? It’ll upgrade it?” I stared at the pink-haired demon. “You’re sure?”

Erika nodded eagerly. “The man who forged it calls it the Transgression Spirit, ” the demoness purred, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Honestly, I don’t know where the people who make these things come up with the names. Would it kill them to just call it the Hell Key and the Heaven Key, something easy to remember like that?”

I shrugged. If you were powerful enough to master the titanic energies involved in the creation of those gems, I supposed you’d earned the right to call one whatever the hell you wanted. From what Fliss told me about the Archon System, the power that animated these control keys was the same force that had originally created the universe.

“It will upgrade your Stronghold to the next level,” Erika purred. “It’ll even do some stuff that a normal control key can’t!”

“Like what?” Mia whispered. She was still trying to be her normal, prickly self, I could tell. But she was too awestruck by the gem to manage it.

Erika nibbled on her bottom lip, revealing a pair of short, pointed fangs. “How would you like to control demons?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

I gasped. Control… ?

“And I’m not just talking about me ,” the demoness giggled. “Though obviously if you accept this gift and put it to its proper use, I’ll be glad to become the first demon in your service. I’ll worship you body and soul, Master…”

Fuck. When she started talking like that, my morals got seriously shaky.

“Tell me more about the demons,” I said, hoping the lust bubbling within me didn’t show in my voice.

Erika snickered. “What’s there to tell? You’ll be on our side, Jax—Hell’s representative on Earth. Any demons you come across will submit to you without question, once you activate the control key and brand your Stronghold with the seal of Lucifer.” She leaned forward, squeezing her breasts together with her elbows. “You’ve seen Heaven and Hell’s armies clash, Jax. What if the entire demonic half of that equation was fighting beside you, instead of against you?”

That would be a hell of a sight. But there was something else the demoness said that stuck in my brain, interfering with my fantasies of conquest.

“The seal of Lucifer?” I managed. “What’s that?”

“It sounds like a catch,” Mia growled.

To her credit, Erika managed to keep a neutral expression. “It’s really no big deal,” she said with a shrug. “Hardly worth thinking about…”

I watched the faces of my harem girls harden.

“If it’s no big deal,” Stephanie said, taking a sip of her coffee, “then you should have no problem telling us all about it.”

Erika blanched. She set down the mug she’d just picked up, seemed to consider striking another sexy pose to try and distract me, then shrugged and gave up the attempt.

“Well, some control keys are… mutually exclusive, ” she explained. “Like I said, it’s not a big deal, but if you were to install the Transgression Spirit in your Stronghold, you’d be linking yourself to the powers of Hell. Which means that certain other paths would become locked to you.”

I had a pretty good idea of what she was talking about. “You mean the angels.”

Erika’s lips peeled back over her teeth. Just hearing about the other side provoked an almost physical reaction out of her—she looked like she’d rather I hadn’t done that.

“Yeah,” she said, leaning over and spitting onto the ground. “ Them. If you take our gift and install the control key, you won’t be able to use any control key fashioned by those halo-huggers.” Then she brightened. “No big loss!”

Murmurs of surprise filtered through my women.

“That doesn’t sound like the worst tradeoff in the world,” Fliss said tentatively. “At the moment, we don’t have the control key aspected to the angels. It’s hanging around the neck of one of their lieutenants. He’d already promised it to Jax once, then ran off with the thing rather than fulfilling the terms of his agreement.”

Erika nodded as if she’d expected this. “That’s just like them,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “Acting all high and mighty, so ‘holier than thou’… but when it comes down to it, they’re just as duplicitous and self-serving as everyone else!”

“We could still use the Demon Core, though?” Charlie asked. She glanced at Mia as she said this. Until recently, Agent Mia Morgan had been employed by the man in charge of safeguarding the demonic control key. “There’s no conflict with that?”

“Of course you can!” Erika said, beaming. “And even if you can’t wrest it away from the Obsidian Eye, maybe you and my dad can work something out. We made one control key for you already. If you prove yourself to the bean-counters Down Below, there’s no telling how much support we’ll be willing to give you…”

“I don’t like this,” Mia said. “This feels like a trap.”

I had to agree with Mia. Not a trap, exactly, but definitely the kind of decision someone didn’t make lightly.

 “I can understand being hesitant,” Erika said in a small voice. She was really trying to be professional here. Probably, someone from Down Below had impressed upon her the importance of securing my support for the demonic cause. “Pretty much everyone you’ve run into so far wants something from you. Or they’ve betrayed you for their own purposes. Like that… that choir boy .” She grimaced, unwilling to even say the word ‘angel’. “But not us! Demons are very open and honest about their intentions!”

“I ran into an Arch-Demon not too long ago,” I told the girl. “Her name was Lilim, and she tried to kill me.”

My words barely even slowed Erika. “And did she lie about wanting to kill you?” the pink-haired demon asked, making ‘finger guns’ with her hands. “See? Exactly. ”

“Jax, we should think about this.” That was Fliss, who’d scooted closer to me and dropped her voice. “This is power we’re being offered. A lot of it. There’s no guarantees that we can get our hands on either of the control keys we already know about. Just having one would help us so much. We could get stronger, expand the Stronghold—we could save so many more people than we are right now…”

Her words were tempting. But I didn’t like committing myself so strongly to one side or the other. It reminded me of something. It was almost like… like…

Suddenly I laughed.

Erika hadn’t been expecting it. For a moment her sultry, submissive demeanor evaporated, and there was nothing but surprise and demonic irritation written across her features. “What?” she blurted. “What did I do?”

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s just… you know what this reminds me of, right?”

Erika gazed at me flatly. “I would hope it represents a golden opportunity,” she said, picking up the gem and holding it in front of her cleavage. “Not to mention it represents getting your rocks off hard inside the cutest piece of demon pussy you’ve ever seen—”

I was too sure of myself to fall for Erika’s lewd talk. “Do you have video games Down Below?” I asked, glancing around the room. “ Final Fantasy ? Mass Effect ? That kind of thing?”

It was easy to tell which members of my harem were gamers and which weren’t. Fliss gave me a confused look, while Charlie’s eyes filled with the same realization I’d had just a few moments ago. She started to laugh, while Stephanie—who recognized the references but not what I was implying by them—furrowed her brow, trying to follow my logic.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Erika said. “You’re not making any sense—”

“He’s talking about role-playing games,” Charlie said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “They always were his favorite, even as a kid.”

The casual flex of having grown up beside me never failed to make my other women jealous of Charlie.

“Those kinds of games usually have multiple endings,” Charlie explained, turning back to the pink-haired demon with a smug expression. “There’s normally multiple factions, and at some point you have to choose which one of them you want to follow into the final act. You choose Law versus Chaos, or whether to go Paragon or Renegade.”

“Or the Legion versus the NCR!” Stephanie said, finally picking up what we were putting down. “Like in Fallout! ”

“I don’t understand,” Fliss said, frowning. “I don’t think I’ve played a video game since Tetris. ”

“We won’t hold that against you,” Charlie said with a wink. “We’ll have to get you caught up, Fliss. Once, you know, we’ve saved the world and all that shit.”

“The point is,” I said, stopping the side conversations and turning back to the pink-haired demon, “you can’t do everything. At some point, you’ve got to choose a side. And doing so locks you out of all the other endings you might have gotten, if you’d made different choices. You feel me?”

Erika was clearly not much of a gamer, either. But she understood what I was going for well enough to follow along.

“I see,” the demoness said, nodding. “You’re worried that the other side will make an even better counteroffer!”

I bit back a sigh. Erika really didn’t understand. I didn’t want to restrict myself to angels-only or demons-only. I wanted to defeat them both. To free humanity and forge a path that didn’t involve being ground beneath the heels of holy boots or cloven hooves.

But I wasn’t even sure if that was possible. Was it worth the risk to try and beat both sides of the Bellum Aeternum and come out on top? Or should I take the safe thing, install Lucifer’s control key, and bang the hot demon girl he’d sent me to help power up my party’s roster?

I was still thinking it over when Erika climbed over the table.

The pink-haired demon moved like Daisy Duke sliding over the hood of the General Lee, her move powered by pure magic. My women gasped as the demoness hopped right over my cup of coffee and jumped into my lap. Erika’s sweet, round rump landed right on the bulge in my slacks, then wiggled around invitingly.

“ That’s better,” the demoness giggled. “Let’s give you a sneak preview of everything I’ve got to offer…”

A lesser man would have given in right then and there. Erika had the moves, and she definitely had the attitude. It was evident in the way she guided my hands to her heavy breasts, the way she rocked her hips back and forth over my bulge. The way she arched her back and brought her pouty lips oh so close to my own, the tip of her tongue hanging down like she wanted to show me exactly what she could do with it.

I was strong, but I wasn’t made of stone. Before I knew what I was doing, I had Erika’s cups in my hands, grabbing and squeezing her firm funbags. The demoness moaned with pleasure, straddling my cock and dry humping me through the fabric of her panties.

“ So good,” she whimpered. The fact that she was showing off like this right in front of my harem girls didn’t bother the demoness in the slightest. Hell, being so shameless was probably turning her on even more. “ Please let me serve you, Master. Can’t you see what you’re doing to me? Fuck, my tight little demon pussy is so hot and wet for you! Feel!”

She took one of my wrists and guided my hand beneath her skirt. Erika slid her panties to the side, and then my fingers were inside of her. Fuck. She wasn’t kidding. I’d never felt a girl so hot and wet—even my harem girls didn’t get this turned on for me.

Her long tongue lolled from her mouth. “All my holes are yours, Jax,” the demoness whispered. “My mouth, my pussy, even my ass —you can fuck them however you want, whenever you want. Just say yes, baby. Say yes to letting me be your best girl…!”

I would have expected my women to protest at this point. But they were too turned on. In the corner of my eye I could see Charlie panting and moaning, her hands straying dangerously close to the valley between her legs as Erika gave me the most sinful lap dance imaginable. My other girls were doing the same.

It would be so easy. Just give in.

I could fuck her brains out right here, I thought, picturing the demoness bent over the table and taking my cock. My whole harem watching her submit. I could brand her and make her mine forever, and there’s nothing anyone could do to stop me…

Except that it would mean locking my path for the rest of my life.

I blinked. I was still rock hard—I challenge any human male with a pulse not to be an iron fucking girder with a girl like Erika in their lap—but I was thinking now. Planning. With clearer eyes, I could see what the pink-haired demon was trying to do to me.

And I could see that she’d walked straight into a trap.

I slid my fingers in deeper, stretching her walls. Two fingers searched for that special spot deep in her demon pussy, while my thumb found the hard nub of her clit and swirled around it, driving her wild. The pleasure was like an electric current, and I could see that Erika was close to losing control.

“You want me,” I growled. It wasn’t a question.

It was exactly what Erika wanted to hear. Hell, my whole harem wanted to hear it by this point. The demoness’s eyes rolled back in her head, her tongue drooping almost all the way to her cleavage. “Yes, Master! Nnnngh, fuck I need your cock so bad!”

My other hand left her tits and went for her throat.

Erika gasped as I held her tight against me. For a moment, she was afraid—then she relaxed against me, groaning as I fingered her while gripping her neck. I could hear my other women whimpering from the visual image: the demoness in my lap, working her hips like a cyclone as I held her slender little throat.

“Then pledge to serve me,” I growled, sounding about as dominant as I ever dared to allow myself to be. “ Fuck the gem. Fuck your famous father. Be my whore, right now, no strings attached.”

It was a test. A pretty fucking clever one, if I say so myself.

And Erika failed it.

The pink-haired demoness tensed up in a way that had nothing to do with pain or pleasure. Her hips stopped rocking over the bulge in my pants, and her gaze slid to the side to try and read my expression over her shoulder. Worry flickered across her beautiful face, and I knew in that instant that Erika realized what I’d just done.

Still, she had to give it one more go. “Take the gem,” she whispered, putting every drop of lust a succubus like her was capable of into the words. “Please, Master…”

No. Not good enough.

With a dismissive grunt, I removed my hand from between her legs and shoved Erika onto the table. The pink-haired demon went with far less grace than she’d come to me, flopping onto the wood before rolling over and sitting up with her legs spread on the edge of the bench. She still looked sexy as hell, but the spell was mostly broken. I could hear my women gasp as they came back to themselves, realizing what I’d just done.

“You’ve brought me an offering,” I told the demoness with a smirk. “But it came with strings attached. You’re not a free woman, Erika. You’re just a puppet.”

She pouted spectacularly. “That’s not true ,” the demoness insisted. “I mean, I’d gladly be your puppet, if that’s what you’re into. Your little free use demon fantasy—”

I waved a finger in her face, cutting her off. “I wouldn’t mind using you,” I told Erika, making no secret of the way I looked her beautiful body up and down. “A fling with you would be fun. It would be even more fun to get you in bed with a couple of my other girls and see what depths of depravity you could corrupt them into.”

From the looks on the faces of my other harem girls, they were thinking the same thing.

“But I’m not some goober who falls all over himself when an attractive woman shows me interest,” I said. “Maybe the rank-and-file mortals you seduce are like that, I don’t know. But I’m built different.”

Erika’s pout grew even more theatrical. “I’m not an attractive woman,” she whined. “I’m an attractive demon !”

I shook my head. She really didn’t get it.

So I decided to help her understand.

“You see these girls?” I asked, jerking a thumb at Charlie.

Erika nodded. “Your harem,” she whispered.

“They’re all here because they want to be,” I said, underscoring the point. “They’re not with me for power, or money, or fame. They’re not asking me to join up with Heaven or Hell, or to do anything that I don’t want to do. They love and respect me, and they trust me to make the right decisions for the harem. They’ll advise me, sure, but the final choices are always up to me.”

“Damn straight,” Fliss said. She beamed with pride, as did Charlie and Stephanie. They loved it when I talked up how loving and loyal they were—especially in the presence of a destabilizing element like Erika. The more they looked at her, the more they wondered how they’d ever been taken in by her lusty cons.

“It’s fuck yes or it’s nothing at all,” I said, repeating the same line I’d given Mia Morgan when she suggested a tactical alliance rather than one based on mutual love and admiration. “If you’re not willing to join me without all that other shit—the gem, the alliance with Hell—then I don’t want it. I deserve to enjoy that insane body of yours without you putting any pressure on me.”

It was a way of thinking so out of line with the way I’d once been that I almost sounded like an alien. But Erika knew I meant it. So did the rest of my women.

“I tried to warn you,” Charlie said with a snicker. “He’s not like other guys.”

“That’s why we follow him,” Stephanie added, grinning.

“That and he’s fucking incredible in bed,” Fliss chucked. “Which you’d know, Erika, if you were willing to join us without putting any restrictions on the harem.”

The pink-haired demon could tell when she was beaten. But Erika had plans I hadn’t anticipated. She wasn’t about to go down that easily.

Well. She’d clearly go down at the drop of a hat. But you know what I mean.

“This isn’t just about me,” Erika protested with a sniff. “Amazing and perfect though I totally am. I’m offering you power, Jaxon Bryant. Power that, frankly, you’re going to need. ”

She did have a point there. My harem and I had leads on both of the control keys we needed, but we didn’t know how we were going to get them. Even if we knew exactly where they were, securing them was going to be a whole other story.

Now that I was thinking with my brain instead of my dick, I could admit that this aspect of the whole thing was even more tempting than getting to use Erika as my personal sex toy. But that power had strings attached, too.

Strings I didn’t want tied to me.

I shook my head. “I’m not willing to pick sides,” I told the demoness. “Not yet. It’s too early for me to decide whether I’m backing Heaven or Hell in the Bellum Aeternum. For now, I’m still a free agent.”

It was only a bit of a lie. I implied that at some point, I would be throwing my lot in with one side of this war. But my women had heard my speeches. They knew my mind. I was still looking for another way—one that involved telling off both Heaven and Hell, and forging a new path for humanity where we could achieve our true destiny.

But I couldn’t say that out loud to Erika. She’d think I was crazy.

Or maybe she already did. “I can’t believe it’s a no,” the demoness pouted. “I haven’t had a mortal turn down this pussy in nine thousand years!”

To that, I could only shrug. “Like I said, the future is uncertain.” I gestured at the gem in her hand with my chin. “You should leave that here. If I change my mind, I’ll use the control key and then contact you—”

Erika was already secreting the gem back between her luscious breasts. “Uh uh,” she giggled, shaking her head. “We’re a package deal, Jax. You can’t have one without the other.” Suddenly she sat up straighter, grinning like a light bulb had just gone off over her head. “I tell you what, though! I could stay nearby, just in case you change your mind?”

Huh? Oh, now that was definitely a trap. I had no doubt that if Erika was allowed to remain in the Stronghold, she’d turn up the heat. I’d probably find her slipping into my bedroom at night and ‘accidentally’ touching herself, or spying on me in the shower. Anything to try and get me to go caveman mode and agree to her demands…

“That’s a terrible idea,” Mia blurted, clearly thinking the same thing that I was. “This is our fortress, Erika. Intruders like you aren’t welcome here—”

Wait a second, I thought. Two can play that game.

“Now now, let’s not be hasty,” I said, laughing as I held up a hand. “Erika isn’t an intruder. She’s a guest.” I beamed at the demoness. “One who is more than welcome to remain in the Stronghold for as long as she likes.”

Mia’s brows furrowed together. My other girls looked confused.

Erika beamed like she’d just come downstairs on Christmas morning.

“Oh, thank you, Master!” the demoness giggled. “I mean, Jax. I guess you’re not my Master—not yet.” She winked like she knew I soon would be. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t be your maid! If you’re going to let me stay at your place, I can at least do that much for you!”

“I don’t like this,” Mia muttered.

I figured she wouldn’t. I doubted any of my women really understood what I was doing. Why let a dangerous beauty like Erika stay so close to all of us?

The reason was simple. The demoness was planning to tempt me?

Fine. I’d tempt her right back.

We’d both made our offers. Hers was for me to sell my soul to the forces of Hell in order to sink my cock deep inside her tight little holes. Mine was for her to unconditionally surrender: to join the harem without any restrictions, to betray her famous father and become my hot little demon harem girl.

How long would she be able to listen to me fucking my women before she started to break? Living in the Stronghold, it would be inescapable: Charlie, Fliss and Stephanie all getting off, living their totally satisfied lives as my harem girls. How long would it take before Erika got so horny that she’d do something stupid?

I didn’t know. But I was looking forward to finding out.

Besides, what was the old adage about keeping your enemies closer than your friends? Erika was definitely closer to the former than the latter right now. And if she was capable of slipping past our defenses, I’d rather have her in a place where I could keep my eye on her.

“Alright,” I grunted, rising from the table. “That all sounds good. You can start by taking care of all the dishes you’ve left in my dining room, Erika.” I took Mia by the hand. “I’ll talk to you later.”

The demoness blinked. “Wait, where are you going?” she asked.

I couldn’t help but snicker. Clearly she’d anticipated having more time to try and seduce me. She didn’t realize I had a job to do.

“Unfinished business,” I said, turning away from the pink-haired girl. “I made you a promise, Mia. Remember?”

The redhead laughed. “As if I could forget,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “You owe me, Jaxon. I held up my end of the bargain, and now it’s time for you to fulfill yours.”

Right.

“Let’s go,” I said, taking her by the hand. “Girls, you can come watch if you want. All except for you, Erika. Harem only.”

The demon pouted theatrically. “But I don’t even know what you’re going to do!? ”

This time I did laugh. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m adding a new girl to my squad.”

It was past time that I gave Mia Morgan what she deserved.

A brand.

Chapter 3

“You might want to change into something more comfortable,” I said, looking around the room. “My other girls found this process a whole lot easier in casual clothes…”

Mia and I stood in one of the unused bedrooms in the dormitory wing of the Stronghold. For the moment, we were alone—I’d extended an invitation to the rest of my harem, but they were all keeping their distance. I understood why. For each of them, the branding ceremony had been a one-on-one experience. They weren’t about to take that privilege away from Mia, even if the redhead wasn’t into the harem in the same way they were.

Mia shrugged. “That’s probably not a bad idea,” she admitted, glancing over at the closet. “Is one of those replicators in there, or are they just in the dorms we’ve already taken over?”

I went and checked. Inside of the closet was a sleek, slender machine, connected to the energy lattice inside of the Stronghold. It was nearly a twin of the ones in the cafeteria: except while those dispensed food and drink, these generated clothing. Usually very old-school clothing, with the feeling of a uniform rather than casual threads. The people who’d once lived in this complex were big on uniforms, I wagered.

“Yep, you’re good,” I said, stepping away.

Mia punched a few buttons on the device. A few seconds later the door in the front opened, revealing a set of comfortable looking pajama bottoms and a gray t-shirt swaying from a hanger. Mia took them, then nodded in the direction of the bathroom.

“Be right back,” she said.

She disappeared into the other room but didn’t close the door. The sounds of her dressing and undressing filled the bed chamber, and I felt a small but real temptation to sneak over and try and catch a peek at her body. Mia had a damned fine one, even if her attitude didn’t quite match.

“I can’t believe you’re letting that demon stay!” the redhead called from the other room. “Have you lost your mind, Jax, or are you really just a sucker for a pretty face and a nice pair of tits?”

I let you stay, didn’t I? A meaner Jax would have shot back with that retort, but I didn’t do that.

“Keep your enemies close,” I said instead. “It’s all part of the plan.”

“Uh huh.” I thought I could hear a hint of mirth in Mia’s voice. “And the obvious double standard doesn’t bother you?”

Double standard? This wasn’t a question I’d anticipated. I had no idea what Mia was talking about.

“I’m not following you,” I said.

Mia stuck her head out from around the bathroom door. Her shoulders were bare, which told me she was probably naked from the waist up.

“I believe you told Erika it’s ‘ fuck yes or nothing,’” the redhead quoted with a smirk. “Well, I’m not a ‘fuck yes’. I’ve made it perfectly clear that I view taking the Archon System and becoming a member of your squad and joining your harem as two completely different things.”

Ah. I relaxed.

“That’s different,” I told Mia.

“How so?”

“For one thing,” I paused as the redhead threw a gray shirt over her head, “you’re not a demon. You’re Mia. And the other, more important part is this: you’ve proven yourself. You’re loyal, and you respect me—even if you don’t want to sleep with me. I have no problem with letting you join our group, whether you want to become a part of the harem or not.”

“Hmm.” Mia’s face was unreadable. “I’ll have to think about that.”

Before I could say anything, she disappeared back into the bathroom. Leaving me with a whole lot of unanswered questions.

What did she have to think about? Was she thinking about whether or not to join the harem? Mia had always been pretty adamant about keeping business and pleasure separate, but I’d seen the way she looked at me while I gave Erika that whole speech. Was she maybe starting to think of other possibilities?

I told myself it didn’t matter. That I had three gorgeous harem girls, each of whom were more than enough to be the light of any man’s life. A fourth shouldn’t have made any difference—if anything, it would complicate matters immensely.

And yet.

Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about how hot Mia was. And not just her body, which was absolutely banging even for a woman pushing thirty. It was her attitude.

The way she took no bullshit—not even from me. Her willfulness, her independence, her ability to come up with brilliant ideas under pressure. She was an asset to the team.

I knew I’d love to take our relationship to the next level.

Just then, Mia emerged from the bathroom. She wore the simple threads like haute couture, the pajama bottoms tied around her waist with a drawstring and the gray t-shirt so short that her bare midriff was clearly visible. She’d also made herself ready in other ways: her shimmering red hair was tied back into a ponytail, and she’d removed her makeup. I’d also heard her brushing her teeth.

It was that last one that made my pulse jump a bit. Why would she brush her teeth if she wasn’t intending to do things with that mouth of hers?

Mia looked me up and down, then put her hand on her hip. “Quick question before we get started.”

I nodded. “Go for it. I’m sure you’re probably nervous as hell.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Mia’s mouth. “Not at all. I’m more than ready to get this power and learn what my transformation is going to be. The question is about you. ”

Oh. I braced myself.

“If it was that angel who’d been waiting for us in the cafeteria,” Mia said, “would you have let him stay in the Stronghold? Or is it just the hot demon that we need to keep close ?”

It was phrased frivolously, but I could tell Mia meant it as anything but. Her eyes were quite serious, and I could tell that my answer was going to mean something to the sexy redhead. What did she want me to say?

I stopped worrying about that. I decided to just tell the truth.

I shrugged. “If he was here, I wouldn’t be thinking about any of that,” I said. “I’d be demanding a rematch.”

Mia’s brows rose. “A rematch? The Nameless Angel already owes you that control key, Jax. Fighting him again would just give him another chance to wriggle out of the deal he made.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said with a smirk. “But it would be fun.”

To my surprise, Mia laughed.

“Alright,” she said, glancing over at the bed. “I think I’m ready to get started, Jax.”

As was I.

My heart pounded in my chest as I guided Mia to the bed and had her lie down. No matter how many of these ‘ceremonies’ I performed with a woman, they never failed to both thrill and terrify me. The energies at play were primal, elemental, and undeniably sexual. Placing my brand on a woman, opening her to the Archon System and adding her to my group weren’t things that were done lightly.

I wondered if things would be any different with Mia. By the time I’d gotten to the branding ceremony with Fliss, Charlie and Stephanie, each of them was already having sex with me or had declared their intentions to be my girlfriend. Mia was the first woman I’d be platonically branding. Would that change anything?

Mia scooted all the way back to the bed’s headboard. She propped herself up against it, using a couple of pillows on her lower back to make herself comfortable. “I know you’re there,” she said, casting the words over her shoulder as she fluffed another pillow. “You don’t need to hide.”

Huh?

I turned—and caught a flash of motion at the bedroom door.

A head had been there, then it disappeared just as quickly. I caught a vague impression of blonde hair, and heard faint giggling coming from the hallway.

I scoffed. “Really?”

A moment later, Charlie appeared at the door. Next to her were Fliss and Stephanie.

“Sorry,” the blonde admitted, grinning sheepishly. “We were just so curious about this one…”

Mia’s brows furrowed together. “You don’t need to sneak around,” she said. “Come inside and watch, if that’s what you want to do.”

With a touch of awkwardness, my other harem girls filed their way inside. “We totally didn’t want to butt in on such an intimate moment,” Stephanie explained. “The rest of us got to do this alone with Jax, so we didn’t want to ruin your fun.”

“ Fun ?” Mia made a face. “This is for the squad. This isn’t for fun.”

Fliss looked over at me. “She does know what’s about to happen to her, right?”

Mia’s lips formed a tight little line. “I’m well aware that the branding process is… pleasurable. That doesn’t enter into my feelings on the matter—”

As soon as Mia said pleasurable, the rest of my girls began to snicker. “Sure,” Charlie giggled, giving the redhead a wink. “You haven’t thought about how good this is going to feel at all. ”

A hot flush rose to Mia’s cheeks. “I’m focused on the mission,” the redhead protested. “I can think beyond my own physical needs, thank you very much.”

If it was meant as a sneaky diss against my harem girls, they didn’t take it that way. Fliss, Charlie, and Stephanie just kept on giggling.

“I mean, if you don’t mind us watching, we’d love to be present,” Fliss said, clearing her throat and taking on a more professional demeanor. “We’d love to provide you moral support.”

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed. “We… we really do care about you, Mia. Even if you’re not going to join the harem, you’re one of us.”

“We shouldn’t be teasing you like this,” Stephanie added.

Mia’s face changed. For a moment, she stared at the trio in disbelief—then her expression began to soften.

“Alright,” she said, nodding. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

I closed my eyes halfway, concentrating. My unspent Ability Point had gone unremarked upon for so long that I’d almost forgotten it was there: it sat in the back of my mind like an appointment I’d nearly managed to forget about. As I reached for it, familiar words emerged in midair, floating over Mia Morgan’s head.

I selected the word YES and exerted my will. The words changed.

<< BRANDING PROCESS ACTIVATED!>>

A glowing red line of light erupted from my chest, linking me to Mia. As soon as it touched her, it split into a thousand writhing, slender tendrils of magic, wriggling up and down her body as the branding process began. Mia let out a cry of surprise as the tentacles lifted her into the air, her body completely leaving the mattress.

“ Woah, ” Stephanie whispered, amazed. “Dude, that’s sick!”

It was indeed extremely impressive. The tendrils responded to my thoughts—to an extent, anyway—but in many ways they were their own, independent entities. There were still so many things about the branding process I failed to understand, like how it worked and how the tendrils selected the spot on each of my women where the brand would be placed.

So it was more than a little shocking when the tendrils flipped Mia over.

She went from being face up to face down in a single instant, her groan of surprise turning into one of pleasure as the tendrils tugged at her pajama bottoms. Evidently the brand was going to go on the lower half of her body: the tendrils weren’t interested at all in her shirt, leaving it attached to her frame as they tugged down her soft pajama bottoms.

But I noticed Mia’s nipples stiffening like diamonds against the gray fabric. I couldn’t not notice it.

Despite her control, Mia was groaning openly now. The spots of color on her cheeks hadn’t faded—they were stronger than before, and her eyes kept fluttering and rolling back in her head as the pleasure infiltrated her body. Mia Morgan was better at hiding it than my other women, but she was having orgasms. The quivering of her thighs and mindless syllables spilling from her lips proved it.

Underneath the pajama pants, Mia wore nothing but a pair of panties the same gray color as her shirt. Juice soaked through the fabric, leaving the front stuck to the lips of her sex. You could clearly see the curve of her pussy as it boiled over, and it couldn’t have been more obvious that she’d shaved herself right before this ritual. Her mound was as smooth as silk.

“Oh fuck ,” Mia moaned. The redhead shoved a fist into her mouth to stifle another cry of passion, her body shaking as climax tore through her lovely body. “What are you doing? Why am I on my stomach?”

“I don’t fully control the branding process,” I admitted. The line of magic connecting me to Mia pulsed faster, beating in time with my rapid heartbeat. “I get to choose the symbol, but the location is up to something else.”

As I watched, the tendrils bound themselves into a thick cord. It never failed to surprise me how much they looked like an ordinary tattoo gun in this form—though the tip of the tendrils were white hot, showing it was anything other than ink being used to make the brand.

They aimed at a spot on the back of Mia’s upper thigh, just beneath the swell of her right ass cheek. Mia groaned as she felt the first tentative touch of the tendril, her body tensing with the mingled pain and pleasure of the branding process.

“It’s going there !?” Mia’s eyes went crossed. “But that’s… fuck, that’s so trashy …!”

It was. But evidently, the Archon System thought it suited Mia perfectly.

Pants would hide the brand, but a short enough skirt would leave it open to anyone who wanted to stare—like one of those slutty, two-word tattoos some women put on the backs of their thighs for men to look at in doggy. It hadn’t escaped my notice that I’d be able to see the brand if I fucked Mia from behind, too. The knowledge made my cock even harder.

“Here we go,” I grunted, preparing the tendrils. “Hold on tight, Mia…”

“I’m ready!” she gasped, her eyes rolling back in her head. “I can do this. I can… I’m not going to lose control…!”

A moment later, the tendrils touched Mia’s thigh for the first time.

She lost control.

She went down on her hands and knees, face down and ass up on the mattress as a thin line of smoke rose from the brand. Her whimpers and moans became a high, keening cry of bliss as multiple orgasms crashed through her body, whipping the pain of what the tendrils were doing into an erotic frenzy. Her pussy boiled over, soaking through her panties as her walls quivered and clenched over and over again. I could smell how turned on she was, the bedroom filling with the feral tang of her arousal.

“Fuck! Oh my God! Oh my gawwwwwd! ”

Charlie winked at me. “It sounds like she’s talking about you , Jax.”

Hell. Maybe she was.

The tendrils worked fast. Each touch burnt Mia’s skin, though the intense pleasure meant she felt the pain only in the way a girl in the middle of an intense BDSM session felt the whip on her ass. The familiar two-halved logo of darkness and light, so much like a Yin-Yang from the 90’s, appeared as if by magic on the back of Mia’s thigh.

Meanwhile, the pleasure climbed higher and higher. Mia’s whole body tensed up like she was being struck by lightning, her body shaking as she came again and again and again. She wasn’t even making words now—just drooling all over the pillows, holding her ass cheeks and thighs apart with both hands as the tendrils did their glorious, unbearably pleasurable work.

Finally, it was done. With a final flourish, I completed the brand and pulled back the tendrils. The air rushed back into the room. Within moments, only the line of light connecting me to Mia Morgan remained. After a few more seconds, even that began to fade.

Mia slumped onto the mattress, going boneless. She’d sweat through all of her clothes, and juice trickled down her thighs. She’s a mess, I thought, resisting the urge to mount her from behind right then and there. Fuck, she came so many times. She must have enjoyed that…

My girls had enjoyed it, too.

“Fuck,” Stephanie whispered into the silence that followed. “I think I need a cigarette after that.”

My girls giggled at the joke, and time began to pass once more.

Mia slowly sat up, blinking like a woman coming out of a trance. Her fingers strayed to the brand on the back of her thigh, and I saw her wince at a spike of pain. Then she looked down at her soaked panties and realized the extent to which she’d lost control.

Shit. I thought her face was red before.

“You did it!” Fliss said. She raced over to the bed and put an arm around Mia’s shoulder, keen to stifle any awkwardness. “You’ve got the Archon System now. How do you feel?”

Mia looked like she wasn’t sure. “I feel… well. I…”

Slowly, her eyes started rolling back in her head.

“Uh, Fliss?” I couldn’t help but notice. “I’d step away if I were you.”

Felicity moved just in time. Mia arched her back, her whole body glowing like a miniature sun.

“Oh fuck !” the redhead cried. Her moan of bliss filled the room, echoing off the walls as the light brightened to blind all of us. I couldn’t see what was happening inside of the maelstrom, but I could feel it. Deep inside, I smiled.

When the light faded, all of us were looking at the new and improved Mia Morgan.

Charlie managed to talk first. “Holy fuck,” the blonde whispered, reaching up to play with a lock of her hair. “Oh my God, Mia, you’re gorgeous… ”

A ninetailed-foxgirl lay on my bed.

Mia’s shimmering red hair had been transformed into nine fox tails of varying shades, each of which emerged from the small of her back just above the spot where she’d been branded. A pair of cute, fluffy ears emerged from either side of the top of her head, and her cheeks were covered in freckles. Her features were exaggerated, as well: she’d always been stacked, but now her tits were so big that I could have drowned in her cleavage.

Mia reached up to stroke her ear, her face filled with wonder. “I… I’m new ,” she whispered, looking over her shoulder at the tails surrounding her. “The Archon System—I can see it! I can see the words!”

“What are they telling you?” I asked.

I’d never seen Mia so open and free. “That I’m the Ninetailed Blade, ” she said, her voice growing fierce. “And that if I want, I should be able to summon…”

She held out a hand. The air above her palm shimmered for a moment—then she was holding a slender katana with a red hilt and a line of crimson along the edge of the blade.

“Oh hell yes,” Mia said, looking at her weapon like a lover. “Wait, where’s my gun?”

She unsummoned the blade. As it vanished, she scrunched up her face cutely, as if she were searching the Archon System’s internal memory banks. Just as I was about to ask her what she was doing, enlightenment filled her features.

“Ha!” Mia extended a hand. “Stick ‘em up!”

It wasn’t a gun that appeared in her fist. It was a crossbow.

The tiniest crossbow I’d ever seen. Unlike her katana, everything about it was golden—from the taut bowstring holding the bolt to the feathers on the fletching. Something told me this was no ordinary weapon, and that an arrow from Mia’s crossbow would be far more deadly than the bullets from her Obsidian Eye-provided service weapon.

“Hot damn,” I said, impressed. “Welcome to the team, Mia. You passed.”

Mia looked at me.

And in an instant, I knew everything between us had changed.

She let the crossbow slip from her fingers. It disappeared before it hit the covers, unsummoned by her power as she stopped giving a damn about it. She’d stopped giving a damn about everything that wasn’t me.

“That’s not all I did,” the redhead growled, getting on her knees and crawling across the mattress. “You made me cum , Jaxon Bryant. Like fucking Old Faithful going off…”

I was spellbound as Mia sashayed across the bed. Her tails swayed back and forth—all nine of them, doing an intricate dance that only highlighted the curve of her arched back and the swell of her hips and bust. The outfit she was wearing made her look like some kind of medieval brigand, but as I watched, she began making portions of it disappear.

By the time she reached the foot of the bed she was down to a bra and panties, both of them the same gray as the clothes she’d worn to be branded in. The bra barely restrained her tits, and the panties were every bit as soaked through as the others had been.

“And you know what, Jax? I’m still not satisfied.” Mia grinned and licked her lips, spreading her legs to show the swell of her bald pussy. “But you knew that would be the case, didn’t you?”

I grinned like a fool. “No,” I admitted. “But I hoped so.”

Mia crooked a finger. “Come here,” she whispered, her voice sex and smoke. “I want this, Jax. Come and claim me!”

The fact that my other harem girls were there didn’t bother Mia in the slightest. Hadn’t she been happy to have them watching?

Well, they could watch this part, too.

Still grinning like I’d just won the fucking lottery, I went to join my newest harem girl on the bed.

Chapter 4

Mia met me at the foot of the bed.

After so long admiring her gorgeous body from a respectful distance, I felt the weight of this moment like a sports star about to accept a trophy. Until this instant, I’d never dared believe that Mia would actually change her mind about joining the harem. I’d allowed myself to remain convinced that she’d be part of the squad, a partner, but never my sexual partner.

Now all that was about to change.

“You look good enough to eat,” I growled, my shadow falling over Mia. “I’m going to enjoy this—”

As I moved to lean over her, Mia put a hand on my chest.

“Hmm,” the foxgirl purred, staring up at me through her lashes. “I wonder, Jax…”

My eyes widened. Why was she trying to stop me?

“I wonder,” she purred, grinning. “How good is ‘good enough to eat’?”

Her lips parted, revealing a row of tiny, sharp teeth.

Before I could figure out what she was doing, she pulled up my shirt and kissed my chest.

And I felt those teeth.

The foxgirl sank her teeth into me, marking my skin with her lust. She didn’t bite down deep, and I barely felt any pain. But I definitely felt that hot little mouth. Her tongue teased my flesh, leaving a trail of fire. She left a trail of little bites from my chest down to my belly, her eyes and her tails afire with need.

My cock surged inside of my pants, turning them into a fucking tent. I couldn’t believe how hard I was. I’d been looking forward to taking her, but I’d never expected anything like this.

“I think I’ll eat you ,” the redhead murmured. She broke the kiss and beamed up at me, a drop of blood on her ruby red lips. “You look good enough to make a meal out of, Jax.”

Her fingers reached for my belt, unlatching it. And as she did, she buried her face along the underside of my flat stomach and bit .

My own teeth bared in a growl. She wasn’t biting hard, not really, but the fact that she was causing me pain at all drove me fucking insane. None of my other harem girls would ever have dared do a thing like this with me. They were the ones who wanted the pain, to be spanked, slapped and have their hair pulled.

My girls were all submissive. The idea that Mia wanted to be a little more dominant than the rest of the harem drove me fucking wild. Suddenly I didn’t just want to return the favor—I needed it.

Before she could bite down again, I grabbed her hair. Her tails splayed across the covers as I hauled her up, then flipped her around to bend over the foot of the bed. My other hand landed on her ass, slapping her firm, round cheeks, then reached around to tug her soaking wet panties to the side and tease her slit.

“ Nnnngh! ” Mia’s eyes rolled back in her head. I could tell she liked having my fingers in her pussy. She liked it a lot .

Her gaze sharpened. Uh oh.

Mia twisted, my fingers still inside of her, and kissed me hard. Her mouth opened beneath mine, our tongues entwining, then suddenly she bit down hard enough that I tasted blood.

Fuck ! That hurt!

She laughed against my open mouth, pressing her body against mine. I could feel my women gasping—none of them would dare to try and treat me like this. This was less me taking Mia than both of us grappling for control, each trying to be the dom in our relationship.

“You want to put me in my place?” Mia taunted. Her eyes burned with lust, telling me she couldn’t wait for me to try. “Good fucking luck, Jax. I think we both know it’s you who’s going to be whimpering and moaning for me—”

My hand landed on her ass again, harder this time.

The sound echoed through the bedchamber like a gunshot. For a second I thought I’d gone too far, but Mia’s groan told me this was exactly what she wanted. Her inner walls clenched around my fingers, dripping juice as her pussy boiled over.

“Oh my gawwwd !” Mia begged, arching her back in invitation. “Harder!”

Not so dominant now, are you? I thought, grinning. Fuck, I was really starting to enjoy this!

I landed another swat, hard enough to make her yelp. Then another. Then another.

My hand stung, and my dick was rock hard, straining at the seams of my pants. The bottoms of Mia’s breasts jiggled with every hit, grinding against the bulge in my pants. Her mouth was wide open, her tongue lolling as I spanked her. I could tell the fox girl loved it.

My other girls loved it, too. I could feel their eyes on us both, getting off on every moment of this. Good.

Mia’s hand finished with my belt, then unbuttoned my pants. A second later the sound of a zipper filled the bedroom. She was done waiting.

Her eyes lit up as she turned, pulling down my pants and boxers down together. The band of my boxers landed beneath my balls, exposing my rock hard cock and my heavy testicles. Mia’s eyes widened like saucers.

“ Fuck ,” she groaned, reaching down and gripping me. “Your girls weren’t kidding. You really are that fucking big!”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “You’ve been talking to my harem girls about my size?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “Now that doesn’t sound like someone completely uninterested in hopping into bed with me…”

I was teasing her now, but she deserved it. She’d made me wait for this, and now I was going to enjoy it.

“You bastard,” Mia groaned, her head rocking back on her shoulders. “You’re such a douchebag, Jaxon Bryant…”

“I know,” I said, cupping Mia’s chin. “That’s what you like.”

She tried to deny it, but her expression didn’t lie. And neither did her pussy.

“Oh fuck yes!” Charlie whimpered from behind me. “This is so fucking hot!”

I could hear my girls giggling and cheering us on. I knew that they’d gladly hop into this experience at the slightest provocation—that they were just waiting for my signal to turn this from a one-on-one sex session to an orgy. The temptation was strong, but I held back.

Mia deserved better. I’d kept myself focused on one woman each time I’d added my previous harem girls to this group, and I wasn’t about to change that tradition with Mia. She’d get the best of me, and only me.

Besides, I didn’t want to share the spotlight with my other girls. I wanted Mia focused on me. Just me.

Her hand slid up and down my cock, gripping me tight as I fingered her. Both of us stoked the other’s inner fires, trying to break our partner and leave them a shuddering, sobbing mess.

I wasn’t about to break. But Mia sure wanted me to.

“I think you’re gonna cum,” the foxgirl chuckled, batting her lashes and sticking out her tongue. Her hand stroked my cock harder and faster, not so much asking but demanding me to empty my balls all over her taut belly and heavy breasts. “I don’t think you can hold back, Jax. I think you’re gonna lose that load for me…”

That’s what she thought. My cock jerked in her fist, which probably made her think that I was right on the edge and desperately trying not to shoot too early. But inside my mind, I was calm and in control.

I pushed her back a little bit with each stroke, shifting her towards the center of the bed. Wet squelching sounds filled the room as my fingers thrust in and out of her, stretching her walls and hitting that special spongy spot near her back walls. My thumb never stopped rubbing her clit, driving her wild as the two of us made out and fought each other for control and dominance.

Mia arched her back, her tails fanning out around her as she stroked my cock. Her nine tails looked so soft and silky that they gave me an incredible idea.

I grabbed one.

Mia’s eyes widened as I took one of her tails and wrapped it around the bedpost, sliding the tip beneath the circle I’d tied to create a makeshift knot. “Huh?”

She twisted, but I was too fast for her. And even with her transformation, I was still stronger. In no time at all, I’d added a second tail to her bondage. Then a third.

Mia understood what was going on. Her hand left my cock, and she savaged my chest with bites while her claws raked my back. I liked the pain and the pleasure: it made me even harder as I finished tying her to the four posts of the bed.

Then I stepped back. Mia was completely restrained now, her tails worked around her arms and legs before being turned into fluffy nooses along the corners of the bed. She couldn’t get away without relinquishing her transformation—which was the one thing she wouldn’t do, not for all the money in the world.

Mia tugged at her own tails, flexing her arms and legs. Doing so just made the knots tighter, entangling her further.

“You… you bastard! ” the foxgirl cried, sounding both angry and impressed by my work.

I smirked down at her. “I can’t help it that your tails are so long and silky,” I growled, palming her inner thigh. “No man can look at those and not think about how sexy you’d look all tied up in those things…”

Mia stared up at me from her tangled web of tails, her doe eyes filling with mingled fear and lust. Now that I had her fully tied up and under my power, there was no question as to which of us was going to be the dominant one in this relationship. The redheaded foxgirl bit her lip as she strained against her bonds, her pussy quivering in her panties as she realized how powerless she really was.

I found her distress intoxicating.

So much so that I decided to have a little fun.

I ripped Mia’s panties off of her pussy, tearing through the wet fabric and tossing the shreds into a corner of the room. The replicators could always make her some more, anyway. The redhead gasped, wiggling her hips as she prepared for me to ravage her. Behind me, my women giggled and cooed, cheering me on.

But I had something a little different in mind.

I leaned over Mia—then planted a kiss on her stomach, just beneath her breasts. Unlike the ones she laid down on me, mine didn’t involve biting—I just worked my way down to the valley between her luscious thighs, licking and kissing all the way there.

The foxgirl tensed up. This wasn’t what she expected; she sensed a trap.

But it was no trap. At least not the one she was expecting.

Her legs were spread wide open, each one with a different one of her nine fox tails wrapped around it. The ends were tied to each corner of the bed, forcing her to spread her soft, tight little pussy for me like a bad girl. Juice dripped from her folds, and there was no way for her to hide how turned on she was from me or my harem. With her legs spread, she could only receive whatever I wanted to give her.

Right now, I wanted to give her pleasure.

I buried my face between Mia’s thighs. I’d been able to smell her arousal from pretty much the moment she transformed into her fox girl form, but tasting it was a whole other trip. My tongue lapped at her nether lips, then I swirled the tip around her clit before shoving my face deep into her slit and stabbing her interior with my tongue.

The fact that Mia didn’t see it coming made it hit even harder. The foxgirl bucked and thrashed, coming apart beneath me under the assault of unexpected pleasure.

“Oh yes!” Mia groaned. “Oh fuck, Jax! Baby, fucking do it! Don’t fucking stop!”

I quickly replaced my lips and tongue with my fingers, stabbing the longest two deep into her channel while torturing her clit with my thumb. When she didn’t say anything, I began to slow down.

Mia did not want to be played with when she was feeling this good. “Yes!” she gasped. “Fuck, please don’t stop!”

I didn’t stop. But what I did do was shift my speed. Every time poor Mia started up the slope towards the earth-shattering climax she was so desperate for, I pulled back just enough to keep her from reaching that bliss. It was a struggle not to accidentally pleasure her too much, but I soon found I was damned good at it.

It sort of broke the foxgirl’s brain. Mia turned into a babbling, needy slut, groaning as she tried to get my fingers deeper inside of her. Only the whites of her eyes showed as her tongue lolled from the side of her mouth. Even my girls looked a little shocked by how savagely I kept torturing her.

And yet I wouldn’t let her cum.

I shifted my body so that I towered over her, my hand cupping her pussy and two fingers buried deep inside of her snatch. Keeping her on the edge like that was torture, and I could see from the way her eyes rolled in their sockets that she wanted her release so badly. Would she beg for it?

Time to find out, I thought with a smirk.

“You want to cum?” I growled, looking into the redhead’s eyes.

To my surprise, Mia had enough presence of mind that she understood the question. Her eyes snapped back into focus as she met my gaze, rocking back and forth on my fingers as she tried to fuck my hand into an orgasm.

“Uh haaaah ,” she groaned, biting down on her bottom lip. “I need it!”

I kept my eyes focused on hers. “Then apologize,” I taunted, slowing my fingers.

Mia growled with frustration as the pleasure ebbed. She’d been so close! I knew that if she could reach me with that mouth of hers right now, she’d give me a hell of a lot more than just a gentle nibble.

I kind of liked how desperate all this made her. How needy. How sloppy.

It was a little bit mean. But fuck it, she kind of deserved it. She’d pretended ever since the day she met us that she was far too high-minded to even think of joining my harem.

Now she was riding my fingers, desperate to get off.

“A—apologize?” the foxgirl managed.

“That’s right. Then, once you’ve done that, ask me to let you join the harem.” My fingers went deep, stabbing hard as I pushed her back to the peak. “Ask nicely. ”

Say this for Mia. When push came to shove, she understood the assignment.

“I’m so sorry,” the redhead babbled, her tits heaving as I fingered her up the hill towards climax. “Fuck, I’m so sorry for thinking I didn’t need you, Jax! For thinking I didn’t need this !”

“You were wrong,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

“So wrong!” Mia groaned. “So fucking wrong! Please, Jax, please let me be one of your women! Let me fuck you, the way Fliss and Charlie and Stephanie do! Let me be your dirty little fox girl—!”

I leaned down and kissed her, hard. I felt her body hit that special level just before the point of no return, right where I’d pulled back and left her at the edge of frustration so many times already.

This time, I didn’t stop.

“Apology accepted,” I growled, grinning from ear to ear. “Now cum for me, Mia. Cum all over my fingers and make that pussy hot and tight before I fuck you…”

Mia’s groans broke off into a low, throaty groan of passion as she crashed past the breaking point. Her body shuddered beneath me as she hit the peak and kept right on going, her pleasure soaring higher and higher. Her body was soaring, too. She was fucking weightless on the mattress, the tight tails wrapped around her limbs pulling so taut that her body completely left the bed as she went stratospheric.

“Yes, yes, yes, oh my fucking God I’m gonna cum! Jax, Jax please don’t stop, baby, I’m right there! I’m… I’m…”

A moment later, the muscles of Mia’s pussy gripped my fingers like a glove. Her walls clamped down on me, her whole body tensing like a fist as the strongest orgasm she’d had so far tore through her body. I knew that despite cumming for what was probably hundreds of times during the branding ceremony, none of the pleasure she’d felt so far held a candle to what I was doing to her right now.

Juices coated my whole hand as I drove her past the peak. Her pussy kept right on gripping me, every muscle in her body going taut as pleasure coursed through her. I kept on going until she couldn’t take it any longer: touching her clit was like pressing a taser against her.

I brought my fingers to her lips and she sucked them greedily. “So good,” the foxgirl whimpered, ragged gasps escaping her. “So satisfying… ”

I knew what had to come next. I positioned myself between Mia’s spread legs, pushing the crown of my cock into her soaking folds. Heat rolled from her channel like an open oven, and she lifted her hips to meet me.

Then I was inside her, and it was everything I wanted it to be.

Both of us groaned as I bottomed out inside of her. Holy shit she was tight! Her walls gripped me like a fist wrapped in a velvet glove, her soft folds drawing so snugly around me that they threw sparks. Orgasm had left everything between Mia’s legs even hotter and tighter than they’d been a few minutes ago, and I could barely go balls deep inside of her. My balls boiled as the crown of my cock hit her back walls, putting me all the way inside.

She looked up at me, her eyes filling with love and devotion.

Then we started to fuck.

I thrust deep into her, her hips rising to meet me every time my own jackhammered forward. The sound of skin-on-skin filled the bedroom, mingled with our moans. Without her hands to hold them, Mia’s tits bounced freely, going up and down as I fucked her tight little foxgirl pussy to my heart’s content.

It wasn’t just watching her that turned me on. And it wasn’t just the fucking incredible way her pussy felt, either.

It was knowing that my whole harem was watching. That they were seeing the woman who’d been too much of a prude to ever entertain the notion of joining the harem eagerly bouncing on my dick, cumming her brains out and begging to serve me along with my other women.

That kind of compliment could keep a man going for a decade.

It didn’t take long before I felt the familiar tingle working its way up my shaft. Every thrust into Mia’s heavenly tightness felt better than the one before, and left my cock covered in more of her rich honey. The foxgirl strained at her bonds anew, trying to hold me and cover me in kisses—along with a number of scratches on my back, no doubt.

But there was nothing she could do. Her body shook harder and harder as I fucked her with reckless abandon, until every thrust slammed her furry fox ears against the headboard. Liquid lava boiled in my balls, and I could feel the pressure building until there was no turning back…

Just as I reached the point of no return, I heard a lewd giggle in my ear.

I turned, but no one was next to me. Nor were they behind me. My women were all standing at the opposite end of the room, watching Mia and I fuck with spellbound, horny looks. Several of them were actively rubbing themselves through their panties, but none of them had approached to give me any last-moment encouragement. What the fuck?

Another giggle. This time, I recognized the voice.

“It makes me so hot watching you fuck her, ” Erika purred.

The pink-haired demon wasn’t in the room. I’d barred her from participating in this. But she must have found some scrying spell to watch me fuck Mia, and was beaming her voice directly to me from whatever part of the Stronghold she’d decided to relax in. No one else could hear her.

“ I want to fuck her in front of me, Master,” the demoness whimpered. Her voice crackled with lust, like she was right on the edge of an orgasm herself. “I want you to cum in her! I want to lick your cum out of Mia’s pussy! I want to eat it out of her hot, wet cunt after you’re done fucking her senseless, Master!”

Holy fucking shit.

Holy shit that was the dirtiest thing I’d ever heard.

Suddenly I could no longer hold back. One more hard thrust buried me hilt-deep inside of Mia, and my hips slammed forward to fill her as hard as I could as I hit the peak and sailed right over. Fireworks exploded behind my eyes as the pleasure became unbearable, followed by the hot explosion of sheer relief as I came.

Thick ropes of cum sprayed from my cock, painting the foxgirl’s inner walls. I busted like a fucking geyser, and the feeling of my load hitting those special spots deep inside of her sent Mia into another titanic, toe-curling orgasm of her own.

As my eyes fluttered and the bliss washed over me, all I could think of was Erika lapping my load from Mia’s pussy with that long, demonic tongue.

I held onto the foxgirl’s hips as I emptied my balls inside of her. My orgasm went on and on, more cum than I thought imaginable draining from my ballsack directly into her womb. A flood of it filled her to the brim, but I kept my prick all the way inside of her until every last drop was right where it belonged.

The next thing I knew, my other harem girls had untied Mia’s tails from the bed posts. They were kissing and hugging her, welcoming her into the harem, promising her tons of hot, naughty fun to come. Mia looked dazed, like she couldn’t quite believe how hard she’d gotten fucked, but she was definitely happy to be one of the girls, all the same.

As my women snuggled around me, giggling and whispering sweet nothings in the ears of me and my new harem girl, I glanced at the bedroom door. It was almost impossible to tell with the shadows in the hallway, but I thought I saw a slender figure standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

I blinked.

And Erika blew me a kiss.

As quickly as she’d appeared, the pink-haired demoness was gone. She’d fulfilled her end of the bargain—she hadn’t interfered with any of our fun, and she’d stayed away from the bedchamber while I branded and fucked Mia.

And yet she’d still found a way to fuck with me.

The problem, I realized as my girls started drifting off to sleep, wasn’t that Erika couldn’t help herself. She was a demoness—a succubus—and it was in her nature to seduce men. Especially men like me.

No, the problem was how much I liked it.

Chapter 5

My harem and I woke up the next morning completely unaware that the world had been changed forever.

No one had set an alarm before we’d all passed out, so I ended up sleeping in. But I’d always been an early riser, even without a watch or an alarm clock to get me up, so the rest of the harem was still asleep when I opened my eyes and found myself in bed with the whole team.

We were all naked. Mia lay next to me, curled up with her back facing my side and her shoulders gently rising and falling. She was back in human form, but no less beautiful for having shed her fox tails and furry ears. The covers were bunched up around her waist, and I spent a few moments just looking her up and down, thinking about what a lucky man I was.

Then I started extricating myself from the bedroom.

I always thought about those old stealth video games I used to play when I did things like this. I could practically see the ‘noise’ meter in the corner of my vision as I slowly slid to the edge of the bed, like something you’d expect the Archon System to provide for me. I made my way beneath the covers as quietly as possible, not wanting to give any of my harem girls a rude awakening.

I was lucky—only Mia was actually curled up next to me. Fliss and Charlie were both near the foot of the bed, tangled up in each other’s limbs, while Stephanie snoozed on her back on the opposite side of the mattress. The goth girl must have been a violent sleeper; she’d moved all the way across the bed in the middle of the night, and she’d thrown off all her blankets so that nothing covered her pale body save for a pair of black panties.

She’d been a little violent in the middle of the night, too. One by one, each of the women in my harem had woken me up for a second helping of Powermancer. I don’t think I’d gotten more than an hour or two of unbroken sleep for the entire night, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. Though I felt like I could maybe use a dose of Stephanie’s vampire blood to shake off my tiredness.

I feasted on all of them with my eyes, then put my feet on the floor. What was left of my clothing lay in a pile in a corner of the room—I put on the boxers and left the rest alone. I could get the replicators to make me some replacement threads later.

As I pulled the waistband up, my stomach gave an undignified rumble.

Speaking of the replicators…

Time for breakfast. I’d make myself some eggs and bacon, and whip up enough coffee to get the whole harem back on their feet. The smell of it would probably wake my girls up, and they’d have a nice surprise waiting for them when they rolled out of bed. See what happens when you spend all night fucking your man’s brains out?

I slipped through the halls of the Stronghold, whistling a jaunty tune once I was out of earshot. My body ached pleasantly from the exertions of the previous night, and I had nothing on my docket except spending the day relaxing, recovering and hanging out with my women. Life felt just about perfect.

Which made it even more ironic that I was just a few moments away from making a truly terrible discovery.

I passed the rest of the dormitories and took a left past the main hall. Just ahead of the cafeteria was a large, lounge-like space that Charlie had been meaning to turn into a kind of ‘rec room’ for the group since we officially moved into the Stronghold. As I reached the door, I heard the sound of an authoritative voice rattling off headlines.

Huh? The TV was working?

I stuck my head inside. The flatscreen Charlie brought from her place hung on the wall, with the volume down low and the channel turned to one of the 24-hour news networks. A small coffee table sat in front of it along with a larger couch, and on that couch Erika the demoness sat with her legs curled up beneath her. She held a steaming mug of coffee in both hands, and was wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt that ended midway down her thighs.

“Oh,” I blurted. “It’s you.”

The pink-haired demon’s head swiveled in my direction. “Good morning, Master,” Erika purred, pursing her lips and winking at me. “Would you like a quick blowjob to start your day? Or does all that banging I heard from your room last night mean you’re too tired for my mouth?”

I ignored that. My gaze was drawn towards the television.

Up on the screen, a pretty blonde newscaster sat behind a desk. There were bags beneath her eyes, and deep lines of worry written across her forehead. Something about her looked… wrong. Like she’d been up all night reporting, with no one around to freshen up her hair or reapply her makeup. The effect made her look more real, but also broke the professional aura the news channels always had.

“I’m told these are the most recent images we have from Chicago,” the woman was saying. Her lips formed a tight little line, and I realized all of a sudden that this news anchor was fucking terrified of what she was saying. “At this time, all efforts to communicate with anyone inside of the city have failed. The government is now evacuating everyone from the surrounding area as fast as they possibly can, and advising anyone who hasn’t evacuated to do so now. I repeat, we are no longer requesting that anyone remaining within the city limits stay inside their homes. The level of danger is far too great.”

“What the fuck!?” I was rooted to the spot, literally frozen in my tracks. “What’s going on—what is she talking about?”

“It’s been on every channel,” Erika said, sipping her coffee. The demoness didn’t appear bothered by the news in the slightest. “Chicago, Paris and some city in Russia. I couldn’t catch it—too many syllables,” she added, wrinkling her nose.

“Again,” the news reporter said, “this is the most recent footage captured by one of BNN’s affiliates in Chicago. Please be advised that if you have young children in the room with you, you should probably move them to another room. What you are about to see is shocking.”

Before I could ask Erika what the fuck was going on, the picture changed.

The video was shaky, like it was being filmed from a handheld camera by someone on the run. It showed a wide, tree-lined street, with cars at a standstill in every lane. Someone shouted in the background, yelling at the person holding the camera to watch out. Suddenly the camera pivoted upward, and I caught a glimpse of several enormous buildings, framed by the clear blue sky.

I gasped. There were angels flying in the sky over Chicago.

Winged creatures took flight over the city, glowing with a holy light. For a moment the sky seemed to be full of them, then I realized what I’d taken at first to be a unified front was actually a pitched battle. Lightning bolts flashed across the sky, coming not from storm clouds but from the fists of the angels as they battled flying demons. As I watched, an angel with wings like a hawk dove out of formation, roaring with anger—then exploded in a blast of feathers, torn to shreds by a black-clad demon with oversized bat’s wings.

More demons entered the fray. The sky was filled with them, like a plague of locusts. Suddenly the camera dipped, returning to the level of the street.

I groaned.

The streets were filled with monsters.

They were crawling out of manholes and from the gutters, like they’d been living beneath the city all along and had chosen this moment to attack. All of the underground invaders looked to be one type of demon or another. They were pouring up from beneath the street like an underground spring, flooding the thoroughfares of Chicago like an invading army.

Angels dropped from the sky to do battle, but it was immediately clear that they were greatly outmatched. The angels had miscalculated the size of their opponent’s forces, and now they were dangerously outnumbered—in this city, at least.

Jesus. Erika mentioned three other cities. Was this happening in all of them?

Suddenly the pink-haired demon shot off of the couch. She threw her fist in the air, cheering like she was watching the Super Bowl and her favorite team had just scored a goal.

“Hell yeah!” the demoness cried, her eyes alight with glee. “That’s right, take the city! Go kick their asses!”

I turned from the demoness back to the screen. My God, I thought, shaking my head. She’s actually rooting for the demons.

Like this was a game, instead of a conflict that was going to leave thousands of innocent humans caught in the crossfire.

“What the hell is going on?” I growled. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Erika looked at me like I’d suddenly grown a second head. “I did tell you about this,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “I warned you that the dam was about to burst, Jax. The Bellum Aeternum has begun.”

Technically, it had never ended. But I knew what she meant. A Cold War between angels and demons was one thing. This… this was something else.

An open conflict. A bloody, brutal war.

Which meant I’d just run out of time.

Erika rose from the couch with a pout. “Sit,” she said, her tone strangely sympathetic as she gestured at the cushion she’d just left behind. “I’ll get you a cup of coffee, Master. Anything else you want?”

“Eggs,” I muttered, my eyes fixed on the screen as I took the seat. “And some bacon, if the machine will make it for you.”

“Coming right up!” Erika called from the kitchen. “Let me know if anything crazy happens.”

I had no earthly idea what might qualify. It looked as if crazy things were happening every moment I watched the news. I quickly learned that war had broken out across three cities pretty much simultaneously: Chicago in the US, Paris in Europe, and Vladivostok in the Far East. That was the Russian city Erika couldn’t be bothered to remember the name of.

Chicago had gone dark nearly an hour ago, but there were plenty of reporters left in the other two cities. The news flipped between the two of them, while the pretty blonde newscaster behind the desk looked more and more terrified with each report of violence and bloodshed.

I couldn’t blame her. The world had never seen anything like this before.

In a very real sense, this was the apocalypse. The end of the world.

Judgement Day.

Erika came back into the room a few moments later with a plate of food and a large, steaming mug of coffee. She set both down on the coffee table in front of me and plopped down on the cushion next to mine, crossing one perfect leg over the other.

“Eat,” she said, not unkindly. “Something tells me you’re going to need your strength today.”

Something told me she was right. I dutifully wolfed down the food and washed it down with the coffee as I watched the news, barely tasting anything. Where the fuck was the resistance? Why weren’t the people fighting? And where the hell was the fucking army?

I asked this last question to Erika directly. The pink-haired demon just shrugged, but then a knowing smile spread across her sexy face.

“Where do you think ?” she shot back. “They’re all in hiding, Jax. They knew perfectly well this was coming. The people in charge had a choice, and they decided to save their own skin at the expense of everyone else.” She looked around, giving a little sniff. “They’re all in fortresses like this one, being protected by men with guns. NORAD. Stuff like that.”

I’d heard of such things, but I’d never expected them to be deployed in my time. “That’s insane,” I growled, anger filling me as I filled my belly with another long swig of hot coffee. “How can they just sit back and watch civilians die?”

Another shrug from the demoness. “They do it all the time,” she whispered, toying with a lock of her long hair. “Hell, everyone watching at home’s doing it right now, with a side helping of praying it doesn’t happen to their city next.” She stopped toying with her hair and leaned over, pursing her lips. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be fucking my throat while you watch this, Master?”

I ignored that. Even if I knew Erika could give me the best blowjob I’d ever had in my life—and I believed she could—now was not the time.

I was about to tell her that when the feed suddenly cut away from a video of a bunch of Russians running away from a building-sized demon. The news anchor’s face filled the screen, trying to remain calm despite the mounting panic all around the world.

“Hold on a moment, I’m getting new information...” The blonde’s face scrunched up, and she reached for the earbud in her ear and gently tapped it. “I’m being told we have a live , on-the-scene reporter covering the battle happening right now in Chicago! This sounds almost too unbelievable to be true, but we’re in touch with a news crew currently filming the battle!”

I sat up straighter in my seat. Live footage?

“We’re connecting BNN to them live,” the news anchor said. “I’m not certain how long they’ll be able to broadcast, but we’ll keep talking to them as long as they’re able.” She turned to the screen, lines of worry scoring her face. “If you’re at work or home right now and you’re of a mind to pray, I’m sure our affiliates would appreciate it...”

Erika snorted. “Pray? Pray to whom? The angels are the ones ripping your fucking city apart—!”

“Shh!” I growled, so vehement that Erika’s mouth snapped shut. The feed was already beginning to change.

The scene shifted to a view of a wide city street. Apartments flanked two broad lanes, in the center of which was a narrower, grassy median with statues of national heroes every block or so. Like the video we’d seen earlier, the streets were full of abandoned cars. Most of them were smashed.

In the median, a fierce battle raged.

My first thought was that it looked just like the painting. Bellum Aeternum, inked by the Mad Count of Tuscany and hanging in the gallery of the Traverse Museum where I’d had my first date with Fliss. That wall-sized painting showed a Roman city in flames, with an army of angels and demons fighting in foreground and fucking in the background.

Other than the architecture, the scene in the center of the city was the same. Angels and demons fought for dominance, criss-crossing in the air and diving to the city streets to deal out carnage close up. Creatures beyond the limits of human imagination tore each other to shreds, with tons of collateral damage to buildings and anyone foolish enough to close to the center of the fighting. Every few seconds, a blast of energy shot at a crazy angle—a missed bolt of lightning from an angel or a beam of flaming darkness from a devil.

The sight made my heart pound and my throat go dry. Only a fool or a madman would actually try to get up close and film this.

Then a woman walked into the shot. For a second I thought the news anchor from BNN had somehow teleported into the middle of the fracas, then I realized that it was a different person entirely. The news channel must have just employed lots of young blondes.

“Hello, Tracy!” The news anchor held a cordless microphone, and kept shooting glances over her shoulder as she spoke. “As you can see, the situation down here is dire! The fighting has been growing more and more intense over the last few hours. We’ve only just come out of hiding to try and get you and the viewers at home a glimpse of this conflict!”

“Holy shit,” I whispered. “This girl’s insane!”

Seeing an ordinary human against this backdrop, it really began to sink in for me that this was real. If these fights were allowed to continue, they’d tear across the whole country. Across every country. The entire world would become a battlefield, one that no one had any hope of escaping.

I had to seize the day. I had to win.

“She totally is,” Erika said as she leaned forward in her chair. “She’d better be fucking careful. One of those imps over her head might try to smash her into paste—”

As if summoned by Erika’s suggestion, one of the winged creatures sent a beam of darkness in the news crew’s direction. The camera suddenly dropped to the grass, and the sounds of swearing filled the street as the reporter and her cameraman took cover.

“What in the world…?”

Charlie had just entered the room. The rest of my girls followed, staring at the screen as the camera guy picked his rig back up and started filming more of the fight. That took a hell of a lot of guts, and my estimation of both these people jumped way up when I saw that.

“The news was all over my phone when I woke up,” Stephanie said, following the other girls into the room. They arranged themselves on the couch around me, while Erika got up and went into the kitchen to get the same food and drink she’d delivered to me for the rest of my women. “I didn’t want to believe it…”

“It’s true,” Mia whispered. The redhead came over and kissed me, hard, then sat down in my lap and took a sip of my coffee. Any distance that had been between us twenty-four hours was gone now—the two of us were closer than husband and wife, bound together by the Archon System. “The Bellum Aeternum started while I was passed out in your arms.”

The situation was serious, but that didn’t stop me from wrapping my arms around Mia’s waist. “Worse places you could have been when it all kicked off,” I murmured, my lips under her ear.

Mia nodded, giving me a short smile. “We should reconsider Erika’s offer,” the redhead said, her demeanor telling me she’d already brought this up with my women while they were in bed. “We need that control key, Jax.”

I blinked. “You’re already pressuring me?”

Mia looked like she’d been slapped. “Of course not,” she said, looking me in the eye. “The final decision is yours, Jax. I’m just making suggestions—which is the other thing you want us all around you for.” She smirked gently at that. “Everything just changed while we were asleep, babe. We don’t have the luxury of time any longer.”

As much as I hated to admit it, Mia had a point. We needed to be out there protecting the people today.

“Did I hear you talking about me?”

I turned to see Erika standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. She’d hiked up the hem of her oversized t-shirt, and I caught a glimpse of her shaved pussy as she shifted from one leg to the other. Of course she wanted me to see.

“Would it be such a bad thing to take the control key?” the pink-haired demon asked, gesturing at the news report. “You could be saving those people right now, Jax. Then drafting that anchor as your latest foot soldier in the Bellum Aeternum. Lucifer knows she’s brave enough…”

“I thought you said I could command demons if I signed on with you,” I shot back.

Erika nodded, grinning. “Of course you can. Starting with me.”

She shrugged her shoulders, lifting the fabric of her shirt. Anyone who might have been wondering what the demoness was wearing under it now had the answer: nothing at all. Her mound was totally hairless, and her slit so small and snug that it looked like a line someone had drawn on with a pencil.

“Take the power,” the demon purred, pursing her lips. “And take me. You know it’s the right thing to do.”

Mia shifted in my lap. I know she didn’t mean to, but her ass ground against my cock in a way that made me even harder than I’d been a few seconds ago. The temptation to pull down her leggings and thrust inside her—or to slide her off of my lap and pull Erika onto me instead—was almost too powerful to resist.

Goddamn. Why did all these women have to be so fucking hot ?

Erika knew when the time was right to go for the hard sell. “I spent all night wet and frustrated, listening to you with your girls.” Erika looked around the room, her gaze touching on each member of my harem as she grinned lewdly. “I’m so fucking hot and slick still. All it would take is one thrust and I’d be cumming all over your cock, Master—”

If Erika had been allowed to continue in that vein for another minute or two, who knows what might have happened? I very well could have done something stupid—something I couldn’t take back.

But just then, Fliss pointed at the screen.

“Holy shit!” the brunette said, her eyes widening like saucers. “Jax, tell me that’s not who I think it is!”

Turning my gaze away from Erika’s out-thrust tits was tough, but I did it. Up on the screen, the newscaster had just ducked behind a car with a yelp of terror, and so the camera was pointed directly at the fight. An angel dropped from the sky, scattering lighting bolts in all directions as a half-dozen demons were pierced through with magic.

My heart skipped a beat. I recognized that angel.

A familiar chain hung around its holy neck. Beneath its doublet, that chain would be connected to a gem that shone like a miniature sun.

The control key I’d been promised.

Just like that, I wasn’t thinking about Erika or her sexual fantasies any longer. The Nameless Angel was back—and it was so shameless about being on camera that it was almost like the creature wanted to be seen.

It does, I thought. It’s flaunting the way it ran away last time. What will it do when I show up in the middle of the fight?

With a start, I realized I’d already made my decision.

I shot from the couch, sliding Mia from my lap and startling my other women. “I need a portal,” I told the group, going to the nearest replicator and telling it to generate a uniform in my size. “Everyone get some clothes on. The last thing we need is for the national news to see you all fighting half-naked…”

My girls started.

“What?” Fliss asked, blinking. “What are you suggesting, Jax?”

I pointed at the screen, where the Nameless Angel stood atop a pile of twisted metal. “That thing is taunting me,” I growled, giving voice to the anger I’d felt since that angelic bastard flew the coop on me rather than handing over the control key I’d earned. “It wants a rematch. And I’m about to give it to him.”

Chapter 6

Chicago was in even worse shape than the news implied.

Black smoke roiled on the horizon as our squad poured through the portal. We emerged in the middle of a public square, smack dab between a university library and a line of fast food places and quick service restaurants lining the opposite side of the street. All of them were smashed to bits. Shards of broken glass covered the sidewalks, and the fancy statues that had once lined the walking trail were all small piles of rubble now.

“Jesus,” I said, looking around at the devastation. “They’ve really done a number on this place.”

A pink-haired figure popped out of the portal next to me. “That’s right!” Erika said eagerly, grinning at the row of smashed shops. “Team Demon doesn’t hold back when we come to town, baby! We leave nothing behind us but a trail of burnt feathers and broken dreams!”

I bit back a sigh. I’d tried to command Erika to remain behind at the Stronghold, the way I’d barred her from Mia’s branding ceremony. But unlike before, the demoness felt no need to obey me now. She’d hopped through the portal before any of my actual harem girls could, eager to see her friends from Down Below first hand.

“Remember: when the fighting starts, you stay out of it,” I growled at the demoness. “Don’t get in my way, and don’t get in the way of my women.”

Erika gave me another one of those theatrical pouts. “But you’re going to be fighting angels!” she protested. “Right?”

A vein in my jaw flexed. “ One angel,” I shot back. “The guy with the control key is my target.”

Erika was already nodding like a bobblehead. “So there’s going to be a ton of other feather-heads standing in your way!” The demoness mimed swinging her fists, like a championship boxer delivering the finishing blow. “Boom! Pow! Light’s out!”

Mia popped through the portal in a wave of smoke. “You said you wouldn’t fight beside us unless Jax agreed to ally with hell,” the redhead said. She’d transformed before jumping through, and now she stood before me in full foxgirl regalia. God damn she was hotter than hell.

Erika thought so, too. “Yeah, but these are angels! ” the demoness said excitedly. “I’m always ready to smash them into paste!”

The rest of my girls emerged from the portal, transformed and ready to go. First came Fliss as the Valkyrie, standing nearly seven feet tall in her Viking armor with her golden spear at the ready. At her back was Charlie as the Noir Knight, a sexy dark elf with a chainmail bikini and a fur stole around her shoulders as brilliant and white as her long, shimmering hair. Bringing up the rear was Stephanie, my vampire and my Blood Witch. Fishnet stockings hugged her legs, and her corset and skirt left very little to the imagination.

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked as she stepped through. She glanced over warily at Erika—like me, she’d been against the demoness coming with us. “Trouble?”

“No trouble at all,” I said. “Erika just informed us that even though she’s not an official member of the group, she’ll have no trouble fighting beside us today. At least against half of our opponents—”

“The angelic half,” the dark elf said with a nod. “Cool.”

“Where’s that damned angel?” Stephanie asked.

Good question. The smoke was making it hard to see. We’d pulled up a satellite map of the city before Mia made the portal, so I was fairly certain we’d landed within two blocks of the spot where the news reporter and her crew videotaped the Nameless Angel. But with all this crap in the sky, one direction looked more or less the same as another.

“ Help! ”

The cry was weak over the sound of the flames. But it sounded like someone in trouble: and it was coming from a recognizable direction. If any direction was a guess, we might as well head for the one where we could do some good.

“That way!” I roared, charging. “Let’s do this!”

We ran.

At the end of the block, the voice became louder. Two cars had crashed at the center of the intersection, and one of them had a man still moving around inside. It was he who’d been screaming—screaming at the half-dozen scaled demons with pitchforks flying over his automobile.

The creatures had long tongues and wolfish jaws, along with long, leathery bat wings. They were making a game of torturing the man, stabbing through the roof with the ends of their weapons while the man desperately wriggled away.

It made me sick.

I reached to the side. The Tempest Fang snapped to life in my hand.

“Hey!” I roared, cupping my hand around my mouth. “Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size?”

The demons turned. They lifted their pitchforks from the roof of the car and hissed. One of them shook theirs, growling at the interruption.

Next to me, Erika gave a start. “Azazel? Phil ?”

I glanced over at the pink-haired demon. “You know these guys?”

Two of the winged demons shared a look. “Leave us alone, succubus!” they cackled, stabbing the roof of the car. Inside the cab, the trapped human screamed, one of the tines missing their shoulder by inches. “We’re having fun!”

Erika sighed. “They never did listen to me,” she muttered. Then, turning to me: “Any chance you could go easy on them?”

“Help!” the human cried out, screaming at the top of their lungs. “Please, save me! These things are trying to kill me!”

I turned to Erika. “You think you could call them off?”

The pink-haired demon sighed. “Nah. Alright, do what you’ve gotta do. Send them both back to Hell!”

One of the demon’s heads jerked up. “Hey! I thought you were on our side—!”

An aether shard silenced his angry words.

“Man,” Erika groaned, making a face. “I’m going to catch Hell for that the next time I go visit my Dad. Literally .”

“That sounds like a personal problem,” I told the pink-haired demon. “Come on girls—let’s do this!”

We jumped into the fray. The demons who’d been attacking the roof of the car took one look at our squad and bolted, spreading their wings and flying into the air. Their chittering cries filled the square as they taunted us, seeking easier meat.

“Bastards,” I growled.

Not for the first time, I wished I had the ability to fly. Angels and demons alike used it as their trump card, and it would be great to be able to sprout wings and keep right on giving chase when they thought they were safe.

Charlie nudged me with her elbow. “Hey, it’s fine by me,” the dark elf grinned. “Let’s hope all our fights today are over that quickly...”

In full Valkyrie mode, Fliss grabbed the door of the sedan and ripped it off. The man inside shrank backwards, as terrified of the seven-foot Viking standing before him as he’d been of the demons and their pitchforks. I couldn’t blame him. My girls could be damned intimidating.

“It’s alright,” I said. “You’re safe now. Those demons are gone.”

The man stuck his head out of the car door. He stared at Felicity in horror, his gaze lingering for just a moment too long on her breastplate, then he turned his attention to me.

“Who...” he trailed off. “Who the hell are you?”

I took the man’s hand and hauled him the rest of the way out of the car. “I’m Jaxon Bryant,” I told him. “The Powermancer. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.”

The man didn’t look like he particularly cared what we were here to do. “You saved my life,” he said, amazed. He looked over at the puncture wounds the creatures’ pitchforks left in the roof of his car, swallowing hard. “Those things—they’re everywhere! There’s no escape!”

I gestured at a nearby building. “Get under cover,” I told him. “Find somewhere to hide. My girls and I are here now.”

Until that moment, I don’t think the man had realized that I had a whole group of women with me. His eyes nearly fell out of his head when he looked at Charlie, Stephanie, and Mia. But it was when he saw Erika standing beside me that he really freaked out.

“It’s a demon!” he cried, pointing a shaking finger at the demoness. “Look out!”

All of us turned. Erika made a show of looking around her, as if she wasn’t the person the man was talking about.

Finally she blinked. “Where?” she asked in an innocent voice.

“It’s okay,” I assured the man. “She’s with us.”

“Sheesh!” The man took one last look at me, then bolted for the building. “This whole world has gone fucking insane!”

I watched him go. He reached the broken doors of a nearby building and climbed inside, doing his best to hide from both the monsters outside and the people who’d just saved him.

Charlie watched him go with a dismissive sniff. “Some gratitude.”

“He’s not wrong,” I said. “The world has gone fucking insane.”

Fliss took my hand. “Then let’s fix it.”

A surge of pride filled my chest. In the middle of a warzone like this, it was all too easy to feel like an ant beneath a magnifying glass—trapped at the mercy of tidal forces beyond our control. It was a jolt of reality to remember that we weren’t just totally awesome—we also had the power to change our futures. All of us.

“Fuck yeah,” I said, turning back to the group. “Let’s go find that angel!”

We ran into several more small fights as we searched the streets. Very few humans were still out and about, and those that were had almost always been trapped outside of buildings or other shelters. It was far more common for us to run across a few rogue angels, or a handful of demons squaring off against a member of the heavenly set.

True to her promise, Erika went apeshit every time we ran into angels. But she remained aloof and separate against demonic entities, even when they were clearly threatening innocent lives.

It was an interesting dynamic. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the help. But I couldn’t help but wonder how she managed the cognitive dissonance.

At some point, Stephanie spoke up. “Hey, Erika?”

The pink-haired demon was in the middle of tearing apart the remains of a fallen angel’s halo. “Uh huh?”

“You don’t think your Dad is going to be pissed off that you’re walking through the middle of this warzone with Jax, do you?” She maintained a light, casual tone, but behind her eyes I could see her worry. It wouldn’t be a good thing to anger the king of Hell. “I mean, I know you’re only attacking angels. But maybe the finer details will be lost when word of this filters to Down Below?”

Erika shrugged, then grinned. “Dad doesn’t care. Chaos is kind of his thing. ” Then she beamed at me. “Besides, if I come back to Hell on this boy’s arm, it doesn’t matter if I kill a million demons. Everything will be forgiven!”

I wasn’t so sure about that. But it wasn’t my problem to worry about.

At some point, I realized we were fighting in the rain. The clouds had opened, pouring down from the gray sky. The thick smoke obscuring our view managed to hide the signs, but the first droplets of water on my face showed the truth.

Thunder cracked the sky. More rain poured down, dissipating the smoke. With the view around us clearing, I could see where it was we’d originally been heading when we stepped out of our portal. In fact, we’d almost managed to stumble upon our original destination while traveling from fight to fight.

We’d reached a small public square. Grass filled the center of a roundabout, with cracked pavement surrounding it all on all sides. More cars had driven right off the road, crashing into each other to form a scene that looked like it belonged in a junkyard.

At the center of the lawn, however, was a single undamaged van. The logo of a local news network was emblazoned along the side.

“This is it!” I shouted, gesturing for my squad to follow me. “I hope we’re not too late!”

None of them dared ask me what it was I thought we were too late for. I wanted to help the news crew, sure—especially if it got me on television. But what I really wanted was a second crack at the Nameless Angel.

That creature owed me a control key.

As I got closer, I noticed a trio of figures using the van for cover. One of them fiddled with a camera, while another kept watch and a third cowered behind the trunk of the automobile. It was the person leaning over the hood who caught my interest, both because of how unafraid she was and because I was pretty sure I recognized her.

It was the news anchor from the on-the-spot report we’d seen earlier.

She looked over as she saw us, cringing at first, then relaxing when she realized we were neither demons nor angels. “You friendlies?” she asked, holding up a hand.

Then she saw the Valkyrie and the Noir Knight, and her face changed.

“What the hell are you!?” she murmured, her eyes widening. She tried to get the attention of the man cowering behind the trunk, but he wasn’t moving. He kept babbling to himself in a low voice, speaking words that I thought might have been a prayer.

I crossed the cracked street and stepped onto the grass—what little was left of it, anyway. “I’m Jaxon Bryant,” I said, taking her hand. “The Powermancer.”

The woman’s face filled with amazement. “Power-what? Is that like, a superhero name or something?”

I’d never thought about that before, but it made a surprising amount of sense. “Kind of,” I said with a chuckle. “We saw you were in trouble and swung by to help.”

“Swung by...” The woman whispered. Suddenly she straightened up, remembering who she was and what she’d come here to do. “Paul!”

Paul was apparently the man fiddling with the camera. I guessed he’d been the one filming all of the newscaster’s videos from the middle of the battle. He hadn’t noticed us yet, he was too busy trying to get his camera working again.

“Hang on a second, Heather—I’ve almost got this,” he grunted. Then he glanced up and saw the Viking and the Noir Knight looming over him. “What the fuck !?”

“Paul, this is Jaxon,” the news reporter—Heather—said in a bemused tone. “He and his, ah... female companions have apparently come to make sure we can continue to record safely.”

The man blinked. “Well, that’s good news,” he muttered, slapping the side of his camera. “I’ve just about got this damned thing working again. Should be able to get it linked back up with BNN’s servers, assuming CJ hasn’t scared himself so bad he’s forgotten how to do the tech stuff.”

CJ? That must have been the praying guy sheltering on the grass.

Heather walked around the side of the car and gave the man sitting there a kick. “CJ, this is important!” she hissed. “We need to go live, now! Just look at these people!”

I turned around, trying to see what she saw. And realized the truth.

We really did look like superheroes.

I was carrying a sword almost as large as I was. Accompanying me were a viking, a dark elf, a vampire and a foxgirl—and I had a sultry demon in tow who might or might not be serving me.

To the untrained eye, we looked like the calvary, coming in at the eleventh hour to save the day. No wonder this girl wanted to get everything on film!

CJ managed to get his camera up and onto his shoulder.

As he fiddled with the connection, the IT guy handed Heather a microphone with a beleaguered expression. He looked like he wanted to crouch behind the car and curl back up into a tiny ball as quickly as possible, but Heather wasn’t going to let him.

“Is it working?” she asked.

The man’s bland nod was all the answer she needed.

“Great.” She turned to me, sizing me up with a smile. “From the way you’ve been talking to me, I’m going to assume that you’re the one in charge of this group?”

This group ? That was a hell of a way to put it. But yeah, she was right.

“That’s it,” I said, looking at my girls. “Jaxon Bryant, like I said. This woman standing next to me is Charlie, and behind her—”

Heather was already shaking her head. “No, just you,” she said, her smile turning into a grin. “This is going to be gold. But, uh, get your girls around you. Like an entourage.”

“Like this?” Fliss asked. She took up the rear with her enhanced height, while my other women circled me. Erika tried to get into the shot, but Stephanie checked her with a shoulder and kept her out of the frame.

“Perfect.” Heather was starting to look excited now. “We’re going to do a ‘man on the street’ interview. CJ, you’ve let the studio know we’re going live?”

“They know,” the man said. It almost came out as a moan.

Heather gave him a curt nod. “Good. Remember, this is a war zone. More of those things could come barreling down the street at any moment, so we’d better make this fast.”

That was actually what I was counting on. “Suits me. Can I ask you a question, first?”

Heather glanced over at the man with the camera. He fiddled with a dial on the side of his camera, then nodded. “They’re intro-ing us now,” he said. “We’re live in thirty.”

“You can,” the anchor told me. “But make it snappy.”

“What the hell are you still doing here?” I asked.

The newscaster gave a little start, though she kept smiling. “I’m sorry?”

“You said it yourself.” I liked this girl, and I was liking her more the longer I talked with her. “This is a war zone. Civilians shouldn’t be in this place any longer than they have to be. So why haven’t you bailed?”

The guy who’d been crouched behind the car looked up like he’d been asking them all the same question. Heather shot him a harsh look, then turned back to me.

“It’s important,” she said, crossing her arms under her breasts. “People need to know what’s going on here. If we don’t show them the truth—if we don’t refuse to back down—then who will?”

Damn. She really did know what she was doing.

I was about to tell her that when her cameraman interrupted us. “We’re live in three!” he said, lifting a thumb. “Two! One—!”

Heather slipped into professional mode so quickly I barely had time to blink. “Heather Holcomb, Chicago 5,” she said, plastering a smile on her face far too big and wide for the situation. “Thanks for getting us in so quickly, Barbara!”

The anchors on the other end said something, then Heather nodded. She turned to me, holding up the mic.

“Barbara, I’m being joined by a group of vigilantes who’ve just arrived in the city. Although they only just got here, I understand they’ve actually been fighting the demons rummaging through the city streets! Is that right, Mr…?”

I’m on camera. The thought hit me like a freight train. I’m on national TV, and the whole fucking world is watching me.

I won’t lie—it made me want to scream and run away. I wished there was a makeup person around to keep the sweat off my forehead. But I wouldn’t lose my cool.

“My name is Jaxon Bryant,” I said, turning to the camera’s eye. “I’m a Powermancer, which means I can do things like this—!”

I summoned an Aether Blade between my fingers. Heather jumped back as the six-inch spike shimmered to life in my palm, her gasp perfectly calculated for the camera to sound as adoring as possible.

“These are my women,” I grunted, gesturing at the ladies surrounding me. “They used to be ordinary humans, just like me. Now they’re something else.”

Heather beamed. “What are they, Mister Bryant? What are you , for that matter?”

It was the perfect softball question, pitched right over the plate.

I hit a home run.

“Hope,” I said, looking into the eyes of millions of people watching at home. “I’m hope, Heather. It’s time for humanity to stop cowering! We don’t need to be tortured and hunted for sport by demons—or by angels, for that matter! With the power of the Archon System, humanity is in control of its own destiny! We’re going to save this city, Heather. And then we’re going to save the human race!”

I turned back to Heather, suitably impressed with my speech. I felt certain that she’d be filled with adoration and burgeoning love, and she’d probably beg me to use the Archon System to transform her into my latest love interest as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately for me, Heather wasn’t looking at me at all.

She was staring at the angel.

And so was everyone else.

Chapter 7

It was him. The Nameless Angel.

The creature touched down a stone’s throw away, landing on the edge of the grass in the center of the roundabout. He looked pretty much exactly the way he’d been at Dr. Bodekker’s ceremony, with one exception: the utterly massive greatsword strapped to his back between his wings. It was so wide and thick that it looked he was carrying a cross—one with the arms sawed off.

A half-dozen angels floated over the square, directly above us. They made no move to join the Nameless Angel. For now, they were waiting. Watching.

That bastard, I thought, my lips peeling back over my teeth. An image filled my mind’s eye: the Nameless Angel fleeing the scene of Dr. Bodekker’s ceremony, the golden control key hanging around its cherubic neck. I was owed that key. I’d made a deal with that angel in order to get it, and I’d held up my end of the arrangement.

Heather had noticed my sudden change in temperament. Probably everyone at home did as well.

“That… is not an ordinary angel,” the newscaster whispered.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not,” I said, shifting the Tempest Fang off my shoulders. “That creature and I have unfinished business. You and your team should get out of here—”

Heather laughed, then covered up her mic. “Are you kidding me?” she whispered. “This is the greatest story I’ve ever done! If we survive this, I’m a shoe-in for a Pulitzer Prize!”

Guess she’s ambitious, too, I thought. I like that.

“Suit yourselves,” I told the trio. “Just stay out of our way.”

The camera guy nodded. The computer dude behind the car trembled. Nobody was going to cause any trouble. Good.

I had some work to do.

I turned away, fully cognizant of the camera on my back. This moment was going to be captured on film forever, so I needed to both look and act the part. Thanks to Heather, I now knew that people expected my women and I to be superheroes: which meant behaving like we were the saviors of humanity. I called up every memory I had of watching Marvel movies as I shifted the Tempest Fang to my side and stared the Nameless Angel down.

“You have something that belongs to me,” I said, cupping a hand around my mouth.

The creature didn’t move. Nor did it speak. If I squinted and forgot that I’d just seen it drop out of the sky, I could almost be convinced that I was looking at a statue, not a living being.

The Nameless Angel’s head shifted almost imperceptibly. His face filled with stony rage as he saw the pink-haired demon in our midst, hanging out on the edge of the battlefield.

“So, you have thrown your lot in with the damned,” the creature rumbled. Just like always, the Nameless Angel sounded like he was gargling gravel when he spoke. “I see you’ve brought one of the unclean abominations with you as a chaperone. I am not surprised. Men like you always fall easily to Hell’s sexual temptations…”

“Woah, woah,” I said, already shaking my head. Everything this stone asshole was saying would be picked up by the microphones, and this was being broadcast. I didn’t want any misconceptions about me and my squad going out over the airwaves. “Absolutely none of that is true.”

“That’s right!” Erika let out a magically-amplified shout, backed up with her movie star quality pout. “He won’t even let me suck his dick!”

The angel stared flatly at the pink-haired demon. “As sinful as ever,” the creature said, his stony lips compressing to a line so flat you couldn’t have fit a playing card into it.

Erika laughed, letting her long pink tongue loll from her mouth. “You’d better fucking believe it, feather-head!”

I held up a hand to silence the demoness. “This is between the two of us,” I said, lifting my voice. I wished in that moment that I knew how to do the ‘throw your voice’ trick favored by people like Dr. Bodekker and Erika. Maybe the demoness would show me how it was done after the fight. “I haven’t taken Hell’s power into myself, angel. And I haven’t installed Lucifer’s control key, either. I’m still a free agent, beholden to no one.”

“Then why does this demon follow you?”

I shrugged. “She’s letting me weigh my options. Plus, she has a crush on me.”

Erika wiggled her eyebrows. She had at least a little self-control, though: after I told her to stop, she didn’t toss any more lewd jokes at the angel.

“This is wrong, baernan, ” the Nameless Angel said, crossing his arms. “Consorting with demons is forbidden. The Almighty would punish one of our order with death for doing what you’ve done—”

“Then it’s good that I’m not a member of your order,” I shot back. “I can do miracles, though. Did one at Dr. Bodekker’s shindig. Or don’t you remember?”

The angel blanched at that. “That was no miracle.”

I barked out a laugh. “I don’t know what else you’d call it! You told me I had to prove myself, alone, in front of you and all your cronies. And I did it.” I pointed a finger at the creature. “Then you ran away!”

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting in the way of a response. Smug self-righteousness, probably, or maybe an apology if the angel truly was one of the good ones. Either way, the Nameless Angel would give me some kind of reaction.

The creature didn’t move. It did the opposite of moving, actually. Though it was standing perfectly still, it suddenly seemed to be not moving in quite an intense fashion. I didn’t understand it at first, and then something clicked.

I wasn’t a terribly religious guy, but my adopted parents gave me a book of bible stories when I was little. Whoever published it spent most of the budget on the book of Exodus: Moses freeing the Israelites from the wicked Pharoah. All that Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments stuff.

I remembered that every time Moses did something to try and change Pharoah’s mind, he ‘hardened his heart’. I never understood what that turn of phrase truly meant until I looked into the face of the Nameless Angel and watched him bury his shame at fleeing our last meeting.

This creature did feel guilty about betraying our deal. But God was ‘hardening’ the Nameless Angel’s heart.

Which meant I wasn’t going to get that control key easily.

The Nameless Angel cleared its mighty throat. “I have spoken with the Almighty,” it said, imbuing those words with every bit of the reverence they deserved. “He has cleansed my sin and forgiven me for doing what had to be done. You have been corrupted by demons, Jaxon Bryant. You surround yourself with harlots and succubae, you flaunt your powers like a common magician. You are not the man whom I hoped could become the Vessel of my Lord’s power and lead us into a new Golden Age.”

That stung a little bit. Especially the part about the harlots. I wanted to defend my girls, of course, but it was a little hard to counter the charge of harlotry when there was a literal demon standing next to me striking stripper poses and joking about sucking my cock.

Instead, I lifted the Tempest Fang. “You know what this sounds like to me, holy boy? Sour grapes! You lost our deal, fair and square, and now you don’t want to hand over the control key. I know you have the Golden Braid hanging around your neck. I can see it glowing underneath your tunic!”

I actually couldn’t—but when the Nameless Angel glanced down to check, it was all the confirmation I needed.

“The Almighty has decided,” the angel growled. “The power shall not belong to thee!”

“I don’t work for the Almighty, pal,” I roared. “I work for me !”

A bolt of lightning shot between two clouds. The sky opened up, and rain started to pour down in buckets. Within moments my hair was flattened against my forehead and my clothes were soaked.

I didn’t care. It didn’t matter. Only this battle mattered.

“Good Lord,” I heard Heather whisper behind me. “This looks like a freaking movie!”

I couldn’t help but grin. She was right: it really did. The storm, the glow around the angel’s body, the sexy women surrounding me and waiting to see what I’d do—it all resembled the end of some science fiction action movie.

Except my movie was just beginning. And something told me this Nameless Angel was just another goon I’d have to climb over in order to get to the top of the heap.

“I have been told to dispatch you,” the Nameless Angel said. Its gaze lifted skyward. “Spectators have accompanied me, to ensure the deed is done.”

So that was why the angel brought backup. Or was it?

I was certain the Nameless Angel believed everything it was telling me. The Almighty told it I was evil, then commanded it to go to the city, flush me out, and finish the job. The other angels were there to watch and verify, nothing more.

Except I figured they were there as an insurance policy. If this fight started to go sideways for Heaven, I had little doubt these other guys would jump right in and put their thumbs on the cosmic scale. Not to mention their swords.

I glanced over at my women, making sure they were taking all this in. Charlie gave me a little nod, letting me know she was on the same wavelength. If the angels tried to hop in the ring, my girls would take it as a  signal to join the fighting, too.

“Cool,” I said, giving the Tempest Fang a quick swing. “I wanted a rematch. This time, I’m getting that control key.”

The Nameless Angel let out a harsh bark of a laugh. “You will have to tear it from my dead body.”

My jaw set and my body dropped into a battle stance. “That’s the idea, pal.”

I could feel the Archon System flowing through my veins like electric current. The edges of my vision blurred, crackling with an electronic overlay that I sensed could spill into floating words at any moment. Part of me wondered why the System was being so proactive with this fight, but mostly I was just glad to see it there. It had saved my life more times than I could count.

“Very well.” The Nameless Angel took the sword from its back and drew it in a single smooth motion. “In that case, baernan, I will be glad to resume our duel—”

The creature blurred, shooting across the square as quick as a thought.

“—to the death! ”

I got the Tempest Fang up just in time. Good gracious that thing was fast! It swung its heavenly blade like it was a common broadsword, bringing the steel up in a wide vertical arc that nearly cleaved me in two. The impact hit the blunt side of the Tempest Fang, sending a shock through my body that rattled my bones.

I’d thought I understood the capabilities of the Nameless Angel. Now it occurred to me with horror that the creature had been holding back until now. It had always been pulling its punches, running at ninety percent of its power instead of the big one zero zero.

But not now. Now this thing truly wanted to kill me.

It launched itself from the ground with a kick, its mighty wings beating against the storm. Rainwater flew from its feathers as it whipped over the grass, slapping my already soaked clothing. I didn’t feel it.

I was too busy feeling the numbness that crawled up my arm in a paralyzing wave.

The Nameless Angel did a pirouette, twirling to the side as it shifted its heavenly sword from a one to a two-handed grip. The next slash came horizontally, with enough force behind it to crack a dam.

This time, I was ready. I threw up a wrist and summoned the Aether Shield, growling the word of power.

Interlocking shards of red magic popped into existence over my wrist, forming a half-dome of glowing energy. The shield intercepted the next blow, blunting it. A spiderweb of tiny cracks radiated from the spot where the Nameless Angel’s weapon made contact, but the shield held.

The angel let out an unholy growl. “The Archon System!”

“Humanity’s birthright,” I agreed, grinning fiercely despite the pins and needles in my sword arm. “I’m going to beat you, angel. And once I install that control key, I’m going to give this gift to every human being who wants to take it—!”

Murderous rage filled the creature’s eyes.

The angel unleashed a flurry of blows, striking the shield like a blacksmith trying to hammer out a particularly difficult piece of metal. He swung again and again, his blows losing the flair and patience the creature had had only a few moments ago. Now the Nameless Angel was pissed.

He doesn’t like me talking about humanity, I thought, gripping the shield for everything it was worth. It really drives him insane!

It was a minor miracle in its own right that the half-dome hadn’t shattered like a plate glass window. It wasn’t all that long ago that a single angelic assassin managed to tear through the Aether Shield, shattering it in her bid to keep me from extending the Archon System to my harem girl Stephanie. It had healed since then, and it was stronger now, but was it strong enough to resist the attacks of a creature like this?

I couldn’t afford to find out.

The next time the angel swung the sword, I unsummoned the Aether Shield.

The move caught the creature off-guard—he hadn’t been expecting it. He tried to pull his punch, but failed. Instead, he swung wild, overextending his strike and leaving himself wide open for a counterattack.

His hate’s a liability. The words sounded almost insane when applied to a literal angel, but they came from deep within. He detests humanity. Keep pushing him on it, and you’ll win!

I wished I knew why the Nameless Angel had such an animus against me. Something told me that understanding it could be the key to bringing this big stone monster down. But for now, I just had to guess.

And keep on fighting.

I shifted around the creature’s arm, bringing the Tempest Fang up for a rising strike. The blade bit deep into the creature’s tunic before bouncing right off of its stony chest. The material was too hard for even the razor-sharp edge of my blade to easily cut. But the hit achieved my secondary objective.

The Nameless Angel’s shirt fell open. Beneath the tunic lay a golden, glowing gem on a silver chain.

A wave of peaceful, warm energy filled the square. I fought the urge to relax and sigh happily as it washed over me, but the rest of my harem weren’t as prepared as I was. I felt them turn to Jello beneath the wave of healing light, while the news reporter behind them was so shocked she nearly dropped her microphone.

The Nameless Angel roared. “Bah! How dare you, Powermancer!”

I had a moment here, an instant of momentum on my side. I decided to seize it.

“You see that?” I roared, pointing at the glowing gem hanging from the angel’s neck. “That’s the control key. That’s what was promised to me for pulling off the impossible task the angels set before me!”

The newscaster’s face filled with awe. “Get a good shot of that!” she commanded her cameraman. “If the people at home can feel what we’re feeling, they’re going to want to know what that thing is!”

Now it was my turn to be surprised. Could they feel that wash of heavenly power? It seemed impossible, but stranger things had happened.

Either way, it was the fight that mattered.

I tossed a handful of Aether Shards at the Nameless Angel, ducking and darting this way and that as I closed the distance between us. It lifted its blade quickly, even carelessly, batting each glittering shard of light away before it could strike, yet I couldn’t help but sense a growing lassitude to the stone angel’s movements.

It shifted as I grew close, backing up as I rushed forward to claim space. But it wasn’t moving as fast as before. There was something almost sad about it.

What the hell? What had I done?

A stony frown showed on the creature’s face as it backed away again and again. We danced a wide circle in the grass, trading blows as we parried and thrust and pirouetted away from each other’s blades.But the Nameless Angel’s blows were coming slower, with more hesitation and less force. The next time it swung at me, I lifted the Tempest Fang and stabbed forward, shrinking the Aether Shield to the size of a buckler on my wrist.

I parried the sword and thrust with my own. The Nameless Angel tensed, preparing to shrug off the blow—but the creature had no idea what I was really about to do.

With a flick of the wrist, I drove the point beneath the silver crystal holding the control key around the angel’s neck—and snapped it clean through.

The Nameless Angel let out a cry of inarticulate rage as the gem fell to the grass. Though it scooped the glowing jewel up as quick as a flash, I could see the move had rattled him. He no longer looked as certain of himself as he’d been a few minutes ago.

“That’s right,” I growled, savoring his anxiety. “I’m not the same guy you fought at that party. Even in that small amount of time, I’ve grown into something stronger.”

A grimace spread across the angel’s face. “Your tainted blood,” the creature spat— literally spat, sending a gob of faintly glowing saliva to the grass. “The vampire gives you powers you have no right to control...”

A laugh came from behind me. When I turned, Stephanie had her hand on her hip and was staring the creature down.

“He hasn’t bitten me,” she declared, striking a seductive pose for the camera. “Not unless you count the marks he left on my tits last night!”

My other women laughed at that. So, to my surprise, did Heather the news anchor. I found I liked that sound—I liked it a lot.

“I’m not doping,” I told the Nameless Angel. “I’m a little disheartened that you’d accuse me of such ungentlemanly behavior. Especially when you’re the one who ran away with your tail tucked between your legs last time we fought!”

The Nameless Angel looked even more pissed off than before. “I see no reason to believe your words, baernan.”

I snickered. “Then you truly are deluded.”

For a moment, I thought I’d struck a finishing blow to the angel’s pride. The creature stared at me, its gaze hardening from shock into rage. Then something broke inside the heavy stone creature, and it sighed.

“I did not want to do this,” the Nameless Angel said.

He looked up to the sky, watching the winged creatures above his head, like he hoped one of them might swing down and relieve him of the duty of having to finish this fight.

None of them came.

“You don’t have to do any of this.” That was Fliss, coming in with the last-minute save. “You can just fulfill the terms of your original agreement. You can give us the gem, take to the sky, and go in peace!”

Damn. That was forceful. And it looked like it almost worked. The Nameless Angel’s expression darkened, and I could tell a big part of him wanted to do exactly what Felicity was suggesting.

But there was an even bigger part of him that wouldn’t allow it.

“Make sure you’re getting this!” I glanced over my shoulder to see the news anchor looking at her crew like she wanted to throttle them. Both the camera man and the coward from earlier looked like they wanted to run for the hills. Like they’d just seen the first few pebbles of an avalanche.

The Nameless Angel was already shaking its head. “No,” it rumbled. “You do not understand. And I do not believe you ever will.”

The creature lifted its sword into the air, holding it aloft with both hands. For just a moment, the clouds broke, and a single shaft of sunlight caught the edge of the blade.

It was gorgeous.

A moment later, the angel’s sword was on fire.

Chapter 8

Tongues of flame danced up and down the Nameless Angel’s blade.

For a moment, there was just that light, shimmering across the silver like a special effect from a Hollywood movie. Then a wave of pure heat rolled from the weapon, cascading over the grassy field and shoving all of us backward. The Nameless Angel’s sword might have been heavenly in origin, but it blazed like the fires of Hell itself as the creature powered up.

Okay, I thought, rising to my full height. Second phase. Should have seen this coming, Jax. You can still do this!

Both my harem and the news crew watching them shrank backwards before the sight of that blade. I didn’t blame them—it was damned impressive. If I hadn’t had so much to lose from standing down at such a critical moment, with the eyes of the world on me, I might have shrunk backwards, too.

The Nameless Angel pointed the flaming sword directly at me. “This is your fault,” it growled, looking angry at me for forcing it to this point. “You made me do this, baernan. What happens to this city now is on your shoulders.” He dropped his voice. “The blood is on your hands.”

Blood? I wasn’t sure about that. It seemed to me that pretty much everyone else involved in this conflict had far more blood on their hands than I did. And mine had only been spilled in self-defense.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, pal,” I shot back. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight of that flaming blade—if anything I’d seen so far on my journey was going to send me to the Great Beyond, it was that weapon. The heat rolling off of it was almost unreal.

“Sleep?” The angel almost laughed. “You truly do not understand me or my kind, Jaxon Bryant.”

“Then tell me,” I grunted. Anything that didn’t involve having that big, flaming sword swung at my face sounded like a good deal by comparison. Maybe if I could keep the Nameless Angel talking, we could find a way to resolve this without violence.

Sure. And maybe we’d all sit down and have tea after.

Get real.

But I did want to know what the hell was going on inside of the Nameless Angel’s head. The creature truly seemed to be in the midst of some inner turmoil. Even as it made to kill me, something inside of it obviously whispered that this particular servant of the Almighty was doing the wrong thing. There was too much guilt in the creature’s stone face for it to be fully convinced of its own self-righteousness.

“Tell you?” The Nameless Angel barked out a laugh. “Why would I unburden myself to you , mortal?”

I shrugged. “Because it might make you feel better.”

The angel hadn’t anticipated that. “It would be like one of your species confessing their sins to an animal,” the creature growled.

Now it was my turn to laugh. “Are you kidding me? Humanity does that all the time. They’re called pets. ”

I wasn’t about to sign up to become the Nameless Angel’s pet. I wasn’t that kind of guy. But if I could get the angel to give me more information… maybe accidentally let slip its secret weakness…

It was a longshot. But it was that or the flaming sword.

That flaming sword flashed in the angel’s hand, spilling heat from the sharp end as the creature pointed it at my heart. The Nameless Angel’s expression twisted, filling with a disgust I thought was at least partially directed back at itself.

“You humans are weak ,” the creature rumbled. “Even when you grow in physical strength, your morality withers. Most of your strongest and most powerful champions are the most rotten, miserable specimens deep inside, as if privilege and wealth have corroded their souls. I have seen this time and time again, throughout history. An endless cycle of misery and woe.”

I held up the hand not gripping the Tempest Fang. “Hey. I’m right there with you, dude. The people who want power are usually the last ones who should be allowed anywhere near it.”

“Jax isn’t one of those!” Fliss had her hands cupped around her mouth. “He never asked for the Archon System! He took it because it was either that or be killed!”

Privately, I thought Fliss had her cause and effect switched around a little bit. The angel and the demon hadn’t arrived until after I’d already used the Archon System, trying to kill Fliss and I both before I could understand my powers. But she was right that I’d never sought out the ability to elevate humanity.

The angel shook its mighty head. “It matters not. Power corrupts the soul whether you wish it to or not.” For a moment, the creature’s eyes seemed as old as the stones at the bottom of the sea. “In time, you will become a tyrant,” he predicted. “Each woman you add to your harem will mean less to you than the ones before. Each victory you claim will fill you with less pride than it once did, until you feel nothing but a hollow, gnawing emptiness within the core of your being.”

Jesus. This was some heavy shit.

“Every mountain you climb will be smaller than the last,” the creature said, its words carrying the ring of prophecy. “Eventually, reaching the summit will no longer satisfy you. Nothing will satisfy you. The things of this world will reveal their true face to you, and you will realize that they mean less than a handful of sand. They will. Never. Be. Enough.”

I swallowed hard. As much as it pained me to admit it, I could see myself walking the path the Nameless Angel laid out for me. How many dictators started out with lofty goals and discarded them for madness? Stalin started with talk of Utopia, and ended with purges and the Gulag. Even Caligula managed to look reasonable and stately before he went brutally insane.

Was that my fate? My destiny?

No.

“No, I refuse to believe that,” I said, shaking my head. “Maybe that’s what you expect of me, angel—what you’ve seen from those either ambitious or crazy enough to try and take humanity out of the Bellum Aeternum. But that’s not me. That’s not what I’ll do.”

Brave words. But I could tell the Nameless Angel didn’t believe them.

“Such lofty promises,” the creature retorted. “And yet I have heard all of this before, Jaxon. More times than you can imagine.”

“Jax, what are you waiting for?” Heather spoke into the microphone, voicing the same thoughts that were probably dancing in the heads of every person holed up in their homes watching this be broadcast live on television. “You can win this! Take this monster out! ”

It wasn’t a monster. But how could I explain that?

The Nameless Angel glanced at the indifferent creatures floating in the sky over its head, then glanced away. “Even he who sealed the primal eldest curse was not always evil,” the creature whispered, sounding like he was speaking to himself. “No, Paradise must be protected. I have always watched the gate.I will do so until I am unable to perform my duties before the Almighty…”

Something in the creature’s ranting caught in my head and stuck there.

Primal eldest curse. I knew that line. It was from Shakespeare. Hamlet. I’d read it sophomore year of high school; it was part of one of King Claudius’s speeches.

Claudius murdered his brother to become King, and he never got over his guilt for doing it. He—and by extension, Shakespeare—compared it to the very first murder as a reference point: Cain’s slaying of Abel.

The original homicide.

“You’re saying you were there ?” I blurted, wheels spinning behind my eyes. “When Cain killed Abel—you saw that happen?”

The Nameless Angel snickered. “I saw it from my post in the East,” the creature said. “I’m surprised it only occurs to you now, baernan. ”

East. Of Eden.

“ He set angels and a sword of fire to guard the path to the Tree of Life ,” I whispered, shaking my head. “Forgive me if I’m butchering the verse—it’s been a long damned time since I cracked open a Bible…”

The Nameless Angel was one of the original guardians of the Garden of Eden, placed there by the Almighty after Adam and Eve screwed the whole thing up. That flaming sword he carried? That thing was the original blade that guarded the gates of Paradise, keeping humanity from ever returning.

No wonder this creature was so powerful. No wonder he’d been chosen to carry the Golden Braid.

“So you have guessed the truth,” the Nameless Angel rumbled. “Knowing this, baernan, will you still continue this impossible quest to dominate me? Or will you kneel before the Almighty and surrender?”

Were those the only options?

The Nameless Angel stared deep into my eyes, trying with everything it had to intimidate me into backing down. Above its head, the handlers sent from beyond the Gates to watch this battle turned in lazy circles, seeming to be almost bored with this clash of titans.

My gaze shot from them back to my foe.

Only to notice the Nameless Angel staring at me strangely.

Something about this isn’t right, I realized.

Why were there a half-dozen lesser Cherubim watching this fight? I doubted the Almighty needed representatives in order to know what happened here today: doubtless He knew the outcome of this fight better than we did.

No, those creatures weren’t there for God.

They were there for the angel.

To keep him from bolting.

Why?

I had to keep him talking. And I thought I knew just the way to do it.

I squared my shoulders, matching my opponent’s fierceness with my own. The creature tensed up, the sword in its hand glowing even brighter as it prepared for the conflict to boil over.

Just before it could, I unsummoned the Tempest Fang.

And smiled.

“George Washington!” I shouted.

Stunned silence greeted my words. The Nameless Angel didn’t know what to think. To the audience at home, watching all of this on BNN, it must have seemed like I’d suddenly lost my fucking mind.

Hell, maybe I had.

“The… the human President?” the Nameless Angel asked.

I nodded.

“You talked of tyrants,” I told the creature, cracking my knuckles as I spoke. Without a weapon to occupy my hands, I tended to fidget, and I wanted to look self-assured rather than nervous. “Of power corrupting without fail—and corrupting absolutely. You made it sound like there was no way to hold power over one’s fellow man without becoming evil.” My smirk widened. “What about George Washington?”

The angel’s stony brows furrowed. “What about him?” the creature demanded.

From the confused looks on the faces of my harem girls, they were thinking the same thing.

“George Washington was this country’s first president,” I said, picking up steam as I explained. “He served two terms, and could easily have served as many more as he wanted. He could have been king for life, a dictator. And according to you, that’s exactly what he would have done. But he didn’t. He stepped down.”

A subtle change came over the angel’s face. “Aye,” the creature admitted.

Something occurred to me. “What if I promised to do the same thing?” I asked, staring the angel down.

A murmur of surprise rippled through my harem. This wasn’t how they’d expected this part of the fight to go. They’d been waiting for the clash of swords and the sizzle of magic to fill the square.

But that flaming sword was powerful. Terrifyingly powerful. With my women by my side and some of Stephanie’s vampire blood flowing through my veins, I felt fairly confident in my victory, but in a one-on-one duel?

I wasn’t sure that I was strong enough yet.

And I needed to be sure.

The Nameless Angel gazed at the creatures floating over his head. It occurred to me then that the angel standing before me had just as much reason to fear those creatures as I did. They were watching the bout, and their eyes were not chiefly on me. But I kept my mouth shut. Wasn’t it Sun Tzu who said never to interrupt your enemy while they were in the middle of making a mistake?

But this would be no mistake. At least I hoped it wouldn’t.

The angel’s eyes lingered on those skyclad observers for so long that I began bracing myself for him to take flight. Then he returned his gaze to me with a faint sigh, and I saw something had shifted within him.

“What would you promise me, baernan? ” the creature asked.

Abruptly the angels over his head began swirling like a tornado. They didn’t like this any more than my women, or the people at home watching all of this unfold like a superhero movie on their television screens. They wanted action, they wanted blood. Most of all, they wanted to be entertained.

But what they wanted and what I wanted were two very different things.

“To do what George Washington did,” I told the creature, meaning it. “I’m going to get the control keys, upgrade my Stronghold, and then share the Archon System with all of humanity. And once I’ve done that, I’ll walk away.”

The angel stared at me, stunned.

Above his head, his handlers screeched.

“You are lying,” the Nameless Angel growled. Yet some of the heat had already left his voice. Something inside of him resonated with what I was saying—whispered to him that it was the truth. “You cannot promise this thing, baernan . I have no way of trusting that you will do as you say—”

“Then you’ll just have to trust me,” I said. “Have I given you any reason to doubt me so far, angel? I haven’t run from battle, or broken any promises I’ve made to you.”

Can you say the same? I hadn’t asked it, but I also hadn’t needed to. I could see my words had made an impact on the Nameless Angel.

This creature believed in me. And it didn’t even want to believe in me, so that meant a hell of a lot to me at the moment.

Behind me, my women gasped. They hadn’t expected this, either, but they weren’t complaining.

Was this really about to work?

The Nameless Angel’s nostrils flared. “ Baernan ,” it hissed, sounding irritated with itself. “I…”

No.

I had one chance to finish this here and now. I was going to take it.

“Erika!” I roared.

The pink-haired demoness jumped three feet into the air. “Uh huh!?”

“Your father,” I said, speaking loudly enough that Erika, the angels floating over our heads and the news team standing behind us could hear what I had to say. “Lucifer. The King of Hell.”

Heather gasped. The guy holding the camera was so shocked he nearly dropped the damned thing.

The Nameless Angel turned its stony eyes on Erika. “So. I suspected.”

“Um, yeah?” Erika only had eyes for me. “What about him?”

“I want you to go to him,” I said, my words taking on the cold fury of command. “Go to him right now and tell him to remove his army from the city.”

Erika’s eyes went as big as the moon. “Um. Dude, I’m really into this whole ‘tell me what to do, Daddy’ thing, but I don’t think my real Dad is going to go for that…”

“Yes, he will,” I said with a smile. “Because our friend here is about to tell his side of the battle to pull back, too.”

Just as I suspected, the Nameless Angel looked upward. He had little to no interest in what I might to do him—his gaze was solely for those winged interlopers over his head.

The ones I suspected were really calling the shots.

“ Baernan, ” the angel growled, disbelieving. “This cannot be—”

“It already is,” I snapped, turning back to Erika. “Did you not hear me? Go! Do what I say! ”

Any indecision within Erika was washed away by my tone. She let out a little yelp like she’d just gotten a slap on the bottom, then disappeared in a puff of brimstone-scented smoke.

I hoped Lucifer would play ball with me. Just for a little while—long enough for this gambit to work. I was adding a gamble on top of another gamble, but I thought he’d go along.

After all, it was like Erika said. He thrived on chaos.

A few moments later, a cloud of what looked like dust rose into the storm. The motes separated, flying in formation, and what had looked random now revealed itself to be an orderly retreat of the demonic forces in the city.

“I… I don’t believe it!” The Nameless Angel’s mouth fell open. “They’re leaving the field!”

“They’re retreating,” I told the angel, stepping forward. “And so are you. Now give me the gem.”

This is going to work, I thought, my heart jumping into my throat. He has to do it now. There’s no way he’d turn into a coward twice.

The Nameless Angel clutched the gem tightly to his chest. Above his head, the creatures acting as his handlers flashed warnings, dropping rapidly from the sky.

The flames covering the angel’s sword died. Maybe you could say they were snuffed out by the rain, but I didn’t think so. He’d simply dismissed them.

“I did not wish it to come to this, Jaxon Bryant,” the creature said. “This was never my—”

The angels flying over the Nameless’s head dropped from the sky like stones.

One snatched up the glowing gem as quick as a flash. Several of the others sprang forward, drawing weapons from underneath their heavenly robes. All of them were gold: glittering daggers and short, gilded swords. Their weapons looked sharp and dangerous, though not nearly as dangerous as the Nameless Angel’s flaming blade.

Three of the creatures dove at my face, swinging their weapons. With a roar, I lifted my wrist and summoned the Aether Shield, bringing the half-dome of the magical red forcefield up just in the nick of time. Impacts rattled the shield, nearly cracking it.

I closed my eyes as the hits battered me. When I opened them once more, the creatures were gone.

So was the Nameless Angel.

He’d taken the golden control key with him.

Chapter 9

“I can’t believe it,” Charlie growled, showing her teeth. “That bastard flew the coop again!”

Silence covered the city like a shroud. With the angels and the demons both gone, withdrawing from the field, the only sound to be heard in the middle of the roundabout was the soft pitter-patter of rain falling on pavement. My women stood stunned, while the news reporter turned to the camera and struggled to find words to say.

Gone. The Nameless Angel was gone again.

Except I was pretty sure it wasn’t him who’d made the call this time around.

I stepped into the space where the Nameless Angel had just been standing. For some reason, I expected to feel a ghost of the heat that had been pouring from his flaming sword. There was nothing, though. Just the rain.

The Tempest Fang disappeared like smoke, dissolving into the rain as I unsummoned it. My free hand balled into a fist. Rage coursed through my veins, though I did everything I could to keep it restrained before the television cameras.

Cheated. I’d been fucking cheated again!

“That coward,” I growled through gritted teeth. “Those angels owe me that control key! They owe it to us twice over! How many times are they going to turn their tails and run away from a fight…!?”

A gasp from behind made me turn.

“They’re gone,” Heather said. The newscaster looked poleaxed; she kept staring at the sky like she expected the Nameless Angel’s friends to come pouring down like raindrops at any moment. “They’re really gone!”

Oh. Yeah. I’d kind of saved the city. Or at least what was left of it.

But that was just a single battle. The great war of the Bellum Aeternum had just kicked off in a major way, which meant that, as much as I cared about any single city, they were just spots on a map now. The real battle was just beginning.

That wasn’t how Heather saw it, though. From her perspective, we’d just done the impossible. We’d made both the angels and the demons back down from a fight.

Take the win, Jax, a little voice whispered in the back of my brain. How often do you really get to be a hero in front of the cameras?

Fair enough.

“That’s right,” I said, turning to face the cameras. “The city is safe. For now, at least.”

It was a victory. Yet it felt like a hollow one. The ruined buildings and destroyed streets surrounding us certainly didn’t make me feel like I’d won anything worth writing home about. If we didn’t put a stop to the Bellum Aeternum before it really got going, every city in America would look like this one.

No, fuck. Every city in the world.

Heather gave her cameraman a significant look, one that even a guy like me could see meant ‘don’t fuck up this shot’. With a proper amount of trepidation, she approached and stuck a microphone in my face.

“Jaxon Bryant, we just watched you face down one of the creatures from another world and force them to retreat! It appears that fighters from both sides of this conflict are leaving the city in droves, thanks to your actions today. The people of Chicago remaining within the city’s borders owe you their very lives!”

Wow. That was a hell of a thing to think about.

“That’s… quite the compliment,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Usually I’d be all over this kind of thing, and I’d probably be flirting like hell with this Heather girl, to boot. But it was hard to talk like a badass when I didn’t feel like I’d earned anything.

We’d survived, sure. And I’d saved the city.

But I didn’t feel like I’d won.

“It’s well deserved!” Heather said, almost like she could read my thoughts. “Mr. Bryant, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that BNN’s viewers are in an extreme state of panic right now. Creatures from another world have invaded our planet, causing death and destruction. People want answers. Frankly, Mr. Bryant, they’re desperate for them—”

“Please,” I said, waving a hand. “Call me Jax.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of Heather’s mouth. She was being quite the little flirt, and I felt a little irritated with myself that I was rising to the occasion the way I usually did.

It’s that fucking angel, I thought. Running away a second time. It’s not fair! I should be holding that fucking control key while I do this interview.

Life wasn’t fair. I needed to remember that.

Besides, I was a hell of a lot luckier than I deserved.

“Alright, Jax,” the news reporter said, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “I’ll do just that. My question is still the same.”

“What’s that?” I asked, having not heard.

There was a bit of strain in Heather’s voice that hadn’t been there before. “People are terrified right now,” the reporter explained. “Speculation is rampant as to the causes of this conflict, and conspiracy theories abound online. Fear is everywhere: truth is not.” Heather frowned. “We could use some answers, Jax. Just what the hell is going on here?”

I opened my mouth, then paused. How could I even begin to answer that question?

Just then, Fliss took her place beside me. Charlie stood at my back, while Mia and Stephanie flanked me from the opposite side. Anyone watching at home could see that I had four women on my squad who were both beautiful and badass—and anyone capable of focusing on their faces instead of their bodies couldn’t miss the way they all looked at me with love and devotion.

With my women at my back, I could do literally anything. Even Heaven and Hell had no hopes of standing against me. The tangles of the Bellum Aeternum were practically nothing by comparison.

“Well, it’s a long story,” I said, flashing my winning smile for the cameras. “This war has been going on a long, long time. For as long as humanity has existed. It’s literally called the ‘Endless War’.”

I figured burdening my audience with Latin was probably a bad idea, given the restrictions of television. I was already pushing it.

Heather nodded. “We saw you stand up to a creature that looked very much like an angel, Jax. In fact, I believe I even called it one during the fight. And the creatures we’ve been filming in these streets… they certainly fit the Biblical description of demons. Can you confirm for me that that’s indeed what we’re seeing here today?”

I suppressed a shudder. It wasn’t every day that you got to be the herald of the Apocalypse.

“That’s right,” I said, nodding. “It’s angels, and demons. Two sides of the Bellum Aeternum. ”

Heather ignored the unfamiliar word, guessing (and probably guessing rightly) that the people watching at home would be confused by it.

“Jax,” the reporter said, putting the microphone into my face. “A large percentage of our audience is religious. Right now they’re at home, praying to whatever deity they believe in that all of this blows over.” She cleared her throat. “Are you really telling us that the creatures some people have been praying to are the ones causing all this death and destruction?”

She was giving me an out, I knew. Even after what she’d seen today, she didn’t want to believe in the true nature of the Bellum Aeternum. She wanted me to declare that the angels were the good guys, the demons were obviously bad, and that humanity needed to unite behind the Almighty to defeat the demonic incursion. It made a nice, neat little bow, even: a slick, easy to understand rallying cry for humanity.

There was just one problem with that.

It was also exactly what that coward the Nameless Angel had tried to get me to do.

I cleared my throat. I wasn’t about to lie to this woman.

Then Fliss spoke up. “The first angel I ever met tried to kill me,” she explained, taking my hand. “Jax too. I learned that day that you can’t trust any of them. You can be killed just as easily by a monster with a halo as one wearing a pair of horns!”

“That’s… quite a story,” Heather managed. “And when did this happen, Miss…?”

“My name is Felicity,” Fliss said. “And it wasn’t all that long ago that I was just an ordinary human, like you. Now I can do this.”

She stretched out her hand and summoned her golden spear. A ribbon of light spread over her palm, then solidified into the form of the weapon in the blink of an eye. Heather stared at it, her jaw dropping.

The reporter’s journalistic calm slipped for only a moment. Then she was back into question and answer mode. “You’re saying this is a power that anyone can wield?”

“Yes.” I spoke up before Fliss could, taking back control of the conversation. “The Archon System is humanity’s birthright. It’s our only hope of surviving this—of reaching a future where we don’t have to fear golden boots or cloven hooves on our necks. As long as this—” I gestured at myself, “—remains, humanity has hope. We have a reason to fight. ”

“Hot damn!” the cameraman roared.

Heather ignored that. “By now, everyone will have heard your speech to that large stone angel,” she said, locking eyes with me. “You promised to grant this ‘Archon System’ to the entire world, Jax—to make every human being as powerful as you and these women currently are.” Her gaze flickered to my women, lingering for just a beat too long on their bodies in their tight, revealing uniforms. “Did you truly mean that, Jax? Is that really your intention—your end goal?”

For once, I’d been given a question that had an easy answer. “Yes,” I said, turning and gesturing at my harem of babes. “It’s my belief that every human being has an even more powerful creature hidden inside of their heart, a transformation they can access with the help of the Archon System. If we’re going to end this war, we’ll need every human being on Earth to reach their full potential. That’s my goal.”

Heather nodded. Strangely, she didn’t seem all that surprised.

I was about to find out why.

“That sounds a great deal like the plan BNN received from the Obsidian Eye,” the reporter mused. “Would it be correct then to assume that you’re working with them, Jax?”

The color drained from my face. Those were the last words I expected to hear from this young woman’s lips.

“ What!? ” I growled.

The vehemence in my tone shocked the crew. Heather took a full step backwards, and I saw the camera shake in her crewman’s hands.

“The… the Obsidian Eye.” Heather looked almost desperate to placate me. “An organization working for the betterment of humanity. They revealed themselves just before the first reports began to trickle out of Paris…”

She trailed off as I shook my head. “No. Fuck no.”

I saw the news reporter flinch. I probably wasn’t allowed to say the f-word on camera. But under the circumstances, I found it appropriate.

“They’re not the good guys,” I said by way of explanation. “I don’t know what they’ve told you, but whatever it is, it’s a fu… it’s a damned lie. The Obsidian Eye only cares about themselves, and not anybody else.”

Heather looked even more confused than before. “You really weren’t aware that the Obsidian Eye has made contact with BNN and other news networks?”

With a laugh, I gestured at the ruined city. “I’ve been a little busy,” I said. “Maybe you could catch me up?”

Heather looked surprised. I was probably the first person she’d ever interviewed who wanted to ask her questions instead.

She was a little nervous at first, stammering over her words. But eventually, she got into it.

“Their message has been… well, it’s been a lot like yours,” the reporter confessed with an awkward smile. “A message of hope for humanity.”

The cameraman was filming both of us now. Every few seconds, he’d get distracted by one of my women and turn the lens towards them. I hoped the people at home were getting one hell of a show. Everyone else could look, but only I got to touch.

“Whatever hope they’re promising is a lie,” I said flatly.

Lines appeared around the corners of Heather’s lips. “The Eye is claiming they have a way to force the demons attacking Earth’s cities to retreat,” the news reporter countered. “That they have a solution that will keep them from attacking. They’ve partnered with the military to deploy it, but we don’t know what it is just yet.”

Now that was interesting.

I turned to the only woman in my group who might have an inkling of what the reporter was talking about. “Mia?”

Mia was still in fox girl form. It made the way she narrowed her eyes look more cute than menacing, which probably wasn’t what she’d intended.

“If the Eye was planning something like that, they never told me about it,” the redheaded fox girl said flatly.

“So it’s bullshit?”

Mia shrugged. “I didn’t say that. Dr. Bodekker apparently figured out that I was a traitor way before the Ceremony. He might have been working on this for a while and just hid it from us low-level underlings. But I didn’t hear any chatter about it.”

Inconclusive, I thought. The Eye might have some superweapon I didn’t know about, or they might be bluffing. Either way, my response was the same. There was nothing I could do about it, so I’d just keep on with my own plan.

“I’m sure we’ll hear more from the Obsidian Eye’s representatives after today’s events,” Heather interjected. “Perhaps you’ll even be able to sit down for an interview with them, Jax…”

I laughed at that. There was no fucking way I’d ever let myself be alone in a room with those assholes. The next time I saw Dr. Bodekker or any of his cronies, I intended to be fully powered up and with my girls at my side.

We wrapped up the interview a little bit after that. I repeated my spiel about hope and fighting back against the angels and demons, but it was more than a little disconcerting to realize I was retreading ground the Obsidian Eye had already walked. What the hell was Dr. Bodekker playing at?

“Alright,” the cameraman said. “We’re clear.” He lowered the lens.

“Sorry that wasn’t as heroic as you were hoping,” I grunted, looking back at the spot where the angel and I clashed. “If I’d had known ahead of time I was going to need to make a speech, I would’ve—”

It was as far as I got.

Heather jumped into my arms, squeezing me so tight it was like she was trying to do her best impression of a python.

“Thank you!” the reporter cried. There wasn’t a hint of shame or self-consciousness in her tone. “Thank you, thank you, thank you Jaxon Bryant!”

“Hey, sure,” I said. “All in a day’s work for the Powermancer. I’m happy we could save your life.”

The reporter pulled back, blinking away tears. “My life?”

Huh?

Heather laughed. “Jax, you just made my career! I’m gonna get a Pulitzer for that fucking interview! I mean, assuming the Pulitzer Prize still exists a year from now, but hey, it seems like you and your team are doing a pretty good job with that so far.”

The interview? I hadn’t even thought my interview was all that great. Apparently, Heather disagreed.

Abruptly the blonde turned away, setting one foot back down on the ground. She was still hugging me tight as she swiveled at the waist, though, like she didn’t want to let me go.

“Paul,” she said, brushing a lock of blonde hair out of her face. “ Tell me!”

The man had his cell phone out and was flipping through some application I didn’t recognize. “Off the charts, Heather,” he said, glancing up with a stunned expression. “Social media is exploding right now. Hell, I think Twitter might literally explode.”

My hands went further down Heather’s body, holding her around her slender waist. I wasn’t trying to be a perv, but it was like she was inviting me to grope her.

“I’m sorry,” I said, furrowing my brow. I glanced at my women to see if they knew something I didn’t. “I’m not following…?”

“Jax, that interview was live!” Heather said with a grin. Her eyes danced as she drank me in, giving me a look like she’d just scratched a winning lottery ticket. “ Millions of people just watched you fight those angels. Millions of people heard you explain this conflict and tell off those corporate weirdos with the Obsidian Eye!”

Millions ?

I thought about social media; how quickly things went viral on the Internet. Right now, my interview was the biggest fucking story in the world.

How about that? I thought, ice filling my gut. I’m a trending topic.

“ International celebrity and hero of humankind ,” Charlie said with a smirk. “Yeah, I think Jax could get used to that.”

“Oh fuck,” Heather said, laughing and shaking her head. “I’m about to be so famous! Jesus, you have no idea what you’ve done for me, Jax…”

Above our heads, the rain thinned to a drizzle before disappearing. The sky was gray and dull, perfectly fitting the aftermath of the battle we’d found ourselves in the center of. As good as it felt to have survived the day, I couldn’t forget that this was what truly mattered.

If demons and angels were allowed to do this in every city in the world, we wouldn’t have much of a civilization left by the time they were done.

The smell of brimstone reached my nostrils and made me wrinkle my nose. When I turned around, there was a vertical line of darkness in mid-air that hadn’t been there a few moments before. Erika stepped through it.

“Yo, Jax,” the pink-haired demon said, putting her hands on her hips. “Dad wants to talk to you!”

Dad!?

“You’re back,” I said, pretending I hadn’t heard what Erika said. “Good. The angels and the demons are gone, but the Nameless Angel ran away with our control key—”

Erika snorted. “Um, dude? Did you not hear me? I know all that already.” She jerked a thumb in the direction of the portal behind her, which didn’t close up the way the other ones we’d summoned did. “You need to go talk to my Dad. Like, now. He’s pissed.”

Heather stiffened in my arms. “Um. Your father? You mean… Satan?”

Erika rolled her eyes. “The Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, all that stuff. He’s pissed, dude. He went along with that little stunt of yours, but it made him madder than… well. Madder than the place he lives.”

Oh. Oh.

I thought about turning tail and running. But what sort of man would that have made me? I’d have been no better than the damned Nameless Angel, running for the hills when things got difficult.

Besides, I’d talked to one side of the Bellum Aeternum. It was only fair that I introduce myself to the other.

“Alright,” I said, nodding slowly. “Give me a second.”

Erika stuck out her tongue. “Take your time,” she said, laughing lewdly. “It’s your funeral, babe.”

I set Heather back down on the ground. It frustrated me to not be able to do more with her—especially when she seemed to be so into me. But I had work to do, and it wouldn’t be a great idea to keep Lucifer waiting any longer than I had to.

“I’ll have to catch up with you later,” I told the reporter. “Give BNN my best.”

Heather’s eyes widened, filling with panic. “Hey, wait!” she snapped, reaching for me. “Give me your phone!”

Hmm? I still had the thing in my pocket, though I hardly thought about it these days. I punched in the code and handed it over to her.

Heather navigated quickly to my contacts and added herself. When the option came to add a photo, she hesitated for a second—then turned the camera on and stuck out her tongue, squeezing her breasts with her elbows so that her cleavage almost burst out of her top.

Hot damn, I thought, unconsciously emulating Heather’s cameraman. So that’s how you get a girl to toss all her morals by the side of the highway…

“There,” she said, handing me back my phone. “We have got to keep in touch, Jax. Promise me you’ll message me?”

I didn’t want to swear it. But the way she batted her eyelashes at me was so sweet—and my girls definitely liked the look of her. These days, it was almost as important to me that a woman likes my harem as her wanting to jump on my dick.

“Alright,” I said with a shrug. “I owe you an interview, right?”

“I have the feeling she’ll give you a lot more than that,” Charlie purred. “Come on, babe. We’ve got a meeting with a fallen angel.”

I opened my mouth to tell Charlie I was going to Hell alone. Then I saw my women all standing around her, and it snapped shut again.

I might have been the alpha male of my harem, and a total dom in the bedroom. But there were some times you just didn’t want to argue with your women. This was one of them.

These women had all promised they’d follow me to Hell if necessary.

And now they were going to prove it.

Chapter 10

“It’s not the end of the world,” Erika said with a naughty smile. “But you can see it from here.”

My harem and I stood in a cavern the size of a football stadium. Red rock walls stretched to the sky on all sides, beneath a ceiling of glowing, luminescent rubies. The smell of sulfur was thick in the air, and the temperature was uncomfortably warm, but not as bad as you’d think, given the location Erika had brought us to.

It wouldn’t have been all that bad if it weren’t for the screams of the damned.

Even from the far end of the chamber, my women and I could hear them. Countless, overlapping voices, forcing shrieks at the top of their lungs in pain and horror from throats groan ragged and hoarse with exertion. The walls of the chamber acted like the cliffs of a canyon, amplifying the cries so that they echoed again and again as they faded out. To call the effect distressing would have been an understatement.

On the opposite side of the stone cavern waited a heavy metallic gate, its iron bars rusted and corroded to the color of blood. Flames burned behind those gates, and a faded banner hung over the entrance bearing the immortal words:

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE

“So Dante was telling the truth,” Fliss said, her eyes fixed to that banner. “This is what Hell looks like.”

Next to her, Erika laughed. “Nah!” she said, waving a hand. “Dad was such a big fan of the Inferno, he decided to spruce the place up a bit to match the written record. It’s almost like fan-fiction!”

Fan fiction, I thought, my head spinning. Somehow on a journey that involved angels, demons, and sex with gorgeous elves, that was the craziest thing I’d heard so far.

I held the Tempest Fang at my side, my arm tensed as I gripped the hilt. Though Erika had promised my women and I safe passage to and from Hell so that we could negotiate with her father (without that promise, we wouldn’t be here), I couldn’t not be worried. I mean, this was Hell! ‘ A fiery pit of unpleasantness at the center of the Earth,’ as the cartoon milkshake put it.

I certainly didn’t want to spend any length of time here.

Two demons stood on either side of the entranceway to Hell proper. When they saw Erika, one of them whistled, while the other pulled out a little handheld device and whispered a few words into it. Getting in touch with the Man Downstairs, I thought.

“Erika!” The demon who’d whistled stepped forward. He had hairy, backwards legs, like a child’s crude drawing of a satyr. Thick black fur covered his body, and nine horns stuck out from his skull at weird angles. “Took you long enough to come back here, you bitch!”

Erika stuck out her pink tongue. “You know time doesn’t work the same in the mortal realm as it does down here, Crucifyre!”

The demon—Crucifyre—snorted. “The Boss has been shitting on us since the moment you left!” he grumbled, pointing a hairy finger at Erika. “You ruined his fun, man! You know how much the Boss loves bloodshed and carnage!”

“Almost as much as he loves chaos,” Erika said, nodding eagerly. “Well there’s not much that’s more chaotic than bringing the Powermancer and all his bitches down here!”

My ‘ bitches’ were indeed ready for action. Like me, they wouldn’t come down here unarmed. All of them were in their transformed bodies, turned into the Valkyrie, the Noir Knight, the Blood Witch, and the Ninetailed Blade. Fliss, Charlie, and Mia all had their weapons at the ready, too, just in case Lucifer tried to betray us.

Only Stephanie carried no visible means of defending herself. As a vampire, she didn’t need a weapon—she was the weapon.

“Hmmph.” The demon’s snort told me what he thought of Erika’s excuse. “Baal, the big man making his way up here!”

The second demon nodded. “Yeah. He’s in the middle of something, but he’s coming. Told you all to stay right where you are.”

I didn’t like that one bit. Was Lucifer coming to negotiate, or was he massing the hordes of Hell right now to push through the gates and pummel us into submission? I strained my ears to see if I could hear him coming, but all I heard were piteous, broken wails and insane screams.

“It sounds really bad in there,” I grunted, glancing over at Erika. “You didn’t warn us about that part.”

The pink-haired demon put a hand on her hip. “What, that? Hang on just a second.”

She shot an angry look at the demon who’d been named Baal. When he didn’t respond immediately, she made a frustrated gesture with her hands.

Baal laughed. “Fine,” he said, waving the pink-haired demon off. “Give me a second.”

He did something with the little black device in his hand. When he did, the screams and cries coming from the other side of the Gates of Hell suddenly dropped in volume, going from a deafening cacophony to a dull roar.

Huh?

“That’s better,” Erika said, rubbing her temples. “I swear, Dad needs to keep the remote to himself instead of giving it to you assholes. You turn that shit up way too loud…!”

I didn’t understand. Was this fake? A bit of ‘sprucing up’, the way Erika claimed her Dad made Hell look more like the Hollywood version to match people’s expectations of it? Or were the demons simply capable of turning down the volume on the screams of the damned when it was time to have a quiet conversation?

Either way, it was freaky.

Before I could ask Erika about it, the flames on the other side of the gate puffed out. The heavy iron doors swung open, revealing a pair of imps flanked by a massive, three-headed dog: Cerberus. The dog was licking the imps, which pissed them off, while the two demons were busy carrying an absurd, golden chair between them.

“What the hell is this?” Stephanie demanded, showing her fangs. “Some kind of comedy routine?”

The two demons assigned to guard the doors shared a look. One of them shrugged.

“Just getting things ready for the boss,” the hairy demon said. “You can’t be mad at us for that! ”

“These women are guests!” Erika shot back. “They can be mad at you for whatever reason they want, ya fuckin’ worm!”

The hairy demon gave Erika the finger. She stuck her tongue out at the beast, then turned away with a roll of the eyes.

“Dad will be here in a minute,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “You should get ready.”

Get ready? How the hell was I supposed to do that?

My women weren’t sure, either. As I watched, Mia gazed from the creatures trying and failing to set up Lucifer’s makeshift throne to the portal we’d entered through. The narrow band of sulfurous smoke still hung in the air, a portal back to a world where souls weren’t tortured for all eternity and life made sense.

“It’s not too late for us to book it,” the fox girl whispered. “We could just run for the portal and—” she made a noise with her lips, “— pth! ”

Erika was already shaking her head. “After you accepted Dad’s offer to come here? Ha, no. That would be suicide, for all of you.”

Shit. I hadn’t been planning on backing down, but being reminded of what might happen should I try to run did me no favors.

“Fine,” I grunted, squaring my shoulders. I turned to the demons. “Hey! You!”

The two imps were so startled that they dropped the golden chair. Cerberus immediately pounced on it, covering the cushion in slobber while the tiny demons looked on in horror.

“Um, what?” one of them finally managed.

“Bring me a chair as well,” I growled, doing my best to put some fear into the little creatures. “And cushions for my women! We’ll be comfortable while we treat with the Prince of Darkness.”

The two guard demons made their way inside, grumbling as they stepped through the flames. “Wants his own chair,” I heard one mutter to the other. “Boss isn’t going to be pleased…”

Erika nudged me with her shoulder. When I looked over, the pink-haired demon was grinning at me.

“ Nice work,” she said, smirkingly impressed. “That’s how you’ve got to be with these demons, babe. You let them know who’s boss, who’s in charge, and they’ll fall all over themselves to please you…”

She didn’t have to say just like me at the end of that sentence. The way she batted her eyelashes and licked her pouty lips did that for me.

God damn. We were standing on the threshold of hell, and her father was going to be here any second. And this succubus was still trying to seduce me?

Well, she was persistent. I’d give her that.

The hairy demon came back with a twisted chair made of black wood, while the other carried a stack of cushions taller than he was. I sat down while the demons laid the cushions all around, giving my women time to settle down and make themselves comfortable. By the time we were done, the imps had the makeshift throne pointed in the right direction. Cerberus lay down next to it, two of its jaws licking their lips while the third panted in a doze.

“ Alright!” A booming voice suddenly echoed from behind the wall of flames. “ Let’s get this show on the ROAD! ”

I couldn’t help but stiffen up before that voice. It touched something deep and primal inside of me: the part of my caveman brain that shuddered before shadows at night, that saw monsters lurking in the darkness outside of my ancestors’ primeval village dwellings. I knew suddenly that whenever a human saw something out of the corner of their eye, or woke up shuddering from a half-remembered nightmare, it was this man they were recoiling from. A little piece of him, hidden in the heart of every sentient being.

Then the flames parted, and Lucifer stood before us.

Stephanie gasped. “The fuck?”

The thing that shocked me the most about the Prince of Darkness was just how young he looked. Thousands of years had elapsed since he’d been tossed from the pinnacle to the pit, yet they’d had no more effect on him than droplets of rain. He looked like a devastatingly handsome man in his early 30’s. Long, curly hair trailed down his shoulders in messy rockstar ringlets, and his face had that angular, distinguished look that could have just as easily belonged to a movie star as the King of the Damned. He wore a black leather jacket and tight matching pants, the kind of outfit you might have seen on the cover of a classic album from the 1970’s, and his eyes glowed with an inner fire.

He looked around the room at my women and me and smiled. His teeth were perfect.

“Jaxon Bryant,” the King of Hell said, stifling a yawn. “Do you have any idea the bullshit you’ve put me through, man?”

Only a brave or a foolhardy man could go toe-to-toe with the devil. I wasn’t certain which one I was. Probably both.

“Me?” I looked around, playing like Lucifer was talking to somebody else. “I’m not the one who started this war. You—”

Before I could get any further, Lucifer held up a hand. “Hang on.” He gestured at the entrance to Hell, where flames the size of buildings had been filling the entrance just a few minutes ago. “Come on, girls!”

Girls?

The first demoness emerged from the Gates of Hell. She sashayed over as Lucifer took a seat on his golden chair, then settled down on the floor beside his feet. She looked so sexy and perfect that a supermodel who looked at her would have died of shame and run away sobbing.

More followed. All in all, close to a dozen women with a greater or lesser degree of demonic features followed the Prince of Darkness to his makeshift throne. All of them sat on the floor around their man, lounging and giggling and licking their lips.

A harem, I realized. HIS harem. Makes sense that they’re all demons…

Lucifer glanced over his horde of women, then turned his attention to his dog. “Hey, boy,” he said with a grin, rubbing one of Cerberus’s heads beneath the chin. “How are you doing?”

The dog slobbered all over the Devil’s hand. Lucifer didn’t seem to mind at all.

Beside me, Erika groaned and rolled her eyes. “It’s nice to see you too, Dad.”

The Prince of Darkness smirked. “I’m not talking to you , little girl,” he said, pointing a finger at Erika on the word ‘you’. “I sent you to the mortal realm how long ago and you still haven’t given me any results?”

“It’s not my fault!” Erika shot back. The pink-haired demon stomped a foot on the stone, turning for a second from the sultry woman I knew to a bratty teenager. “You waited too long to send me, Dad! He’s got way too many women already! I can’t find an in—”

“It wouldn’t matter if Jax only had one woman,” Felicity said, crossing her arms beneath her skintight silver breastplate. “Or even if he was single. He wouldn’t accept a woman who wasn’t one hundred percent loyal to him.”

Lucifer didn’t like the sound of that. The man groaned, then threw a leg over the arm of his makeshift throne. He lounged in it like the lead singer of a rock band waiting for the crew in the green room to announce it was time to go on stage. His women preened around him, cooing and giggling as they tried to get his attention. He was far too cool to notice.

“Yeah, that whole loyalty bag,” Lucifer said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Look, mortal, you do realize you don’t have to particularly like a bitch to fuck her brains out, right? Shit, most of the time that makes it even hotter!”

The fuck!? I found it hard to believe that it was really the King of Hell I was talking to. I had to keep reminding myself that this was the almighty Lucifer—he was just acting like such a… such a fuckboy!

His demon girls didn’t seem to mind. But I did.

“You asked me to pull my troops back,” Lucifer sighed, leaning across both the arms of the golden throne. “I did it, for no other reason than that you and I were supposed to be playing for the same team by now. But what the fuck , man? You’re make me look weak in front of these fucking choir boys! Why haven’t you accepted my peace offering yet?”

I felt like I’d missed a step somewhere. “Peace offering?”

Lucifer scoffed. “Yeah,” he said, sitting up and gesturing across the cave. “My fucking daughter !?”

Erika had the temerity to blush, something I gathered she didn’t often do. “He’s not like that, Dad,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and looking away. “He’s… different. He’s not like most mortals.”

“You can say that again,” Charlie growled.

Lucifer snorted like he’d heard this all before. “She,” he said, pointing at Erika, “is like my third or fourth best daughter. Frankly, mortal, she’s better than what you deserve. She’d eat most guys alive! Her Mom’s a fucking hellcat.” He grinned. “A real fun time.”

“Is she one of… these ?” Mia asked, giving the Prince of Darkness’ entourage a dismissive sniff.

“Huh?” Lucifer looked around. “Nah. Lilith’s not here.”

“They don’t get along,” Erika said by way of explanation.

I didn’t need to know the details of Lucifer’s personal life. Frankly, the last thing I wanted to know about was why one of his own demons would no longer want to share a bed with him. I sensed I wouldn’t like the answer.

Lucifer seemed to be thinking the same thing; he batted away his daughter’s words like they were annoying flies. “Look, mortal, I’m giving you everything you could want,” he said, a sleazy smile spreading across his handsome face. “You liked being in front of the cameras, right?”

Now it was my turn to try and keep from blushing.

“Ahhh! I can tell!” Lucifer abruptly sat up, scattering two of his demon girls. “Fame’s a heady drug. I can make you a celebrity, Bryant. Money, power… and millions of hot sluts who’ll be throwing their panties at you everywhere you go. That’s if they’re even wearing panties in the first place.” He gestured at Erika with a grin. “She’s just the beginning. But you’ve gotta hold up your end of the bargain, Powermancer!”

I stared Lucifer down, trying not to sweat. It wouldn’t do to let the Prince of Darkness know he was starting to rattle me. I was being offered a literal deal with the devil , the kind of thing that turned men’s lives upside down.

But as I remembered from TV shows and movies, bargains like that never ended well.

I decided to play along just for a bit. “And what’s my end of the bargain?” I asked. “Give you the Archon System?”

Lucifer stared at me, his jaw opening. “You serious?”

I shrugged.

“Of course not!” Lucifer slapped the arm of the golden throne so hard that I thought it might snap off. His imps looked panicked, and the nearby guards flinched. Several of his demon girls stretched out languidly, like they were far too cool to care about a little nothing like the Bellum Aeternum. “Are you kidding me? I want you to have the Archon System, Powermancer!”

“You do?” That surprised me. Both Dr. Bodekker and the Nameless Angel had been pretty adamant about taking the power away from me. I’d expected Lucifer to have the same goal.

“Fuck yeah!” He flashed another one of those sleazy grins. They probably melted panties whenever he made a trip up to the mortal realm—down to Georgia, maybe?—but they had no effect on me. “I thought my daughter would have explained all of this to you already, Jax! Those fucking choir boys want to take your powers away! I want you to let them grow! I want you and me to be on the same side! The winning side!”

I glanced over at Erika. “She did say something about that,” I admitted. “Mentioned me being able to command armies of demons…”

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Lucifer looked around, his gaze flitting on the half-naked demon girls lounging all around the room. “I’m totally okay with you doing that, Powermancer. And hey, if you run into any succubi or other lady demons who strike your fancy, consider them yours. As long as they’re not already part of my slut squad, of course,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows and pulling a nearby demoness into his lap.

“Or related to you,” I finished with a grunt.

Lucifer gave me a strange look. “Hey, even I don’t do that,” he said, pointing at me with what looked like genuine anger. “You ask the fucking Man Upstairs about that shit, Jax. He lets two humans leave the Garden of Eden, then between the two of them they populate the whole fucking world? It sounds like his side’s the one with the fucked up family, not me!”

“Father would never do anything like that,” Erika agreed.

Lucifer gave me that sleazy grin. “Thank you, daughter.”

“He just sells us to men he thinks he can corrupt,” she continued with a smirk. “Or sends us to the mortal realm to seduce mortals and steal their souls–”

“That’s enough of that,” Lucifer growled, sitting up straighter. His hand came down on the ass of the demon girl in his lap, and she wiggled her rear and panted for more. The Prince of Darkness didn’t seem to notice her, though.

Something told me he was doing all of this for show. I didn’t doubt that he enjoyed himself with a demon or three in private, but this image he was projecting seemed calculated. Almost like he was showing me what my life could look like, assuming I threw my lot in with the Down Below set.

Problem was, Lucifer’s life looked mighty empty from where I was standing.

“So what’s your endgame?” I asked, moving on to business. I already knew in my heart of hearts I was going to disappoint Lucifer, but I wanted to know what he was offering before I turned him down. “What happens if I take your daughter and say yes to all this? Just theoretically, of course.”

“Of course,” Lucifer replied with another one of those grins. “I’d put you in charge of an army. You wouldn’t have the whole force of Hell’s demons under you—not at first, anyway—but enough to give those fucking feather-heads a nasty surprise. My demons would respond to you like you owned them, and you’d prosecute the campaign against Heaven on my behalf.” He nodded in Erika’s direction. “At some point, you knock her up.”

Knock her up? “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“Oh, I’m always doing things like that,” Lucifer said, waving his hand like the notion bored him a little. “Haven’t you ever seen The Omen? The Devil’s Advocate? Rosemary’s Baby? I’m big in Hollywood.”

“No,” Erika insisted. “The kid would not be the Antichrist, Dad.”

This time it was Lucifer who rolled his eyes. “But it’s such a cool idea—”

Erika turned to me. “Once I’m pregnant, I will go to Mummy’s mansion in Hell. She’ll help me raise the child, and your house will be officially bound with Dad’s.” She winked at me, striking a coquettish pose. “And if you’re worried I’ll be less into you once I’m a mommy, don’t. Mummy will take care of everything, so all you need to do is snap your fingers, and I’ll come to you, wherever you are.”

“Then she’ll come for you,” one of Lucifer’s girls laughed.

“That’s all ancillary, though,” Lucifer chuckled. “I certainly wouldn’t mind being a proud grandpa, but the real prize is those gates.”

My mind had been filled with alternating thoughts of how cute Erika would look pregnant with my half-demon baby and how fucking hot it would be to summon her with a snap of the fingers whenever I wanted her to get me off. Now Lucifer’s words made my train of thought derail.

“Gates?”

“The Golden Walls of Heaven!” Lucifer said, spreading his arms. “You and me, Jaxon Bryant. We’re going to kick down the Almighty’s gates, crash his little choir boy party, and bring Heaven and Earth under our control. Then the real fun can finally begin…!”

Chapter 11

The longer Lucifer talked, the more terrified I felt.

Maybe it was understandable. After all, this was the literal Devil I was speaking to. The Lord of Lies, the Morningstar: the ancient enemy of mankind since time immemorial. The longer I stood there listening to the Devil talk about what the two of us were going to accomplish together, the more I began to realize something that chilled me to the base of my spine.

All of this—his appearance, the way he acted like an asshole, the rock-star harem of demon girls lounging around his throne—all of it was an act. An act being performed for my benefit. I knew it.

And the worst part was that Lucifer knew I knew it.

“Come on, Jax,” the Devil said, his bony ass moving to the end of his seat. His demon girls writhed beneath him like snakes, striking poses that seemed designed to try and tear my eyes away from the proceedings and distract me. “You can’t stand here and tell me you don’t want revenge against those goody two-shoes angels. How many times has their man from Eden promised you that control key and run off instead? How many more times do you think he’ll get away with it if you don’t wise the fuck up?”

It was a goad. He meant to make me look weak, to make me look ineffective in front of my women. If every single one of my harem girls wasn’t so rock solid with me, it might even have worked.

But he’d underestimated my ladies. They just snickered at his feeble attempts to drive wedges between us.

“You’re talking about assaulting Heaven itself.” I said it slowly, to give it the full weight (and insanity) such an idea deserved. “Winning the Bellum Aeternum is about freeing humanity from both sides of this war. Not annihilating the Almighty’s kingdom.”

“Annihilating?” A dangerous gleam entered Lucifer’s eyes. “Nah, man. You forget—I’ve been there. I used to be the Almighty’s golden boy.” He shook his head, grinning maniacally. “They do that shit to themselves. ”

“This all sounds awful,” Fliss groaned. “I’m not exactly a religious woman, but this idea doesn’t sit right with me…”

Lucifer spread his hands. “Survival of the fittest, baby!” he said, laughing like he’d just taken the stage at Woodstock. “Those weak bitches, all they do is kneel and praise the Almighty for hundreds of years at a time. If they were forced to fight for their position, the way mortals are forced to do down here, they’d all end up folding like cheap paper cards!”

“And your way is better than that?” I asked.

Lucifer’s grin turned savage. “My way’s the law of the jungle, Powermancer,” he chuckled. “You humans—you always think if I win, there’s going to be ten thousand years of darkness. I’ve read the Book of Revelation, you know! None of that shit is true!”

“Then what is true?” I growled. “The law of the jungle?”

“It’s the truest thing there is,” Lucifer said with a shrug. “Heaven, Earth, even my place—once we win the Bellum Aeternum, all of them will live by that simple rule. Might makes right.” He rubbed the back of one of his demon girls as he spoke, holding her close like a cherished pet. “People like you and me, Powermancer, we’ll be Gods. We take what we want and smite anyone who gets in the way! As for the weak people…”

Lucifer shrugged.

“Well, they’ll get what they deserve,” he said. I swore I could see fires burning in his eyes—the blaze of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. “You don’t have to worry about that, though, mortal. By the time the Bellum’s over, you won’t even really be mortal.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Your way sounds like anarchy,” I shot back. “How can civilization keep going when everyone can just do whatever they want, without consequences?”

Lucifer shrugged again. “It won’t,” he conceded. “But it’ll be so much fun! ”

Erika stepped up to her father’s side. “Jax,” she said, brushing a lock of pink hair out of her face. For the first time since I’d met her, the demoness looked almost completely serious. “You should agree to my Father’s proposal.”

Was this girl for real? She had to know I couldn’t possibly sell out my own world like this, right?

“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask.

A strange smile flickered across Erika’s face. “Because it’s the best deal you’re going to get,” she said, adjusting her top so that her breasts spilled out of it even more. “Because you’ll be able to use Hell’s control key right away and probably save hundreds of thousands of lives by upgrading your Stronghold to expand the Archon System. And because I really, really want to be your girl.”

She delivered that last one with a smile so naughty I nearly threw her over my knee and spanked her until she was dripping wet in front of her father and everyone else.

Lucifer glanced over at Erika, a little surprised, then back at me. “Well, it sounds like it’s a win-win, then, right?” The man clapped his hands like the deal was already done. “No need to sign a contract in blood or anything—those are really only for the movies, anyway. I’ll take a firm handshake as proof enough of your loyalty. I’ll even throw in the throne, if you two lovebirds want to enjoy yourself once I’m back in Hell—”

“I’m not taking the deal,” I grunted.

Both Lucifer and his daughter stared at me.

“What!?” The Prince of Darkness looked honestly poleaxed. He could have been acting, of course—I doubted there was any actor anywhere half as fine as he—but I didn’t think so. I think he believed that was really his trump card, and he had me in his clutches now.

“I appreciate your… gifts, ” I said, casting a significant glance up and down Erika’s body in its demon schoolgirl outfit. “But your gifts have hooks in them. Hooks I don’t want binding me or my girls.”

Lucifer’s jaw dropped open. His eyes, which had been so expressive only moments ago, turned flat and dull like marbles. They were completely black, with no whites in them at all.

“You’re kidding,” the Prince of Darkness said. Something distorted his voice; it sounded as if it had dropped an octave. “You would disobey me ? In my own home?”

Nearly every mortal who had ever lived would fall down and cower before that voice, pissing and shitting themselves in fear before the King of Hell.

I stood my ground. But it was a very near thing.

“You know what sealed it?” I asked, managing to sound almost conversational despite my fear. “It was the thing about the world and the law of the jungle. How might makes right. ” Somehow, I even forced a smile. “You seem to think that’s a new idea, Lucifer. But that’s what humanity’s been living under since the Bellum Aeternum began. We’ve been beaten down since Eden, devil. And if it ever ends, it’ll be because we did something about it.”

For a moment, I was certain I’d fucked up. That Lucifer was about to pick me up and throw me right through the opened gates of Hell, and into the endless lake of fire from which we’d been hearing those awful, tortured screams. I’d pissed off the King of Hell, and now I was going to feel his wrath.

Lucifer’s eyes grew bigger and his face paler. Briefly, he became the demon out of humanity’s darkest nightmares. The face of Hell itself, glaring at me with an almost unfathomable degree of hatred.

Then the effect was gone, and Lucifer was an aging rockstar once more.

“Aww, fuck!” He threw himself back in his throne, kicking one arm of the chair as his legs shot over it. “Man, I don’t know what the fuck to do with you! I’ve tried power, money, sex. What the hell do you like to even do , mortal!?”

“Visit museums, mostly,” I said with a smirk. “I was a big fan of camping before this all went down, too.”

Lucifer groaned. I could tell he wasn’t much of a camper.

“Well what the fuck can I give you for your loyalty?” he demanded to know. “Because I’m telling you, Powermancer, I’m starting to run out of ideas…”

I wasn’t sure there was anything he could give me to secure my loyalty. I opened my mouth to tell him so when a light bulb went off over my head, hitting me with a bolt of inspiration.

“I’ve got a start,” I grunted. “Tell me where I can find Dr. Bodekker’s lair.”

Behind me, I heard Fliss and Charlie gasp.

Lucifer sat up straight, his feet going to the floor. His insolence was gone, if it had ever truly been there at all. In the blink of an eye, he was all business. His grin put me in mind of a used car salesman.

“Who’s that?” he asked. Wheels spun between his eyes, quickly coming up all sevens. “Ah,” he said. “The leader of the Obsidian Eye. Those mendicants. ”

“Your daughter told me that if I used the control key you built for me, I wouldn’t be able to finish powering up my Stronghold with the control key held by the angels,” I explained. “But that I would be able to use Dr. Bodekker’s key.”

Dr. Bodekker’s key. An ancient gem nicknamed the Demon Core, hidden deep within the heart of the Obsidian Eye inside of the hermetically-sealed chamber where Dr. Bodekker made his home. Once inside those chambers, the Obsidian Eye’s leaders never left them: they were insulated against all threats physical, magical or cognitive—like the worm Dr. Bodekker used to try and madden Charlie into killing us all.

Once they graduated to this level, men like Dr. Bodekker were known as Anchorites. Getting inside an Anchorite’s fortress was supposed to be like breaking into Fort Knox: practically impossible outside of the movies.

“Yeah,” Lucifer said, licking his lips. I could have been seeing things, but I thought his tongue was forked at the end. “I think I could give you a push or two in that direction, Powermancer…”

“Having that other control key in my hands would make it a hell of a lot easier to decide whom to throw my weight behind in this conflict,” I said. “It’s very important that I’m able to fully power up the Stronghold, Lucifer. Very. Important. ”

I had to be incredibly careful here. Every word I chose to speak could potentially come back to bite me in the ass. Lucifer was a skilled lawyer on top of everything else. I needed to imply as heavily as I possibly could that helping me bring Dr. Bodekker down would devote me to Hell’s cause.

But I couldn’t promise them anything. To tie myself down would have been the end of humanity’s revolt against Heaven and Hell.

Lucifer planted both feet firmly on the ground and worried his chin with a knuckle. “The old Anchorite, huh? I think we could get that information for you, Powermancer.” Lucifer looked at his harem of demon girls, stifling another yawn. “Girls? You heard the man. Get busy.”

One after the other, the incredibly hot demonesses surrounding the Prince of Darkness rose and departed. Each of them changed into a gross flying animal as they left the cave—either a bat or something that I really wished was a bat—leaving me to wonder exactly who it was that Lucifer seemed so comfortable spending his time with.

“They’ll get the information you need,” Lucifer said, treating it like a small favor. “As soon as I have the good doctor’s location, my people will get in touch with your people.”

That sounded alright to me. I glanced over at the glowing line of darkness near the rear of the cabin. “Very good. I look forward to hearing from you. Girls?”

My women each gave a start. Until that moment, I don’t think most of them had honestly believed it was possible to get out of Hell without a fight. But Lucifer wasn’t trying to keep us from leaving.

Hell, he seemed bored with the whole thing now. He’d achieved whatever objective he’d set out to tackle, and he now probably thought he had his hooks in me enough that I’d fall over for him when the time came.

The only person who didn’t seem happy with the arrangement was Erika.

“Um, Dad?” The pink-haired demon twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she approached the throne. “There’s something I wanted to ask you about…”

Lucifer cocked his head, and Erika leaned in. The two of them conversed in low tones, with Erika getting more forceful and irritated the longer their talk went on. I got the impression she was trying to convince Lucifer to do something—something he didn’t particularly want to do.

Finally the Prince of Darkness rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said, sighing deeply. “But you’d better not give me reason to regret this.”

“Of course not, Dad,” Erika said, as gentle and meek as a lamb. “You can trust me!”

“Uh huh,” was all Lucifer said.

The Prince of Darkness lifted a hand. A flash of light filled the cave, and when it faded, there was a golden leash around Erika’s neck.

It stretched from her throat to the stone floor of the chamber, leading all the way back to Hell. Staring at it made my eyes hurt. It seemed somehow blurry, like staring at one of those Magic Eye paintings from the 90s. The strap was slack, while the choker around Erika’s slender throat was skintight. A single jewel shaped like a heart hung from the spot where the leash strap met the choker collar.

Lucifer snapped his fingers. The leash disappeared, leaving only the golden choker behind. A moment later, a new leash formed in the air, glittering and golden.

It led from Erika right to my own hand.

“She’s yours now,” the King of Hell said, making a face. “Have fun.”

Erika was practically vibrating with excitement. “Oh, thank you, Father! You won’t regret this!”

I blinked. The leash felt… good in my hand, as if it was meant to be there. The woman at the end of it couldn’t have been happier to have me in total control.

“What the fuck?” I blurted. “You’re giving me your daughter?”

“ Loaning ,” Lucifer said, holding up a finger. “She’s yours on loan, Powermancer. A little test drive, to show you what you might have if you wise the fuck up and join the winning side. But if you double-cross me…”

A shocked noise spilled out of Mia. “You’re using your own daughter as a bargaining chip!?”

Lucifer just laughed. “You have any idea how many squalling brats I’ve got running around this place? Believe me, I could use a little more peace and quiet in my life. If I could do this to all of them, I probably would…”

Meanwhile, Erika came bouncing over, her eyebrows wiggling up and down with excitement. The leash in my hands went slack as she closed the distance between us.

“Oh my gosh,” the demoness giggled, firmly aware of the irony of her statement. “I’m so happy to finally be yours, Master! Mmmh, I can’t wait to show you what a good girl I can be for you!”

The golden leash was already beginning to disappear. It faded away, leaving only the skintight choker with the heart charm hanging from it as a reminder of how Erika was owned.

But I could still feel it.

It was like a pressure in the back of my mind. The certain, undeniable knowledge that I owned this demon woman, the way I owned a car or a television set or a pair of handcuffs. I could do whatever I wanted with her.

Lucifer wanted me to feel this. He wanted me to get a little taste of the privileges I’d have if I signed up with his demons and threw my lot in with Hell.

Total domination of a gorgeous demon girl.

Lucifer rose from his throne, stroking the back of one of Cerberus’s necks. The imps made a tragic hash of carrying the throne back into the fires of hell, while his entourage of demon babes took five. The meeting seemed to be over.

We should get out while we can, I thought, glancing over at the portal. We’re lucky to be able to leave.

I gestured at my women to follow me.

We were halfway back to the portal when Lucifer’s voice echoed across the walls of the chamber. “I’ll be keeping you at the top of my mind, Jaxon Bryant,” the Prince of Darkness called, grinning like a fox. “For your own sake, you’d better be doing the same with me!”

Lucifer’s words followed me all the way through the portal, through the grassy square in the city, and back through the hole in reality Mia conjured to lead my harem and I back to our Stronghold.

Chapter 12

We managed to make it back to the Stronghold, but Erika didn’t let me get much further than that.

As soon as we were safely within our underground fortress, the pink-haired demon began stripping off her clothes. None of my women moved to stop her. They just stared as Erika revealed more of her perfect, pale skin, tearing off her top and hiking up her miniskirt to reveal nothing but a pair of black thong panties underneath her maid uniform.

Her nipples were pierced.

I knew she hadn’t had those studs in them when she first unveiled her maid outfit—it would have been too obvious not to be noticed. So there were only two possibilities. Either it had something to do with the leash around her neck, or she’d done it for me. To symbolize her newfound devotion to her (temporary) Master.

I knew which of the two I wanted it to be.

Just like I knew deep in my heart there was nothing temporary about this arrangement between me and Erika.

“What are you doing?” Fliss asked the pink-haired demon.

Now that they were safe and at home, my women were relinquishing their transformations, going back to their ordinary human forms. Fliss lost several inches of height as she spoke, her body reverting from the Valkyrie to my cheerful, nerdy girlfriend.

“Putting on my new uniform,” Erika said with a lewd giggle. “Before, I was the Stronghold’s maid, but now, I’m more. So much more.”

“And you think that means you need to go around naked?” I asked.

Erika didn’t respond. Not with words.

The pink-haired demon let the rest of her ensemble drop. For a few steps she was naked, save for the pair of black thong panties clinging to her swollen, hairless mound and the lush heels hugging her feet. My whole harem stared at her, astounded by her pert, perfect titties and her pale pink folds.

Then she began to transform.

By the time the pink-haired demon reached me, she was wearing a whole new outfit. Strips of black leather crisscrossed her frame underneath her tits, making her look like a Fifty Shades version of a Victoria’s Secret cover girl. She was still topless, though, her pierced nipples gleaming in the Stronghold’s lights. Fishnet stockings hugged her legs, connected to a garter belt around her waist.

I looked down and gasped. Her panties were now crotchless—there was nothing keeping her soft, pink pussy away from my fingers or my tongue.

Erika beamed with pleasure. “That’s the reaction you should have when you look at me, Master,” the demoness purred, nibbling her bottom lip. “I want you to look at me like that all the time. I want you to look at me like that forever. ”

All the air went out of the room. My other harem girls knew what Erika was asking.

As I looked at the pink-haired demon, I thought about Lucifer. About his anger, his plans, and his sleaziness. Most of all, I thought about how he was going to react to the fact that I’d bound one of his daughters to me forever as a harem girl. Because there was no fucking way I was going to let a piece of ass as hot as Erika ever, ever get away from me.

“You sure about that, little girl?” I asked, grabbing a handful of Erika’s ass. Nothing covered it, and the demon groaned as she rolled her eyes, her pussy boiling over. “This isn’t exactly something you can take back.”

“That’s right.” That was Charlie, who’d rolled onto her stomach on the couch to watch. “You want to be with Jax, you’ve got to be ride or die—no matter what.”

“You’ve got to be one of us,” Fliss said. “Heaven and Hell can’t get in the way.”

“Your Dad can’t get in the way,” Stephanie chuckled.

“We know it’s a lot to ask,” Mia said, her arms crossed beneath her breasts. “But we wouldn’t be asking it if the rewards weren’t worth it.”

Erika nodded. “I’ve seen everything I need to see,” the demoness whispered, batting her lashes up at me. “I’m yours, Master. I want to be part of this family.”

Well. Well.

That was exactly what I wanted, too.

Erika stiffened, then ran a hand across the space next to her neck. “I want you to have this ,” she whispered.

It was her leash. It popped into existence in thin air, materializing between her slender throat and my wrist.

“This symbolizes the bond between me and you,” the demoness purred. “We’ll never be equals, because I could never dream of being equal to you, Master. You’re so much better than me. You deserve to have me on this leash, to drag me around like an animal. You deserve to have me as your slave…!”

Fuck! I couldn’t take it any longer.

I gripped the handle of the leash and gave it a good, hard tug. The skintight band around Erika’s neck tightened even further as she gasped, sinking to her knees as instinctively as a dog begging for a treat.

“That’s right, Master, don’t be nice to me,” Erika giggled. “I’ve been such a wicked bitch to you all this time. Don’t I deserve my comeuppance? I deserve to get jerked around like a little whore…!”

Erika had been kneeling before me as she spoke. Her nimble fingers worked at my belt, unlatching it as she prepared to pull my prick out of my pants. Something about that felt so right—but so wrong at the same time.

She was right, I realized. She deserved to get her chain yanked a little bit before I forgave her and fucked her brains out.

“C’mere,” I grunted, hauling her to her feet.

The pink-haired demon stood up with a gasp. This wasn’t what she’d had in mind. “What’s wrong, Master? Did I do something bad?”

I looked over at my harem. They were snickering. Like me, they knew which way the wind was blowing. “A few things,” I said, looking the half-naked demon up and down. “I think you will have to beg before you get forgiven, little demon girl. For now, I think the worst thing I could do to you is make you watch all the fun I’m about to have.

Erika’s pretty face filled with shock. Her jaw hit the floor. “What? Master, no, please!”

Charlie laughed. “That’s the spirit,” the blonde purred, rising from the couch. “Let’s drive her absolutely insane, babe. Mmmh, I’ve been so keyed up ever since we came back from Hell…”

The next moment, Charlie was in my arms.

I won’t lie—making out with my childhood crush never failed to make me feel like I was about ten feet tall. And making out with the hot blonde while my other hand was full of a leash that gave me ownership over a slutty demon? Well, that was just about the nicest fucking thing I could imagine.

Suddenly Fliss was with me, too. Then Stephanie, and Mia. My woman surrounded me, murmuring and kissing me, their gazes filled with lust and devotion.

“Bedroom,” I grunted, looking at the doorway. “ Now. ”

In moments, I was in bed surrounded by my women. Girls so much hotter than I’d ever expected to get with tore each other’s clothes off, kissing passionately as Charlie pushed me down onto the bed with a grin. My boxers were off, and I was harder than I could ever remember being.

Charlie climbed on top of me, mounting me. She was down to just her panties, and she was pushing her big, soft tits into my face, letting me kiss and suck them while I tugged on Erika’s leash every few moments to make sure she was forced to watch.

Erika was just about to take things to the next level when a voice cut through the din. “Hey. You know what would really make this party wild?”

It was Stephanie. Unlike the rest of my harem, she’d hung onto her vampiric transformation—either that, or she’d decided to change back sometime between the foyer and the bedroom. Her long, sleek fangs peeked out from behind her pouty lips either way.

“What’s that?” Charlie asked, sitting up and putting an arm over her tits.

With a grin, Stephanie bit into her wrist.

Black blood flowed from the puncture wound, oozing slowly from where her fangs sank into her artery. The smell of it filled the bedroom, like sex and darkness and hard-packed earth. I could have been imagining it, but I swore the arousal levels of every person in the room doubled the moment that scent hit their nostrils, myself included.

“This stuff gets you wild ,” the vampire giggled. “I’ve seen it work on Jax. Who wants a taste?”

Eagerness mingled with hesitation in the eyes of my women.

Finally Charlie slid off of me. “I’ll try it,” she said, her eyes daring anyone to call her a coward. “Jax, this shit’s good?”

“It makes you feel like you’re a God,” I said, not needing to sugarcoat it. “I’m warning you all, though. When I’m on this shit, I don’t hold back. Some of you might have trouble walking tomorrow morning…”

This was exactly what my women wanted to hear. They groaned at the idea, laughing at each other with the thought of getting a good, hard fuck.

“Sounds like a great time,” Fliss whispered. “I’m a little worried about how wild I might get, though…”

“Live a little,” Stephanie purred. “All of you, come taste. Then we’ll all feed our Powermancer together, like a good harem should.”

Oh fuck. Fuck.

The girls surrounded Stephanie, forming a circle with her in the center like the world’s lewdest AA meeting. The vampire dug her fangs in a little deeper to make the blood flow, then offered her wrist to Charlie. Slowly the blonde pressed her lips to the punctures and began to suck.

I watched it take hold. My childhood crush’s eyes widened, her face flushing with dark pleasure as Stephanie’s black blood overclocked her senses.

“Oh fuck ,” Charlie gasped, breaking contact. She licked her lips eagerly, then ran her fingers over her mouth, getting every last drop of the black blood. “Oh my God. Oh. My. Gawd. ”

“It’s that good?” Mia asked.

Charlie looked around the room and started to laugh. “I’m… oh fuck! I feel so good…!”

When she saw me, Charlie threw herself into my arms. She straddled me with renewed vigor, dry humping me through my boxers like a madwoman as she stripped off the remainder of her clothing. Charlie was a porn star, a sex kitten, a sultan’s most desperate and needy harem girl.

And we were just getting started.

As Charlie grabbed my cock and slammed it inside of her tight, wet pussy, the vampire fed each one of my harem girls with her special black blood.

The moment it touched their lips, they were hooked—up, up, and away. Orgasmic groans left them as they made out with the blood between them, like they were eating the most delicious chocolate in the world. Erika panted and strained for a taste, but I held her leash tightly.

I wasn’t letting her join in just yet.

Soon I had my whole harem climbing all over me. Mia straddled my face, whimpering something about me being her King as she lowered her bare pussy to my mouth. Fliss crawled between my legs, making noises like she was cumming her brains out as she buried her face in my balls, licking and sucking on them while Charlie bounced up and down on my dick. Erika watched the whole thing, unable to tear her eyes away from the porn movie unfolding in front of her.

Fuck, this felt good. This was exactly how I deserved to be treated. And the revenge I was getting on the pink-haired demon felt nearly as sweet as the sex.

A weight next to me on the king-sized bed alerted me to the presence of a new harem girl. I lifted Mia’s hips with my free hand to see Stephanie herself laying next to me. Black bloodstains covered her face, and I said a silent prayer of thanks that the Stronghold had automatic laundry facilities—our sheets were going to be a mess tomorrow.

“Did I do a good job, sir?” the vampire asked. “I turned all your girls into horny little sluts for you, sir. They love my blood so much—it makes them want to fuck so bad!”

“Nnnngh! Fuck!” Mia was transforming into her foxgirl form as her pussy quivered over my face. I slid my fingers into her snatch to keep her occupied while I talked to the vampire.

“Here,” Stephanie whispered. “Let me feed you , Master…”

The vampire’s mouth was full of blood. I tasted it when she kissed me, and it set my veins on fire.

Suddenly I was as hard as an iron girder. I upthrust into Charlie, hard, shaking her lithe body so hard that she nearly fell onto the floor. In an orgiastic haze I grabbed Mia’s hips and rammed her pussy onto my face, eating her out for all I was worth as I madly pumped my cock into Charlie’s walls.

At some point, I felt Mia’s juices squirt all over my face. The foxgirl came with a cry, slamming her fists against the headboard. When I removed her from my face, I could see the fucking orgy we’d created.

The bed was filled with beautiful, writhing, naked women. All of them were pleasuring me in some way, either with their hands or their breasts or their shaved twats. I hadn’t even noticed that Charlie was no longer riding me—Fliss bounced up and down on my dick while my childhood crush and her former employee made out hot and heavy, the latter kneading my balls with her fingers at the same time.

Stephanie broke the kiss and winked at me. “Want to see something cool?” the vampire asked.

I nodded.

She leaned over and put a thumb on Fliss’s forehead. “ Cum for Master! ” she commanded, her dark eyes flashing with sparks.

Her blood must have given her some low-level hypnotic power over my women. It was the only explanation that made sense—because as she said it, Fliss’s head rocked back on her shoulders and an explosive orgasm rocked her hot body. Her pussy heated up around me, her walls dripping as they went even wetter and tighter than before. Suddenly every thrust into her was Paradise itself.

In the blink of an eye, Stephanie was on me.

The vampire lay across my chest, leaning in close. Her big doe eyes filled the world, staring directly into my soul. I felt the power in that gaze: it was the same power in every version of Dracula I’d ever seen.

“Look into my eyes, Master,” Stephanie said with a giggle. “Look deep. ”

I did. The world was already beginning to blur around me—only those eyes seemed real. I still felt the pleasure of multiple women worshiping me, but it was like it was happening to someone else.

“You feel that bliss?” the vampire teased. “No, don’t cum yet. In fact, Master, you’re not going to be able to cum. Not until I tell you.”

Not until she told me? That didn’t sound so bad—I was cruising pretty fucking great. I never wanted the bliss to stop…

“Even though you really want to,” Stephanie added with a giggle. “Even though everything that’s happening to you feels ten times better than usual, because I’m commanding you to feel so good…”

What the fuck!? I did feel good. Oh fuck, I felt like an absolute virgin who’d managed to get five minutes alone with the Homecoming queen. The bliss soared in me like a fucking geyser about to go off, with no way to hold back…

Except I didn’t need to hold back.

The pleasure hit its apex, only to slam into an invisible wall. I was right there, right on the point of cumming and feeling that incredible relief, but I just couldn’t get there!

“Gaaah!” I groaned. Everything was so sensitive that I could scream.

“Yes, Master, feel it!” Three women knelt between my legs, licking and sucking my member. If it wasn’t for Stephanie’s spell, they’d all have faces utterly covered with my cum. “Keep riding that edge! Fuck, look at you! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you experience so much pleasure before…!”

I couldn’t stand it. It felt so good that I never wanted it to end—but the lack of relief was maddening. I needed to come!

I grabbed Erika’s leash and pulled her to me.

The pink-haired demon hadn’t expected it until the last moment. “Master!?”

“Gotta fuck you,” I growled, giving her a smack on the ass. “Now!”

I sprang from the bed, filled with energy from the black blood. Without a moment’s hesitation or concern for Erika’s health, I grabbed her and slammed her against the headboard, pinning her to the wall and spreading her legs. I mounted her from behind, pushing the crown of my cock deep into the tight, wet little slit between her legs.

“Oh fuck!” Erika groaned. “What did you sluts do to him?”

“We set him free,” Stephanie purred, kneeling on the bed with the other girls. “And gave him a fun new toy to play with.”

Only now did I understand. This wasn’t just an orgy.

It was Erika’s initiation ritual.

One she was never going to forget.

With my mind filled with erotic haze and my veins surging with black blood, I was barely human. A caveman growl left me as I thrust forward, bottoming out inside of Erika’s tight, wet demon pussy in a single thrust. Holy shit she was tight!

Her whole body shifted with me inside of her. I was wearing the pink-haired demon on my dick like a sock—it was truly amazing how tiny she was. And it felt great!

“Fuck me, Master!” Erika managed to moan. “Harder! Fuck me harder! Spank me, oh please spank me!”

No man could have possibly obeyed her more.

I don’t remember much of the next forty-five minutes or so: I spent it in a frenzy, images coming to me like dirty Polaroids taken by my mind’s eye. I remember that the other girls mostly stayed away while I ravaged Erika, preferring to play with each other and watch as the dark, fucked up dominance toy Stephanie created was set free all over the pink-haired demon girl.

I know that by the time I came back to myself, Erika had bruises. And that my entire harem had lost count of the number of times the pink-haired demon had cum all over my Powermancer dick.

At some point, I noticed I had the leash tied twice around Erika’s neck and was using it to pin her against me. If she hadn’t been a demon, she’d have been totally unconscious—and I found something about that so hot that I ran up against Stephanie’s invisible wall all over again. The pleasure built and built, finding no release.

Only now did I realize what Erika had been babbling for a while. “Cum in me Master,” the demon whimpered through a ragged throat. Her eyes were rolled back in her head like an anime character, her tongue lolling. “Fill me up, please, pump my pussy full of your cum Master I need it…!”

Slowly, so slowly that it made me ache, Stephanie curled up by my side. “Keep fucking her,” the vampire whispered. “Fuck her even harder, sir. Build that orgasm to the breaking point!”

I did. I was like a freight train—if I could have ripped the demon girl in half, I would have. Half my harem was cumming their brains out just from watching Erika get fucked.

Finally it was time. Stephanie put her lips against my ear and kissed me, then spoke the words I’d been longing for:

“You’re free, Master. Cum inside your slut!”

The invisible wall vanished. I expected the pleasure to build into an orgasm, but it was already too high for that. What I’d expected to be an ordinary mountain-top turned into Everest, and the world went white as I slammed over the peak and into outer space.

Erika came around me, helplessly shuddering with orgasm as my seed sprayed into her womb. The first few jets went deep, spurting right where they belonged, then I pulled out and shot the next few all over her ass and back. Marking my territory, I thought, some primal caveman instinct inside of me smiling at the thought.

“Oh fuck, put it back in!” Erika begged, reaching for my dick. “Please!”

I did. It was almost a second orgasm just penetrating that pussy—her tight, slick walls felt so good around me. Like home.

She really was a member of the harem now. Forever.

The next thing I knew, all of my girls were laying around me. Everything was skin on skin, so blissful that I could have laid there forever and been as happy as a fucking clam. I groped tits, asses, gave playful slaps as my girls began to come down from the awesome high of Stephanie’s black blood. Losing that rush made them tired, and it made me tired, too. I couldn’t believe how tired, actually. I’d exhausted myself inside of my harem girls, and now it was time for a rest.

I was just about to doze off when a polite cough caught my attention.

I opened my eyes to see an unwelcome visitor. The hairy imp who’d been carrying Lucifer’s chair down in Hell stood next to the bed, holding a white envelope. If he’d been staring at my women I would have slapped him, but he kept his eyes resolutely forward despite the bounty of firm female flesh on display.

“What the fuck do you want?” I hissed.

Gradually, my women started to realize we weren’t alone. Fliss gave a start, while Charlie sprang out of bed and summoned the Bitch’s Blade. I hadn’t realized she could bring that to her side without first becoming the Noir Knight; it surprised me.

It surprised the demon, too. “Message for you!” it babbled, shrinking away from the king-sized bed and the half-dozen naked, increasingly angry women surrounding me. “From the Boss to his daughter! Said it was urgent, that I should give it to her even if it means you kill me…!”

Crap. Lucifer obviously meant to get this creature killed. He probably thought it was funny.

“Erika,” I growled, glancing over my shoulder. “For you.”

The pink-haired demon barely looked conscious after the fucking I’d given her. She gazed at me through glazed eyes, her soft pink tongue lolling from her mouth and sweat beading on her forehead. “Hnngh?”

“Demon,” I said, gesturing roughly at the furry intruder. “From your Dad.”

That got her attention. Erika sat up, still naked, and took the envelope from the creature’s hand. As soon as the hand-off was done, the little imp withdrew in a puff of brimstone-scented smoke.

“What is it?” Fliss asked, scooting to the edge of the bed. She managed to be more professional than the rest of my harem, most of whom just lounged on the mattress in a cum-soaked mess.

Erika opened the letter. “It’s from Dad,” she said, nodding as she scanned the handwriting. “Nice of him to do things personally. I don’t think he’s written a letter in decades–”

Charlie sat up and craned her neck, reading the letter over Erika’s shoulder. When she saw it, her face went pale.

“No fucking way,” the blonde whispered.

Okay. Now my interest was piqued.

“What?” I grunted, reaching for the letter. “What is it?”

Erika gave Charlie a confused look. “Dad found the location of Dr. Bodekker’s secret anchorite hangout,” the pink-haired demon explained. “I don’t get why you’re so freaked out. That’s exactly what he said he was going to do. When Dad says he’ll do something, he means it.”

That wasn’t what had Charlie in such a tizzy. “It’s not that,” the blonde said. “It’s where that bastard Bodekker is hiding!”

I was getting tired of the games. “Tell me!” I growled.

Charlie locked eyes with me, her lips forming into a tight little line. “Beleth Park,” she whispered, dropping the words into my lap like a pair of stones. “The Obsidian Eye’s hidden complex is underneath Beleth Park.”

Chapter 13

Beleth Park.

Shit, I’d almost forgotten.

“Am I missing something?” Stephanie asked. The vampire was sitting up against the headboard, the covers in a messy tangle around her ample waist. Crimson droplets covered her chin from where she’d bitten her wrist and let my harem feed on her—some of my women still looked like they were coming down from the insane high of her black blood. “What’s so important about Beleth Park?”

“It’s where I was left as an infant,” I said, looking at each of my women in turn. Suddenly I was no longer quite as interested in going for a second round as I’d been a few minutes ago. “Where my parents left me when they abandoned me.”

I didn’t remember it, of course, but I’d been told all about it. I’d told my women about being adopted, but only Charlie knew the full story. She’d grown up with me, and she had seen me become a surrogate member of her own family. The other members of my harem had never heard the name before.

“Abandoned?” Stephanie’s doe eyes widened. “I knew you were an orphan, Jax. But I didn’t know your parents abandoned you…”

I nodded. Even now, so far removed from the events that shaped my life, thinking about it made my stomach burn with emotion.

“A police officer on patrol found me,” I explained, thinking back to the events of that night the way they’d been explained to me so many times growing up. “They said someone called in a sighting. Maybe it was my parents, maybe it was just some Good Samaritan out on a jog. Either way, they found me in a carriage by the big fountain at the center of the park.”

My women looked suitably shaken. Several of them looked like they were on the verge of tears. There was nothing like a hard-luck sob story to move the hearts of women.

“It all happened a long time ago,” I said. “I hardly ever think about it nowadays. My foster parents were okay, but it’s really Charlie’s family that I think of as my own. Her Mom and Dad took me in, let me work at the Fortress of Solitude . Without them, I wouldn’t be the guy I am today.”

“And it wasn’t just you in that carriage, was it?” Fliss asked knowingly. “You had the gem, too.”

I nodded. “What you called the Regalia. A piece of a control key.”

Fliss had been in possession of the other half. She’d revealed it during our first date at the Traverse Museum, back when I thought the Bellum Aeternum was nothing more than an old legend. Her own father secured her another pendant with a similar set of symbols, using his occult connections and a great deal of trial and error.

When Fliss and I put our gems together, we created the control key that activated the Archon Tablet on display in her museum. My powers—and everything else that happened to us after that—followed.

But it had all started at Beleth Park. With an abandoned baby in a second-hand carriage.

“That’s… that’s crazy, right?” Stephanie asked. “I’m not the only one who sees that, yeah?”

“It’s a hell of a coincidence,” Fliss agreed.

Mia was already shaking her head. “I don’t think it is a coincidence,” the redhead said. “Meeting in the rec room?”

The ‘rec room’ was our term for the large foyer near the front of our underground fortress. Charlie had installed a TV in there so we could watch the news, and my girls had each brought some furniture from home to give us places to relax. It made the underground complex feel a little bit more like home than it otherwise would have.

“Sure,” I said with a yawn. I felt around the floor for my boxers and put them on, noting with pleasure the little whimper from my girls as my cock disappeared beneath the fabric. Then I turned to Erika. “Hey. You.”

The pink-haired demon snapped out of her trance instantly. “Yes, Master?”

I was going to ask her if she really meant all of that shit she’d said while the two of us were having sex. But the moment I heard the M-word pass her lips, I knew there was no need.

“If you’re gonna be my servant from now on, you need to start acting like it,” I said, giving her a grin. “Get that cute little maid outfit back on and whip up some coffee and refreshments for my girls. You’re on serving duty for this meeting.”

The demoness Erika had been before I took her leash for myself might have bristled at that, even as attracted to me as she was. The woman who’d given herself up to me body and soul didn’t mind one bit.

“Yes, Master!” the pink-haired demon giggled, springing from the bed. She ran a hand over her body and summoned her maid outfit, though I couldn’t help but notice it was even more revealing than usual. The little silver studs in her pink nipples poked against the fabric, making her look even more naked than she would have been without clothes on. “I’ll go get everything set up!”

With that, she bounced out of the bedroom, her ass shaking back and forth like she was doing the rumba.

“She seems chipper,” Fliss said brightly.

“She should be chipper,” Charlie added with a snort. “Did you see how hard Jax fucked her? I’m surprised that slut can even walk right now.”

“We should all be so lucky,” Stephanie purred, batting her eyelashes at me.

“Right,” I said, turning my attention away from my ladies. If I let them, they’d pull me right back into bed, and it would be another day before we got any actual work done. “Let’s see what Erika’s making for us. I’m fucking starving. And I could use a cup of coffee.”

In the rec room, Erika had the TV back on BNN. To my surprise, I realized I recognized the reporter up on the screen. It was Heather, fresh off of her assignment in the middle of the Chicago battle. The hair and makeup crew must have done a hell of a number on her; she looked like she’d gotten twelve hours of restful sleep followed by a pedicure after she’d been evacuated out of the war zone.

“Damn, she moved up fast in the world,” Charlie said, following me inside. The blonde settled down on the couch and watched as Erika poured her a mug of steaming black coffee. All my girls took their coffee black now, even if they hadn’t before they met me. “I’m sure hooking up with Jaxon Bryant had something to do with that.”

“Have you gotten any messages from her?” Stephanie asked.

I grinned. “ Oh yeah,” I said, waving my phone. “She’s been desperate for another interview.”

All of my women grinned.

“I just bet,” Charlie purred, licking her lips.

The TV volume was on low, so I could just barely make out what the news reporter was saying. In the background behind her head flashed images of various cities, all of which looked like they’d been trashed by battles between angels and demons.

Though I’d managed to get both sides of the Bellum Aeternum to retreat in Chicago, they’d clearly moved their combat to other battlefields. I caught a glimpse of onion domes ablaze as Heather brought up a picture of some Russian metropolis, replaced quickly by the dense streets of a Japanese city with a squadron of angels flying overhead. Things looked dire all around the world; the Bellum Aeternum was spreading.

I sat and watched for a few minutes, chewing over my thoughts while the news droned in the background. At some point, Erika came around with a mug of strong coffee and what looked for all the world like a bowl of small red peanuts. She set them before me with a little curtsy, then moved to the next member of the party and began serving them coffee and fruit.

As the news reporter droned on about the Obsidian Eye and their claims of having a way to remove the demons from our realm (I’d believe it when I saw it), I popped one of the little red nuts into my mouth.

It exploded on my tongue.

A taste that was both savory and sweet filled me. Spices tingled on my tongue; my stomach put its hands together and gave me the equivalent of a standing ovation. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d downed another half-dozen of the things, savoring each one along with a big sip of coffee.

The look on my face must have been obvious to the rest of the harem. Charlie leaned over and peered down into my bowl, lines appearing on her forehead as she squinted. “What the hell are those?” she asked, curious.

I held one up. Bits of flaking spice coated my fingertip. “Try one,” I said, holding it out to her.

With a naughty grin, Charlie opened her mouth and took my whole finger between her lips. Her tongue twirled, knocking the nut deeper into her mouth. Her eyes widened as the taste hit her, and she nearly fell out of her chair.

“Holy shit! ” the blonde cried. “Those are fucking amazing!”

“Hmm?” Erika turned from where she was busy pouring a mug of coffee for Mia. “Oh, I thought you might like those, Master! The replicators didn’t know how to make them, but I taught them.”

I did like them. A lot. Just like I was starting to really like the pink-haired demon standing before me.

“What are they?” I asked.

My women gathered around me, all asking for one. Mia managed to restrain herself, watching the rest of the harem with a smug expression, but my other girls all wanted to compete to lick another nut off of my finger.

“They’re called ambrosia nuts, ” Erika said with a shrug. “They’re kind of a specialty Down Below. Traditionally, they’re served with a slice of honeydew and a warm glass of the Milk of Paradise.”

“That’s from a poem, isn’t it?” I asked, frowning.

“I think it’s from a Rush song,” Stephanie suggested.

Erika shrugged. “We give them out as special treats to demons who’ve done a good job sometimes,” she said, giving me a smile that was as innocent as it was lewd. “Since you’re my Master, Jax, you can have as many of them as you want!” She thrust her tits out, nibbling her bottom lip. “You can have whatever you want, sir,” she purred. “Whenever you want it.”

Uh huh. I knew what the pink-haired demon was trying to do. She made a hell of a hard sell, but accepting her as part of the team came with strings attached. I could feel the invisible leash connecting me to the slender choker around her pale neck. I flexed my fingers experimentally, and I swore I could feel the leather between my fingers.

Maybe Erika felt a tug, too. “You know this has nothing to do with my father, right?” the demoness cooed. “He didn’t tell me to give you one of Hell’s greatest delicacies. Just like he didn’t tell me I had to wind up in an orgy with your entire harem. I just wanted it.”

My girls stared hotly at the demon. This was supposed to be a meeting, not a sweaty fuck-session, but it was starting to look like they wanted both.

Mia cleared her throat. “If you really wanted it, you’d agree to serve Jax with no strings attached,” the redhead said.

Erika didn’t have an easy answer for that. She fell back on her spectacular pout, striking a pose so gorgeous it made me want to throw her over my lap right then and there.

“Aww, come on ,” the demoness groaned. “I’m so tired of having to decide between you guys and my home! Can’t Jax just team up with Dad and crush all those annoying angels under his heel—”

“Quiet!” Fliss held up a hand, her eyes fixed on the screen. “Someone turn that up!”

I grabbed the remote. Dr. Bodekker was on the news.

“…is simply not true,” the ‘good’ doctor was saying. “The Obsidian Eye is working as hard as it can to restore order to the planet. The… unfortunate events in Chicago were an aberration, nothing more…”

Unlike most people going live on the air these days, he looked completely untouched by the conflict enveloping the globe. His lab coat hung from his lanky frame, and he was clean-shaven and every bit as rakishly handsome as he’d been in holographic form back at the Ceremony.

I couldn’t help but notice that his speech was clear and even. No ahhs and umms randomly inserted between words, no awkward pauses or other eccentricities. Evidently when he was in front of the cameras, Dr. Bodekker was all business.

“Son of a bitch,” Mia snarled. The look of hate on the redhead’s face was truly something to behold. “You know he once swore to me that he’d never do the exact thing he’s doing right now?” She cupped her hands around her mouth. “The Eye is supposed to stay secret, you asshole!”

“Dr. Bodekker,” Heather was saying, “with all due respect, sir, I can’t agree that events in Chicago were in any way unfortunate. ” She paused for emphasis, the TV showing her face in a box right next to the doctor’s. “The city was under siege by angels and demons alike before Jaxon Bryant arrived. Now the streets are safe.”

“Ah, but for how long?” Dr. Bodekker held up a finger. “Even if this ‘Archon System’ is anything other than a conspiratorial myth, this so-called ‘Powermancer’ is only one man. It’s simply impossible that he could make any difference in this war!”

I leaned forward in my seat. “That fucking asshole,” I growled, my face filling with wonder. “He’s really throwing me under the bus!”

“In fact,” Dr. Bodekker added, “I suspect that Mr. Bryant’s real aim isn’t much different than that of Mr. Knight—the recently disgraced actor and former leader of the Wasp-17 cult.”

Heather’s face told me she didn’t believe this fool. But how many people sitting at home did?

“And what’s that, Dr. Bodekker?” the news reporter asked, barely concealing her hostility.

Dr. Bodekker coughed, covering it with a little laugh. “The goal of men since time immemorial,” he said, spreading his hands. “Women. Power. Money, perhaps, though that would come later.”

Heather cocked an eyebrow. “You really think the Powermancer is doing all of this for groupies? ”

The rec room exploded in laughter.

“As if ,” Charlie chuckled, putting a hand on my thigh. “Jax already has so many women he doesn’t know what to do with them all…”

“Oh, he definitely does,” Stephanie added with a giggle.

Mia was more sanguine. “Dr. Bodekker is correct about one thing,” she said, standing beside her seat. “Though I really hate to give any credit to that bastard…”

“What’s that?” I asked.

Mia turned her gaze to me. “You do want more women,” she said. “If we’re really going to win the Bellum Aeternum, we need more than a squad. We need an army. ”

I nodded. “And for that, we need the control keys.”

Mia gave me a fierce look. “You’re damned right.”

“All I’m saying,” Dr. Bodekker was replying to Heather’s next question, “is that the future of humanity lies in organized action, not the acts of a small group of vigilantes. Particularly ones who appear more interested in making sure their costumes show enough skin than in saving the lives of human beings in danger.”

I couldn’t believe the shit I was hearing. How did Dr. Bodekker live with himself? Had he somehow managed to convince himself he was in the right here?

Heather seemed shocked as well. She cleared her throat, then changed the subject. “Speaking of which, Dr. Bodekker, the public is eager to hear more about your plan to rid the world of the demonic armies.”

Yeah. This part I was interested in. I leaned forward, moving to the edge of my seat, and felt the other members of my harem doing the same. Whatever plot the Obsidian Eye had cooked up to save humanity, I wanted to know everything about it that I could possibly learn. It might save all of our lives.

But Dr. Bodekker didn’t look like he wanted to tell her.

“As you know, the situation is in flux,” the doctor said, taking on an almost patronizing air. “The Obsidian Eye is currently working on a method… call it a ritual… that will keep demons from entering our world. In addition, it will force those who are already here to leave.”

Heather sat up and took notice. It wasn’t a total solution to the Bellum Aeternum— there would still be the angels to worry about, after all—but knocking out half of humanity’s woes in a single stroke?

That was worth celebrating.

If Dr. Bodekker could pull it off, and wasn’t merely talking out of his ass.

“How feasible is that, Dr. Bodekker?” the news reporter asked. “And how soon can we expect this ritual to actually commence?”

Good questions. But Dr. Bodekker simply spread his hands.

“The Obsidian Eye is working day and night on this,” he said, looking directly at the camera. “I want you to know, Heather, as well as everyone sitting at home wondering why it feels like the planet has gone mad in the last two days. This is not normal. It’s not right. And it won’t go on for much longer.” He clasped a fist to his chest. “Just hang on, keep your heads down, and the Eye will pull us out of this. There is hope.” His lips pursed, twisting in a smirk. “But if we allow charlatans like Mr. Bryant free reign over our cities, it will only make things worse!”

I could see Heather didn’t like that last part. “Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree about that, Dr. Bodekker. Thank you so much for joining us—”

“I’m not done,” the doctor said mildly.

Heather gave a little start. My women leaned forward even further; everyone in the room with me (with the exception of Erika) was hanging off every word of the broadcast now.

Heather unconsciously reached for her earpiece. “I’m sorry, Dr. Bodekker, but a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is about to give a press conference,” she said, her lips forming a tight little line. “We’re going live to Washington, where the briefing has already begun—”

“I won’t allow you to ruin this for me, Bryant,” Dr. Bodekker hissed.

I froze. It was like a bolt of lightning had shot through the roof of the Stronghold, pinning me to my chair.

He’s talking to ME, I thought.

“Dr. Bodekker?” Heather asked.

“We’re looking for you, Powermancer,” the doctor said, staring straight into the camera. “We know you’ve had contact with representatives from both Heaven and Hell recently. We know this little tart—” he gestured across the screen at Heather, “–is in your Rolodex. We know all about you , Jaxon Bryant. And we will not allow you to destroy the plan the Obsidian Eye has been carefully cultivating for decades!”

“Ass,” Mia growled. “Of course he would make this interview all about you!”

“You have one final chance,” Dr. Bodekker said, wiping off his eyeglasses with the side of his lab coat. “Leave your women behind and travel to any major city. Make your presence known with your powers and declare your intent to surrender. Do not summon the Tempest Fang, and do not touch the Archon System when we arrive. Do this, and the women who follow you will not be harmed…”

My women shouted at the screen, booing Dr. Bodekker like he was the captain of their least favorite sports team.

“Piece of shit!” Charlie hissed. “How dare he try to make you leave us behind?”

“Like Jax would ever fall for that,” Fliss said, nudging her bestie. “That’s amateur hour tactics...”

Even BNN wasn’t willing to take Bodekker’s bullshit lying down. “I’m sorry,” Heather said, lifting a hand to forestall the jump to the press conference. “It sounds to me like you’re trying to imprison the man who just saved the city of Chicago!”

Dr. Bodekker barely heard her. “Jaxon Bryant is a menace!” the man growled, slapping his desk. “A menace!”

“I can’t agree with that,” Heather said, her expression darkening. “Jaxon Bryant saved my life, Dr. Bodekker. He saved a whole hell of other lives yesterday as well. I’m afraid I can’t let you lie about him any longer.”

The doctor began to sputter. “But, but—”

The scene dissolved.

Chapter 14

“Well,” Charlie said into the silence that followed. “At least we know she’s on our side!”

The voiceover faded out as the scene on BNN changed to a live stream of a press conference with one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Just then, they were talking about the safety of the President and the other big-wigs in Washington, and the representative was assuring everyone that they’d all been rushed to a secure location.

Almost as if they’d been given a head’s up that the Bellum Aeternum was about to pop off. It sounded awfully suspicious to me, but it wasn’t my problem to worry about. I had bigger fish to fry.

“It might just be me,” I said, settling back on the couch with my cup of Joe, “but I don’t think we learned much from that interview.” I took a sip. “I’d love for someone to contradict me, though.”

My women all traded glances. None of them were entirely certain about how to proceed.

“Can I get you any more ambrosia nuts, Master?” Erika asked.

I was about to remind her that I had plenty—then I looked into the small bowl she’d given me. It was empty; only a few flakes of that amazing spice remained.

Wow. Had I eaten all of those without realizing it? Or were my women sneaking more snacks than I realized?

“Sure,” I said, giving the pink-haired demon the bowl. “I sure hope those aren’t high in calories!”

Erika giggled. So did the rest of my girls.

“Are you kidding me, Master?” the demoness asked.

Hmm? I didn’t follow.

And it must have been obvious from my expression, because Erika continued: “You don’t need to worry about calories today, Master. In fact, you don’t have to worry about calories ever again. None of you do.”

“The Archon System takes care of everything,” Charlie added. “We’ve all been totally pigging out with those food replicators, and none of us have gained a fucking ounce!” She glanced down at her body, running a hand down her side. “In fact, I think I’ve lost a few pounds since I joined the harem.”

To my surprise, she had. With another start, I realized I had, as well. The soft ring of fat around my belly (not a lot, but ordinary for a guy pushing thirty) had faded since that day at the Traverse Museum. When I pulled my shirt up to double check, I made an even more shocking discovery—I had abs.

Holy shit.

My women all noticed that I had abs, too. From the looks on their faces, they’d known about my new muscles for far longer than I had. When had these things shown up?

I guess it didn’t matter. I liked them.

And so did my harem.

While I was marveling over my newfound physique, Erika was busy getting me a refill on my coffee and my ambrosia nuts. She placed the bowl in front of me, set the steaming brew down on the table, then planted a kiss on my cheek in full view of my women.

“Last night was amazing,” the demoness purred, pulling my hand beneath her maid uniform’s skirt. “Whenever you want to do that again, stud, you just let me know. Or just pull me into your lap and take me as soon as the mood strikes you…”

With a grin, I pulled Erika close and kissed her on the lips this time. It was great, and all of my other harem girls looked totally jealous of the treatment she was getting.

“Good girl,” I said, breaking the kiss. I punctuated the statement with a quick slap on the ass. “Take care of the other girls, would you? We all need caffeine.”

The pink-haired demon grinned. “Ooh, yes sir! Just let your eager little servant girl take care of everything…”

As my new maid flittered around the room seeing to my harem’s needs, I decided to get down to business. I turned BNN down to a manageable volume and sat back on the couch, thinking a few things over. My women could sense my need for contemplation; they stayed silent, waiting for me to fill the gap.

“Mia,” I said.

Mia was staring at the news as she ate her breakfast: a Greek yogurt she’d had Erika bring her from the food replicators. Her brows rose a fraction as she cleaned off her spoon, the movement just sexy enough to make me think of what else she could be doing with that tongue.

“Uh huh?” the redhead asked.

I set the coffee down and made a steeple with my fingers. “This ritual Dr. Bodekker keeps promising is about to happen. What do you think about it?”

Mia made a face. Clearly she’d been thinking about this for just as long as I had.

“It’s a good question,” the redhead finally admitted. “My knee-jerk reaction is to say that it’s bullshit. That there’s no way for the Eye to actually force hundreds of thousands of demons to involuntarily flee the Earth. But…”

“But what?”

A strange look settled over Mia’s face. “I know Dr. Bodekker,” she said, shaking her head as she took a sip of the dark brew. “I’ve worked for him for a long time. I was one of his agents for years before I met you and decided to go rogue.”

“A very good decision,” Fliss said with a smile.

For a wonder, Mia matched that smile with one of her own. “It worked out for me. But thanks to that, one thing I know about Dr. Bodekker is this: he absolutely despises being made to look foolish in the public eye. If he’s been flogging this ritual idea to the news networks, then it’s because he thinks he has a good chance of making it a reality.”

I found myself nodding along. That made sense.

“But what kind of ritual could we possibly be talking about?” I asked. I was looking for a little of Mia’s expertise from her long tenure with the Obsidian Eye. “I know the Eye has access to magic. But there can’t really be a spell that will force all demons currently on Earth to leave, can there?”

Mia looked concerned. “Not that I’m aware of,” she said slowly. “But I was never privy to the highest level of the Eye’s meetings. It could be that they have some secret weapon that even I don’t know about.”

Charlie snorted. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s bullshitting. There’s no ritual.”

I blinked. “Mia just said he wouldn’t risk being embarrassed in public—”

“Oh, he won’t be embarrassed,” Charlie shot back, crossing her arms under her breasts. “He’s intending to win. He’s just not betting on some wacko ritual to bail him out. He wants you. ”

A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Me?”

“Specifically, what’s inside you,” Charlie continued. “Come on, it’s what the Eye’s been hunting for all this time. Why they’ve been chasing you the way they have. You have the Archon System, and they want it. They think that if they can get access to it, they can win this war. And if they do that , then any lies they tell along the way will be forgiven.”

It was a neat explanation. And so tight that you could have wrapped it up with a little bow. But something about it rang hollow to me.

I didn’t think Dr. Bodekker and his ilk were putting all their eggs in the Archon basket. Sure, the ‘good’ doctor probably hoped I’d surrender so he could rip humanity’s inheritance right out of my skull, but he wasn’t relying on that to 100% save his skin.

Something else was going on.

Mia thought so, too. “I’m not sure,” the redhead muttered. “The Archon System would make the Obsidian Eye exponentially more powerful, it’s true. But without this Stronghold, or the control keys, I don’t see them parlaying that into actually winning the Bellum Aeternum. ” She frowned deeply. “We haven’t even gotten into the fact that the Eye’s entire MO for the last ten thousand years has been not to try to win the Bellum Aeternum. ”

“They hunker down and hide,” I said, to show I understood. “A little bit like the people who built this fortress.”

To my surprise, Mia started to chuckle. “No, Jax. This place was anything but a hidey-hole. You haven’t figured out what it really is yet?”

Hmm? I wasn’t sure what Mia was getting at.

Mia looked surprised by my confusion. And even more surprised when she looked at my other harem girls and noticed that they all looked confused, as well.

“I mean, you know what the control keys do, right?” the redhead said with a frown. “Just think about that, and you can probably put the rest together.”

Oh. This was awkward.

“They… make us stronger?” Stephanie said, her brows furrowing together. “I mean, I know the first one we put in that pillar is what makes the food replicators and all the life support work. But I really wasn’t here for all that.”

Mia hid her shock well, but I could see she was profoundly upset by this. “Charlie, you’ve got to know about this,” she said, forcing out a laugh.

Charlie shook her head.

Mia looked desperate now. “Fliss? Come on, Felicity—if anybody knows this stuff, it’s you. You made a study of the Bellum Aeternum! You carried a piece of the Regalia around your neck!”

Fliss gave the redhead an awkward look. “I studied the Bellum Aeternum as a legend,” she said mildly. “As Earth’s mythology. I knew the gem my father gave me was extremely powerful, and that I’d know what to do with it when the time came. But as far as the mechanics of the whole thing…”

The redhead’s jaw dropped open. “Well holy shit,” she said, slowly rising from her seat and surveying the room. “How long has the rest of this harem been flying blind?”

We all shared glances.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Erika purred, licking her lips as she finished serving Felicity her tea. “I know all about this stuff! My succubae tutors were teaching me the history of the Bellum Aeternum even before they started showing me how to seduce mortals!”

Mia ignored that. “This building—this Stronghold—was one of many,” the redhead explained. Her voice took on a didactic tone as she spoke that reminded me of Fliss giving one of her museum tours or a teacher lecturing about a subject they were particularly passionate about. “According to the Eye’s best research, there were at least a dozen of these structures around the Earth in the days before Atlantis fell into the sea. Possibly there were as many as a hundred fortresses just like this one.”

I whistled through my teeth. One hundred Strongholds? It made me wonder how humanity could have ever possibly lost the Bellum Aeternum.

I wasn’t the only one thinking it. “The Archon System must have been far more common in those days,” Charlie said, thinking it over. “Otherwise, who the hell would live in all those buildings?”

“It must have been like a magical university system,” Fliss said, her face filling with a wistful expression. “Like getting an invitation to Hogwarts!”

Mia stared at both women, her eyes bulging slightly. “It wasn’t like that at all. From what we understand, it was more like a sports medicine center. Everyone had access to the Archon System, but only a relative few were able to refine their abilities to the point that they were able to take on a class and gain a transformation.”

“But we’ve all done that,” Stephanie blurted after a moment. “Are we just special, then?”

“I’m not sure,” Mia said curtly. It was clear this bothered her as well, though she wasn’t about to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. Instead, she turned to me. “What do you think happens when you get those other two control keys, Jax?”

Honestly? I’d been so focused on getting the power I hadn’t let myself think too much about the details.

“We’ll… be more powerful,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Angels and demons won’t be able to fuck with us the way they’re doing now.”

Mia was already shaking her head. “Incredible. You really have been running on gut instinct and testosterone all this time, haven’t you, Jax?”

In other circumstances, I would have thought she was trying to needle me. But this was the new Mia, the girl who was totally committed to our team, even if she could be a little snarky sometimes. So I just smiled.

“It’s been working out for me so far,” I said, gesturing at our room. “You have a problem with it?”

Mia’s eyes widened. “I’m not complaining,” she said, smirking at me. “I’m attracted to machismo—it’s half the reason I turned traitor against the Obsidian Eye and hitched my wagon to you in the first place. But I would feel a lot more comfortable if the man I love actually understands what it is we’re fighting for.”

Wow. The L-word from Mia? Today really was a red letter day.

“Go right ahead, then,” I said, taking a sip of my hot bean juice. “Professor Morgan.”

Mia snickered at that. “The Stronghold is a place to house and train those capable of using the Archon System,” the redhead explained. “And yes, it also funnels quite a lot of attractive women into one confined space. It’s basically a perfect breeding ground for harems. We’re not sure if the people who originally built the Strongholds did that on purpose, or if it just turned out to be a happy accident. But one thing that certainly isn’t an accident is that central pillar at the heart of the complex.”

I glanced at the wall in the direction of the chamber Mia was talking about. At the center of the Stronghold lay a platform with a pillar covered in circuitry. It had three slots to insert control keys. Only one slot was currently filled, occupied by the gem created by the fusion of my regalia and the one Fliss carried around her neck. The other two waited to be filled.

“Once the second control key is placed, this place becomes capable of fulfilling its true purpose,” Mia explained. “Keep in mind, I don’t know any of this firsthand. Though the Obsidian Eye has access to primary sources, none of us were actually there during the days of Atlantis and Ys to confirm all of this. So take it with a grain of salt.”

I was trying to. I caught myself sitting on the very edge of my seat, listening intently to Mia.

“Go ahead,” I said, glancing around the harem. My girls all looked just as spellbound by Mia as I was. “Explain.”

Mia cleared her throat. “As soon as you install the second control key, you’ll be able to register yourself as this Stronghold’s Master ,” she said.

I blinked. “I thought I was that already?”

“Jax is totally my Master,” Erika purred, putting a hand on her hip. “And don’t you forget it!”

“Not like that,” Mia said, rolling her eyes. “You’re registered to this place, but you don’t own it. Right now the Stronghold sees you as a guest, and all of your harem girls as guests of a guest. They’ll give you food and drink, turn the showers on when you want, and make you some clothes if you need them. It’s all part of the fortress’s hospitality protocols. But this place isn’t truly yours yet, Jax. Not in the way that matters.”

Okay. That did sound like a pretty big change.

“What happens when I own the joint?” I asked. “I’m guessing I can keep weirdos like those imps from breaking in while I’m passed out, right?”

Mia nodded. “That and so much more. Once your Archon System is linked to this Stronghold, you can perform its functions within the base automatically. It can even happen whether you’re there or not—so that new recruits can be onboarded even while you’re out on a mission with your harem—”

“Hold up,” I said, lifting a hand. “ What new recruits?”

Mia looked shocked. “The ones you’re going to convert, of course,” she said, gesturing around the room. “The ones who are going to live here once you give them access to the Archon System.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

I let out an awkward laugh. “Mia, that all sounds great,” I told her. “But I don’t have enough ability points to do all that. It took me weeks of learning and fighting just to get the Archon System working with all the girls I have now…”

Mia stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “Jax, once you have the second control key installed, you won’t have to worry about ability points ,” Mia said. “The Stronghold will take care of all that for you.”

It took a few moments for the full impact of her statement to sink in with my harem. When it did, the room filled with gasps.

“Wait wait wait!” Fliss said, her voice brimming with excitement. “You’re telling me that if we install that second control key, Jax will be able to power up as many women as he wants, with no limits?”

“Well, there’ll be some limits,” Mia admitted with a shrug. “The people he wishes to awaken to the Archon System will need to be brought to the Stronghold and registered first. It would be even easier if we could find one of the Archon Tablets, but those are in short supply…”

“There used to be one at the Traverse Museum,” Fliss said, her lips forming a tight little line. “It got broken when Jax used it to activate his powers.”

Mia shrugged. “Then I’d say breaking it was worth the trouble. Besides, it will still be possible to turn this place into an Archon factory. It’ll just take more time to process new arrivals.”

“How many new arrivals?” I asked.

Mia beamed at me like I’d just asked the right question. “As many as you can fit in the Stronghold,” the redhead said. “You’ve seen how much space we’ve got here, Jax. The builders put those dormitories in here for a reason. They represent the carrying capacity of the Stronghold itself: the number of human beings they can awaken to their full potential.”

I found it hard to process what Mia was saying. I’d walked around this Stronghold before. There were hundreds, if not thousands of beds sprinkled throughout the Stronghold. We had enough dormitory-style living space to accommodate the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the Justice League, with plenty left over to spare.

I tried to picture this place abuzz, filled to the brim with young men and women (okay, in my mind it was pretty much all women) learning their full potential and mastering their transformations.

If we had that on our side, how much of a fight could we bring to Heaven and Hell? Could we really win the Bellum Aeternum?

I wanted to find out.

Mia was still talking when Erika cut her off. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, Master,” the pink-haired demon purred, reaching into her cleavage. “But I’ve just got to remind you of something!”

“What’s that?” Stephanie drawled. “Your boobs?”

“No, I know you remember those!” Erika giggled. “You’re all so excited about what you can do with two control keys in this place, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you all that you can have two installed right fucking now! ”

Erika removed the control key from underneath her maid uniform. Just like before, I felt a wave of unreal heat roll through the rec room, bringing a faint sheen of sweat to my forehead. Erika’s gem was glowing and crimson, forged by the demons of Hell itself, with veins of darkness pulsing deep in the center of the crystal.

“Dad gave you this,” Erika reminded me. “All you have to do is use it, Master. Install it in your central control pillar, and this place will be a powerhouse…!”

The urge to do just that raged through me like a bolt of lightning. I’d been tempted by Erika before, and now that I’d had a taste of her incredible succubus body, I wanted to bind her to me forever even more.

But I couldn’t give in that easily.

“It’s not that simple,” I told the pink-haired demon. “Using that control key locks us out of a lot of other options.”

Erika was undaunted. “But it will let you do so much!” she protested. She thrust the gem forward, arching her back and doing the same thing with her tits. She shot an accusing glance at Mia. “You won’t even admit it! If he installs this gem, he’ll get even more power!”

I frowned. “What is she talking about?”

Mia sighed. “I believe she’s referring to the fact that Lucifer promised you the ability to ‘ control demons ’. I’m thinking that ‘hellish’ control key is the mechanism by which you gain that ability, Jax.”

Erika pouted spectacularly. “She’s right, and she should say it in a simple way!” the demoness said in a bratty tone. “Install this, Master, and every demon you meet will fall over and perform your every command!”

It was tempting, I had to admit. I’d seen the damage that a horde of hellish monsters could do to an American city when left unchecked. The power to grab them out of the sky and put them to whatever work I wanted them to perform had the potential to save so many lives. It was almost cruel not to accept Erika’s proposal.

Mia made a noise in the back of her throat. “Direct control of demons is tempting,” she admitted, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “But I believe there’s a better option available for Jax and the harem.”

“What!?” Erika gasped.

“Yeah, what?” I couldn’t stop myself from adding. “It wasn’t long ago that you were the one arguing I should take the control key and use it.”

“That was before we knew where the other two were,” Mia explained. “If we have the chance to get all three, we should take it. If we can actually create the Lattice, then it’s worth any price–”

Erika snorted. “The Lattice. That’s just a myth, Mia.”

“What the hell is the Lattice?” I demanded.

Erika and Mia shared a look. “You started it,” Erika said, sticking out her soft pink tongue. “You can take this one.”

Mia sighed. “Some of the pre-Atlantis legends the Eye has managed to get their hands on speak of a world-wide network of energy called the Lattice. Sometimes it’s referred to as almost like the Internet of the prehistoric age, and sometimes it’s more like the Tinder of the prehistoric age. But there’s one thing all the legends agree on.”

Legends agreeing on something? Would wonders never cease?

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It’s bullshit,” Erika pouted. “Don’t listen to her, Master–”

Mia cut the demoness off. “That the Lattice could awaken a human being to the Archon System just by them touching it,” the redhead explained. That anyone, anywhere, could activate their powers and gain their full potential as easily as going outside and putting their hand on it.”

“Gives a whole new meaning to ‘touch grass’, huh?” Charlie added with a giggle.

You could have knocked me over with a fucking feather. Anyone able to use the Archon System? Just being able to bring people to the Stronghold and convert them would have been an exponential change to our ability to fight in the Bellum Aeternum. If we could really summon this Lattice— if we could give every human on planet Earth the ability to tap into the Archon System and transform, at the very same time…

That would win the war.

That would free humanity.

That would end the Bellum Aeternum, once and for all.

“That’s…” I shook my head, barely able to believe it. “That’s crazy.”

Erika was on me like white on rice. “Master, I know that sounds tempting,” the pink-haired demon purred, striking the most seductive pose she knew. “But you’ve got to remember that right now, all of that is pie in the sky bullshit. Uniting all of humanity beneath one planet-wide web of energy? I mean, come on!”

It did sound too good to be true. And yet…

I wanted it. It was exactly what I’d been fighting for.

Erika stuck her tits in my face. “What I’m giving you is available right fucking now,” she growled, straddling my lap. If we hadn’t spent so much of last night fucking each other’s brains out, she might have switched my brain off right then and there. “It’s hot and ready for you, Master. Take the control key, and turn this place into the ‘hot babes with superpowers’ factory you deserve! Bring my Father’s armies under your control!”

That sounded pretty fucking great, too. But even as I thought it over, I realized that Erika’s idea lacked a certain quality that the Lattice embodied. There was no heroism in it; just cold-blooded ruthlessness. A willingness to put my own needs above those of the rest of humanity.

Maybe some guys would have been alright with doing that. But I wasn’t.

“No,” I said, gently lifting Erika from my lap. It was harder than I’d expected—the lithe little demoness did not want to let go of me. “I’m not locking myself down, Erika. That’s not what we’re going to do.”

“Again,” Mia drawled. “I’m pointing out that if you were really one of us, you’d agree to follow Jax no matter what.”

Erika pouted. “Was I not good enough for you, Jax? Did I not fuck you well enough?” Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Did I not take your hot cum all over my face and tits?”

She was trying to turn me on enough that all the blood left my brain and went to my cock, switching it off. Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t going to work.

“Enough,” I whispered back, setting her next to me on the couch. “Erika, you’re embarrassing yourself.”

Spots of color rose to the demoness’s cheeks. “I’m not embarrassing myself!” she shouted, sounding even more embarrassed than she’d been a few minutes ago. “You’re the one who’s embarrassing!”

The demoness popped off of the couch and raced into the kitchen, her tiny hands balled into fists.

“Trouble in paradise,” Mia drawled once Erika was gone. “For the record, Jax, I agree with you about the control keys.”

She did? That was a surprise.

“You were the one pushing the hardest just a few days ago to take Erika’s offer,” I said. “What changed?”

Mia kept her composure, but I knew her well enough to recognize the faint shudder that passed through her frame at the question. “I actually went to Hell,” she whispered, pursing her lips. “I met the Devil, and I saw the entrance to the pit of eternal damnation. After a thing like that, there’s no way I can countenance throwing our lot in with the Prince of Darkness.”

Interesting. “You’ve worked for the Obsidian Eye for a decade,” I shot back. Maybe it was a little unkind, but I couldn’t resist needling her a little bit. “You can’t tell me you just learned that Hell is real.”

Mia shifted in her seat. “Knowing it academically and seeing it for yourself are two very different things,” the redhead whispered. “Look, I know the deal. I’m not going to tell you what to do. I wouldn’t dream of it, even if I knew you’d do as I said. That would ruin this whole relationship that we’ve all got going on, because we know you’re not the type of man we can walk all over.”

“You’re damned right,” I growled.

Mia acknowledged that with a curt nod. “But it is my opinion that allying with Hell would be a mistake,” the redhead continued. “I was wrong before.” She glanced at the entrance to the kitchen, where the sounds of Erika muttering to herself could be vaguely heard. “And as for that girl…”

I cocked an eyebrow. Even for Mia, this might have been a step too far. “You’re giving me advice about my women?”

Suddenly the whole harem was looking at Mia. She flushed deeply enough that her cheeks matched her hair. Mia knew better than anyone that none of my women would have dared to try and influence my opinion about the other harem members. It was totally taboo.

But Erika wasn’t fully a member of the harem yet. Which gave her and the others a little bit of leeway.

Mia cleared her throat, jumping over the awkward bit. “She’s… fun ,” the redhead admitted, her eyes shining as they no-doubt filled with images of the previous night. “I think you should have as much fun with her as you want to have, Jax. But I wouldn’t let her anywhere near this family unless she’s willing to fully sever her ties with Hell and pledge allegiance to you. ”

The rest of my women all nodded. They looked like they’d expected to criticize Mia, but found themselves unexpectedly agreeing with her.

I thought it over, and decided that I agreed with her, too. “Don’t worry,” I said, meaning it as much for her as for the rest of the harem. “I won’t do anything rash. She can shake that ass and those tits for me as much as she wants—it’s not going to get her onto the team unless she’s willing to seriously change the way she does things.”

My women relaxed. Until that moment, I hadn’t felt the tension in the room. It was only now that it had dissolved that I noticed its absence. After last night, all of my women were wondering about me and Erika.

Damn, I thought, shaking my head to clear it. You need to start thinking with your brain, not your dick, Jax.

I had a world to save. I could devote myself to my harem once we’d defeated Heaven and Hell, and saved humanity from the Bellum Aeternum.

“What time is it?” I grunted.

A quick check of my wrist watch showed that it was early in the morning— very early. When was the last time I’d gotten a decent night’s sleep?

An unexpected yawn burst from my mouth. I hadn’t managed to get any sleep after pummeling my harem girls’ pussies into submission. If I was really going to do the thing I was thinking of doing next, I was going to need some rest first.

I glanced down at what remained of my cup of coffee. I’d get more later, I decided.

“Alright,” I grunted, rising from the couch. “Thinking it’s time we get some sleep. We’re going to need to be sharp for what’s coming up.”

My women looked grateful for my words. None of them would have admitted it, but they were more tired than they seemed. The Archon System did wonders for a human’s metabolism and circadian rhythm, but even its technological magic couldn’t completely remove the innate need for rest.

“You sound like you have a plan,” Mia said.

The heads of my harem girls moved on a swivel. Like Mia, they recognized that special tone in my voice. The one that said they didn’t need to worry about a goddamn thing, because their man was in control.

“I do,” I said, stretching and sighing. “Want me to tell you now, or after some shuteye?”

Mia snickered at that. “Give me the bird’s eye view now,” she said. “We can talk details after I’ve crashed.”

I nodded. “Beleth Park,” I said. “I’m going back home. And I’m not leaving without Dr. Boddeker’s control key.”

The interest of my harem was piqued.

“How do you plan to do that, Jax?” Fliss asked. “We know where Dr. Boddeker is hiding, but we have no idea how to actually get into that complex.”

“Not to mention that ever inch of it’s been designed for him and his Anchorites,” Charlie added, thinking it over. “Getting in there’s going to be like breaking into Fort Knox. Just a huge pain in the ass…”

Just then, Erika appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Her bottom lip was stuck out in a huge pout, and she’d adjusted her maid outfit to somehow be even more revealing than it had been a few minutes ago.

“I’m sorry, Master,” the pink-haired demon said, her eyes fixed on the ground. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” She glanced up at me, her eyes flickering to the members of my harem. “Can I cuddle with you and the others?”

My lips formed a tight little line. I’d given in once with Erika already. Doing it more would only weaken my resolve. Yes, I owned her; but that ownership was merely a loan. This was exactly what Lucifer intended: for me to fall in love with his daughter, to accept his offer to join the forces of Hell in exchange for keeping her permanently.

But now I knew it was a trap I couldn’t afford to fall into.

“I think you’d better stay out here for now,” I said, making the words as gentle as I could. “Tell you what: why don’t you crash out here on the couch and keep an eye on the news? If anything crazy happens, you have permission to come and wake me up. Otherwise, I’m asking you to keep your distance.”

So I said. But both I and the demon knew I wasn’t asking. It was a command, as sure as I held the invisible leash that connected to the heart choker around her neck.

Erika tried to take it well, but I could see she was devastated by my decision. Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes grew watery with tears.

“Um… okay,” she said, twisting one foot back and forth over the stone. “I guess I’ll just stay here, Master…”

“Good.” I moved quickly; if I hung around, Erika was going to really start weeping. I wanted to avoid that if possible. “Let’s go, ladies. The machines will whip you up some pajamas if you need them—of course, if you’d rather sleep naked, that’s fine with me…”

Charlie and Fliss grinned. Stephanie frowned, her dark brows furrowing together. “Hey,” she said. “You never answered Mia’s question.”

“Hmm?” I turned, looking over the group.

“How you’re going to break into the Anchorite stronghold,” Stephanie insisted. “You never explained your plan…”

Oh.

I laughed. “I’m not going to break into anything. Dr. Boddeker is going to open the doors and let us walk right in…”

Chapter 15

“This can’t be a coincidence,” Charlie muttered. “It’s just too perfect…”

It was a cloudless night, and the moon hung low in the sky like a pale eye. The lights of Traverse City glowed in the distance, forming a humble skyline that had (so far) been untouched by the horrors of war caused by the Bellum Aeternum. My women stood in a semicircle behind me, while Mia’s rippling portal sealed up like a zipper behind us.

We were at the edge of Beleth Park. Where Dr. Boddeker and the other Anchorites had their secret base. And where I’d been left as a child, abandoned in the cold.

It was cold. A chilly wind blew through the park, unseasonably cold despite the time of year. It made me think of how I must have looked here, thirty years ago. An infant abandoned in a carriage by the fountain at the park’s center—an orphan with a hidden, unknown destiny. With a gem that would change my life wrapped up in my baby blanket.

“ This is where they found you?” That was Stephanie, who sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “Jesus. That’s so awful.”

“Like I said, it was a long time ago,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “Fortunately for me, I don’t remember any of it. I was way too young.”

It wasn’t the best joke in the world, but it managed to cut through the tension. My women laughed, and their stances became a little bit looser than they’d been.

“For real, though, what are the odds?” Charlie asked. “The Obsidian Eye establishes its secret base right where you were dropped off as a kid? That’s pretty fucking insane.”

Like the rest of my harem, Charlie was fully rested and totally transformed. She’d taken on the form of my dark elf Noir Knight, wearing the chainmail and the white fur stole around her shoulders the way a princess wore her tiara. The Bitch’s Blade rested at her side, the hilt stuck through a loop in the silver chain encircling her waist.

If there were enemies waiting for us in Beleth Park, my women and I were ready for them.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all,” I said.

“Then what?” Stephanie asked.

I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to think about that. “Let’s just find that fountain,” I said. “It should be at the center of the park.”

“Then let’s go!”

All of us turned. Erika stood at the edge of the group, dressed to the nines. The pink-haired demon had swapped out her maid outfit for the pornographic version of a Catholic schoolgirl’s uniform, and it fit her so well that if there were any people in the park at this hour, I had no doubt they’d be staring at her despite all the female flesh on display.

That was kind of the problem. Erika was so aggressive with her sexuality that it just reminded me of the hooks she was trying to dig into my skin. Hooks that connected me to Lucifer.

I’d let Erika come along for the ride. If we got into a fight, her powers would be helpful. But she wasn’t a member of the group, and the cool, detached way my other women looked at her made her feel more than a little nervous.

In a weird way, I kind of felt for her. When she’d hopped into bed with me and my harem, she’d probably assumed all her troubles were over. That she’d found her new home. Her new family.

And if she’d agreed to join me afterwards without strings, that’s exactly what she would have had.

We walked along the edge of Beleth, until we came to a wide gravel trail leading between the trees. A faded wooden sign welcomed us to BELTH PAK, the ‘ e’ and the ‘ r’ turned invisible by time and sunlight. A bulletin board had a few ancient-looking pages tacked to it, and there was a painted map of the park right next to it—

I frowned. What the fuck?

“Am I… Am I seeing this right?” I asked, looking around at my women. “I’m not the only one who sees it, yeah?”

My harem clustered around. Slowly the same realization I’d seen dawned on their faces, making their jaws drop and their eyes widen.

“Wow,” Fliss said, trying to turn it into a joke. “That is an unfortunate configuration of trails!”

Several hiking trails crisscrossed Beleth Park. When looked at from a bird’s eye view, seen from above, they resembled an upside-down pentagram.

“There’s nothing unfortunate about that,” Mia whispered. The redhead approached the painted board, her furry fox ears twitching back and forth as the wind blew. “This is absolutely on purpose. Beleth Park was designed to look like this.”

It was a sobering thought.

“You really never noticed?” There was an edge of incredulity in Stephanie’s voice. “I mean, I bet it even looks like a pentagram in Google Maps!”

“I guess I just never thought to check,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck with a hand. “It’s weird, though. You’d think I would have seen this before now. Unless I somehow forgot…”

I had no idea how that could be true, but I’d watch out for it. It seemed like way too big of a slip up to be natural.

“So Beleth Park is aligned with Hell,” Fliss said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts in their silver armor. “Except that doesn’t make any sense. Wasn’t Dr. Boddeker in cahoots with the angels back at the Ceremony?”

“Indeed he was,” I said. “This is beginning to feel very, very wrong.” I stood up from the painted sign and peered out over the park. “Everyone keep your weapons ready. Something about this whole thing stinks.”

“Want a quick sip?” Stephanie asked, holding out her wrist. Black blood flowed sluggishly in her vampiric veins, standing out beneath her milk-pale skin.

Tempting. But I didn’t want to get high on her blood just yet. I preferred to save that for a real emergency.

“You hang onto that,” I said, gesturing at the hollow of her throat. “If I get a little thirsty, I’ll take a quick bite.”

Stephanie nibbled her bottom lip with her fangs. “Yes, sir!”

One nice thing about Beleth Park’s unusual shape was that it made locating the fountain easy. All of the main walking trails surrounded it. All we had to do was follow one, then turn inward whenever there was a stretch of unbroken grass or a path between the trees. It didn’t take long at all to find one.

As we walked towards the center of the park, I took a look around. Beleth Park had clearly seen better days. I wasn’t sure if the place still had groundskeepers, but if it did, they’d have taken a vacation when the Bellum Aeternum broke out. Grass grew above my ankles, and the gazebo filled with picnic tables we passed on our way to the center of the park was cracked and covered in weeds.

“This sure doesn’t look like the bad guy’s secret base,” Charlie muttered as we walked.

“You’d think if the Obsidian Eye were using this as their secret hangout, they could hire someone to spruce up the place every now and then.”

Maybe. Or maybe the rundown nature of the place served as a form of camouflage. Who could possibly believe anyone had thought about this place for years, much less keeping a secret base underneath of the soil?

A bigger question occurred to me as I walked the path between the trees. Who the hell would leave their son here?

Maybe it was just misplaced nostalgia; after all, I had no real memory of this place. I’d only visited it years after the fact, seeking a past that had already receded from my memories. But being in Beleth Park was making me think about my parents.

Who were they? Why had they left me here all alone as a baby, with the pendant that would change my life forever? Were they even both still alive?

My turmoil must have shown on my face. “It’s okay, babe,” Charlie said, taking my hand. “No matter what, you know who your real family are.”

I nodded. “I appreciate that,” I told her. “Really, I do.”

“Family is important,” Erika mused. “You can endure pretty much any kind of fucked-up situation if you have a strong family to act as your bedrock. You can even thrive in Hell!”

“A good thing to remember,” Fliss said with a nod.

Erika looked cheered by that. Something new shone in the demon girl’s eyes that hadn’t been there before, glittering as we walked. Maybe, like me, she was thinking about things she’d been burying for a long time.

I turned off the main path and cut across the grass, headed for the center of the park. There were no signs leading to the fountain, but I didn’t need them. This close to it, I could hear the sound of running water as clear as a bell.

Beyond the darkest of the hillside thickets, I found it: a circle of concrete roughly as wide as a tennis court, with a fountain in the center. Until now I’d never seen the fountain up close, and it surprised me. I’d expected an angel: a cherub, perhaps, which would have been appropriate given the mess I’d gotten myself into. But there was nothing angelic about the stone figure at the center of the glade.

He stood ten feet tall, with chiseled abs and a long beard. His body tapered around the waist, transforming into the scaled tail of a fish. A merman, holding a trident whose trio of tines spewed the triple faucet of the fountain’s water.

My women fanned out around me as we moved from the grass to the concrete. They approached the stone fountain cautiously, as if the merman guarding the shallow water might come to life and strike us unexpectedly.

Of course it did nothing of the sort.

The water was murky; through the moonlight I could see coins glittering at the bottom of the fountain. Part of me felt a mischievous desire to grab one, but that would have required sticking my hand in there, which I did not want to do.

Mia stepped forward. “This is it,” the fox girl said, putting one boot on the rim of the fountain. “You’re sure this is the place, Jax?”

I peered into the water, frowning. “One hundred percent sure? No.”

Mia started.

“But something’s telling me this has to be it,” I said, straightening up. “Where else would it be? This is the only place I can think of.”

My women nodded at that. “If it’s not here, we’ll try somewhere else,” Stephanie said. She had a slight lisp because of her fangs, which I found cute as hell. “But I’ve got the feeling Jax is right. As usual.”

Mia cocked an eyebrow, undaunted. “And you’re sure you want to do this?”

I cast my gaze around the harem, sizing my women up. To my surprise, it was Erika whom I locked gazes with the longest. The pink-haired demon looked about as nervous as I felt, but there was no way she was going to back down now. Not for something this important.

“I’m ready,” she whispered. Then she winked at me.

Slowly, I nodded. “Yeah,” I said, to everyone and just to myself. “We stick to the plan. Mia said she thinks it’ll work.”

“I also said I think you’re totally fucking insane,” the redhead chuckled, crossing her arms under her breasts. “But what can I say, Jax? You get results. You… you vex me, but there’s just something about you…”

From the looks on their faces, all my other women felt the exact same way. One of these days, I’d have to figure out exactly what that thing was that made the opposite sex go so ga-ga for me. Was it the Archon System, working through me? Or something that had always been inside of me?

I shrugged. It really didn’t matter. Either way, I was going to enjoy it.

I cleared my throat. Then I drew the Tempest Fang, pulling it free in a ripple of power.

I closed my eyes.

And unsummoned the blade.

“Dr. Bodekker!” I shouted, my voice so loud that it could be heard in any corner of Beleth Park. “I’m here! I’m doing what you asked! Come and get me!”

My voice echoed over the trees. A chilly wind blew across the concrete, so sudden that Erika shuddered against me. A moment later, the pink-haired demon was no longer standing by my side.

The fountain began to move.

I hadn’t expected this. I knew there had to be a way to reach the Obsidian Eye’s secret base, and that it was probably somewhere near the center of Beleth Park. But knowing that was one thing.

Seeing the fountain crack down the middle like the Archon Tablet after I’d activated it was quite another.

The trident stopped flowing; the water already in the fountain cascaded over the concrete. Charlie stepped out of the way, wincing as she lifted her skintight boots out of the line of fire. My other women stepped to the side or onto a nearby rock, not wanting to dirty their shoes or clothes.

Funny, what mattered when the world turned upside down. My feet were soaked, but I didn’t care.

A set of spiral stairs stretched beneath the fountain platform, winding down into the darkness. I only had a moment to look at it before a pair of burly guards stepped out of the hole, weapons slung over their shoulders. They saw me, then saw my women. They didn’t like that I wasn’t alone.

“No need to shoot,” I said, holding up my hands. Feeling absurd, I added: “I come in peace.”

The two guards reached the surface, then stepped to either side of the fountain. I was about to ask them what they were doing when I heard a harsh, mechanical clanking from somewhere deep inside of the fountain platform.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “What is that—”

A head emerged from the stairs. It wasn’t human.

It was mechanical.

Moonlight glinted on chrome as the robot reached the top of the stairs. It was bipedal, roughly human shaped, though there was nothing like an ordinary head on the machine: it had a trapezoidal-shaped screen where its face would be, strapped to its broad shoulders. The robot didn’t look combat ready, but something told me it could deal out a hell of a lot more punishment than the two guards with their guns.

“Jax, back up,” Charlie hissed. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

So did I. “What’s this?” I growled, gesturing at the robot. “My fucking jailer?”

Neither of the guards spoke. They just waited.

The screen atop the robot’s head blazed to life.

It was a hologram projector: one of the affordable commercial varieties, like the ones people used to put ghosts and witches in their windows around Halloween. A familiar face filled the screen, deepening my concern into worry. Ice filled the pit of my stomach.

It was Dr. Bodekker.

“Ah, Mr. Bryant!” He sounded his usual chipper self. “It’s good to see you doing as you’re told! Though I believe you were commanded to come alone?”

Behind the robot, the guards reached for their weapons.

I held up my hands a little higher, showing I was no threat. “You know how women are,” I said, forcing a smile and a camaraderie I didn’t feel. “Wouldn’t let me go off on my own. Besides, they want to hear a couple things from you before they let me accompany you down those stairs.”

The guards stiffened. I could see them doing the mental math; realizing that they were outnumbered.

“Well, I suppose that’s alright, then,” Dr. Bodekker said. “But I wasn’t aware that I’d offered you a negotiation , Bryant. I do believe I demanded your unconditional surrender.”

“Jax,” Stephanie whimpered. “Don’t do this!”

Tears brimmed in the corners of the vampire’s eyes. A moment later, Charlie and Fliss joined her, starting to sob.

Damn, I thought, keeping my face studiously neutral. They’re really good at this. They almost fooled ME…

Their tears were fake, of course. We’d planned all of this out in advance: the sudden begging was meant to make Dr. Bodekker think my plans were rash, lulling him into a false sense of security. It would trick him into thinking my women and I weren’t solid, that we didn’t agree on everything, when nothing could be further from the truth.

I scoffed. “We talked about this,” I said, glancing at them for a moment before turning back to Dr. Bodekker. “None of you will be harmed as long as I go along quietly. And if the good doctor will just listen to me, I think he’ll realize there’s no reason to hurt me, either.”

One of Dr. Bodekker’s holographic eyebrows shot skyward.

“Is that so, Jax?” the scientist mused.

I didn’t need to fake anything to make my voice hard. “Of course it is,” I snapped, giving vent to a small portion of my anger. “Why else do you think I’m doing this at your base, instead of in the middle of some random city?”

Now that caught Dr. Bodekker off guard! Maybe the man believed I’d just been lucky in finding his hidden base; or maybe that I’d just come back to the site of my childhood to turn myself in. Either way, I could tell that my intellect distressed him. He was used to being so much smarter than everyone else.

Slowly, he turned and stared at Mia. “Ah,” he muttered. “I see.”

Huh? Mia wasn’t the one who’d told me where this place was. Why would Dr. Bodekker think she knew the location of his secret Anchorite hideout, anyway?

“I’m here to turn myself in,” I told the robot and the guards. “But I’m not here to surrender.” I paused for effect. “I’m finally ready to make my decision.”

Dr. Bodekker’s holographic brows furrowed. “Decision?”

I nodded. “I want to join the Obsidian Eye.”

It was as if I’d tossed a live grenade at Dr. Bodekker’s feet. He blinked, stunned, his mouth working silently as he processed my declaration.

“You want… to work for me ?” he blurted. “Oh Mr. Bryant, you know that’s not possible—”

“I’ve been to Hell,” I said.

That shut him up real quick.

“I saw Lucifer,” I continued. “Saw the fires of Hell with my own damn eyes. Read the mural over the entrance, too: ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE. Just like in Dante.”

“You were invited to Hell?” Dr. Bodekker snapped.

I nodded. “I’ve seen what’s coming to this world if we don’t stop the Bellum Aeternum. You’ve been saying on the news you’ve got a way to keep those demons from destroying humanity.” I spread my hands. “I’m here to help you make that happen.”

I don’t think Dr. Bodekker could have been more surprised.

“That’s… quite the turnaround,” the man said at last. “Very well. Let’s talk, you and I. Man to man.” He glanced over my shoulder. “Your women won’t mind waiting for you to negotiate with me?”

There won’t be any negotiations, I thought. Once I get down there, you’ll never let me leave. You like this idea, because it lets you get me into the heart of your lair, all while I think I’m the one in control. You bastard.

“They’ll be just fine,” I said, nodding at my harem. “They’re used to this sort of thing.”

He didn’t question it. Just like he didn’t question why I would be suicidal enough to go alone into the Obsidian Eye’s base. Maybe he thought Hell had rattled me enough to run for the hills: if so, good for him.

He had no idea this was all part of my plan.

“Follow me,” the robot said, retreating down the stairs. “I’ll give you the ten-cent tour…”

With a final nod to my women, I followed the guards down the stairs and into the Obsidian Eye’s base.

Chapter 16

The stairs wound down and down, deep into the earth.

We had to be a hundred feet beneath Beleth Park by now. Maybe more than that. The air was stuffy at first, then quickly cleared up as ancient air conditioning systems clicked on, scrubbing the atmosphere underneath the fountain. Dr. Bodekker walked just ahead of me, his robotic carapace taking the stairs as slowly and carefully as a senior citizen; his guards followed a few steps behind, weapons at the ready.

With an effort, I managed to keep from looking around. Letting the doctor or his cronies know anything was out of the ordinary could be an instant ‘game over’ for me, so I kept staring straight ahead and followed the robot into the darkness.

“My apologies for the mess,” Dr. Bodekker explained. “This, ah , entrance to our little base is rarely used by anyone any longer. We don’t even normally get visitors to the park itself anymore—but of course, our sensors pick up when someone gets too close to the fountain…”

Now that we were beneath the surface, the man’s good cheer had come roaring back with a vengeance. It made sense. He thought I was trapped now, completely within his power. Like a cat playing with a mouse. Why wouldn’t he be happy?

“Interesting,” I said, keeping my eyes forward and down. “So you saw my women and I coming?”

Don’t sweat, I commanded myself. He has to think you’re totally at ease. That you’ve swallowed the bait.

“Oh, of course,” Dr. Bodekker said. “I mean, I didn’t see it—we have automated systems for those sorts of surveillance. By the way, the climb down should become a great deal more pleasant within the next few steps…”

For once, Dr. Bodekker was telling the truth. Another handful of steps down the stairs and I passed an invisible wall, like sliding beneath the surface of a hidden pool. The air became crisp and clean, and the temperature warmed up to an ordinary office level. I didn’t know for sure, but I felt certain it was exactly seventy-two degrees. That seemed like the sort of thing the Obsidian Eye would insist on.

“So you want to join us, eh?” Dr. Bodekker’s screen flipped around, projecting his face on the back of the robot’s head. Even knowing it had nothing to do with piloting the mech, the effect was bizarre. “Got a glimpse of Hell itself, and decided that sticking with the Obsidian Eye was the safer bet?”

“Something like that,” I muttered, following the robot down. “I’d say I’m going with the devil I know, except everyone knows the Devil I got introduced to…”

“Quite!” Dr. Bodekker laughed at my pun. “Your experience is… hmm… uncommon, but not unheard of. There are many high-ranking officers in the Obsidian Eye who harbored a rebellious streak in their youth. They nursed dreams of winning the Bellum Aeternum, of taking Heaven and Hell and making them work for us instead of the other way around. Then they got a taste of what they were truly fighting against, and decided discretion was the better part of valor.”

“That sounds like me,” I said. “Look, I know we haven’t gotten off on the right foot, Dr. Boddeker. I know it’s probably too late for us to ever be friends. But I’m at least hoping you can find it in your heart to agree that working together is better than trying to kill each other.”

He was probably thinking of ways to kill me at that very moment, the bastard.

“Of course,” he said, so quickly and easily that I knew he was lying. “I’m pleased that you’re so willing to let bygones be bygones, Bryant. It speaks well to your character. We’re coming to the bottom of the stairs now.”

And so we were. At the bottom of the stairs the tunnel abruptly opened up, leading to a long hallway with a concrete floor. The faint whir of air conditioning units rumbled through the walls as we walked, along with the deep clanking sounds of some far-off machinery. The further through the hallway we walked, the more modern everything became, until we were no longer in a rock tunnel at all.

“Home sweet home,” Dr. Bodekker drawled. “Of course, I only ever see it through screens. It’s so interesting when viewed from the outside.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. The Obsidian Eye’s secret base looked like something out of a World War II movie: the bunker where the good guys unfurled maps and moved little pieces representing armies back and forth. The place was a mix of wide hallways filled with cubicles, almost all of which were unoccupied. Here and there I saw some personal effects tucked away on a desk, but the overall effect of them just made the rest of the bunker look even more deserted by comparison.

I wasn’t quite sure what I’d expected, but it definitely wasn’t this. I’d pictured the Obsidian Eye’s hideout to be a little more… high-tech? At the very least, there should have been some technology scattered around that couldn’t exist anywhere else. Trophies the Eye managed to loot from Heaven and Hell, along with any scraps of pre-Atlantis technology they were able to dredge up.

It disturbed me. It made me wonder if this all wasn’t some kind of a trap.

The smell of coffee filled my nostrils as we walked. So there was somebody human in this bunker, at least.

Dr. Bodekker didn’t smell it, of course. He paused before one of the cubicles, wood paneling visible on the wall behind his holographic head. “When did you visit Hell?” he asked, his tone too casual by half.

He’s fishing for something, I realized. Better be careful, here.

“Not long ago,” I said, resolving to keep my explanation light on the details. “After we made contact with the Nameless Angel, Lucifer decided it was time for us to meet.”

“Heaven already made its offer,” Dr. Bodekker said with a chortle. “So I suppose Hell had to take an opportunity to counter. Yes, that sounds like them, alright.”

“Definitely,” I said, grateful to be back on firmer ground. “It wasn’t a fun time.”

I didn’t need to lie about that, at least.

Dr. Bodekker took a few more steps, then suddenly paused. I could hear the grinding of servos inside of his metallic frame as his gears whirred to a stop.

“Leave us,” he said, his holographic face glancing over his shoulder.

It took me a second to realize he wasn’t talking to me. Both of the guards had been accompanying us so far, even inside of the more private portions of the Obsidian Eye’s secret base. Now Dr. Bodekker was letting them know they were dismissed.

He’d take it from here.

The pair of guards shared a look. “Sir, are you certain about that?”

“Do I look like I need to think it over?” Dr. Bodekker asked, rolling his eyes. “The Powermancer and I will be fine. Mr. Bryant isn’t going to do anything rash—there’s simply no need for it. We’re all playing on the same team now.”

“But sir,” one protested. “The interior—”

“ Enough! ” I’d never heard Dr. Bodekker sound so pissed off before. Being argued with by his underlings must have set off some primal disrespect feature in his hindbrain. “Dismissed. Back to your posts.”

He gestured with a metallic hand. Both guards walked off like they were afraid the Doctor might attack them if they didn’t obey. They rounded the corner and were gone, leaving me alone with the robotic vessel housing Dr. Bodekker’s projection.

Or as alone as I wanted him to believe, in any case.

“Better.” Dr. Bodekker watched the guards go, his expression hard, then turned to me with a forced air of good cheer. “Now we can speak man to man, yes?”

“Of course,” I said, wishing I felt as confident as I sounded. “Lead the way.”

The robot set a much brisker pace as we walked through the interior of the base. It was almost as if Dr. Bodekker was somehow ashamed of the run-down nature of the Obsidian Eye’s hideout. If nothing else, he clearly didn’t want me getting too good of a look at it.

“So you visited Hell, hmm ?”

I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded almost like Dr. Bodekker was angry with me. Or maybe he didn’t believe me for some reason. Except why would I lie about this?

“Yeah,” I said, making no effort to hide my feelings about the place. I hadn’t particularly liked it, and I definitely hadn’t liked Lucifer. Even if he was the father of a demoness I’d grown particularly fond of. “It opened my eyes, Dr. Bodekker.”

“Showed you the depth of the threat that we’re facing, hmm?” The man turned baleful eyes onto me, his hologram flickering. “No more second guessing, no more playing both ends against the middle, Bryant? All that gone by the wayside, in one sharp burst of hellfire and brimstone?”

Shit , I thought. He doesn’t believe me.

If I couldn’t convince Dr. Bodekker of my loyalty, I was in big trouble.

I decided to go for broke. “You ever been to space, Dr. Bodekker?”

The question caught the man off guard. “Hmm?”

“Space,” I repeated. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it’s nice.”

Dr. Bodekker’s hologram slowly blinked. “Indeed?”

A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. “I’ve also heard that once you see the Earth from outer space for the first time, you realize how small and insignificant all of our problems down here really are. Our differences: our religion, our beliefs, our skin color… none of them really matter much when you shrink the whole world down to a pale blue dot.” Just to drive the point home, I added: “Gives a man some perspective. ”

Even Dr. Bodekker couldn’t have missed what I was trying to say. Slowly, a sleazy smile spread across his hologram. Hook, line and sinker, I thought, grinning internally.

“ Very good,” the Doctor said. “Although I have to say, Mr. Bryant, those differences you speak of? They’re far more important than you can imagine.”

“As long as we’re ridding the world of those demons,” I grunted, staring at a patch of empty space by the side of Dr. Bodekker’s head. “That’s what you promised the Obsidian Eye was going to do, right?”

I put just the right amount of anxiety into my tone. I could have been wrong, but I thought Dr. Bodekker bought it. He looked at me with a mix of paternal smugness and surprise, as if he were having a little trouble believing the mighty Powermancer could be so spooked by demons. But Hell had its famous reputation for a reason.

“We can,” Dr. Bodekker said proudly. “And we will, Mr. Bryant.” The smile of a showman spread across the doctor’s face. “Would you like to see?”

Fuck yes. I’d just hit paydirt.

Dr. Bodekker was like any classic villain. He loved to show off almost as much as he liked his long-winded, self-satisfied monologues. The man probably had a DVD of Goldfinger on constant replay in his little Anchorite panic room.

“I’d love that,” I admitted, not having to lie. “Honestly, I’m super curious about how you’re going to pull it off. Those demons Down Below didn’t seem to think you had a chance.”

Activating his competitive nature was definitely the way to get Dr. Bodekker talking. “Bah! Those creatures are fools. Powerful fools, but still nitwits. You know what humanity’s great advantage is, Bryant? The true attribute that sets us apart from Heaven and Hell, and gives us a chance to survive each turning of the Bellum Aeternum? ”

Just from context clues, I felt like I could guess it. “Our intelligence?”

Dr. Bodekker looked pleased. “Precisely. Angels are faster and demons are stronger, but we have something they never will. Intellect. Reason. The power to determine what is good and what is bad not by a set of arbitrary rules forced upon us from above, but through trial and error and experience. Through the scientific method, we discover the secrets of the universe, something angels and demons alike can’t even fathom!”

That sounded more than a little self-serving to me. After all, if there was no real distinction between good and bad beyond what we made of it, what stopped men like him from becoming tyrants the first time they got a taste of real power?

I didn’t dare ask Dr. Bodekker that, of course. He’d have known the jig was up.

After the cubicles came another set of stairs. These were in a well-lighted hallway, which only descended a floor or two before ending. Two sets of doors faced each other on opposite sides of the stairwell; Dr. Bodekker took the left-hand path without a moment’s hesitation, not waiting for me to catch up.

I hustled after him. This hallway was darker and more claustrophobic, covered in bulkheads filled with wires and circuitry. The whole tunnel appeared wired up, almost like a soundstage. Massive oval doors stood at intervals, made of a material that looked like glass but was much stronger and only semi-opaque.

“Where are we?” I asked, amazed. If the Obsidian Eye had an inner sanctum, then I felt like I’d finally found it.

Dr. Bodekker snickered. “We’re almost to our destination,” he said, gesturing at the oval doors. “Do you know what those are, Powermancer?”

I had a pretty good guess. “They’re reinforced bunkers,” I said, swallowing hard. “Hermetically sealed against all forms of attack: physical, biological, radioactive, hypnotic.”

“Plus about a dozen other methods of attack you’re not even aware of,” Dr. Bodekker said smugly. “The men who live in these sealed chambers are known as Anchorites, Mr. Bryant. They are the Obsidian Eye’s greatest treasure, and its greatest resource.” He tapped a metallic hand against his chest, lowering his hologram’s brow in mock-humility. “I am one of them.”

I knew that. In one of these chambers, the real Doctor Bodekker was talking into a camera. Squatting in the dark while his mechanical vessel performed his will out in the real world.

“So which one’s yours?” I asked casually. “One of these does belong to you, right?”

“My own is not in this chamber,” he said, barely casting a glance at the row of frosted oval doors. “I have my own suite of rooms, separate from the other Anchorites.”

Of course he did. Which was going to make it even harder to get that fucking gem.

“I believe you were interested in the Obsidian Eye’s plans?” the Doctor added mildly.

Oh. Right. I was supposed to be pretending I gave a damn about whatever cockamamie scheme Bodekker and his panic room buddies had cooked up to try and rid the world of the demonic menace. I needed to play along for just a little bit longer.

“You’ve been telling the news you’re going to expel the demons from Earth,” I said, laughing as if we were old chums. “You can’t expect a guy to not be interested in that!”

With a smile, Dr. Bodekker gestured at a door at the end of the hall. “Right this way. I’m taking you to the entrance of my very own Anchorite retreat, Mr. Bryant. You won’t be able to enter, of course, but we’ll be able to speak to each other man to man.” He paused, savoring the moment. “I’ll be able to hear you pledge your allegiance to the Obsidian Eye with my own ears.”

Dream on, pal, I thought with a growl. The only thing I was pledging allegiance to was myself and my harem, once I got that control key and installed it back in the Stronghold.

Dr. Bodekker walked to the door and opened it for me. The hallway on the other side was simple and unassuming—exactly the kind of thing I’d used to camouflage the quarters of the real VIP among the Obsidian Eye. Smart.

As I stepped through, the Doctor’s hologram chuckled. “Technically, the Eye doesn’t have the power to expel anyone.”

Hmm? But wasn’t that exactly what Dr. Bodekker had been promising on the news?

“I don’t get it,” I said, entering the hallway. The Bodekker robot followed on my heels, then hung back, standing near the door. All of a sudden, Dr. Bodekker didn’t want to get too close to me.

Almost like he was bracing for something.

“I’m not surprised,” the Doctor said in a clipped tone. “You’re not the sharpest knife in the drawer, Bryant.”

Okay. He was insulting me now. I wasn’t down with that.

“I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know when I’m being lied to,” I countered. “If you can’t expel the demons, then how do you expect to get them out of our cities and away from humanity—”

“By closing the Gates of Hell,” Dr. Bodekker said curtly.

I blinked. What!?

“We have no ritual to force demons to leave the mortal realm behind,” the Doctor explained, making a steeple with his robotic hands. I knew that somewhere, in his Anchorite hidey-hole, his real body was doing the same thing. “No such thing exists. Even if it did, we don’t have the manpower or the resources to perform such an action. You’ve seen our base, Bryant, even if I did my best to keep you from getting too good a look at our current, fallen condition.”

I’d seen enough. “Then what?”

A smirk tugged at the corner of the man’s mouth. “An ancient ritual. One so forbidden that for thousands of years, simply writing down a portion of the instructions carried a penalty of execution to the third generation. A final ritual: one that will close the gates forevermore.”

Forever? That would certainly end the Bellum Aeternum. No portal from Heaven and Hell to Earth meant no angels, no demons—and no war.

But the cost…

Ice filled the pit of my stomach. No. He can’t mean that. There has to be a loophole.

“If the Gates of Heaven are closed,” I said slowly, “then what happens to people after they die?”

Dr. Bodekker shrugged. “Nothing. Mankind’s relationship with the supernatural will be severed. No Heaven, no Hell. Just humanity. ”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was insane.

“You… you have proof that Heaven and Hell exist,” I blurted. “It would be one thing if there was no evidence, and you were some agnostic doing a reverse version of Pascal’s Wager. But this…!”

“We are aware that this is an extreme action,” Dr. Bodekker said. Again his tone was strangely clipped, like he was exerting an effort to keep from getting angry at being questioned. “It took the council of Anchorites a very long time to authorize this ritual—”

“Are you fucking insane!? ” I blurted. I no longer cared about my cover; Dr. Bodekker’s declaration had shocked me right out of my wits. “You’re going to completely destroy the afterlife! Good people won’t go to Heaven any more, and bad people won’t get punished in Hell! They’ll just all… all…”

“They’ll stop ,” Dr. Bodekker said, nodding sadly. “A great sacrifice. But necessary.”

“Necessary?” I laughed. “It’s fucking monstrous! ”

Dr. Bodekker shrugged. “Perhaps. But isn’t this what you wanted, Powermancer? What you’ve been fighting for? You’ve said you want humanity to thrive on its own, freed from the shackles of angels and demons alike. What better way to do that than to seal the Gates forever?”

“Not like this,” I said, shaking my head. “You know I wouldn’t do it like this, Dr. Bodekker. It’s too much.”

It was only recently that humanity had learned Heaven, Hell, angels and demons were as real as semiconductors or the country of Madagascar. To take that away from human beings—to not only destroy religion, but categorically remove any chance of life after death after it had been physically proven—seemed the greatest crime a human being could possibly commit. Nothing was worth that.

So of course it was the plan Dr. Bodekker and his buddies embraced.

They probably don’t plan to ever die, I thought bitterly. They’ll just rot for thousands of years in their little panic rooms, sipping green tea and casting longevity spells.

“We’re going to be alone, Powermancer,” Dr. Bodekker said with grim determination. “One way or the other.” He smirked. “And speaking of alone…”

A set of metal shutters slammed down inches behind Dr. Bodekker’s robot. I let out a cry, turning towards the other exit at the far end of the hallway, only to see another metal wall drop from the ceiling and seal off that end of the tunnel, too.

I was trapped. Like a rat.

“That’s better,” the Bodekker hologram said. “You know, until that little outburst, I was honestly beginning to believe you’d set your personal feelings aside and decided to join us, Bryant. I suppose you’re an even better actor than I anticipated.”

“Fuck you,” I snarled, shaking my head. “Cutting off the mortal realm from Heaven and Hell? You’ve got to be fucking deluded!”

Bodekker yawned. “Not as deluded as you,” he said blandly. “I’ve got you now, Bryant. You’re not going anywhere. There’s no way out of this prison.”

He was right about that. Those walls were made of pretty solid stuff.

“I’ve created a sort of Anchorite chamber for you ,” the robot chortled. “Except that yours are far less comfortable than mine. And simply starving for company.”

“I’ve got you,” I snarked, staring the robot down.

Dr. Bodekker laughed. “Oh, but I’m not really here,” he reminded me. “Goodbye, Jax. Have a nice rest of your life—it won’t be much longer….”

The hologram was already fading out. It vanished like someone had flipped a switch, and the robot slumped over, as dead as a stone.

Leaving me trapped and helpless deep within enemy lines.

Chapter 17

I sized up the situation.

Dr. Bodekker’s robot had collapsed to the side, like a puppet with its strings cut. The moment the Anchorite signed off, the whole thing just fell over like a cheap wind-up toy. Behind it lay a sheet of metal that stretched from one side of the hallway to the other, preventing my escape.

I walked up to it and ran my fingers down the metal. I knew that an identical panel was covering up the exit on the opposite side of the hallway, and that both were designed to be difficult enough to break through that I’d either suffocate or starve before I managed it alone.

Alone.

Well, I couldn’t keep the secret any longer.

“Alright,” I grunted, glancing up and down the hallway. “Looks like the jig is up. Are you still with me?”

For a moment, the hallway was empty and silent. Then a spot in the air a few steps behind me shimmered, and Erika materialized in the middle of the hall.

“Sheesh!” the demoness groaned, running her fingers through her short pink hair. “Dr. Bodekker really doesn’t do things by half-measures, does he?”

Fuck, I was glad to have her here. I’d been trying not to look at her ever since she disappeared in Beleth Park—or the places where I thought she was hiding. I knew the spell she’d tried out for my harem before we left made her both invisible and undetectable, but there was no defense against me accidentally giving the game away.

I grabbed the pink-haired demon and kissed her, hard. She melted in my arms, kissing me back even more fiercely than she had the first time we’d made love.

“Good girl,” I told her, my free hand moving down to her round, heart-shaped ass. “I’m glad you managed to follow me all the way down here.”

“Here?” Erika snickered. “I’d follow you anywhere. Master. ”

Hearing the M-word gratified me in ways I couldn’t even describe.

The robot housing Dr. Bodekker’s hologram was already starting to reactivate. We must have tripped some hidden circuit when Erika revealed herself—either that, or the man had cameras and microphones stashed in the hallway itself. The hologram of his face flickered to life before the thing managed to stand upright.

Dr. Bodekker looked shocked. And pissed.

“The demon!?” he blurted, looking from me to Erika and back again. “But our intel told us the two of you were on the outs! We heard you fighting all the way to Beleth Park…!”

Erika snickered. “What was it you said about humans and their intelligence?”

Dr. Bodekker actually growled at that one. “You mean to tell me all of that was a fucking ruse!?”

Not entirely.

Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t all smoke and mirrors. Erika and I weren’t fully connected yet: despite the red-hot sex we’d had, the pink-haired demoness wasn’t quite ready to throw herself over and forsake the fires of Hell for the warm embrace of her beloved. Believe me, I would have liked nothing more than to know that in the battle between my harem and all the powers of Hell, Erika had decisively chosen the former.

But a lot of our arguing had been for show. Done in the hopes that it would lull Dr. Bodekker into a false sense of security. Now our plan was paying dividends.

“We had to find some way to trick you into letting us in the door,” the pink-haired demon giggled. “Now let’s blow this popsicle stand!”

The demoness made for the security gate. Dr. Bodekker’s robot grabbed for her, but his chrome hands were far too slow—she dove out of the way, laughing, then threw up her middle fingers in his holographic face.

“All units,” Dr. Bodekker was saying. His expression was no longer focused on the world in front of him—he was clearly concentrating on his terminal in his Anchorite hideaway, delivering orders to what was left of the base’s security. “I have Jaxon Bryant and his demon pinned down in the East Hallway. Don’t let them get away—”

The hologram sputtered and went out, disappearing like a blown-out candle. Erika had just tossed a fireball through the center of the robot’s carapace, ripping it apart in a shower of sparks and circuitry.

“What did you do that for?” I growled, turning my attention to the barrier.

Erika shrugged. “I was tired of listening to him,” she said, giving me one of those impish grins. “What, did you think you were going to get the location of his suite out of him?”

Kinda. But that was a longshot. Focusing on getting out of this fucking trap was probably more important.

Reaching out to my side, I summoned the Tempest Fang. The sword materialized in my hand, the familiar weight tugging on the muscles of my arm as I grinned.

Dr. Bodekker probably thinks we’re trying to get the fuck out of here, I thought. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We weren’t trying to get out of here.

We were trying to get to him.

Erika stood back as I slammed the Tempest Fang into the wall. The blunt end of the sword clanged against the steel, producing a ringing sound that made my ears feel like they were going to bleed. Okay, I thought. That’s not the answer.

Erika saw it, too. “The sword’s not going to cut through,” she pouted. “Stand aside!”

I did. I slung the Tempest Fang over my back as Erika spread her hands, claws erupting from her slender fingers. For a moment her face was as changeable and in flux as the tide—then the true demon appeared from beneath her cute, submissive appearance. Her eyes glowed a fierce, hellish red, and the claws that had sprouted from beneath her fingers looked as natural as if she’d been born with them.

For a moment, the attraction I felt for her warred with the fear that filled my heart at her demonic appearance. Then, like a pair of cords tying themselves around each other to form a stronger rope, the two became one.

“Fucker!” the demoness snarled, clawing the door. It didn’t even sound like she was swearing at Dr. Bodekker—she swore at existence itself; at the chain of events that led to an obstacle daring to put itself in her path. “Filth! Fucking die !”

I opened my free hand, whispering a word of power. A sheathe of glittering red shards formed in my palm, like Zeus’s lightning bolts with a cherry makeover. As the demoness threw herself at the reinforced door, I aimed and took my shot.

The first three bolts did nothing that I could see, but they must have had some effect; for the fourth punched right through the metal and left a pinhole-sized hole in the wall. Light shone through it, illuminating motes of dust floating in the hallway.

“Hell yeah!” Erika growled, flashing a too-wide grin. “Fuck it up, Master!”

Hearing the M-word from her lips gratified me more than I dared to say. With renewed vigor I summoned another sheaf of bolts and tossed them widening the hole. Each one exploded in a shower of sparks, which was punctuated by a flaming kick or punch from my pet demoness.

The wall began to buckle inward. From the other side I could hear raised voices; I thought of the guards that Dr. Bodekker had dismissed but quickly realized there were far more than two men out there. His alarm went out over the entire complex, and now every guard he could muster was waiting for us to break out of our trap.

Bring them on! I thought. The grin that stretched across my face was almost wide enough to make me look like a demon myself.

I threw up my wrist, summoning my Aether Shield as Erika’s next kick sheared away a section of the barrier wall. Two guards waited on the other side of the door, their rifles drawn. I was only slightly surprised to recognize them as the same pair of guards who’d escorted me and—unknowingly—Erika through the Eye’s base.

I extended the shield with an effort of will, thinning it as it spread until it filled nearly the entire hallway from ceiling to floor. Moving like a medieval knight, I swung the shield to the side while stabbing forward at what was left of the barrier, hitting it square on with the blunt tip of the Tempest Fang.

This time, the whole thing collapsed inward. Dust rose through the hallway as the broken pieces of the metal shield hit the ground.

The guards on the opposite side of the barrier had had time to get ready, but I had one advantage they didn’t—surprise. By the time they got their weapons up, I was already swinging the Aether Shield back around to my front, filling the hallway with the translucent half-dome like the cork in a bottle of wine. Bullets slammed into the shield, sending hairline cracks across its glowing surface, but the magic held.

Lowering my head, I charged like a bull.

For the guards, it was like being hit head-on by a truck. The shield pushed through the hallway, scattering figures left and right. The two guards in front landed hard, dropping their rifles, which slid beneath the small gap between the bottom of the shield and the concrete floor. I had no need for a gun, but Erika snatched one up, checking the ammo count and the condition so quickly that it made me realize my demoness had an intimate familiarity with firearms.

“Perfect!” Erika giggled, her tongue lolling from the side of her mouth. “Let’s play a game, Master! Clap on the two and the four, got it!”

Huh?

Lifting the rifle, Erika began to chant in a sing-song: “One, TWO , three, FOUR! One, TWO, three, FOUR…! ”

Suddenly it clicked.

As we advanced, I dropped the shield in time with the beat. On every two, the red half-dome disappeared for a fraction of a second—and when it did, Erika had already selected a target. A guard went down gasping on the two, and another dropped on the four, shot in the chest with a round that penetrated his uniform.

Every time I dismissed the shield, I tried to extend it a little further, getting it just a bit farther away from our bodies. Doing so occasionally caused it to materialize behind a couple of the guards, cutting them off from the rest of their group.

Their moment of surprise at being face-to-face with the Powermancer was all I needed. A quick slam from the blunt end of the Tempest Fang and they went down.

I lost myself for a short while in the rhythm: drop the shield, shoot, finish off the stragglers, raise the shield and drop it again. Erika was clearly having fun, and she handled the rifle like she’d been born shooting. Every time she ran out of bullets, she grabbed another weapon off the floor, looting one of the fallen like a character in a video game.

At some point I found myself with no one left to fight. A big pile of unconscious or dead guards in riot gear stretched behind us, littering the floor like attendees after a particularly raging frat party. Except most of these people wouldn’t be getting back up again.

Erika turned and grinned at me. “Good job, Master!” the pink-haired demon panted, her tits rising and falling rapidly. She’d exerted herself, I could tell—but most of her behavior was from excitement, not tiredness. “Fuck, that was so awesome! You were, like, a Viking berserker or something!”

“I think I’ll leave the Viking stuff to Fliss,” I said, casting a clinical eye over the hallway. “But thanks.”

Suddenly Erika looked nervous as well as horny. “Look, Jax,” she purred, sticking out her bottom lip and striking a seductive pose. “I don’t know how to say this. You and your girls have been so good to me, and you keep letting me have all this fun!”

“You don’t have to say anything,” I said, checking the hallway for threats. “Unless you happen to know where Dr. Boddeker’s hiding, that is—”

“But I do ,” Erika insisted. “Master, this is important!”

Her tone was so emotional that I turned and gave her my full attention. For the first time since she’d materialized inside of the Obsidian Eye’s hidden base, I realized the way Erika was looking at me. She’d been interested in me before, sure—a demoness like her couldn’t help but get wet when a mortal kicked ungodly amounts of ass.

But there was something else there, too, sparkling in those dark eyes.

“I… I don’t care about Dad anymore,” Erika blurted. “I don’t care about Hell! I… I want this. I want this all the time, Master! I need it, and… and… fuck it! I’m willing to do anything for it!”

Well now. That was interesting enough to divert my attention.

I looked the demoness full in the face, putting every ounce of command into my tone that I could. “You’re willing to surrender?” I asked, shifting the Tempest Fang to the side. “Unconditionally? Join my harem with no strings attached?”

Erika’s mouth worked soundlessly. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what her answer was going to be—I could see it in her demonic eyes. This girl was in love.

Shit, I didn’t even know if demons understood the concept of love. Maybe for demons it was just ‘lust + loyalty’, a simple equation for the Down Below set.

Whatever it was, though, Erika had it in spades.

Her bottom lip trembled. “ Yes, ” she whispered, sending my pride into the stratosphere. “I’ve never met a mortal like you before. I… I…”

An alarm rang out.

Erika’s mouth snapped shut, her glazed eyes focusing once more on the present moment. I knew there was more she wanted to say—a hell of a lot more—but we’d table that discussion for now. After all, the really important part was out there now.

That was all I’d really wanted from her.

Now I was more than willing to enjoy her to the fullest.

“Well,” Erika muttered, glancing up at a blinking light on the ceiling. “That certainly took them long enough.”

I was already shaking my head. “No. That alarm’s not from us. Otherwise it would have started going off as soon as Dr. Boddeker trapped up. That’s something else…”

Just then, the speaker over our heads crackled to life. “Squads A and B! ” Dr. Boddeker roared, sounding like he was on the verge of going insane. “ Intruder alert at main entrance! Someone stop those whores before they break into the fucking building!”

“Intruders?” Erika gasped.

My brow furrowed. “I’m going to make him pay for calling them whores,” I grunted.

It clicked for the pink-haired demon. “The harem,” she whispered, her face lighting up. “They’re attacking the base, too?”

I grinned. “Told Fliss and the others to find the main entrance if they could and cause a ruckus. Looks like they managed it.” I looked Erika up and down, making no secret of how attractive I found her. “You didn’t think a man like me would only have one plan, did you?”

Erika giggled, then threw herself into my arms. She stood up on tiptoe and kissed me, long and hard. If time weren’t of the essence, I’d have done a hell of a lot more with her. She was so relieved to finally not be on the outs with me that she’d have done anything I commanded her to do.

“You sneaky bastard,” Erika said, her voice full of affection. “When were you going to tell me about this?”

“When you made the right decision.” I grabbed her ass and squeezed, making her moan. “Which I’m glad to see you’ve finally done.”

Erika’s gaze filled with lust for a moment, nearly overwhelming her. “Fuck yes. I can’t wait to let the other girls know I’m committed now!”

I couldn’t wait, either. They were going to have so much fucking fun with Erika now that she was a full member of the team.

But first, we needed to find Dr. Boddeker.

We could celebrate once we had that control key.

Chapter 18

“Dr. Boddeker? Open up!”

The alarm continued to blare over our heads, the tone so familiar by now that it had retreated to the status of background noise. By process of elimination, Erika and I had whittled down the possible Anchorite domains where Dr. Bodekker could be hiding. If this one didn’t hold the nominal leader of the Obsidian Eye, then I legitimately had no idea where he could be.

“We’re not gonna hurt you!” Erika taunted. She sounded so much like Harley Quinn that I thought she could have given Charlie a pointer or two with her cosplay. “Just let us come in, Boddie! Your whole base is fucked—what do you have to lose?”

Erika was exaggerating, but only a little. The double assault of Erika and I inside the base and the rest of the harem outside was causing no end of trouble for Dr. Boddeker and the Obsidian Eye, but we hadn’t done any damage they couldn’t repair given time. Opening that door, on the other hand, was a mistake I doubted the good doctor would ever be able to take back.

I was already examining the seal around the door. The opaque panel of material that looked so much like frosted glass was anything but. I doubted even an hour with the Tempest Fang and Erika’s claws could do much more than scratch it. We’d have to find another way to get inside…

“ You. ”

A shadow moved behind the glass. I couldn’t actually hear the words it spoke: whenever the suite’s occupant wanted to be heard, they accessed a little hidden speaker I hadn’t noticed before next to the door. It crackled a bit, but Dr. Bodekker’s words were clear enough.

“Me,” I agreed. “You made me a deal once, Dr. Bodekker. Remember? You went back on yours, but I’ll do you a solid—I won’t go back on mine. Want to hear it?”

“You’d better do what my man says!” Erika agreed.

Is there any woman in the world more inclined to outward displays of loyalty than one who’d been waffling internally? I wasn’t sure, but I was willing to let Erika have her fun. If only because she looked so freaking hot doing it.

Again the shadow lifted a hand. There must have been a button in there he was pushing; a moment later the speaker crackled back to life. “What are your terms, Bryant?”

Terms? Now we were talking.

I shrugged. “Open the door. Toss the control key you’ve been hiding out into the hallway.”

There was a pause. “That’s it?”

I nodded. “After that, you can seal it back up again for all I care. I don’t give a damn about you, Dr. Bodekker—just that control key. I need the power . I need it way more than I need revenge.”

Maybe Charlie would have disagreed with that. She’d watched the dream she’d inherited along with her childhood go up in smoke, burnt to a crisp thanks to the actions of Bodekker and the Obsidian Eye. Or maybe Fliss would have insisted on it—after all, it was her father who’d been taken in by the Eye, used for information and betrayed.

But I was the one calling the shots here. I didn’t really care what happened to the Eye. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have pissed on Dr. Bodekker to put him out if the bastard was on fire. But my mind was fixed on that control key.

This time, the pause from the other side of the door was much longer. “Withdraw your troops,” the man said.

Troops? I couldn’t help but laugh. “Pal, my women are going to do what they’re going to do,” I said, glancing over at Erika with a smile. “I can’t help it if they’re out there kicking the asses of whatever security forces you’ve got left.”

“The best thing you can do now is give up that gem!” Erika cackled. “The sooner we get it, the sooner we blow this popsicle stand!”

Again with the popsicle stand, I thought. What is with this girl and popsicles? Is she just in desperate need of something to suck on?

The speaker by the door crackled. “How do I know I can trust you?”

After everything I’d been through, that question might have been the most unbelievable thing I’d experienced so far. Dr. Bodekker needed to be able to trust me ?

“You don’t,” I said. “You’ve broken every promise you ever made to me. You lied about joining the Eye, you lied about keeping my women safe. You’ve been lying to Fliss’s family for decades. And you want trust? From me?”

The bleat of static coming from the other end of the line told me Dr. Bodekker understood my point. “Listen, Bryant,” he said, his voice switching to a more conversational tone. “I’m not terribly wedded to this control key. If it’s ‘your money or your life’ you’re after, I’ll gladly hand over the gem.”

“Good,” I grunted. “Open the door, then.”

An awkward laugh sounded through the speaker. “It’s not that simple.”

“What, there’s no doorknobs back there?” Erika asked.

“My safeguards,” Bodekker explained. “They protect me from so much! Without them, I’ll be compromised. My compatriots within the Obsidian Eye will never be able to trust me again…”

Suddenly I was glad the door panel was frosted. It kept Dr. Bodekker from seeing me rolling my eyes.

“Your base is wide open, and your enemies are at the gates,” I growled. “And you’re worried about your fucking status ?”

“Status is the only thing that matters,” he countered in a hard voice. “It’s why I’m here , Bryant. You think I would stomach solitary confinement without the benefits becoming an Anchorite brings? You think anyone would do that?”

I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t care.

“If you don’t open this door, your only status will be ‘dead’,” I said, rapping at the frosted pane with the backs of my knuckles. “Rest assured, Bodekker, we’ll find a way to get in there—”

But suddenly, there was no need.

Something deep inside the metal door made a grinding sound, like ancient, rusted gears beginning to move. The shadow on the other side of the frosted pane jumped into the air, startled by the sound.

“What was that!?” Dr. Bodekker demanded. “What are you doing, Bryant!?”

“Me!?” I took a step backwards. “I didn’t do anything. I thought you were doing that…”

“ Doctor Hiram Bodekker ,” a mechanical voice intoned. “ A vote of the Anchorite Council has just been conducted, with you in absentia.”

Bodekker sounded even angrier about this than he was about me breaking in. “What!? You can’t do that! That’s not allowed—”

The mechanical voice continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “ In a nine to three vote, the Council of Anchorites has decided to acquiesce to Powermancer Jaxon Bryant’s request, ” it said. “ Your safeguards have been overridden. Your status as Anchorite may be reapplied for at the next Council meeting, in six weeks… ”

“Balderdash!” Dr. Bodekker’s shadow moved with a herky-jerky motion on the other side of the door, like a child having a temper tantrum. “You can’t do this to me! You don’t have the right!”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Looks like you’ve just been demoted, Doctor.”

The Obsidian Eye was going to give me Bodekker in order to save the rest of their organization. It was a cold, cruel, ruthless decision—the sort of thing I would have harshly criticized if it wasn’t for my benefit.

With a final cry, the shadow on the other side of the door disappeared.

As Dr. Bodekker retreated into the depths of his den, the seal on his Anchorite suite began to break. Compressed air poured from the space between the door and the hallway as the seals loosed, bringing with them a faintly medicinal smell.

Erika and I both watched, impressed. At some point, the pink-haired demon took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

When the seal was completely broken, the oval door slid up as smoothly as a stage prop. Beyond it lay the foyer of what looked like an ordinary apartment, all painted and paneled in white.

“Stay here,” I told Erika. “I’m sure he’s got some nasty surprise planned for me.”

The demon’s brows rose. “I’m not letting you go in there alone—”

“I’ve been looking forward to this since before I met you,” I growled, showing my teeth. “No offense, Erika, but this is between me and that man. Stay here at the entrance and keep an eye out. If any guards come by…”

“Smash ‘em,” the demoness finished, nodding. The frown she’d been wearing had vanished—she understood how much this meant to me. She wasn’t going to ruin my moment. I loved her for that. “Can do, Master!”

The pink-haired demon gave me a salute as I stepped into Dr. Bodekker’s lair.

If it weren’t for the paint job, the apartments of the Anchorites could almost pass for normal. There were no windows in the suite, which I expected, and everything had a vaguely space-age feeling to it, as if I were walking through an Ikea located on the International Space Station. The furnishings were luxurious, though, and I was pretty sure every fixture in here cost more by itself than the Fortress of Solitude had cost to build.

“Bodekker,” I grunted, roaming from room to room. “Come out, come out, wherever you are…”

I felt almost like the villain in a horror movie. Michael Myers hunting down Laurie Strode in some Haddonfield condo, or Leatherface searching for the Final Girl with his chainsaw in hand. The Tempest Fang was a very different kind of weapon, but no less fearsome.

Dr. Bodekker could hide, but he couldn’t run. The Anchorite holding was cleverly designed to hermetically seal him away from everything in the outside world that could hurt him—which meant that there was only one exit out of this suite. If he somehow managed to get past me and make it there, he’d find my little demoness waiting for him.

“We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way,” I said. “There’s no need for this to get messy!”

I moved out of the living room and into the attached kitchen. It certainly wasn’t messy. All of the fixtures sparkled, as if a whole team of servants worked the place over every day. I wondered if Dr. Bodekker actually fixed food in here, or if he just ate nutritive shakes out of bottles or something along those lines.

“You’re just wasting my time!” I called, cupping a hand around my mouth. The other hand held the Tempest Fang, the point angled downward to reduce how much the weapon was perceived as a threat. I wasn’t afraid of Dr. Bodekker at this point—if he had any weapons stashed away in his hidey-hole, he’d have been trying to use them on me by now.

One by one, I ticked off each room in the suite. Eventually there was only one left: the master bedroom. Process of elimination, I thought, my grip tightening on my weapon.

“Let’s finish this,” I growled, shoving the door open.

The bedroom was less tidy than the rest of the suite. It was clear that this was where Dr. Bodekker spent the greater portion of his time: the bed was unmade, and there was a desk in the corner of the room with the makeshift streaming setup he used to generate his holograms. The doctor stood next to the desk, his hands up and next to his head.

In one hand he held the control key.

To my surprise, it looked exactly like the fake he’d deployed at the Ceremony. The bright, crimson color, the deep red veins running beneath the surface of the jewel: all of it was the same. A tiny golden chain hung from the top of the gem, wrapped around Dr. Bodekker’s fingers. Some arcane symbol had been etched in gold lettering across the bottom.

“There you are,” I said, lifting the Fang. “Why were you hiding?”

One look at his face told me just how pissed off Dr. Bodekker was. “You bastard,” he snarled, his eyes brimming with what looked like the beginnings of tears. “You’ve ruined everything! The Obsidian Eye will never let me rejoin them now! There’s no telling what germs or mental hazards I’ve been exposed to now that my Anchorite seal is broken!”

I was already shaking my head. “You need to worry less about that, and more about surviving the next few minutes,” I growled. Privately, I knew there was no fucking way Dr. Bodekker was walking out of this room alive—not after how he’d betrayed me and the people I cared about. For trying to kill Charlie alone, he deserved to die.

He knew it, too. Say this for Dr. Bodekker: he was no dummy.

“The control key,” he whispered, his eyes flickering to the gem in his fingers. “I thought they were mad when they suggested sealing it in here with me. Who would want to put an artifact of such power somewhere it couldn’t be accessed?” A dark cloud seemed to pass over his face. “Now I understand. I was always more expendable than I believed.”

His pride and his ego didn’t matter to me.

“Give me the key,” I grunted. “And I just might let you live.”

Bodekker knew that was a lie. “You and your whores,” the man laughed, shaking his head as if he’d fallen for some particularly nasty prank. Like he’d been tricked into investing in a timeshare, or signing up for a pyramid scheme. “You’ve ruined my entire life—”

“Call my women whores again,” I said, running a thumb along the dull side of the Tempest Fang. “ Please, Dr. Bodekker. Give me an excuse.”

Something sly entered his face then. He had the look of an animal caught in a trap—and I remembered that there were some animals for whom that was when they were at their most dangerous.

“What if I could give you something else?” the scientist asked.

“What?” Reflexively, I glanced around the suite. “I don’t think you have anything else on hand to trade, Dr. Bodekker.”

He was already shaking his head. “You want the control key,” he said, sounding almost smug. “Only both you and I know that isn’t going to be enough to save my life.” He paused. “Maybe there’s something else I could give you instead?”

“No offense,” I said, “but you don’t have the right parts. I don’t swing that way—”

“I’m not talking about sex, you nitwit!” Bodekker’s lips peeled back over his teeth. “I’m talking about your family. ”

Fool that I was, my mind instantly went to the women outside. “They’re currently kicking the asses of your guards,” I told the man. “If you think they need your help, I’d venture that you’re sadly mistaken.”

“Not them,” Bodekker said. “Your real family. Haven’t you ever wondered where you came from, Bryant?”

To say I was stunned would have been a major understatement. I was frozen in my tracks; like a bolt of lightning had pinned me to the carpet.

“My… parents?”

“Mommy and Daddy,” Bodekker said, with less rancor than I’d expected given his teasing. “Let’s say I could tell you who they really were. Where you really came from, and why you were left by the fountain at Beleth Park that fateful night? Would that be enough to spare my life, Bryant?”

I wasn’t sure. My parents.

All my life, I’d called Charlie’s Mom and Dad my parents. But they weren’t my biological parents. I’d never known them—never met them.

Were they even still alive?

A thin trail of blood oozed from Dr. Bodekker’s nostril. I don’t believe he’d noticed it yet—and even if he did, I doubted he cared much. He knew he likely wasn’t walking out of that bedroom, one way or another.

“That’s right,” the doctor said, a dark triumph flashing in his eyes. “You’ve never been able to find out anything about them, have you? Not a name, an address, anything? Did you hire a private investigator when you got rich out West, Bryant? Did you give your blood to 23AndMe, hoping they’d come up with a match?”

Speaking of blood, more of it was pouring from Dr. Bodekker’s nose. I couldn’t help but think of Mia before her branding; the way she started to get dizzy and pale whenever she got too close to tripping over one of the mental guardrails the Obsidian Eye installed in her brain.

Mia was an employee at the end of the day, and so that didn’t surprise me all that much. What did was that the Obsidian Eye would subject even their own Anchorites to the same protocols.

I swallowed hard. “My parents… they were Eye?” I asked. It was a notion I’d entertained ever since I discovered the truth about the Bellum Aeternum. “Agents, like Mia?”

It was what I expected. But Dr. Bodekker shook his head.

“No, of course not!” the man said, sounding honestly surprised. “You think we would be behind a thing like that!?”

“But…” I stammered, which wasn’t like me. “I was left at Beleth Park. Right next to your secret base.”

Bodekker sniffed hugely. The blood that trickled from his nose had darkened, staining his lab coat with streaks of inky black. Still, he either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Of course you would be!” He gesticulated wildly, like the bleeding had knocked something loose in his brain. “Your parents hoped that you would be picked up by the Obsidian Eye, Bryant!”

This was news to me. “What!?”

“Oh yes,” the Doctor babbled. His speech was beginning to slur. “I’m sure they were very dis… disappointed that we didn’t find you first. If only those pedestrians weren’t so nosy, you might have achieved your true potential…”

Dr. Bodekker rocked on a heel, nearly falling over.

I was there with him in an instant. “Who were my parents!?” I growled, shaking his shoulders. He had to tell me! “Why did they drop me off with the Obsidian Eye? What the hell were they trying to do?”

Dr. Boddeker’s face was gray and ashen. Whatever the Obsidian Eye had put inside him to keep from blabbing their secrets was surely killing him. Bloody spittle trickled from the side of his mouth.

“They… they…”

“Spit it out!” I roared. “Now!”

In the last moment, Dr. Bodekker’s gaze sharpened. “Keep wondering, Bryant,” he said, his gaze filling with malicious glee.

A groan escaped his throat, and he died in my arms.

Chapter 19

“No! You bastard! Tell me the truth!”

I held Dr. Bodekker’s body by the shoulders. His head lolled back like he’d suddenly become very interested by something on the ceiling—then kept right on lolling, the angle becoming distressing rather than casual. His body gave a final jerk, and twin gouts of blood poured from his nostrils like his brain had just finished turning itself into soup.

He slumped to the side, dead as a stone, and I let him fall to the floor.

“Fuck!” I roared. All my life I’d been trying not to think about my parents. They were a mystery that I’d finally accepted would never be solved—I’d decided it was better to think of my foster parents and Charlie’s Mom and Dad as my real family. Now the question was practically moot; for I had a family of my own to protect.

But in his final hour, Dr. Bodekker ripped open my emotional wounds and poured salt in them. If I wasn’t so pissed off, I’d have been impressed by his virtuoso performance.

That bastard.

I still had enough presence of mind to go for the control key. His left hand gripped the gem, frozen in death, but a quick tug freed the jewel from his grasp. The little golden chain was harder—he’d tied it around his fingers, like he wanted to delay me that small amount after he was dead.

I was just beginning to consider severing the chain with the edge of the Tempest Fang when a new alarm rang out in the Anchorite holding.

Attention all occupants, a curt female voice informed me. Our sensors indicate that the life signs of the Anchorite in charge of this holding have just ceased. If this is an error, please input the security code belonging to —”

A brief pause.

“HIRAM BODEKKER, ” a computer voice said in a completely different tone.

“— within the next thirty seconds. Otherwise, per Obsidian Eye protocol, disinfecting and incineration will begin within this holding. Twenty-nine… ”

My eyes nearly fell out of my head. What looked like black guns were beginning to descend from the ceiling and emerge from the walls. They resembled the heads of a sprinkler system, only I knew it wouldn’t be water that came from these devices. It would be the opposite.

Fire.

With Bodekker dead, they were going to give him a Viking funeral. All personal effects incinerated, destroying any trace the man had ever existed. And probably protecting whatever secrets he held in his private notes from ever leaking out and embarrassing the Eye.

I had to get out of there!

I ran.

As I moved from the bedroom back into the living room, tongues of flame erupted from the bristling guns. There were already dozens of them in Bodekker’s living quarters — poking from the furniture, from behind the television, peeking out from the carpet. I’d have even been willing to wager there was one sticking out of his toilet, like that old Metallica t-shirt. They were mostly waiting for the countdown to begin, but a few of them must have been eager.

Sweat poured from me as I ran. One of the guns near me sprouted with flame, and I summoned the Aether Shield with a yell. The aura of magic blocked the worst of the fire, but did nothing about the heat. This place was a fucking oven!

And in thirty seconds, it was going to be a tomb.

I threw the gold chain over my neck as I ran. The control key bounced against my chest as I took the couch in a single leap, ducking beneath a wave of heat as the television ignited.

“I thought I had thirty fucking seconds!” I yelled to no one in particular. “What the fuck!?”

Erika was standing at the doorway, bouncing from one foot to the other. Good girl, I thought when I saw her, she didn’t abandon me. She even waited for me to get back, the way I promised I would.

Her eyes widened like saucers when she saw me. “Master!” the pink-haired demon cried, gesturing desperately for me to move faster. “I heard the alarm—this whole place is going to blow!”

Seeing her put a smile on my face. I jogged the last few feet to the doorway, intending to scoop up the pink-haired demoness and give her a slap on the ass as a reward for following my instructions so well.

I was two steps away from the door when another sheet of steel slammed down over the doorway.

What!? What the FUCK!?

“Oh no,” I growled, grabbing at the metal. “No!”

“Master!?” A tortured scream tore from Erika’s throat. “Are you alright?”

No. I was not fucking alright. I was trapped like a goddamn rat.

Waves of heat battered me from behind. The tubes that had extended into Dr. Bodekker’s quarters were beginning to activate, spitting fire like flamethrowers across his perfect little apartment. Already his couch was smoking, and the fixtures in the kitchen looked like they were about to catch fire and go up in a blaze of glory.

“Twelve,” I heard the computerized voice say over the crackle of flames. “ Eleven.”

Good God, I thought, panic flaring through me along with the sweat. This isn’t even the actual incineration!?

I had ten seconds to free myself from this trap. Or I was cooked.

Literally.

With a growl, I summoned the Aether Shield. I tossed it behind me, somehow getting the half-dome to float behind my back through sheer exertion of will. The aura of magic dampened the heat of the flames, but didn’t put it out entirely.

That might buy me a few more seconds, I hoped.

With my other hand, I summoned some shards.

There was no time for aiming or subtlety with these bolts. I chucked them straight at the wall, punching them into the metal as hard as I could. They sank like staples into a ream of printer paper—firmly, but nowhere deep enough to make a difference. With five minutes, maybe, I could have punched a hole through the door.

In ten seconds? Forget it.

“Master!” I could hear Erika clawing at the metal from the other side, trying to break through. “There’s no time! Use a portal!”

A portal.

It was the last-ditch plan we’d talked about before leaving the Stronghold. If everything else fell apart, if our strategy to take down the Obsidian Eye and Dr. Bodekker went totally haywire, we could pop open our personal portals and jump back to the Stronghold.

Five minutes ago, it would have been a shameful move. A retreat.

But now, with Dr. Bodekker dead and the control key in my hands, it sounded like a pretty damned prudent idea.

I took a step away from the door and threw up a hand, reaching for my recall. It was the first ability I’d learned when I’d synced up to the Stronghold for the first time, and I knew it well enough to do it in my sleep. Mental muscles flexed, summoning up the black ribbon in the air I knew so well—

Nothing happened.

I tried again, putting more force into the command. The portal refused to open — the magic refused to budge.

Words crackled at the bottom of my vision.

Recall ability failed. Ability cannot be used inside of an Anchorite holding.

Cannot be used!?

“What the fuck good is it for, then!?” I demanded.

“Master!?” Erika’s voice reached me from the other side of the panel, muffled by the metal and the crackling of the flames. “What are you doing? Why are you still there—?”

The guns exploded.

I’d thought the room was hot before. Tongues of flame shot from every nozzle in the room, bathing the entire apartment in a wash of blue heat. I screamed, throwing every ounce of mental energy I had into the Aether Shield behind me.

It blocked the worst of the flames, keeping me from being instantly killed.

But it still hurt.

My entire back felt like fire ants were gnawing on it. I flattened my body against the metal and clawed at it, primal panic overwhelming me as I roared like a caged animal.

If I’d been able to think clearly, I would have noted the irony. I’d caught Bodekker like a rat in a trap, and now he’d caught me.

“No!” I screamed, pulling at the panel with all my might. “Fuck no!”

In my mind, false visions of relief batted me like hallucinations. I saw myself shoving the panel to the side—or Erika doing it—and leaping from the apartment in the nick of time, bathed by blessedly cool air. I saw the flames stopped as quickly as they’d come, disabled in some control room by my harem girls who’d just broken into the core of the Obsidian Eye’s base.

There were so many fantastic ways I could have been freed from this situation.

And none of them happened.

The flames battered my shield. The hairline cracks it took during the fight with the Eye’s guards widened, and bits of fire and smoke began to penetrate the already feeble barrier. I held on tight, praying for rescue.

I could swear the metal was heating up under my fingers.

“Master, get out of there!” Erika begged. “Please, Jax! I can’t reach you!”

I opened my mouth to try to explain—to try and beg the demoness to run. But she couldn’t hear me, it was no use. The heat stole the moisture from my mouth in an instant, and my throat screamed with pain.

A big crack opened in the top of the shield. So much heat spilled through it that I nearly passed out—as it was, the world went gray and fuzzy. I could tell it wouldn’t be long before I was unconscious.

I just hoped that when the flames finally covered my body, I wasn’t aware enough to feel the pain.

Words flickered at the bottom of my vision. I almost ignored them, expecting to see the same warning about opening a portal in an Anchorite holding—but instead, a very welcome message danced on my periphery—

You have leveled up! Would you like to select a use for your Ability Points, or allow the Archon System to distribute them?

Huh? An Ability Point?

I tried to focus on the words, but I was woozy. Before I could select anything, they flickered and vanished.

Points automatically distributed, the system informed me. You have learned a new technique: Archon’s Fury!

Archon’s Fury?

I could feel it in the back of my brain. Like a factoid that hadn’t been there before—the name of an actress I’d had on the tip of my tongue for hours, only to suddenly remember it in a flash.

Fuck it, I thought. Worth a shot.

I flattened myself as hard as I could against the metal barrier and screamed.

“ Fury!” I roared.

And the world exploded.

The next thing I knew, I was upside down. It took my brain several moments to catch up with the reality of what was happening, but one thing was instantly clear—I was free of the flames. The tongues of blazing fire no longer scorched my back.

I could have cried.

Then I smashed into the wall, the remains of the metal barrier smashed into me, and I was out like a light.

The next time I opened my eyes, Erika was standing over me. Sparks flew from her fingers, and my mouth tasted like mint mouthwash. My body felt like I’d been run over by a mack truck, but the worst of the pain was already beginning to recede.

“Master?” I could hear the worry in Erika’s voice. “Don’t move, okay? You got burnt up really bad in that fire…!”

I managed to open my eyes and lift my head. We were down the hall from the Anchorite quarters, and there was a trail of blood leading from the door of Dr. Bodekker’s Anchorite chamber to where I lay.

There was a lot of blood. So much that I was more than a little surprised to be alive.

“What happened?” I asked. My mouth didn’t move in the way I expected; the motions didn’t quite match the words that were coming out of my mouth. I’d hurt myself badly, I could tell. Probably the only thing keeping me alive were those sparks flying from Erika’s fingers.

The demoness ran her hands over me some more. Sparks shot from her fingertips, soothing away the numerous aches and pains in my body. Sometime once all this was over, I’d have to ask her how she did that. Was it a skill she’d inherited from her father? Or her mother?

Erika glanced up at the still-flaming doorway with a faint smile. “There was an explosion,” she said, like it was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen. “The whole panel flew across the room like— boom! You were clinging to it like a dog with its head out of a car window!”

Not the best mental image. But considering I had the demoness to thank for keeping me alive through that explosion, I supposed I could allow it.

Just then, my mind did a record scratch. “Explosion?”

Erika nodded like a bobblehead. “It was crazy!” the pink-haired demon said. “Was there a bomb in Dr. Bodekker’s room or something? I mean, it wouldn’t shock me if he set up some booby trap to try and kill you. Guess he never figured the damn thing might go off and actually save your life…”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t a bomb. It’s… a new power, actually.”

“Power?” Erika’s jaw dropped. “Hot damn, Jax. It sounds like you’re finally getting to the advanced side of the coursework!”

Was I? I wasn’t even really sure what abilities Powermancers were supposed to have. Other than the whole ‘branding women to give them powers’ thing; that part was pretty clear, even when nothing else was.

I was glad to have new powers. I was even more glad that they’d saved my life.

Flames still poured from what remained of Dr. Bodekker’s quarters, but they were less intense now. By the time Erika managed to get me back on my feet again, they’d died down to the point that we could actually walk back to the entrance and survey the damage.

Nothing remained of the white rooms and their stately furnishings. The secret hiding place of the Anchorite leader of the Obsidian Eye was little more than a smoking ruin; barely recognizable as a dwelling at all.

“Holy shit,” the demoness whispered. “That’s some serious nastiness.”

“Yeah,” I said, holding up the control key gem. “But at least we got this.”

“Shit yeah!” Erika giggled. “Let’s go tell the others!”

The remainder of our fight through the Obsidian Eye base felt almost anticlimactic. Only a few of the base’s defenders remained—those that saw us were far more likely to run away than to fight, having seen the consequences of dealing with the Powermancer or a member of his squad head-on. A quick brandishing of the Tempest Fang or a flashing of Erika’s claws was all it took to make most of the stragglers back down. I kept the Aether Shield up, just in case someone popped off a random shot in our direction, but I didn’t really feel like I’d need to use it.

As we ran, the constant thumping of the Demon Core against my chest reminded me that I’d done an amazing thing today. I was actually wearing one of the control keys that would allow me to power up the Stronghold, giving us a chance to save humanity from the Bellum Aeternum. It was very hard not to hold the stone up and gaze into it every time we stopped, or even to admire it as I ran.

Then we turned a corner, and I suddenly had something much nicer to look at.

We’d managed to make it all the way to the front entrance—or what passed for the front entrance among the Obsidian Eye. Bodies littered the floor, but I barely spared those a passing glance. The people lying down didn’t interest me. The ones standing up did.

My women.

They looked like they’d been waiting for me, which made me wonder if Erika had some way to let them know we were coming ahead of time. Fliss took the lead in her full-on Valkyrie transformation, her silver breastplate stained with the blood of her enemies. More blood coated the tip of her golden lance, which she’d strapped between her shoulder blades in favor of her short sword.

Standing next to her on either side were Charlie and Stephanie. My Noir Knight and my Blood Witch, fully unveiled in their respective dark elf and vampire bodies.

They all looked so fucking happy to see me.

“Jax!” Fliss raced forward, embracing me tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alright! We heard about what happened with Dr. Boddeker. You could have been killed!”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t,” Charlie chuckled, sticking her purple elf tongue out of the side of her mouth and winking. “It takes more than a few flamethrowers to take our Powermancer down…”

The girls surrounded me, covering my face and chest with kisses. It felt good to be in their embrace once more—damned good, really—but I couldn’t help but note a tension among them. I must look like Hell, I thought. Either that, or I’d come a lot closer to dying than I realized.

“Wait a second,” I blurted, looking from face to face. “Where’s Mia?”

Just then, the sound of footsteps reached my ears. The fox girl tore into the lobby like a bat out of hell, a manic grin stretching across her face. Several sections of Mia’s outfit were torn, exposing large expanses of her gorgeous skin—which almost distracted me from the danger at hand.

“Everybody out!” the fox girl cried, gesturing at the door as she raced past us. “Now! Hurry the fuck up!”

None of us questioned her. As one, we ran out the front door, tumbling into a small square with a set of stairs leading back up to the surface.

Mia was already a third of the way up the stairs. She was taking them two at a time.

“Move, move!” the fox girl demanded, gesturing for us to hurry. “It’s gonna be big!”

“ What’s going to be big?” I asked. The rest of my harem seemed to know something that I didn’t.

“No time! Book it!”

We ran.

I’d just crested the top of the stairs and found myself back in Beleth Park when a deep rumble crashed through the ground. I nearly lost my balance and fell back down the steps—thankfully, Charlie was nearby and grabbed me as I slipped.

“Earthquake?” I gasped.

Mia was taking cover behind a bit rock next to one of the trails. “Nope!” she said, her furry ears wiggling back and forth with excitement. “Get ready!”

All of us crowded behind the rock. As it turned out, we got under cover just in time.

The ground shook once more, longer and harder this time. The rumble traveled through the entire park, shaking trees and cracking the pavement. Stephanie stumbled into Fliss, and Erika threw herself against the boulder with both hands splayed to keep from slipping.

“Hang on!” Mia crouched in the dirt, lifting her hands to her furry ears. “It’s going to be big —!”

It was.

An explosion rocked Beleth Park. Chunks of rock and earth erupted from the ground a short distance away, then rained down over the trees and the trails. Stephanie let out a yelp as a piece of rebar the size of an elephant’s head struck the top of our boulder and broke apart.

The shaking and the roaring went on until I felt that the Earth itself was going to crack in two. By the time it ebbed, I was covered in dirt and dust; all of us were. The stillness that followed the explosion was so deep and complete that it felt eerie.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, peering around the rock.

Where the stairs leading downward to the Obsidian Eye’s base had been, there was nothing but a scorch mark across the ground. The stairwell had completely collapsed, spitting out a rain of rocks and other debris as the subterranean complex exploded.

Mia grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. “Hot damn!” she cried, pumping a fist in the air. “Take that, you traitorous bastards!”

I turned to the fox girl, amazed. “Did you know it was going to happen like that?”

Mia had the temerity to look bashful. “I didn’t realize it would be that… violent ,” she replied with a chuckle. “I used my old access codes to set their reactor to self-destruct. They must have had more cooling systems down there than I realized.”

“For the Anchorites,” I realized, understanding dawning on me. “All their apartments. And their studies, and their personal laboratories…”

From the look on her face, I knew Mia had figured all this out long before she’d set the charge. “That’s right,” she told the group, putting her hands on her hips. “They’re all gone. We just decapitated the Obsidian Eye’s high command.”

Hot damn was right.

Mia’s face changed. “You got it,” she said, her tone filling with awe as she noticed the jewel around my neck for the first time. “That’s the Core!”

My women all gathered around, oohing and ahhing over the control key.

“Let’s get out of here,” Fliss said, surveying the park. No authorities had come yet, but they had to be on the way—if I concentrated, I could almost fancy I heard sirens on the wind. “Back to the Stronghold. It’s time to install this bad boy!”

I couldn’t agree more.

Chapter 20

The Stronghold was just as it had been when we got back. And yet it felt new.

My women and I were so excited that we didn’t break for coffee or food—we didn’t even have our traditional post-mission debriefing. Though I could tell that every woman who followed me wanted nothing more than to jump my bones and fuck me until their bed broke, none of my girls were going to put their own personal pleasure above upgrading our base.

We’d celebrate later, I knew. But right now, we needed to save the world.

When we reached the central room of the complex, the control pillar was already raised. Every member of my harem swore they’d had nothing to do with it; I believed them. I don’t think any of my women prepared the pillar in advance to have the Demon Core installed. I think the Stronghold itself did it.

Perhaps you think that was insane, that even a subterranean base that once belonged to Atlantean heroes could only hold so many secrets. Buildings weren’t sentient; they didn’t have souls, and they couldn’t make decisions.

But if you could have felt the electric buzz in the air as my harem and I did our victorious march from the foyer to the central control pillar, you might have felt as I did.

After all the effort we went through to secure it, installing the Demon Core felt almost anticlimactically simple. I severed the golden chain that turned the control key into a piece of jewelry, then slotted the red gem into the slot beneath the one which held the combined medallion made from mine and Fliss’s regalia. It sank into the indentation once it was placed, glowing faintly as the whole pillar sank deep into the heart of the Stronghold.

Until then, I’d thought our home to be well-lit. It was only once the full power of the second control key established itself and the full suite of lighting kicked on in the Stronghold did I realize how much we’d been in the dark here—figuratively and literally.

Electric current hummed through the walls of the Stronghold as new machinery came to life. An air purifier deep within the heart of the structure kicked on, moving the air around and giving the whole place a clean, slightly sharp smell. New options opened up all over the place from the kitchen to the gym.

But it was the words flashing in my enhanced vision that caught my attention the most. Congratulations! it said. You have successfully installed two of the maximum three (3) control keys into your Stronghold! You have gained the following ability:

Registry: New members of the species homo sapiens can now be registered to the Archon System within the Stronghold. This registration no longer requires the Powermancer to spend an Ability Point. The maximum number of registered humans available in this Stronghold is currently: 100,000.

One hundred thousand. The number was staggering.

One hundred thousand humans just like Fliss. Like Charlie. Like Stephanie and Mia. Ordinary people with the power to transform into magic-wielding superhumans with abilities that let them resist Heaven, Hell, and the Bellum Aeternum. That let humanity fight back.

We could have one hundred thousand troops just like my harem.

I wanted it. I wanted it as soon as fucking possible.

Jesus. We could actually win this war!

Cheers rose through the Stronghold. For a second, I didn’t understand, then I saw the glassy looks on the faces of my harem girls. Like me, all of them were registered to this Stronghold, and like me, they’d all received the same message.

Erika hadn’t, of course. She looked around, blinking in confusion. “What?”

“We just got the notification,” Stephanie explained. “Jax has activated the next level of the Archon System. We can bring anyone to the Stronghold and give them the same powers that we have—no Ability Point or brand necessary. Up to a hundred thousand of them!”

“Aww!” Erika pouted theatrically. “Isn’t the branding the fun part?”

My girls chuckled at that.

“Don’t worry,” Charlie assured the pink-haired demon. “If you really want to be branded so badly, I’m sure Jax could make a special exception just for you.”

“You’d have to ask really nicely, though,” Fliss added with a wink.

I had no problems doing that for Erika. She was hotter than hell—literally. I’d gladly leave my mark on her wherever she thought it would look the sexiest and be the most dominant.

Erika was about to go into more detail when she suddenly stiffened.

“Ah!” the demoness cried, her back arching like a bow. “Oh fuck!”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Erika didn’t look sure. “Something… something’s happening…” she muttered, sounding like she wasn’t sure if she was on the verge of an orgasm or a panic attack. “I feel… oh fuck… ”

A moment later, Erika tossed her head back and screamed. Maybe someone not as intimately familiar with the Archon System as I was wouldn’t have known that cry for what it was—they might have thought the demon was in pain, or in trouble.

I knew the truth.

Erika had just had the strongest climax of her entire life.

As she came down from it, her eyes whirling in their sockets, she gasped. “I can see… words!” she cried, reaching out for the phantom letters as if they were really floating in front of her. “Archon System… activation… holy shit, I’m one of you!”

My girls shared a surprised look. “Wow,” Charlie whispered.

“I knew the upgrade meant you could add women to the Archon System without branding them,” Mia said, putting a hand on her hip with an impressed expression. “I didn’t realize it would be that simple…”

Neither had I. But apparently, it was. Erika was one of us now, and that was that.

“Huh,” the pink-haired demon said. “That’s interesting!”

“What is?” Fliss asked. She was more interested in the ins and outs of the Archon System than the rest of my girls—it probably went all the way back to her past as a historical researcher and museum guide. “Did you get your class? Is there some new ability you’ve gained?”

“Not that,” Erika said, shaking her head. “According to this, I’ve been added to the Powermancer’s personal band? ”

There was a pause. Then all my girls started snickering and laughing.

“I’m serious!” Erika said, grinning like an idiot. “It comes with access to the Powermancer’s private quarters, and something called ‘bed privileges.’ You don’t…” The pink-haired demon gasped. “You don’t think the guy who ran this place back in the old days had a harem, too?”

“I’d say he did,” Charlie chuckled, looking at me. “Looks like he had a whole system set up to manage it, too.”

I wondered how much of that would apply to me. I certainly didn’t intend to have one hundred thousand women in my harem. Just the five I already had were more than enough to satisfy me. Maybe an actor or a rockstar would have wanted more, I don’t know. But I didn’t see myself making my personal band much bigger than it already was now.

Not unless my girls brought me someone truly exceptional. Someone who got along with the harem almost as well as she clicked with me…

But that was a worry for another day.

“What do we do now?” Fliss asked. She peered past me towards the rows and rows of dormitory rooms, which stretched for God only knew how long beneath the frozen Antarctic soil. “We’ve got the control key, which means we’ve got the ability to turn hundreds of humans into Earth’s mightiest heroes. But how do we square the circle?”

I was already thinking about that, as indeed I’d been thinking about it for some time. “We need bodies,” I told the harem. It was a crude way of putting it, but no less true for that.

Charlie nodded. “True that,” the dark elf agreed.

“You’ve got a plan,” Mia said. It wasn’t a question.

Grinning, I reached into my pocket and slipped out my cell phone. “I’ve got to make a quick call,” I told the group, already heading for the door. “Come out with me to the foyer. I want to check out what’s going on on the television while I do this.”

I think that last remark clued my harem in on what I was planning. Certainly Mia suspected it; the other girls, smart as they were, couldn’t have been far behind. I made my way down the halls whistling, beneath the gaze of statues which seemed ever so slightly more proud of me than they’d been a few hours ago.

The television was on in the foyer, though the volume was turned low. On it, a newscaster was delivering the latest in front of pictures of burning cities, while a chyron at the bottom of the screen detailed the latest fronts in the Bellum Aeternum.

Nearly all the news was bad. Yet as the scenes changed, I noticed things I hadn’t seen much of before: gangs of humans, armed to the teeth, making their presence known. Here they struck like a bolt of lightning outside of a stadium in Denver, peppering a group of demons with bullets until the invaders were forced to retreat. In another shot, a man in a makeshift tank ran over a rampaging angel in the streets of New York City.

Humanity was fighting back. We weren’t doing a terribly good job of it, not yet, but the fact that we were standing up at all was one hell of an improvement. It made me proud to see it.

I prayed that I wasn’t too late to help those brave people.

The most important part of the news, however, wasn’t the headlines. It was the reporter on the screen. She wasn’t anybody I recognized, which meant that this plan just might work. Please let it, I thought.

As my harem filed into the rec room, I opened my contacts and fished for the phone number that had been put into them what felt like a lifetime ago.

She answered on the second ring.

“Jax?” Heather’s voice sounded strained, like she’d been running right before she picked up the phone. “Jaxon Bryant, is that you?”

I couldn’t help but grin. “It’s me,” I informed the reporter. “I don’t see you on BNN, Heather. You taking a break?”

She laughed, though there was no humor in it. “Are you kidding me? BNN’s got me on eighteen-hour shifts. Ever since my interview with you, I’m the second-most recognizable face in the world. I get just enough time to wolf down some food and coffee, get a couple hours of sleep, then it’s right back into makeup.”

Shit, I thought, wincing. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I could feel her grinning through the phone. “I’m famous, Jax. Set for life, once you win this war. You should see how many zeroes are on the contract BNN and I signed!”

I felt certain I would later. “How would you like to get the scoop of the century?”

Heather paused on the other end of the line.

“This have something to do with Beleth Park, by chance?” the reporter asked.

Well I’ll be damned, I thought. News traveled fast. That wasn’t a bullseye I’d have expected the reporter to hit.

“Yeah, it just might,” I said, turning and watching my harem. The girls were mostly crashing on the couch; Erika had just gotten up and was sashaying into the kitchen, her maid outfit rematerializing on her curvy body. Must be getting everybody some refreshments, I thought. We could use a little celebration. “How would you know that, exactly?”

This time, I could hear Heather’s smile as well as feel it. “There’s been reports of an explosion in that area. Possibly an earthquake, as well. A couple of local affiliates were reporting it as an incursion of demons, but we discovered pretty quickly that wasn’t the case.” She paused, savoring her powers of deduction. “That was where you were left as a baby, right?”

Again, her depth of knowledge surprised me. “Shit. I guess BNN doesn’t skim on their research department.”

“Oh, that was all me,” Heather said breezily. “So what did you do?”

My eyes flickered to the screen, scanning a headline. “Got a control key,” I told the reporter. The Hell one. Do you have any idea what that is?”

She made a non-committal noise. “Some of our contacts at the Obsidian Eye mentioned them. They’re… extremely powerful artifacts?”

I chuckled. “Powerful like you wouldn’t believe. And just between you and me, I wouldn’t expect to hear much from those Eye representatives any time soon.”

I could feel her surprise. “Okay,” Heather replied. “So, what does this mean?”

As briefly as possible, I told her. She wasn’t terribly surprised to find out about our hidden Antarctic base—she told me she figured we had to be going somewhere when we jumped through all those portals—but she nearly lost it when I told her about the upgrade to the Archon System.

“How many?” she asked when I was done explaining. “How many people can we make like you , Jax? How many transformed warriors like those girls?”

I grinned. “A hundred thousand.”

You could have heard a pin drop on the other end of the line.

“That’s… that’s incredible,” Heather finally managed. “Jax, that might win the Bellum Aeternum for humanity…”

“I know,” I told the reporter. “Which is why I need your help. I want BNN to help me get volunteers.”

“ Volunteers? ”

I barreled ahead. “You’ve got affiliates everywhere. Buildings we can use as transit points—staff each of them with one of my harem girls, using her portals to shuttle people back and forth from the Stronghold. Later, once we’ve awakened a few dozen mortals to the Archon System, we can use them as traffic cops, instead. The point is, we need people. And we need them fast.”

We needed an army. One that could stand against Heaven and Hell. One that could save the world from the Apocalypse itself.

Heather paused for a few seconds, thinking. “This is brilliant,” she finally said. Then: “How soon can one of your girls pick me up?”

Huh?

“What do you mean, ‘pick you up?’” I blurted.

My girls on the couch heard it.

“Told you,” Charlie snickered, giving Fliss a playful punch on the shoulder. “You owe me twenty bucks, bitch. And I get to share Jax’s dick the next time you give him a blowjob.”

Frowning, I put my hand over the receiver. “You’ve been betting on me?” I asked.

Charlie grinned. She didn’t look ashamed at all. “Duh,” the dark elf chuckled. “I told Fliss that little tart from the news was going to take one look at this good thing we’ve got going and hop into it as soon as possible!”

“I thought her celebrity would keep her away,” Fliss said with a frown. “Guess I underestimated the power of a harem…”

I was so enthralled by what my women were saying that I missed the next words that came out of Heather’s mouth. “Wait, wait, back up,” I grunted. “I missed that.”

“I said, people need to see this as soon as possible.” The reporter sounded about as excited as it was possible for a human being to be. “They’re going to need to see evidence of this working in real life before they believe it. Until you prove to the world that you can really make anybody like you, you’re not going to have the masses knocking at your door.”

I wanted to protest that I couldn’t make anyone like me. I had no way of knowing if Powermancer was a class the Archon System could bestow a mortal via the Stronghold, or if only one of those special tablets like the one Fliss and I found could do it. But I held back. The distinction was academic—what Heather meant was, ordinary people could become extraordinary.

Become superheroes.

“What are you suggesting?” I asked. “You want to do this live ?”

That’s exactly what Heather was suggesting. “BNN will make it a live event,” the reporter said, her voice brimming with excitement. “Heather Holcomb accepts the Archon System live on national TV—becomes Earth’s latest defender and destroyer of demons. Just think about the fucking ratings!”

Ratings were about the last thing on my mind. “And that’s something you want?”

“Are you kidding? Hell yes! Sign me up!”

I grinned. Heather hadn’t said anything about my harem, not yet—but she’d programmed her personal number into my cell phone. That was definitely a good sign.

“Alright,” I said, nodding. “We’ll put on a little show. Then we’ll set up the relays, the way I said it. My girls will act as the conduits, and once you’ve been turned live on TV, they’ll be standing by to transport anyone who wants to go directly into the Stronghold. We’ll do whatever BNN employees want to go first, then whoever shows up.”

I hoped people would show up. God damn I hoped there were millions.

“That’s perfect,” Heather said. “We’re going to pull this off, Jax. Once we do this, every human being on Earth will want to join your army. You’ll have millions of people bursting down the door trying to get themselves signed up with the Archon System!”

“That’s what I’m hoping.”

Heather paused. I could hear voices around her—she must have been in her dressing room. Doubtless she was being prepped to go live on air in the next few minutes. “Give me a half-hour,” she said. “BNN will start promoting this—they’re telling me they’ve already got the graphics and everything ready to go. In thirty, you send one of your girls to pick me up, and I’ll bring my camera guy along for the ride. We’ll do this live. Got it?”

“Got it,” I said. “We’ll try to clean the place up for you, but I’m warning you. It’s kind of got a frat house atmosphere…”

My women giggled at that. They knew better than anyone what sorts of debauchery we got up to in the Stronghold.

“Don’t worry!” Charlie yelled, cupping a hand around her pouty mouth. “We won’t leave any of our panties lying around!”

“That’s because we don’t wear panties!” Erika added.

“Not concerned about the cleanliness,” Heather said. “Honestly, if you make it look like some boy’s adolescent fantasy, that would probably resonate with our viewers even more. Just be ready to pick me up, alright?”

“Can do,” I said. “BNN headquarters, right?”

She gave me the address. Then we said our goodbyes.

It wasn’t until I hung up the phone that I realized the entire harem was watching me, grinning like a bunch of foxes who’d just been set in charge of a hen house. I met their stares, feeling objectified in a way I rarely have before or since. To my surprise, I found that I liked it.

It was different for guys. When the shoe was on the other foot, we thrived on female attention. The lewder, the better.

“I’m going to assume you all heard that?” I asked.

Fliss and Charlie shared a look, winking at each other. “We’re going to have some fun visitors soon,” the Valkyrie said, tilting her head to the side. “Sounds like a great time—”

For a moment, I assumed the tremor that passed through the rec room was another earthquake. The mounted television shook on its hinges, and a few pebbles broke off from the ceiling and rained down in a faint smattering of dust. My women looked around, confusion filling their faces, all while I searched for the source of the disturbance.

There was another tremor. This one focused entirely on the Stronghold’s front door.

Someone’s here, I realized.

Even as I thought it, the door buckled inward. Our Stronghold—our safe space, the fortress where my women and I had grown from a loose group of strangers into a harem and a family, had just been forcibly invaded. Burgled. Raided, as if we were the targets of a Viking warband.

But these were no Vikings who poured into my living room.

They were demons.

Chapter 21

To my surprise, I recognized some of our invaders.

There were far too many demons streaming into the Stronghold for me to be individually familiar with them all. At least a dozen of the beastly little creatures streamed into my living room, without even the common decency to wipe their feet on the mat before entering. But I knew two of them.

The imps. The ones we’d seen carrying Lucifer’s throne just outside of the border of Hell. The Prince of Darkness had sent them to treat with me.

Their bodies were all hide and horn, covered in thick scales and overlapping chitin plates. No two of them looked alike, but all of them shared a common hideousness that suggested they could have all descended from the same ancestor. As they entered, the living room filled with the reek of brimstone.

“Woah, what’s this?” Charlie sprang from the couch, drawing the Bitch’s Blade from the holster at her side. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

“We have every right to be here,” one of the imps grunted. “Stand aside!”

A hiss tore itself from Charlie’s throat. “Don’t get any closer, you sons of bitches,” the dark elf growled. “Otherwise we’ll be cleaning demon blood off the floor before BNN gets here…”

Of all my harem girls, I ought to have known that it would be Erika who’d try to keep the peace. “Hey hey , guys!” the pink-haired demon cried, replacing her slutty maid outfit with a more conservative set of threads via a wave of the hand. “I didn’t know you were coming over! Baphomel! Phil! How ya been—”

“Enough, brat,” the other imp grunted. He was the one Erika had referred to as Baphomel; at least I didn’t think he was Phil, but I couldn’t be sure. What did a demon named Phil even look like? “The boss is pissed at you .”

For a moment, Erika looked every bit like the bratty teenager she sometimes pretended to be. Her bottom lip trembled, her eyes grew watery, and I was suddenly certain she was going to beg the demons to put in a good word for her with the Man Downstairs.

Then she looked around, saw whose company she was standing in, and firmed the fuck up.

“I guess he would be,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “Fine! Let Dad give me my lumps. But leave the rest of Jax’s harem out of this!”

Brave words. But the imp was already shaking his head. “Nah, this isn’t just about you,” he grunted. “It’s also about him. ”

Me? Well, I supposed it would be.

The two imps stepped forward, while the rest of the demon crew lingered near the door. They stood a short distance apart from each other for reasons I couldn’t understand, right up until they lifted their hands in unison and channeled beams of dark magic.

A black ribbon unfurled down the fabric of reality. Hellfire brimmed around it, as if the rent in reality was constantly under assault from unknown assailants.

Or known, in this case.

The ribbon widened, turning into a doorway. This wasn’t the Atrium of Hell—the vision I was seeing through the tear was deep inside of Down Below itself, somewhere near the middle of the fabled lake of fire. A solitary figure stood—not sitting—on a craggy spoke of rock in the middle of the flames. All around him, the burning souls of the damned smoldered, reaching blindly out of the fire as they begged for aid.

“ Lucifer, ” I whispered.

He looked the same as I’d seen him last. The leather pants, the long unwashed hair—the whole ‘sleazy rock star’ act was still in place. All until you looked him in the eyes.

The Prince of Darkness had looked like a fuckboy the last time I saw him. One glance in those eyes and I knew he was anything but.

The portal shimmered, shifting through the air. It repositioned until it was right in front of Lucifer, as if the Devil were standing at a window and leaning with his elbows on the sill. He smiled at me, and there was nothing human in it.

“Jaxon Bryant,” Lucifer drawled, cocking his head slightly to the side. “Sorry I can’t get any closer to you, man. The Gates aren’t quite wide enough for me to affect the mortal realm personally.” A thin smile. “Soon, though.”

I swallowed hard. Lucifer didn’t say it out loud—he didn’t need to. The implication was more than clear enough.

If this man was able to walk through the portal and into the Stronghold directly, he’d already have ripped me to shreds.

“What do you want?” I managed to grunt. I sounded a hell of a lot more certain of myself than I felt. There was something spooky about those eyes— more than spooky. It was like they were two portals into somewhere dark and deep, somewhere I never, ever wanted to go.

Lucifer snickered. “You may not believe this, Bryant, but this meeting is for your benefit. I’m giving you one more chance—one more than you deserve.” Abruptly, he cocked his head to the side and leaned forward. “There’s something I want to take care of first, though. Where the fuck is my daughter?”

I glanced to the side. From the vehemence in his tone, I figured that Erika was either hiding behind the couch or had run screaming from the room—that’s what I would have done if I were in her shoes. But the pink-haired demon was still standing among my women, as fierce as a hellcat. Now she stepped forward.

“I’m right here, Dad,” the demoness said, lifting her nose. “Right where you told me to be—”

“You’re disobeying me, and you know it!” Lucifer wasn’t hearing any excuses. He pointed his finger at Erika, the tip coming so close to the surface of the portal that I saw ripples forming in reality. The Gates weren’t ready to open far enough to let Lucifer enter just yet, but they were close. “I told you to seduce this twerp, girl! Make him putty in your hands, so I can make him putty in my hands! What the fuck have you been doing in the mortal realm while I was down here scheming!?”

Erika’s bottom lip trembled. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and for a moment, I thought she was going to break down and beg her father’s forgiveness. She certainly looked like she was about to start babbling.

But to my surprise, my demoness was made of sterner stuff.

“Daddy, I love him!” Erika said, her hands balling into fists. “I can’t change him for you—he’s the one who changed me !”

Lucifer stared at his daughter like she’d grown a second head.

Then he started to laugh.

“You’ve lost your marbles,” he grunted, rubbing the back of his neck. “You and that mother of yours. Both of you are fucking crazy…”

Erika stamped a foot to silence Lucifer, then looked him in the eyes. “He’s going to conquer the world,” she said, her voice low and menacing. “He’s going to win the Bellum Aeternum, and I’m going to be by his side when it’s all said and done! You can’t possibly be mad at me for that!”

Lucifer just stared at her flatly.

Erika, turned, pouting up a storm. “Plus he’s, like, really good in bed and totally hot! You mean to tell me you’ve never jettisoned your principles for some crazy good sex, Dad ?”

Lucifer paused. Then he laughed again; this time there was a little less anger in it.

“You’ve certainly done something to the Powermancer, that’s for sure,” Lucifer said, shaking his head in amazement. “Looks like he’s done way more to you, though, girl.”

“You don’t understand,” Erika continued. “Jax isn’t—”

Lucifer was already waving his hands. “I don’t want to hear it,” the man snarled. “I’ve heard enough from you, Erika. I’ve got bigger fish to fry. Just know that I’m very, very disappointed in you.”

The pink-haired demon shrank back, stunned. “Dad!”

With a noise of annoyance, Lucifer turned back to me. “As I said, Bryant, I came here to grant you one more chance than you deserve. This is it, man. This is your final opportunity to turn back and come to the right decision.”

I could tell that he meant it. The look Lucifer was giving me was undoubtedly the same as many poor souls had seen upon their entrance to Hell—and it was nothing good. Even a strong, doughty mortal could be forgiven for shrinking beneath it.

I didn’t shrink. Instead, I stood tall.

“And what’s that?” I grunted, feigning ignorance.

Lucifer spread his hands. “Isn’t it obvious? Joining me. I heard you got the second control key, by the way.”

Damn, word really did travel fast. I wondered how the agents of Hell managed to find out about the Stronghold so quickly, but I tucked that question into the back of my head for the moment. “I do,” I said, feeling no need to lie. “The Demon Core.”

“Good!” Lucifer grinned, which might honestly have been more terrifying than all the rest. “I’m glad you picked the right one, Jax. You can still make the right choice here—your options are still open. I have something for you, by the way…”

Lucifer reached into his vest. Silk lined the inside, into which was stitched a tiny hidden pocket. The Prince of Darkness reached into this and pulled out a gem with a silver chain.

It was the same gem he’d tempted me with earlier.

“Take it,” Lucifer said, holding it in the direction of the portal. “Just reach in and grab it, Bryant. It’s yours. ”

I hesitated. I knew what would happen if I accepted Lucifer’s offer. I’d be able to install the third and final control key in the Stronghold, which would allow me to activate the Lattice—a worldwide energy field that just might open every human being in the world to the Archon System, all at once.

Putting that control key in the pillar would end the Bellum Aeternum, forever.

There was just one problem.

Lucifer would win, too.

That wasn’t the future I wanted. I thought about all the things Lucifer had offered me in exchange for joining him: power, women, all the riches I could imagine. A nearly limitless lifespan, followed by transformation into one of the lieutenants of Hell itself. A pretty sweet deal, no matter how you sliced it.

Sweet for me, that is. Not humanity.

Humanity would exist beneath the demonic yoke.

Not that that yoke would necessarily be heavy. Lucifer loved chaos—’survival of the fittest’ was his motto. There was every chance he’d step back and let the world descend into chaos, given the opportunity.

But that wasn’t what I wanted.

The Prince of Darkness could read it on my face. “ This is the key you need, Powermancer,” Lucifer snarled. “Not the other one. You don’t want the Nameless Angel’s key, Jax. Take this one, and lead humanity into a new Golden Age!”

I was already shaking my head. “It wouldn’t be golden,” I said firmly. “It would be dark. Too fucking dark.”

Lucifer’s lips peeled back over his teeth. “I’m warning you, Bryant. The Gates are breaking at the hinges now—it won’t be long before I personally take the field. When I do, if you aren’t standing at my right hand, then you’ll be in my path. And if you try to get that angelic control key, I swear all the hounds of Hell will rip you to shreds before you can take your first step—”

Someone shoved me to the side.

To my utter shock, it was Erika.

The demoness faced the sizzling portal, completely ignoring the hellfire blazing inches from her face. Her fury was truly something awesome to behold. In that moment, she’d never looked more like her father’s daughter.

“ Enough! ” Erika roared. Her voice dropped a full octave, resonating with a bass note that no human throat could produce. “That’s enough, father! You’re not going to bully people any more!”

Lucifer’s eyes widened. Very few mortals in human history had ever had the opportunity to see the Prince of Darkness on the backfoot—I should have been more pleased than I felt. Terror filled my veins, but I couldn’t deny that Erika looked fierce.

“A… bully?” Lucifer let out a surprisingly awkward laugh. “What are you talking about—?”

“Oh, don’t give me that!” Erika stamped a foot, getting right up in her father’s face. “You’ve been doing this to humanity for centuries! You and the angels—either one or the other, stomping their big boots all over humanity’s face! You like to say they’re the bad guys, and we’re the ones fighting for freedom, Dad. True freedom! But what kind of freedom is this?”

Lucifer’s brows furrowed together. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” he growled. “This war has been going on forever—”

“It has,” Erika agreed, cutting him off. “And look at what it’s done! Have you won anything, Dad? Are you the king of the world yet? Have we beat the angels?”

Lucifer looked stricken. True anger filled his face, and the flames surrounding him darkened. “Not yet,” he said, his expression as hard as stone. “But we will—”

“It never ends ,” Erika said. “It goes on and on, forever. You win for a little while, then they win for a little while. You go downstairs and grumble, then you come back up and beat on a few cities. We seduce some mortals, they get a few to repent, and the whole thing starts over again. And no. One. Wins! ”

A strange look filled the Prince of Darkness’s face. “You have a point,” he admitted. “But we’re on the cusp of winning this, pumpkin. If the Powermancer does what I say, we’ve got this thing in the fucking bag—”

“ Pumpkin!? ” I blurted.

Erika was already shaking her head. “No, Dad. It won’t be over. It’ll just be beginning.” Something changed in her face, and I knew she was reaching deep down for a trump card to use over her father. “Do you know what those humans were trying to do, Dad? The Obsidian Eye?”

I didn’t think it was possible for Lucifer’s face to darken any further. It did.

“I do,” he snarled. His face was beginning to change—it no longer looked human at all. It was more like a mask; a mask covering something too terrible to be seen directly. I thought of Medusa, and the way her gaze was said to turn mortals to stone.

What would happen to me if I saw what was on the other side of that mask?

“They were going to seal the Gates,” Erika said, her voice becoming almost indescribably sad. “Make it so that no humans ever went to Heaven or Hell. Close things off so that the Bellum Aeternum can’t ever keep running.”

“I know that,” Lucifer roared, cutting off his daughter. “I never would have allowed it! If they’d come close to completing their little ritual, I’d have ripped them limb from limb—”

“Dad,” Erika said, almost chiding. “Don’t you get it? These humans; they’d rather have no afterlife than keep going like this! They’d rather not exist than fight the Bellum Aeternum any more!”

Not all of us were like that, I wanted to protest. But I wisely kept my mouth shut.

A surprised snort left the Prince of Darkness. “That’s not my fault—”

“No,” Erika agreed. “But it’s your responsibility, father. You’re in charge of sinners. Just like the other place is in charge of saints. Don’t we deserve to let the humans decide which one they’re going to be?” She gestured at my women, then at me, tears rolling down her face. “I didn’t understand until I came here. But Jax convinced me. Humanity should be allowed to grow up for once! To make decisions on their own, without everyone trying to force their hands! We shouldn’t keep the Bellum Aeternum hanging over their heads like a sword over their beds! We should step the fuck back and let people be people!”

She finished this in a yell, almost a primal scream. I had no idea she felt so strongly about me—my women were shocked as well. More than a few of them were sobbing gently.

Lucifer didn’t look like he was going to sob. He looked like…

Well. This was never a word I ever expected to use to describe the Prince of Darkness.

But he looked utterly gobsmacked.

“You…” Lucifer looked at his daughter like he was seeing the demoness for the very first time. Slowly, his demonic visage faded, replaced by the sleazy human rock star persona I’d seen on our very first meeting.

He tossed his head back and laughed.

“Who the fuck are you ?” The Prince of Darkness asked. “And what have you done with my bratty little daughter?”

“I’m her,” Erika said, swallowing hard. “I guess… I guess I’ve just grown up a little.”

“I’ll say!” Lucifer mimed wiping a tear from beneath his eye. “I don’t recognize you with all this spunk. The Powermancer has clearly been a positive influence on you.”

“He has?”

Lucifer chuckled. “If we weren’t in the middle of a war, I’d be tempted to throw him another half-dozen or so of my demonic daughters,” the man said, looking at me. “Maybe he could whip a few of those lazy sluts into shape.”

He seemed to be looking to me for some kind of response. “Maybe,” I said with a shrug. “Kind of feel like I’ve already got too many women to deal with.”

Lucifer gave a start—then laughed even harder.

“Man, I understand that!” he chuckled.

Wait. Did I really have something in common with the King of Hell?

“Look, Powermancer—I like you,” Lucifer continued, some of the fury in our conversation diminished. “I didn’t think any mortal could tame Erika, but you’ve done a damned good job of it. I expected her to run roughshod all over you and your little harem, but you really did it. If only you’d sign over with Hell and stand by my side in the final battle…”

If only. Power, women, nothing I could possibly imagine. It would be so easy to take that control key and install it.

But it wasn’t for me.

An angel owed me my final gem.

“You know I can’t,” I told the Prince of Darkness. “I’m sorry.”

To my shock, I actually meant it.

To my greater shock, Lucifer nodded. “As am I, Powermancer.” The hellfire around the portal was already beginning to burn out, and the black ribbon of the portal was beginning to roll up and fade away. “Just remember, Bryant. This was the path you chose. Not me.”

I nodded.

“See you on the battlefield,” Lucifer said. “It won’t be long now…”

With that, the portal to Hell dissolved.

As soon as it vanished, the imps packed up and rolled out. They were gone so fast that it made my harem’s head spin. The only sign they’d ever been there to begin with was the door of the Stronghold, which was well and truly trashed.

Once we were done with all this Bellum Aeternum stuff, we’d have to repair it.

“That… was intense,” Erika said. The pink-haired demon’s shoulders shook with adrenaline, and sweat beaded on her forehead like she’d just gotten out of an oven. Her hands trembled, and her knees knocked together. “Holy shit. I actually stood up to him…”

I was at Erika in a flash, hugging her tight. “You did a good job,” I whispered in the demoness’s ear. “Good girl. I’m proud of you.”

Erika blushed deeply. “Thanks, Jax. All I did was tell the truth.”

Charlie and Fliss were both staring at the broken door the demons had retreated through. “That was our last warning,” the Valkyrie whispered, cocking her head to the side. “And we just learned that demons are perfectly capable of breaking into the Stronghold if they really want to cause us a problem personally.”

Charlie nodded. “Yep. Next time, the Prince of Darkness is going to show up personally.”

Erika buried her face in my chest, sobbing gently. She didn’t want the rest of the harem to see her getting emotional, which I understood—yet I couldn’t help but think it would have humanized her to my other girls even more. “I’m so sorry,” the pink-haired demon whispered. “If it wasn’t for me, Dad wouldn’t have so much reason to be pissed off at you. I’ve fucked everything up…”

“Hey. Hey! ” Charlie turned away from the door and put a hand on Erika’s shoulder. “This is not on you! You said it yourself—this war’s been going on for thousands of years. It’s not any one person; it’s Heaven and Hell, squabbling over humanity since there’s been a humanity.”

Erika wiped her face with the back of her hand. “You mean it?”

“Of course she does,” Mia said, as pragmatic as always. “Lucifer would be gunning for us one way or the other.” She turned to me. “We have to get that last control key now.”

I nodded. “We will. If we don’t have the Lattice up and operational by the time the Gates break and the real battle kicks off…”

I didn’t need to finish that thought. All of my women knew what that would mean if the Bellum Aeternum showed up on our doorstep before we were ready.

Game over.

“First, though, we’ve got a TV appearance to get ready for,” I said, glancing at the broken door. “Maybe we ought to throw up a bead curtain or something before they get here. The whole world’s going to be watching us…”

Erika stood up straighter, snapping into attention. “You heard the man! Let’s get this place ready for the news!”

My women were grateful for the distraction. As was I.

We had work to do.

Chapter 22

Erika and the others finished cleaning up the Stronghold just in time. As soon as we had a makeshift door over the entrance to our hidden base (reinforced with far more than just bead curtains), I got a text message from Heather letting me know she and the BNN crew were ready for our closeup.

Every member of my harem wanted to be the one to portal over to the news office and bring Heather and her crew back with them. In the end, Erika went into the kitchen and came back with a coffee mug filled with tiny red stirrers, which she’d generated using the replicator. One of them was longer than the others, though you couldn’t tell thanks to the way she concealed them in her hand.

Charlie drew the long straw. The other girls teased her a little, but were secretly jealous it wasn’t them who got to handle the honors.

“Be right back,” the dark elf told me, planting a kiss on my cheek. When she thought she could get away with it, she slid her hand down to the bulge in the front of my trousers and gave that a squeeze too, grinning. “Don’t have too much fun while I’m gone!”

She was only gone for a few minutes, and she never changed back into her human form. I could only imagine what a shit-fit the stodgy old executives at BNN had when a gorgeous, half-naked dark elf walked into their offices and asked for Heather.

The rest of my harem followed me to the central chamber. By the time we got there, the sound of a portal opening somewhere in the Stronghold caught my attention. The voices that made their way over to us were raised at first, then hushed as the camera crew passed the row of statues. They have the same reaction to those things that I do, I thought with a smile.

Heather was the first to step around the corner. The news reporter had undergone a staggering transformation since the last time I’d seen her—almost as intense as the transformation that changed each of my women the first time they opened themselves to the Archon System. She was dressed to the nines in an expensive power suit, and it looked like she had an entire team of stylists working overtime on her hair and makeup. She’d been a good looking woman even in the middle of a warzone; here, she was a total knockout.

A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth when she saw me. “Mr. Bryant,” she purred, striding ahead of her camera crew. One of them already had their recording device up to their eye and had it trained on me. Although Heather hadn’t said anything about it yet, I felt certain every moment of this meeting was being broadcast live around the world. “It is so good to see you again!”

She went in for a hug, but I played it cool for the moment. I didn’t want to look like too much of a horndog—I sensed that having so many beautiful women around me already did a number on my public perception. Instead, I took Heather’s hand and kissed it, inclining my head.

“Welcome to the Stronghold,” I said, favoring her with my best smile. “This place is our home. And it’s where humanity is about to be reborn.” This last remark I directed straight to the camera, with my most action-hero perfect voice.

Heather gave the camera behind her a brief glance. “I see you’ve noticed that we’re already rolling, Mr. Bryant,” the reporter said with a smile. “We’ve been filming since your… associate arrived at our offices.”

I glanced over at Charlie, who grinned from pointed ear to pointed ear. I hope you weren’t too lewd, I thought, cocking an eyebrow in her direction. Either way, I’m sure my Noir Knight made a hell of an impression on the audience.

“That’s perfectly fine,” I told both Heather and the cameras. “I have nothing to hide.”

Heather made a show of looking around the chamber. “So, Mr. Bryant. This is where the magic happens?”

It was strange how easily I fell into the back-and-forth of a TV interview. I’d never given one, but I’d seen enough of them happen to understand how they were supposed to work. “I’ll be glad to show you,” I said, leading Heather (and by extension, the camera crew) towards the new machinery. “You have let the audience know your plans today, right, Miss Holcomb?”

Heather laughed at that so naturally that I knew she was tickled pink. “It’s been in every commercial break BNN has put together in the last thirty minutes. I’m pleased to let you know you’re a trending topic on social media right now, Mr. Bryant. Would you like to know how many millions of viewers are watching this live stream right now?”

I shook my head. “That doesn’t matter to me.”

Heather’s eyes widened, but I was telling the truth.

“The only thing that matters is humanity fighting back,” I said, looking straight at the camera. “If what you do today convinces those people watching at home that it’s time for us to take the fight to those demons and those angels, then I’ll have considered everything I’ve done so far to be a public service.”

It was a decent enough speech. It certainly seemed to have won over Heather, at least.

“There’s been a great deal of speculation about this… Archon System, ” Heather said, resisting the urge to do air quotes on the name of the Archon. “I’m happy to let you know, Mr. Bryant, that we already have dozens of volunteers queued up at BNN offices nationwide ready to undergo the same process that I’ll be undertaking in the next few minutes. If this goes well, sir, you’ll get your wish.”

Good. That was exactly what I wanted.

“It’s all right this way,” I explained, more for the audience’s benefit than Heather’s. “All of this activated shortly after we installed the second control key in the central pillar of the Stronghold. I don’t expect your audience to know all the details, but this part is important—the control keys are essential to the running of this place. They’re what makes all of this possible.”

“I see,” Heather said, nodding. “And how many of them do you need?”

“Three,” I told her. “That’s what will make this place fully functional.”

“And this third key. It’s… where, exactly?”

My lips peeled back over my teeth. “In the hands of an angel,” I told the reporter. “One who’s run from me several times over the last few weeks.”

In order to change the subject, I walked Heather through a quick tour of the machinery. We hadn’t used it yet—the Stronghold had automatically added the demoness Erika to my harem, but I sensed putting more human beings on my roster was going to be a little bit more involved. Heather oohed and ahhed over everything, but she looked a little intimidated when she saw the massive glass cylinder at the heart of the device.

“I’m to go… inside of that?” she asked, gesturing at it. An awkward little laugh spilled from her — I could almost picture the ‘APPLAUSE’ sign going off over her head. “Pardon me, Mr. Bryant, but that looks a trifle claustrophobic.”

“You won’t be in it for long,” I assured her. “And please, you can call me Jax. Everyone can.”

That went double for the audience at home, too.

Heather’s eyes shone. She was hiding it damned well, seeing as she had a professional facade to keep up during this interview, but this girl was attracted to me. I sensed that it wouldn’t be long between giving her the Archon System and her asking to be a member of the harem. I knew she’d be a lot of fun—I just worried how she’d balance her high-powered celebrity job with the duties involved in being one of my women.

The camera crew, meanwhile, looked like they couldn’t decide whether to film the machinery or my harem. I caught them taking surreptitious shots of Stephanie and Erika whenever they thought I wasn’t looking, like they thought b-roll of my babes would somehow convince the cold-footed in the audience to give the Archon System a try. It irritated me a little bit, I won’t lie: but if it helped save the world, I guess I could let my women show off a little.

“Describe this Archon System for me, Jax,” Heather said. “Our audience knows so little about it. What exactly will happen to me once I enter that cylinder?”

The exact mechanics of it eluded me. But I decided to give Heather the best answer I could.

“You’ll be linked up with humanity’s birthright,” I said. “At first, you’ll probably start seeing words in the corners of your vision. Then you’ll know things you didn’t know before—like a weight in the back of your skull.”

“What sort of things?” Heather asked.

“Spells,” I said. “How to summon weapons. How to transform yourself. That sort of thing.”

“Ah, yes,” Heather said, smirking as I brought up a topic she’d no doubt been looking forward to. There’s been a great deal of comment online about the transformations your women go through. Many of them are extremely popular, with women openly stating which of your warriors they want to ‘look like’ when they become superhuman. Do our viewers have a choice when they take up the Archon System, Jax? Did you?”

I was already shaking my head. “I can’t control it,” I told her. “It’s something inside you. I will say, however, that every member of my harem loves the transformation they’ve gained. It’s like… like the System just knows what you need. What will make you the happiest.”

Heather chewed on that for a moment. I thought I was in the clear until her next question. “So it’s true, then? You’re in a relationship with all of these women?”

Shit. Moment of truth time.

“All these?” I countered, playing it light. “There’s five of them, Heather. But yes, we have both a professional and a personal relationship. I’d be happy to go into more detail about that, but first, I’d prefer to save the world.”

There was laughter at that.

Heather didn’t give up so easily, though. “After all this is over, would you consent to having a sit down interview with your harem? People are clamoring to learn more about them—and about you. I’m not sure if you’re aware, Jax, but you and your women have become quite the celebrities. Several of you even have your own fan clubs.”

Fan clubs? Fuck, there were Fliss-aholics and Stephanie stans out there?

Perish the thought.

“I’ll tell you what,” I said, thinking fast. “Once the Bellum Aeternum is over and humanity’s free, I and all my women will do an exclusive interview with you. No holds barred, for as long as you want. And if you want to do it live, that’s fine too.”

Heather’s face filled with glee. Even she hadn’t expected this.

“Though if it is live,” I added, rubbing the back of my neck, “I can’t guarantee it’ll stay PG. A couple of my girls tend to get… rowdy. ”

“Ain’t that the fucking truth,” Charlie chuckled. “Get in the tube, Heather! Let’s get this show on the road!”

Her words refocused the reporter. “Yes, I suppose I’d better,” Heather said, glancing from the tube to me. “Oh… damn it! How about a kiss for luck, Jax?”

The camera crew looked shocked, but not too shocked. They had to have been expecting this; even a blind man could see the way Heather had been looking at me since she’d arrived in the Stronghold. The guy with the main camera managed to get it up as I pulled Heather into my arms, embracing her. Her waist was way tinier than I’d expected; she was practically a doll in my arms.

No matter. I kissed her, long and hard, and she kissed me back.

From the other side of the room, my harem cheered.

“Alright,” Heather said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “My apologies for the momentary lapse in journalistic integrity. Let’s get this show on the road, before I lose my nerve!”

The glass cylinder opened, and Heather stepped inside. Fliss moved to the central console, just as we’d planned once we’d gotten the ins and outs of the machinery figured out, and she pushed a few buttons to close the cylinder back again. The bottom of the device began to fill with fog.

Heather still had her microphone. “I’m currently inside of the device,” she explained, speaking more for the benefit of the audience than anyone currently inside of the Stronghold. “I’m feeling a great deal of trepidation, but also excitement. It’s not every day that someone gets to become a defender of humanity. I feel almost like a character in a superhero movie…”

“Superhero movies are usually PG-13,” Charlie drawled from stage left. “Ours are more X-rated.”

Heather chuckled at that. Her voice echoed inside of the tube, giving her words a hollow, mechanical property. “Well, don’t do anything that might force BNN to censor this. We’re getting this whole process live and on camera…”

The fog rose to the level of Heather’s hips, then to her breasts. By the time it reached her chin and began to obscure her from the cameras, Fliss had everything dialed in and ready to go. A wireframe model of Heather’s body glowed on one of the monitors, surrounded by runes and glyphs in a language I was sure no one had spoken or written in for thousands of years.

“Beginning to get… rather murky in here!” Heather stood on tiptoe, which allowed her to peer over the rising rim of the fog for a few more moments. “The air has a peculiar, acrid taste inside of this tube. There’s a pressure slowly building inside of the cylinder, and I swear I can feel my ears beginning to pop!”

“Get ready!” Fliss announced, grabbing one of the switches. “Three! Two! One—”

She flipped the switch.

In the blink of an eye, the entire tube was filled with fog. It roared upward to the ceiling of the cylinder, blasting Heather like a bunch of tickets in one of those tubes they put kids in on their birthday at Chuck E Cheese. Her scream was loud—loud enough that it made the microphone in her hands crackle.

My heart jumped into my throat. Had we just whiffed this?

“Oh…” Heather groaned. “Oh my. That’s… that’s…”

Red light flashed from within the tube. The fog filling the glass cylinder refracted it in a hundred different directions, so that the enclosure in which Heather was standing looked less like a science experiment than a rave. The lights looked exactly like the ones that extended from my body during the branding sequence, and I felt a strange sort of disappointment when I glanced down at my chest to find no line of light connecting me with the beautiful reporter.

There was no brand. And yet the process still worked all the same.

I’m not sure if BNN muted Heather’s microphone over the next few minutes. I hope they didn’t—the groans and pants of utter bliss the reporter made as our contraption opened her to the Archon System were the best advertising we could have possibly asked for. Ragged gasps of passion escaped her as orgasm after orgasm ravaged her body, and when her free hand came up to slap the top of the tube it reminded me of Kate Winslet in Titanic.

A hot flush traveled through my body. That was a woman getting off in there.

Getting off hard.

There were more than a few awkward grunts from the camera crew as Heather began to change. They tried not to focus on it, but it was impossible not to.

“She’s doing great,” Fliss said, her attention still fixed on the bank of monitors. “Shouldn’t be long now.”

“Geez, she’s loud ,” Charlie said. “What a screamer, eh?”

“Anyone remember those old Herbal Essences commercials?” Stephanie added. Several members of the crew laughed at that, though the laughter was awkward. They had the air of people seeing something they weren’t meant to see, and I didn’t blame them for that.

Every man there knew that when Heather’s eyes closed tight and her shoulders stiffened in release, it was me and my women she was thinking about.

The process felt like it lasted all day, but in reality couldn’t have taken more than two or three minutes. The red lights inside of the tube all went dark at once, and the door in the glass swung open to release the fog filling the cylinder.

I hadn’t smelled whatever acrid chemical had been in there when Heather entered. But now the whole thing reeked of sex.

Heather stepped out on shaky feet, barely able to stand. She looked like she’d been ridden hard and put away wet—her whole body trembled, like she’d just gotten finished running a marathon.

“That,” she gasped, looking at the cameras, “was… indescribable! ”

“Had a good time?” I asked.

The hand not holding the microphone went to the reporter’s chest. All the hard work of her hair and makeup team had been for naught—Heather had that freshly fucked look that so many men find irresistible on women. She looked tousled, though in a way that only enhanced her beauty.

“I most certainly did!” Heather said. Her voice was louder than it needed to be, as if she’d just stepped off of a particularly intense roller coaster ride. I found her enthusiasm infectious; I couldn’t help but match her energy with my own. “That was so incredible! I’ve never felt so… so alive! ”

I nodded. The result was even better than I’d hoped for. “Great,” I said, turning my attention back to the cameras. “Now you’re ready to fight—and every human being can be just like you. Once we get the rest of the BNN volunteers processed, the doors will be open for anyone who wants to come here and join in the resistance—”

Heather tilted to the side, nearly falling over.

I put an arm around her shoulder, steadying her before she could actually collapse. The reporter slumped against me, her eyes going as wide as chicken’s eggs as she clutched her chest. Cries of alarm came from the members of her crew, and Fliss looked like she was afraid we’d just set off an international incident. But I knew we had nothing to worry about.

I could already see the glow emanating from Heather’s skin.

“I feel… oh my gawd ,” the reporter gasped. She glanced at the camera, then looked up at me, panic and exhilaration mingling in her eyes. “Something’s happening! Something’s going to—oh my God, it’s happening—!”

Light burst around the reporter, as bright as a miniature sun. The audience gasped and shrank away, momentarily blinded; by the time it faded away, Heather was no longer in my arms. She’d taken several steps forward into the center of the chamber, gasping as the changes that came with the Archon System began to take hold.

Heather arched her back and screamed as wings erupted from her shoulder blades.

They were long and white, with feathers that had silver tips on the ends. More feathers surrounded her long, slender neck, forming what looked like a fur boa but was part of Heather’s actual body. All of them extended to their full length, stretching across the center of the transformation chamber as the camera crew gasped.

My women finished rubbing their eyes and ooohed and ahhed over Heather’s new look. “Damn,” Charlie said, recovering the quickest. “You look good, girl!”

She didn’t just look good. She looked fierce, as well. Heather’s fingers had lengthened into talons, and her long legs ended with feet that had claws as sharp as knives, with an edge that left marks on the stone wherever she stepped.

A harpy, I thought, remembering the one mythology class I’d taken back in college. Part bird, part woman. I bet she’s all carnage on the battlefield…

Heather looked down at her new body, amazed. Her clothes were made of feathers, as well, feathers that overlapped each other like the scales in a suit of plate. They weren’t her feathers—they were more like armor. They fit her like a second skin, showing off a ton of cleavage.

The news reporter’s mouth opened wide in both shock and amazement. “I…” she whispered, at a complete loss as to what to say. “I’m amazing! ”

She threw her arms—and her wings—around me, hugging me tight. It was a good feeling, I couldn’t help but admit.

Heather broke the hug, blinking. “Oh! It says I’ve been registered to this Stronghold. The words—they’re flashing at the bottom of my vision.”

“Good,” I said, nodding.

Heather looked dumbfounded. “This is almost like something out of a video game,” she murmured, tracing the shapes in the air with the tip of her finger. “It’s telling me there’s something else I can apply for, too?”

“Hmm?” I’d never heard that before. “What’s that?”

A sly smile tugged at the corner of the reporter’s mouth. “It says I can apply to become a member of the Powermancer’s personal band, ” she said, batting her lashes. “But that if I want in, I’ll have to take it up with you…”

“I see,” I replied.

“Is that something you want?” Fliss asked.

“You know we’d love to have you,” Stephanie blurted. “You’d make a great addition to the team.”

“Especially with those wings,” Mia said, ever the pragmatist. “Can do all sorts of fun things with those…”

Heather’s mouth worked soundlessly. In that moment, I knew she wasn’t seeing the TV cameras, or even the walls of the fortress around her. The only thing her eyes perceived was me; me and the women of the harem she so desperately wanted to become a part of.

“Jax,” the reporter began. “I…”

A blast rocked the Stronghold.

My harem girls tumbled to the floor, along with the greater part of Heather’s crew. The reporter herself managed to avoid falling thanks to me—I snatched her up before she could slip, gathering her in my arms.

We’d hardly had time to process the first blast when another shook the fortress’s walls.

The second hit was less powerful than the first, but it shook the walls far harder all the same. The first blast must have rattled the foundations of the Stronghold, or tilted it off of its axis somehow. A part of my brain began to fret about potential damage to our hideout—I filed the thought away for later, after the crisis was over.

“What the hell was that?” I yelled, looking at Fliss. The Valkyrie still had one hand on the central console, which could tell us a hell of a lot about what was going on outside.

Fliss hauled herself up onto her feet and checked out the screen. The color drained from her face.

“No,” the Valkyrie whispered. “Oh fuck, no… ”

“What is it?” I demanded.

Fliss turned and addressed the whole room. “Everyone, get ready for a fight! We’ve got company!”

Chapter 23

Arctic winds blew across my face as I stepped out of the mouth of the tunnel. It was impossible to tell whether it was day or night in the frozen tundra—the sky was dark, and the stars gleamed above our heads either way. Thanks to those stars, there was more than enough light to see by.

When I saw what waited for us outside the Stronghold, I wished there wasn’t.

There was an army arranged at the foot of the mountain.

No other word would do.

“Oh shit,” Fliss whispered, the words steaming into the air. “There must be a thousand angels down there!”

I thought there were probably more. The main body of the force had been arranged into a single long column, which stretched from the bottom of the steep slope on which our fortress entrance was found into the depths of the winter wilderness. Dozens of the creatures clustered along the hillside, their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies and their weapons sheathed—for now. The angels that formed the rear of the formation were tightly wound springs, waiting for the briefest excuse to strike.

The one who would be giving them that excuse walked at the head of the army. I’d expected him to hide from me, but he was right there: the Nameless Angel, front and center, surrounded by a half-dozen creatures with the same build and features as himself. The other angels from the Garden of Eden, I’d wager.

But no matter how similar they looked, there was no mistaking the Nameless Angel. None of his cronies had that golden gem hanging around their neck.

“Jaxon Bryant,” the Nameless Angel intoned. Even from this distance, his voice was perfectly clear; it was enhanced by magic, the way the demons did it. “We’ve received word that you and your clan have activated the second control key in your Stronghold.”

“That’s right!” I didn’t have the same magical amplification powers the Nameless Angel did, but that didn’t matter. I knew how to yell. “If you’d been a real man and given me that control key around your neck back when I earned it, this would all be over!”

I expected the Nameless Angel to blanch at that, but he didn’t. Maybe his heart had been hardened, the way the heart of the Pharaoh was said to have been hardened by God when Moses brought the plagues to Egypt.

Maybe he was just an asshole. I didn’t know.

I didn’t care.

It was time to get that final control key.

Even with the army on my doorstep, I couldn’t fail to see this for the opportunity it so clearly was. I’d spent most of my time since activating the Archon System searching for those control keys, and now the Nameless Angel had brought his right to my front door.

All I needed to do in order to activate the Lattice was get that little gem off of my enemy’s neck, through the front door of the Stronghold, and into the pillar in the center of our fortress.

It sounded simple enough in theory. In practice, it was going to be almost impossible.

The Nameless Angel stared up at me from its place at the head of the formation, its stony gaze unperturbed. “By activating Hell’s control key, you have committed an unforgivable sin,” the angel continued. “If the Powermancer will surrender now, the rest of those within the Stronghold will be allowed to go free, unharmed. We will not spill unnecessary blood—”

“That’s all you’ve been doing!” Erika shouted. She had more reason than the rest to detest the Nameless Angel and his cronies—even more than me, perhaps. “Hypocrites!”

“We didn’t come all this way just to turn around,” I told the Nameless Angel. “Not gonna happen.”

The Nameless Angel continued blandly. “The Archon System and all of its machinery will be destroyed. The Almighty has commanded this—”

I’d heard enough. “Fuck no!” I shouted. I pointed a finger at the treasure I’d been denied so many times, and was gratified to find it didn’t shake. “You owe me that pendant!”

I thought I saw a stricken expression cross the Nameless Angel’s face. But maybe it was just a trick of the light.

“Very well, Jaxon Bryant,” the Nameless Angel intoned. “In that case…”

The Nameless Angel drew his sword. As he pulled it free from its scabbard, it caught flame and began to burn, lighting up the Antarctic night. All around him, his angelic cronies did the same.

“…then we will fight.”

And they charged.

It was like watching an avalanche in reverse. The angels spread their wings, soaring up the slope, drawing their weapons as they came. The first row of the attackers all carried the same swords as the Nameless Angel, though only his blade was actually on fire. Behind those, a dozen or more angels pulled out golden bows and pulled arrows from behind their backs, drawing the projectiles to the string.

Shit!

“It’s an attack!” I roared. “Defend the Stronghold!”

I sprang into action, charging to meet the enemy.

The next few minutes passed in a blur, and later I was to remember little of it. One of the great lies that television, movies and video games sell to us is the idea of the ‘clean’ battle: the turn-based fight in an RPG, the orderly movements of troops across a battlefield like toys in a child’s playpen.

The truth was nothing like that. The truth was blood, sweat, and chaos.

An angel shot up the slope faster than I would have thought possible, swinging its sword. The Aether Shield materialized on my wrist in the blink of an eye, parrying the blow like a glowing red buckler as I counter thrust with the sharp edge of the Tempest Fang.

Somewhere to my right, I heard Fliss roar as she engaged with an enemy. The Bitch’s Blade struck low, sinking beneath an angel’s strike, and bit deep into the creature’s chest. An unholy yell filled the clearing, and I thought the creature had been mortally wounded, but there was no time to confirm.

The angels closed around us, and the true fight began.

I was surrounded by stone faces, beating wings, swinging blades. One angel pivoted, screaming holy blasphemies in my face as it aimed a swift cut at my face. My shield blunted it, blocking the blow, but the magic within flared and cracked in response.

Not good.

In my free hand I summoned a clutch of Aether shards. Before the angel could get off another blow I chucked them directly at the creature’s face. Most of them drew glancing blows, causing shallow cuts and nicks, but one sank directly through the creature’s eye and into its skull. It collapsed with a groan, its wings twitching as it sank to the slope and began to roll backwards.

I’d killed one!

But I had no time to celebrate. Two more creatures came at me, flanking my position from either side. The air was a flurry of wings and blades, and my shield and my shards moved just as quickly.

“Jax!” The scream of a woman filled the air; in the chaos, it could have been any member of my harem. “Arrows!”

I moved without thinking. My arm shot skyward as I summoned the Aether Shield, putting every drop of power I had into the forcefield. The edges of it stretched across the battlefield, growing thin and brittle as it expanded like an umbrella over all of our heads.

A rain of golden arrows struck the shield, hitting it like hailstones on a tin roof. For a heartbeat, the entire battle stopped as human and angel alike waited to see if the shield would hold.

It held. Cracks spiderwebbed across every inch of the Aether Shield’s expanded surface, yet somehow it held.

“Reload!” A deep, booming voice called out. “He’s weakening!”

I knew that voice. That was the Nameless Angel.

Everything descended into chaos. The next few minutes were a blur: parry, thrust, duck beneath one blade and out of the range of another before filling the air with glowing shards of knife-hot magic. The angels were splitting into small groups, surrounding me and each member of my harem with a half-dozen of their number. We were outnumbered, outmatched—and yet we fought on.

Another rain of arrows pelted our group, then another. Each time I summoned the Aether Shield to protect us, and every time the dome filled with more horrible, spreading cracks. By any metric you wanted to go by, my group was winning—angels littered the battlefield, far more than I’d have expected us to take down, but it didn’t really matter.

We were so outnumbered. Hours of fighting like this would only even the odds, and I doubted we could keep this up for more than a few more minutes.

Above the fray, that hideous voice called out once again. “Seraphim, to the front!” The Nameless Angel commanded. “Drop bows, switch to lances! Pierce the hearts of the wicked and the unclean!”

The Nameless Angel . He was out there, leading this whole fucking army. I was mildly surprised he hadn’t ordered every angel out there to charge and finish this charade. What was he playing at? Giving us false hope before snuffing out the light of humanity?

We’re finished, I thought. It hurt, but it was true. We’ll never defeat the angels at this rate.

There was only one thing I could do.

Cut the head off the snake.

Kill the Nameless Angel.

In deciding it, my mind began formulating a plan. I shoved a nearby angel backwards with what was left of my Aether Shield, then jabbed him beneath the chin with the blunt tip of the Tempest Fang. Bone crunched beneath steel, and the winged assailant crumpled like a sack of potatoes.

Step one, I thought, pushing into the space in the battlefield I’d just opened. Clear a path…

More angels swooped around me. They dove from the sides, from in front, and from above. Steam billowed from their lips—the night was cold enough for it. Murder was in their eyes; holy murder.

I waited for the moment before the strike. The instant before my body would be pierced by the blades and spears of a dozen angelic warriors.

Just before their victory, I exploded.

It wasn’t the first time I’d used Archon’s Fury, but it was the first time I actually got to see its effect. A blast of brilliant red magic erupted from me in all directions, like I was a human firecracker who’d just been set ablaze. The angels closest to me simply disappeared before that red wall of magic. The ones a little further back were torn limb from limb, scattered to the wind in a massive gout of blood and bone.

As awesome as it was, I hardly noticed. I was busy having a different realization: that what the Archon’s Fury reminded me of more than anything was the glowing cord of red magic that flowed from me in the middle of the branding ceremony.

They’re the same thing, I thought, dimly watching angel parts rain down. Except the branding ceremony is creation energy. This is destruction energy.

The angels shrank back for a brief moment, stunned by my power. A space opened around me, giving me the opportunity for the first time since the battle began to see the battlefield in full.

And to see my foe.

The Nameless Angel stood at the bottom of the slope, watching his compatriots fall. In marked contrast to the dismaying figures on either side of him, he stared at the aftermath of the attack with a steely, stony gaze. He didn’t seem surprised at all by my new powers.

Maybe he’d just figured it out by now. Every time you thought you had the better of Jaxon Bryant, you were about to discover how wrong you were.

I pointed down the slope towards where the Nameless Angel stood. “ You, ” I bellowed, doing my best impression of a Viking berserker in the middle of a raid. “You have something that belongs to me!”

The Nameless Angel shook its head. It muttered something to the Seraphim standing beside him; some insult or words of negation, no doubt.

I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily. “You going to run again!?” I roared, gesturing with the sword. I put an almost sing-song, playground bullying into my tone that sounded as denigrating as I could possibly make it. “You gonna turn around and run away like a little bitch , angel?”

The Nameless Angel’s lips peeled back over his teeth.

“That’s right,” I laughed, stepping forward. The bubble of empty space I’d created around me with the Archon’s Fury was only going to last another moment or two, and I wasn’t sure if I could pull off the same attack a second time. I needed to make this count. “Go on and run! Run all the way back to the Garden of Eden where you belong, you limp-wristed little gardener! ”

Rage flared in the Nameless Angel’s eyes. I’d touched on a sore spot, I knew—and I didn’t care. This creature took nothing as seriously as its oaths to the Almighty, and here I was raking him over the coals for failing to live up to his own expectations.

“You’re an embarrassment to the Almighty,” I said, making a dismissive gesture in the Nameless Angel’s direction. “What sort of angel goes back on his word?”

I didn’t think there was a good answer. But when the Nameless Angel spoke, his magically-amplified voice sounded like it was right next to my ear.

“ One who answers to a higher authority. ”

I couldn’t help it—I laughed. He actually sounded pissed.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” I shot back. “You betrayed me, and you know it.” I took a step back, raking the battlefield with my gaze. The gesture I made with the Tempest Fang encompassed every angel fighting its way up the slope, trying to get to the entrance of our fortress. “What the hell good is the Law if you break it whenever it gets inconvenient? What’s the point of the rules if you stop following them when they get in the way?” I laughed even harder. “Fuck, man! Even a fucking casino doesn’t throw out the rule book when some poor bastard starts winning!”

The Nameless Angel was as still as a statue for a moment, marinating in his anger.

Then he shouldered the Seraphim next to him aside, lit his flaming sword, and charged.

Oh fuck!

In a way, I couldn’t complain. It was exactly what I’d asked for—the gambit I’d desperately grasped onto as soon as it became clear there was no way for my women and I to defeat the force that outnumbered us.

But knowing it was one thing.

Facing down a pissed off angel with a flaming sword was quite another.

The creature moved like the laws of physics didn’t apply to him. Probably they didn’t. One second he was at the bottom of the slope, and the next he was up in my face, swinging that massive sword. The heat of it was so intense that I nearly fell backwards, stunned by the sudden shift from Antarctic cold to hellish blaze.

Somehow I managed to get my buckler up in time. The edge of the magical dome buckled beneath the force of the angel’s blow, bending inward like a TV psychic’s spoon.

Then it snapped.

Glittering shards shot from the broken place, raining all over the top of my head as I ducked. I rolled to the side beneath the angel’s next horizontal cut, just barely missing the edge of that blessed, enchanted blade.

My hair! I grabbed at it, stifling the flames. Hope I don’t have a fucking bald spot!

As I sprang to my feet, I summoned the shield once again. I hoped whatever damage the Nameless Angel did to it would be gone, but the chip the creature’s sword took out of the half-dome remained. A vicious smile spread across the creature’s face as my own filled with horror.

“Abomination,” the Nameless Angel whispered. “I should have purged you the first time we met!”

He punctuated his yell with a flurry of strikes. I backed away, staying just out of range of the flaming sword as I retreated up the slope. The shelf of rock leading to the interior of the Stronghold was now just a few steps over my head. It was close enough that I could have jumped and thrown my hands onto it.

“The first time we met, I showed you a miracle!” I shot back. “You want another one?”

A six-inch shard of red ice formed in my fist, and I chucked it directly at the Nameless Angel, praying for a lucky strike like the one that pierced the Seraphim’s eye.

No such luck.

The Nameless Angel chuckled at my failed strike. He swept the blade in front of him in slow, almost lazy strikes, filling the air with flame. He knew I wouldn’t dare try and attack him directly when the cost was being burned.

“You have run out of luck, Jaxon Bryant,” the angel intoned. “You’ve managed to escape the snares and slings of my people until now, but you will run no further. You will be killed, your women will have their powers taken from them, and your Stronghold will be razed to the ground.”

“Over my dead body,” I shot back.

He grinned grimly. “That’s the idea.”

He advanced slowly as he said it, as calm and implacable as the tide. He was back in control of his emotions, and he looked a little ashamed of himself for having lost it a few seconds ago.

Finally I backed up and found sheer rock behind me. I’d reached a cleft in the wall where two large slabs of stone collided—a corner, with no escape. The angel’s shadow fell over me like a shroud, and I shrank back, lifting what was left of my shield and my honor over my head.

“You have lost everything,” the angel rumbled. “Now you die, Powermancer—”

“He swung the sword down in a two-handed grip. Despite his bravado, I had the absurd thought as the flaming blade fell that he looked less like an executioner and more like a housewife trying to stamp out an annoying mouse with a broom.

“—As all men die—”

The blade landed square in the middle of my Aether Shield. The stressed, battered and bruised red half-dome of magic could take no more — it shattered like a plate-glass window, exploding in a shower of shards.

I crouched beneath it, undefended.

“—Alone!”

At the last second, a blurry shape leapt in front of me.

A flash of silver shot out, parrying the angel’s blade in mid-strike. Thunder rattled down the metal, shaking the Edenic sword all the way down to the hilt. The Nameless Angel stared at his wrist, momentarily stunned.

Charlie landed in front of me, in full dark elf ass-kicker mode.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” the Noir Knight said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Jax is never alone!”

Another figure landed next to me. Before I could say a word, Stephanie grabbed the back of my head and pressed my lips to her ghostly pale wrist. She’d already bitten down into her vein, hard, and the black blood flowed like wine.

“Drink up,” the vampire chuckled, giving the Nameless Angel a dirty look. “This isn’t over yet!”

“Ridiculous,” the Nameless Angel snorted. “Your whores mean less to me than grains of sand on the beach, Powermancer—”

He raised his arm to swing again—only to find a pink-haired demon wrapped around his forearm. The creature’s eyes widened like saucers.

“Fuck you, featherhead!” Erika giggled.

She spit in the angel’s face.

A surge of energy coursed through me. The taste of Stephanie’s vampiric blood was pure darkness; the things it did to me were utterly indescribable. My vision sharpened, my pulse quickened—time itself seemed to slow. I shook my arm, reaching for the same mental muscles that activated the Aether Shield, and a new half-dome sputtered to life over my wrist.

Stephanie grinned, showing her fangs. “Go get that bastard, Master!”

Meanwhile, the rest of my harem had the Nameless Angel surrounded. Fliss was digging the edge of her golden spear into the creature’s wrist, trying to dislodge the flaming sword from his grip. Mia popped in and out from between the creature’s legs, firing her crossbow and raking any angel bold enough to try and join the fray with her claws. Even Heather was getting into it—the harpy sailed over the battlefield, pelting the front line with razor-sharp feathers.

The world shrank like I was looking at it from the bottom of a deep, dark tunnel. All the color drained away from the battlefield, with one exception.

One golden exception.

I could see the pendant around the Angel’s neck. And if I could get it, I was only ten steps away from the entrance to the Stronghold.

A shard of ice formed in my palm. This time, I wouldn’t miss.

The Nameless Angel shook Erika free from his hand. He leaned down and checked Charlie with his shoulder, sending the dark elf sprawling on her fabulous ass. The pendant swayed, glittering beneath the starlight.

Time froze.

And I tossed the shard.

The Nameless Angel tensed up, reaching subconsciously for his eyes. I think he thought I was going for the through-the-skull kill, the way I’d done to his subordinate earlier. When he realized he hadn’t been hit, the beginning of a smile touched his face.

Then his weight shifted, and he realized what I had hit.

The chain around his neck snapped.

I was already diving for the pendant. In its glowing facets I could see everything I’d ever wanted: the Lattice, freedom for humanity, a future for my family. I could see myself settling down with the core group, having tons of babies, living it up as celebrities and saviors of humanity as I trained a new generation in how to use the powers of the Archon System.

I saw myself fulfilled, and happy.

Complete.

The pendant hit the dirt. The Nameless Angel was fast, but I was faster—and I’d moved first. I slid in the dirt like a baseball player going for home plate, the pendant growing bigger and bigger in my view.

At the last second, a pale hand grabbed it and snatched it away.

Huh?

I stopped sliding. A slender figure stood over me, wearing leather pants and an open vest. A pendant in the shape of pentagram hung around his neck, with a dark, corrupted gem at its heart.

“Huh,” Lucifer said, smirking down at me as he bounced the control key in his palm. “I always assumed this thing would burn me. How you doin’, Powermancer?”

Chapter 24

Lucifer. The King of Hell. The Prince of Darkness.

He was free .

The Gates of Hell had opened all the way, and now anyone could walk through and effect things in the mortal realm. The final phase of the Bellum Aeternum —the one where Heaven and Hell collided with humanity caught in the crossfire—had finally begun.

We weren’t fast enough.

We’d failed.

“ You .”

To my surprise, it wasn’t me who’d said it. Of all the people in the three realms, the Nameless Angel might have been the only guy less happy to see the Prince of Darkness than I was. He shrank away from the guy like he was a bad smell, his stony face twisting in disgust.

“Yeah, I’m finally here,” Lucifer chuckled. “I brought some friends with me, too…”

He jerked a black-nailed thumb over his shoulder. Behind the armada of angels climbing up the mountain, a series of portals were opening across the tundra—portals like black ribbons, with wreaths of hellfire surrounding them. Imps, devils, and demons of all kinds spilled from them, their bodies red and black against the white snow. There were so many more of them than Heaven’s troops—while each individual angel could pack a wallop, Lucifer clearly relied on superior numbers to achieve success on the battlefield.

Though there were a few heavy hitters, as well. Here and there I saw an Arch-Demon leading a battle group, including a few sexy succubi like the recently departed Lilim. One of them glanced up at me from the tundra, giving me a look that made me wonder if they’d slash my throat open before or after they’d fucked me.

“You should not be here,” the Nameless Angel said. “This is not the appointed hour! The Bellum Aeternum is not ready to enter its final phase—”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Lucifer chuckled, as sleazy as a car salesman. The Prince of Darkness was still in his alternative rock star get up, with long stringy hair and circles of makeup beneath his eyes. His get up made me think of the way Metallica used to dress in the mid-90’s, during the Load and Reload days. They’d been cringy, but he pulled it off. “I’m not here to battle, choir boy. At least not to battle you. ”

“Of course he’s not.” I got to my feet. “He’s here for me.”

Lucifer touched a finger to the tip of his nose. “Bingo, Powermancer! Geez, you really are a smart cookie. Not smart enough, though.” A look of petulance flickered across his face. “I’ve given you so many chances to make the right decision, Bryant. And yet you keep running after bullshit like this!”

He held up the glowing pendant, wrapping the broken golden chain around his fingers. It dangled a bit, like the Prince of Darkness was inviting me to try and grab it.

I didn’t, of course. It was the most obvious trick in the book.

“Return that to me.” The Nameless Angel sounded pissed and disgusted, like he couldn’t decide which he felt more. “Filth like you should not be allowed to touch a holy relic!”

“Then filth like you shouldn’t lose it,” Lucifer whispered. His smile reasserted itself, and he was all false charm once more. “I was willing to make a deal with you, Bryant. End the Bellum Aeternum once and for all. Ally with humanity and burn Heaven to the ground. But you just couldn’t do it, could you?”

“Dad, don’t !” Erika sprang forward, only for Charlie and Fliss to hold her back. “Don’t hurt him!”

For a moment, I dared that a plea from his daughter might help. But then Lucifer shook his head.

“Aww, pumpkin, you know I can’t let him get away with this,” the Prince of Darkness replied. “I know he’s been a good influence on you. But if he was really good, he’d know that might makes right! He’d take this choir boy control key and shove it up the Nameless Angel’s ass, then take the real treasure and usher in a new age!” He grabbed the gem around his neck as he spoke, gripping the pentagram.

“You speak lies,” the Nameless Angel said in a voice like gravel. “The Bellum Aeternum will never end.”

Lucifer laughed. “I know how you feel about this ‘thing of ours’, Nemo,” he chuckled, grinning. “You and I both know that nothing really ends—we’ve seen what happens to these mortals once their brief little candles get blown out. We made a mistake not sinking Atlantis and Ys way earlier, but we won’t make the same mistake twice.” He turned to me. “This is as far as humanity gets this cycle.” Then he pointed to the gem. “Unless you make the right choice.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Still?”

Lucifer’s grin was that of the record executive offering a promising young band their first contract along with strippers and cocaine. “One last chance, Jaxie baby,” Lucifer said, spreading his arms. “The feather heads won’t like it, but fuck ‘em. Take the gem, and this army? It’s yours. ”

I glanced over the field of demons. They’d surrounded the angels and were just waiting for a signal to start killing. One of the hotter demonesses standing near the edge of the battlefield caught my eye, let her tongue slide out of her mouth and winked.

Okay. Maybe that one wouldn’t cut my throat after she finished with me.

“Abomination!” The Nameless Angel cried.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s an ‘abomination’ with you,” Lucifer taunted. “Come on, Jax, it’s fuckin’ time, man! You did a good job sticking by your principles, but the only way to save everyone now is to throw your chips in with me and kick these angels’ asses!”

As he spoke, he slipped the control key from its chain. The dark red gem was shot through with tendrils of pure black, like it had been corrupted somehow.

“Your girls will be pissed,” Lucifer whispered. “But they’ll forgive you. Hell, they’ll thank you. And if they don’t, there’s plenty of hot demons in my town to party with…”

“Father, stop!” Erika begged. “This is crazy! ”

“It’s life, pumpkin,” Lucifer shot back. “Let’s see how the Powermancer wants his to end. What’ll it be, Jax? Death, or glory?”

He pushed the gem over to me. It glistened, whispering of sin and seduction. Promising the world and then some—then a second helping when I was sure I couldn’t take another bite.

I looked at it.

And then I pushed it away.

“I choose life ,” I told the Prince of Darkness.

He looked stunned. “That wasn’t one of the options!”

“It’s the one thing I’ve got that you don’t,” I said, looking from him to the Nameless Angel and back again. “Neither of you. I’m mortal. Which means I get to choose.”

A look of pure rage and hate filled Lucifer’s face. For a moment, he was the true Devil at last, the living embodiment of evil. It only lasted for a moment, but it shook me to my soul.

An instant passed, and he was a genial rock star once more. “Geez, Jax, I’m sorry,” the Prince of Darkness whispered. “I really had high hopes for you, man. You did so well with my daughter and everything. I was really looking forward to welcoming you to the family.”

I nodded. “Give me the other control key,” I said, nodding at the golden gem.

Lucifer grinned. “This?” He flipped the corrupted control key from the pentagram, letting it fall to the ground. The golden gem fit perfectly in the same slot, locking into place in the middle of Lucifer’s pendant. He buttoned his vest so that it was just a lump beneath his chest. “No. This is mine now. You’re never going to get to touch this, Jaxon Bryant. This is your last day on Earth. For you, and for your Stronghold.”

I didn’t even have time to move before he punched me in the face.

Lucifer was the fastest thing I’d ever seen. I didn’t even perceive his motion—he simply slugged me, like he’d always been standing a foot in front of me. He hit like a fucking truck, too.

“Fuck!” I roared. Blood splattered the stones—I’d bit through my tongue and into my lip. I thought I’d maybe cracked a tooth or two, also.

Lucifer didn’t give me time to retaliate. He socked me in the gut, doing it as easily as a wrestling move the two of us had practiced dozens of times before. Pain like nothing I’d ever felt filled my gut, spreading through my chest and loins.

If his fist hadn’t been buried in my stomach so deeply, I’d have fallen over.

“Father, no !” Erika shrieked and tried to throw herself between her father and me, but she was snatched from the air by a tall demon in thigh-high boots and a corset. They must have anticipated Erika trying to ruin Lucifer’s show—two more demons sprang out of nowhere, grabbing the pink-haired demon’s arms to hold her back.

More demons emerged from nothing, seizing my women.

There were three of them for each of my harem girls. They would have fought, but each group had at least one with a knife or other implement, holding it against their necks like a hostage taker. I caught a glimpse of Charlie writhing in the arms of some dominatrix demon, trying to keep her blade from digging too deeply into her throat, just before Lucifer gave me a roundhouse kick that knocked me flat.

The world went gray. I nearly passed out, but the Archon System gave me a quick infusion of energy. Damn that Archon System.

“Nope,” Lucifer grunted, hauling me to my feet. “You’re not done yet, Powermancer. Not by a long shot.”

I came up with a shard. Lucifer intercepted it almost lazily, twisting my wrist until something in it snapped. The magical blade tumbled to the ground and vanished. A half-dome popped out of my other wrist, and Lucifer calmly smashed it by bringing his elbow down on the top.

“Remember, I warned you,” the Prince of Darkness whispered. “You could have joined me.”

He hit me again. And again.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” he said. It was almost a taunt.

“Dad, please!” Erika begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. She fought as hard as she could, but the demons wouldn’t let her go. “Don’t kill him, Daddy, I’m begging you!”

The next hit did knock me out.

I was only unconscious for a second. Lucifer did something with his nails that sent tendrils of fire through me, giving me a rude awakening back into his personal world of pain. I saw his smirk, but the world blurred around him. Words appeared at the bottom of my vision, crackling with static like they were being sent by an unreliable signal.

WARNING: Powermancer, your health state is at a dangerous level. Your personal stores of magic are nearly empty. Without it, the Archon System will be forced to deactivate until a power source can be found—

The words popped like a soap bubble as I read them. The magic was gone. I couldn’t feel it.

Tapped out.

Lucifer held me up with one hand, posing me for the crowd. I didn’t see whatever he was doing with his other fist to transform it into a weapon, but it didn’t really matter. Nothing seemed to matter very much in that moment.

I could hear my women screaming, begging, trying to get free so they could fight alongside me. Lucifer wouldn’t let them. Neither would the Nameless Angel, coward that he was.

I was going to die.

I wondered where I’d end up. After all this, I doubted either side wanted very much to lay claim to me. Maybe I’d finally learn who my parents really were—maybe they were there waiting for me.

It was a sobering thought.

I don’t care about the past, I realized. I only care about the future. My harem.

My family.

I would never get to start a family with any of them. Charlie, Fliss, Stephanie, Mia, Erika: I’d never feel their bodies beside me in the morning, or sit around the breakfast table and share dirty jokes. I’d never be inside them—I’d never see them come. And none of them would ever have my babies…

Something broke inside me. It was all too much.

“You…” I managed to croak.

Lucifer paused. Like any truly evil being, the Prince of Darkness was a consummate showman. He recognized an opportunity to work the crowd when one presented itself.

“Hold up!” He said, turning to my distraught, sobbing harem. “The Powermancer wants to say a word! Maybe he wants to beg forgiveness!”

That wasn’t it. I reached for the magic inside of me, praying I had enough juice left to unleash the Archon’s Fury. Even if it didn’t kill the Prince of Darkness, it would at least piss him off from the great beyond.

“Maybe he wants to tell me he was wrong,” Lucifer almost purred. “Maybe he wants to swear fealty to me.”

Except I had no magic. The Archon System was dry.

“Is that what you want, Jax? It’s too late, I’m afraid, but you can try.” He turned me towards my harem. “Go on, bitch boy. Beg. ”

Then what the fuck was that I was feeling?

I opened my eyes.

And saw what Lucifer, the Angel, and all the rest had missed.

“You forgot something,” I said.

It wasn’t what Lucifer was expecting to hear, but he clearly decided to make the most of it anyway. “What did I forget?” The Prince of Darkness taunted, like he was really excited to know. “What slipped my mind , Powermancer?”

“There’s one thing you haven’t counted on,” I managed to say. “Something your people can’t ever understand.” Somehow, despite everything, I managed to bark out a laugh. “It’s why you put that stupid motto over the door to your realm.”

Lucifer blinked. “Maybe I do need to update to a more modern slogan,” he chuckled. “Anything you’d suggest, Jax?”

“Yeah,” I said. “ Humanity. Fuck yeah! ”

Confusion spread across Lucifer’s face.

The air filled with roars, as if my word was the signal to attack.

Everyone—Heaven, Hell, and my harem—turned as one, looking up the slope to the entrance of the Stronghold.

Where newly minted super-humans were spilling from inside like a fucking flood.

Chapter 25

Lucifer laughed. “What the fuck!? ”

Dozens of human beings raced down the side of the mountain, headlong into the fight. As they ran, they transformed, taking on the classes they’d been granted by the Archon System. A few of them looked like they’d become the same sort of creatures as members of my harem, but there were almost as many varieties as there were people.

“Holy hell,” Fliss gasped, her eyes widening. “There’s so many…!”

There were. And more were coming.

That tube must be working overtime, I thought, grinning. I bet they were packing human beings into it like a fucking clown car!

“They’ve begun accessing their birthright,” the Nameless Angel growled. “The growth rate appears to be exponential.”

Exponential?

“What!?” Lucifer had been laughing a moment ago—now he looked stunned. “How?”

“One becomes two,” the angel intoned. “Two become four. Four become eight, then sixteen—”

“I know how exponentials work!” Lucifer roared. “What I want to know is why the fucking humans are able to do it all of a sudden!”

Neither of them knew. And I didn’t, either. Did these new recruits have the ability to spread their abilities to others? Was it some ersatz branding ceremony, or some branch of the Archon System’s tech tree that I hadn’t gotten around to climbing onto yet?

I didn’t know. I didn’t care.

We had a fighting chance.

Nearly a hundred humans had already spilled from the tunnel leading into the Stronghold. They plunged into the front ranks of the angels, roaring and swinging their weapons, slashing with their claws, flying over the fracas with their wings. It was an impressive sight.

It didn’t impress Lucifer. “They’re like rats,” he growled, shaking his head with a snarl. “Vermin.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “And you’ve got one hell of a rat problem.”

The Prince of Darkness glared at me, then tossed me to the ground. I didn’t quite manage to land on my feet, but I didn’t totally go down, either. Not too shabby. Behind me, Charlie summoned the Bitch’s Blade in mid-air and stabbed the demon holding her captive. She pirouetted on a heel and did the same to the creatures pinning Fliss, but suddenly they were all in full retreat.

Huh?

Lucifer rolled his head back and forth, cracking his neck. “Congratulations, Bryant,” he said, his lips compressing to a tight little line. “You get to survive for a few more minutes. I’m about to show you and your little do-gooder squad something truly spectacular!”

I was about to toss another insult in his direction when he began to transform.

Lucifer’s clothing exploded as he flew into the air, soaring over the battlefield like a bottle rocket. In the blink of an eye he was at the back line of the fight, surrounded by a burning aura so powerful it would have outshone the sun if it wasn’t as black as a moonless night. He grew larger and larger, shedding his human form completely as something far older and far darker came out to play.

The human troops at the top of the ridge faltered. The whole battle froze as heads turned, witnessing the once in a lifetime opportunity to see the true face of the Prince of Darkness.

Lucifer grew larger and larger. His arms were thick cords of muscle, as wide across as Mack trucks, and horns the size of satellites sprang from the sides of his head. There was hardly anything humanoid about him now—his skin was a deep crimson, his eyes massive and yellow, his fangs as long as a walk down death row.

The Prince of Darkness stood before us, towering over our little mountain. This was his true form: a monster the size of a building. A Kaiju from Hell.

“ BEHOLD! ” Lucifer roared. His voice boomed like thunder over the tundra. “ I am the Morningstar! ”

Humans and angels alike trembled before that voice. Even I was a little rattled by it.

“Today you die!” the Morningstar said, his tone switching to a hybrid of his monster roar and Lucifer’s rockstar snarl. “Humanity’s little rebellion ends here! Fight on, rats—you and your little Stronghold will all be smashed to paste! You will join me in Hell this night!”

Maniacal laughter rang out over the hills.

“Oh no.” A little voice to my side caught my attention—it was Erika, standing with her feet in the ice like she’d never looked so terrified. “He’s done it. He’s become the Morningstar. Dad’s really lost it…”

“There’s no way to force him to change back, is there?” I asked the pink-haired demon.

She shook her head. “He only does this when he’s really, really upset,” she whispered. “I’ve only seen him like this one other time. The guy who pissed him off like that ended up upside down in a lake of burning feces in the Ninth Circle for ten thousand years…”

I swallowed hard. That was likely to be my punishment if I failed here today.

The Nameless Angel had his head cocked to the side, like he was listening to something. Abruptly he straightened up, smoothed down his feathers, and turned to me. “Jaxon Bryant.”

His tone was so different from the norm that I did a double-take. “Huh?”

“I have been given new orders,” the Nameless Angel said with a faint smile. “A benediction—a direct transmission from the Almighty. He begs for your aid.”

“My aid!?”

Lucifer waded into the carnage. His fists scattered angels like bowling pins—anything that got too close to him was smashed, friend or foe. He didn’t care if he crushed a few hundred demons to paste on the road to completing his objective: after all, they’d just end up back in Hell with him anyway.

A strange look flickered across the Angel’s face. “Lucifer has overextended himself,” the creature said. “By entering the mortal realm and taking on his true form, he has made himself real here in a way that has not been done for thousands of years.”

“Yeah? That’s really, really bad.”

“No,” the Nameless Angel said with a knowing smile. “Because in this state, Lucifer is vulnerable. Vulnerable in a way the King of Hell normally never is…”

I turned and looked at the rampaging Godzilla-devil smashing the battlefield to pieces. No Hollywood movie could have ever created an image so horrible.

“We can destroy him,” the Nameless Angel whispered. “We have never had this chance before—we must take it.”

Without a second thought, the creature dropped to one knee.

I was stunned. It placed the flaming sword—now no longer flaming—across its wrists and held the weapon out to me, palms up. “I pledge myself to you, Jaxon Bryant,” the Nameless Angel whispered. “Whatever must be done to destroy the Lord of Lies, I shall do it! I am your sword, Powermancer, and together, we will slaughter Lucifer himself…!”

“I’ve already got a sword,” I said, shaking my head. “But you can help me get that!”

I pointed with the Tempest Fang. It was there, though the chaos of the battlefield made it nearly impossible to see: a small, golden glow across one of the horns on Lucifer’s shoulders.

Heaven’s control key. It was there.

The Nameless Angel saw it, then nodded. “Very well. Let us take to the sky together!”

Take to the sky? I’d never even thought about doing that.

“Mate, I don’t know if you hit your head or something while you were fighting Lucifer,” I said. “But human beings can’t fly. We don’t have wings, unless we transform into something that’s got them like Heather does. And as the Powermancer, I don’t transform…”

The Nameless Angel laughed. Laughed.

“You truly are ignorant of your true potential, Jaxon Bryant,” the creature said.

He passed a hand over my face, and a golden glow suffused my body. Words flashed at the bottom of my view as the Archon System blazed back to life, supercharged by whatever the angel who’d once guarded the Garden of Eden itself did to my internal state.

Suddenly I had new options. Fire Storm. Hyperbeam. Flight…

Flight.

Wings erupted from between my shoulder blades as I jumped off the slope.

I didn’t know I could do it until I’d already done it. My wings beat of their own accord, flexing like skilled operators who already knew what to do. The ground receded from me, dropping further and further as I spiraled into the air. Soon the battlefield looked like a backyard beneath me, covered in two fighting hills of ants.

All except for the Morningstar, of course. He was way too big to ignore.

I was still admiring the view when the Nameless Angel pulled up next to me. His sword was on fire and he looked like righteousness itself. He gave me a brief nod, then gestured at the sloped plain we’d taken off from.

“My Seraphim will keep your women safe,” he assured me. “We should take the field, Powermancer. The Morningstar will not stop until your Stronghold is dust…”

Despite the danger, I grinned. “Pretty sure my women can take care of themselves,” I reminded the angel. “Come on. Let’s win this war!”

Together, the Nameless Angel and I soared over the battlefield. My wings flapped of their own accord, tucking inward to give me a speed boost as I sailed over the heads of angelic archers and demonic mages. Far beneath me, the armies of Heaven and Hell collided, clashing at last now that the truce between their leaders had collapsed.

Pitchforks flared, and halos glowed. Feathers bashed into scales, and beautiful succubi in revealing outfits goaded their teams deeper into the fight. It almost reminded me of…

Suddenly laughter spilled from my throat.

The Nameless Angel flew at my side, giving a start. “Powermancer? What is funny?”

I couldn’t explain it to him. How could he possibly understand? The only person who probably could was Fliss, and she was down by the entrance to the fortress, waiting for me to come back with the control key.

The scene beneath me was exactly the same as a painting I’d once seen at the Traverse Museum. Painted by the Mad Count of Tuscany, and shown to me by the girl I was on a date with, the night my life changed forever.

Lucifer raged at the edge of the battlefield. Anyone who got close to the King of Hell was immediately smashed into paste, whether they were friend or foe. Lucifer didn’t care—he was pissed, and the only thing that would help him calm down was smashing my women and my Stronghold to bits.

I wasn’t going to let him.

Fuck you , I thought, putting another burst of speed into my wings. That gem is mine!

I could see it now, sparkling in the distance. Lucifer was truly massive, a Godzilla-sized beast, but the little golden gem that was Heaven’s control key hung from a mass of horn on his shoulder. The broken chain was wrapped around it the way it had been wrapped around the Prince of Darkness’s finger.

Someone fired an arrow at me, but I dodged it easily. My movement was so fast now, like I’d been supercharged with power. Whatever the Nameless Angel did to me had recharged all of my magical batteries, and with Stephanie’s black vampiric blood flowing in my veins, it felt like I had all the best parts of the darkness and the light mixed together inside of me.

Part of me hoped I could make it all the way to where the Prince of Darkness stood without being noticed. Alas, I was still a football field away from Lucifer’s current position when he suddenly turned, his eyes refocusing as he saw me flying through the air.

“ Bryant! ” the Morningstar roared. All the tones of Hell itself were in that yell, along with the wheedling, sleazy voice the Prince of Darkness used when he wanted to be taken seriously. “Man, why won’t you just die already!?”

I just laughed in his face. If he’d expected me to lie down and just give up, he was talking to the wrong man.

“Don’t worry!” I shouted, laughing. “I’ll just be a second!”

I soared like a stone loosed from a sling, flying directly into Lucifer’s airspace. The glowing control key grew and grew in my view, swelling until it seemed that I could reach out and pluck it like a grape. The triumphant cries and terrified screams of the battlefield faded, dropping to a dull roar as I fixed on my primary target.

Lucifer was huge, but he was slow. He wouldn’t be able to intercept me, I knew it. I just had to push myself a little harder…

A bolt of flame cut through the air, nearly ripping me in half.

Good God! I thought, my wings beating hard against the current. I felt that one!

More waves of fire shot through the air. Lucifer had just summoned a massive pitchfork in his left hand, with crimson tips as sharp as fangs. The flames came from there—they poured from the weapon like molten lava, raking the battlefield with huge streaks of incinerating heat.

“Watch out, Powermancer!” the Nameless Angel called. “He’s trying to target you with that pitchfork!”

How funny, I thought, ducking and diving. Ten minutes ago you were trying to kill me. Now you’re so concerned about my health…

Lucifer grabbed for me, but it was like trying to catch a buzzing fly. My wings reacted like I’d been born with them, like I’d been riding the wind since before I knew how to walk. Everywhere his hands went, I was a step ahead of him. Every time he bathed the battlefield in overlapping lines of red fire, I slipped between them like a champion gamer playing a bullet hell title.

Behind me, the Nameless Angel tossed a bolt of lightning straight at Lucifer’s face. “Today is the day, abomination!” the creature roared, his voice every bit as loud as the King of Hell’s. “You will face your divine judgement!”

Lucifer turned to face the angel, giving me the opening I needed. I tucked my wings around me like a blanket and dove, aiming for his crimson shoulder. I knew I wouldn’t be able to land right on the control key, but I hoped I could get close enough to snatch it up.

The Morningstar twisted to face the Nameless Angel. The outcropping of horns on his shoulder pointed directly at me!

I flung myself to the side. An expanse of crimson scales like the side of a cliff met me, and I slammed into the Morningstar’s muscles so hard that I nearly passed out. Stars exploded in my vision, and a wave of dizziness threatened to pull me under. I fought my way out of it with an effort, tapping the power of the black blood flowing within me.

Holy shit, I thought, getting to my feet. I’m riding the Morningstar!

I swore I could hear heroic music playing in my ears. Lucifer was a gigantic, monstrous beast, the terror of any battlefield in any realm. From my perch on his shoulder, I could see the ebb and flow of the battlefield, but what really interested me was the outcropping of horn on his shoulder.

The golden control key sparkled like the crystal in a chandelier.

I dove for it, sailing over the ground. Heaven and Hell clashed all around me, ripping the world apart with their spells, but I saw nothing save for that gem. The jewel.

The physical representation of my future.

I grabbed it and tugged, ripping the glowing gem from what remained of the pentagram-shaped setting.

The gem flared briefly in my palm before cooling. Sparks flew deep within the facets of the jewel, moving in a way that almost made them look like they were winking at me.

Strange. It didn’t feel like as triumphant a moment as I’d hoped.

A shadow fell over the world.

Fingers like iron girders grabbed me, snatching me and the gem off of Lucifer’s shoulder. The Morningstar had noticed me at long last, and he was taking action to stop me.

“Bryant!” An echo of Lucifer’s human voice carried along the interior of the Morningstar’s roar. “Well, look at you! You nearly managed to get away clean!”

Crap. I kicked at Lucifer’s fingers, but his grip was too strong. His hand tightened around me as he lifted me into the air, holding me high over the battlefield. Slowly he brought me right in front of his face, his serpent’s eyes filling with malicious glee.

“Down the hatch!” the Morningstar chortled.

His mouth opened wide. It would have been a cliché to compare the Morningstar’s gullet to the mouth of hell, but the two were similar enough that they blurred in my memory. Lucifer’s jaw distended, like a snake preparing to swallow its prey whole.

“No!” The Nameless Angel roared, but he was too far away to make a difference. “You filth–”

Lucifer roared with laughter. “You should have joined me when you had the chance, Jax! You could have been my right hand man! Now, you’re just my dinner!”

He reared back with his fist to toss me into his gullet.

And froze.

I held myself ready, preparing for my moment to strike. I’d have a brief instant between the toss and the landing, and I wanted to make the most of it. I’d been planning to try out my Hyperbeam –see what kind of punishment that could dish out.

But suddenly, I didn’t need it.

A strange shimmer surrounded Lucifer’s body. His mouth closed, his face rapidly running a gamut of emotions from confusion, to horror, to pure rage. He didn’t stare at me so much as stared through me.

“Can’t be,” the Morningstar growled. “The humans could never–”

Lucifer’s body distended, turning to spaghetti. The effect was the same as that of an object falling into a black hole–infinite pressure and infinite gravity turned any amount of mass into an infinitely long string in response. The shimmer on Lucifer’s body turned into a tug, and suddenly he was draining away into something in the distance.

His hand disappeared. I was free!

I gripped the control key tightly. I still couldn’t believe it. Moments ago, I’d been bracing myself for my final saving through against being swallowed by the Devil’s city-sized Kaiju form. Now he was just… gone?

The Nameless Angel looked just as shocked. Whatever moment of realization Lucifer had just had, he hadn’t figured it out yet.

“Where… where did the Lord of Lies go?” the Angel demanded. “He couldn’t have run from the field, could he?”

A tiny portal smoldered at the rear of the battlefield. Hellfire surrounded it.

I looked at that tiny ribbon in the air and everything clicked.

“Shit, ” I whispered, my mind working feverishly. “ No. No, fuck… ”

“Powermancer?” From the Nameless Angel’s tone, he expected an answer, and he expected it now. “What is going on? What happened to the Morningstar–”

Before he could finish his sentence, the Nameless Angel was pulled inexorably backward. His body blurred, then bent, then finally turned into a glowing ray of light as it was yanked back into a golden portal on the opposite side of the battlefield.

More portals were beginning to open.

Only a few at first, I thought, panic rising in me like a strong drink. Because beings like Lucifer and the Nameless Angel are the last creatures to get to leave their home realms and cause trouble here. The Gates have to be all the way open in order for them to transfer…

A figure rose on the wind, flapping their wings as they joined me. For a moment I braced myself for another attacking angel – but to my surprise, it was Heather.

“Jax?” the reporter turned superhuman asked. “What’s going on?”

There was no time to waste.

“The Gates of Heaven and Hell are closing,” I told Heather. “The Obsidian Eye–enough of them must have survived what happened with Dr. Bodekker to complete their ritual. That was their plan all along: to seal off the supernatural from Earth once and for all, keep angels and demons from coming to our world…”

And seal humanity away from the afterlife, forever.

Chapter 26

All over the battlefield, angels and demons were beginning to disappear. Portals opened and pulled them away in twos and threes, yoinking them from the battlefield as fast as they came. The human troops massed at the base of the mountain began to cheer, seeing only their enemies vanishing before them. They had no inkling of the true horror about to arrive.

I flew.

To this day, I’m fairly certain that I set a top speed record in the middle of that battlefield. Maybe I could get a little bit faster with a few of the aids I’ve picked up from the Archon System since, but there was nothing in the world that could possibly take the place of the sheer panic I felt at knowing what the Obsidian Eye’s flunkies were about to do. I was in a race against more than just time.

This was an existential threat. If the Gates of Heaven the Gates of Hell closed fully, humanity’s chance to transcend beyond the mortal realm would be lost forever.

Sure, the Bellum Aeternum would be over. But at what cost?

I fell from the sky like a stone, aiming my body at the entrance to the Stronghold. Arrows and spells flew all around me, but they were rapidly fading—the soldiers conjuring them were all being pulled back to their respective realms as the Gates closed. It was like watching a war move in reverse, rewinding the VHS before taking it back to the video store.

Like what you’d do before you headed back to the Fortress of Solitude to return some video tapes.

“Master!” There weren’t many people, human or otherwise who could keep up with me in mid-air. Erika was one of them. “What the fuck is going on!?”

“It’s the Eye,” I growled, picking up more speed. “We’ve got to stop them!”

A fierce look filled the pink-haired demon’s face. Then something changed, and her eyes rolled back in her head.

“Um, Master? Something’s wrong—”

It was as far as she got. To my horror, Erika was tugged away from me, pulled into another one of those black ribbon portals.

Unlike the other demons, Erika was fighting it. Maybe it was the link between us that gave her extra power, maybe it was the Archon System. Maybe it was just dumb luck.

Either way, it was painful to watch.

“No!” the demoness cried, gritting her teeth. “I won’t go back! My place is here with Jax! With the harem! I.. I…!”

She disappeared in a puff of brimstone-scented smoke.

Damn it!

There was no time to slow down. I hit the mouth of the tunnel opening without breaking, throwing up the half-dome of the Aether Shield at the last second to break my fall. It shattered, but I didn’t care—I didn’t even look back as I ran into the mouth of the cave.

The cries of my women followed me into the darkness. They were confused, frightened, cautiously jubilant. Of my girls, I think only Mia truly understood what was happening—unlike the rest of my harem, her horror was unalloyed. She looked like she was going to be sick all over the stones.

The fortress was just as I remembered it. I literally flew from room to room, holding the golden control key aloft. If the ritual wasn’t stopped…

No one waited in the central chamber. The pillar was fully extended, with the final control key-shaped indentation at about the level of my shoulders. A viewscreen above one of the other computers showed a horrible sight: a live tracker of the Obsidian Eye’s gate-sealing ritual. I have no idea how our technology managed to pick up the signal, but the sight of it filled me with pure terror.

Ninety percent, I realized, running. Ninety three. Ninety six…

After all the build-up, actually placing the gem in the control pillar was an anticlimax. It fit perfectly, the golden glow mixing with the crimson aura pouring from the Hell-aspected key we’d looted earlier. The pillar sank into the ground, the whir of gears filling the fortress as new machinery came to life.

I turned. What did the ritual tracker say?

It was blank.

Why? Had it shut off because I’d stopped the ritual? Or because it was finished?

Either way, there was nothing left to do.

The weight of all the magic I’d burned hit me all at once, like the crash at the end of a marathon. The boost I’d gotten from Stephanie’s black blood drained away as the golden glow from the Nameless Angel faded, leaving me with little in the way of reserves. Suddenly I felt like I’d just gotten finished hiking barefoot through the desert.

Fuck, I thought, slumping to the ground. I hope we did it. I hope we saved humanity…

A rumble pulled me back to my senses.

When I sat up, the pillar was ascending once more.

The pillar, the computers, the wall behind the whole shebang: all of it.

It glowed with a brilliant, white light.

Chapter 27

The Lattice was alive.

The Lattice was fucking alive.

I felt its birth in the back of my skull, the new knowledge blooming like a Fourth of July fireworks show in my brain. The world went white, then flashed with colors I’d never seen before—colors beyond the visible human spectrum. My heart pounded against my ribs like a kettle drum as the whole of my inner being vibrated in tune with this new, piercing pulse.

I could see it all at once. The war, the Bellum Aeternum, the great game played between Heaven, Hell and humanity—it went quiet.

So quiet you could hear a pin drop.

All around the world, billions of human beings were waking up to their full potential. Every one of them had their names inscribed on an invisible register, on a great Book of Gold hidden somewhere inside the heart of humanity itself. The weight of their power, of their potential, hit me like a flood.

My awareness splintered. I’d thought it before, but now it was really true: I could see it all at once.

—could see crowds of frightened people in an Eastern European hamlet beginning to transform, using their new powers for the first time to destroy the demons setting their village ablaze—

—humans surrounding the Arch De Triomphe, the Statue of Liberty, using them as common meeting points to regroup and launch the counter attack—

—A young girl taking flight in De Moines, Iowa, screaming to her shocked mother that she was just like Captain Marvel—

—a Powermancer awakening to his gift on the streets of Japan, while the three women fighting beside him suddenly looked at him with new eyes and aches between their legs—

This must be what God feels like. The thought managed to rise above the cacophony in my head, and as I thought it, I began to control the flow. I knew this, whatever this was, wouldn’t last for long. Moments of raw, unbridled power could never remain in the human realm—otherwise they’d turn us into divinity, and then we would be no different than those who oppressed us.

But before it faded, there was something I wanted to see.

I pushed with my awareness, searching for the Obsidian Eye.

It took me no time at all to pick them out from the flood. Two dozen of their acolytes were clustered in a safehouse in the Middle East, working under the command of an Anchorite who’d managed to survive the carnage at Beleth Park.

Thirteen of them clustered around an arcane symbol as the Anchorite watched. At first I thought the symbol was a garden variety pentagram, right up until I noticed the hints of angelic runes and lingua ignota woven through it like threads in a quilt.

Fliss taught me about that, I thought, remembering a time so remote it felt like another life. Lingua ignota, the language of the angels…

Around the symbol, the thirteen members of the Obsidian Eye jerked and started. The Lattice awoke them to the Archon System, just as it did with everyone else in the world. It didn’t discriminate, even though if there were any humans who didn’t deserve to ascend with the rest of us, it was them.

The ritual faltered. It was so close to completion that it almost could have finished on autopilot—and probably would if someone didn’t do something.

The Anchorite—it was a woman, to my surprise—furrowed her brow as the power touched her, too. “It’s a trick,” she yelled, trying to deny the truth of what was happening. “Don’t believe it! Complete the ritual! We’re saving the world—we must finish…!”

Well now. That wouldn’t do at all.

I reached out to the thirteen—and spoke.

“ STOP!”

It boomed out through the aether like the voice of God himself. The thirteen members of the ritual crumpled like pieces of paper, collapsing to the floor. One by one, they each severed their connection to the arcane symbol.

The ritual wobbled, shook—then fell.

“No!” the Anchorite howled, blood pouring from her nose. “You fools, you idiots —!”

The woman fell over, as dead as a stone. The irony was, I hadn’t done a thing.

It was she who’d done it.

The Obsidian Eye placed safeguards inside of all their higher-ups, cognitohazardous commands that worked inside of them like hypnotic triggers. Mia’s had kept her from telling us too much about the organization before I saved her, and the one they’d put inside Charlie almost caused us to lose her forever.

There were many things the Anchorites didn’t allow each other to do. That would kill them if they tried, murdering them in order to keep their rancid little gang running.

And one of them was awakening to the Lattice.

None of them could help it, though. One by one, the remaining leaders of the Obsidian Eye had ascension forced upon them. And one by one, it destroyed them.

They’d sealed their own doom.

The scene dissolved as the wave of godlike power collapsed. I was back in the Stronghold, staring up at the stone ceiling of the chamber we used to awaken ordinary humans to the Archon System.

How strange. We’d only gotten to use it a few times, and now we’d never need it again.

“He’s coming out of it,” someone said, relief filling their voice like a flood. “Jax, can you hear me?”

Somehow, I managed to lift my head. I was surrounded by my harem—they’d filed into the central chamber while I lay here, struggling to withstand my temporary godhood. They’d surrounded me, keeping me safe until I came out of it.

Good girls, I thought, grinning on the inside. The fucking BEST girls…

Fliss knelt over me, in full Valkyrie form. Her long, golden hair draped me from either side, so that I could only see my other girls through strands of it.

“Jax?” In her face, I saw an echo of the cute, nerdy girl I’d gone on that date on so long ago. “Are you alright?”

“Talk to us, baby,” Charlie said, curling up next to me. “You in there?”

Mia stood a short distance away, her gaze flickering from me to the scanners on our computer equipment that were now alive and exploding with news. “We did it,” the fox girl whispered. “Holy shit, Jax actually did it. They’re all waking up, all over the world. The Archon System… it’s everywhere! ”

Somehow, I managed to sit up.

“What about the demons?” I gasped. “And the angels?”

It wasn’t the first words my women expected to hear come out of my mouth. But they wouldn’t have had it any other way. Mission first, then celebration.

Mia scanned the screen. “No incursions,” she said, sounding like she’d never dared to hope it could be so. “They’re… they’re nowhere! It’s like they’re terrified of what humanity will do to them, now that every single person in the world is like… like…”

“Like us ,” Charlie said fiercely. “You fucking did it, babe! You saved the world! You ended the Bellum Aeternum! ”

My women cheered.

Deep down, I knew I’d done nothing of the sort. The Bellum Aeternum had changed, and it would never be the same as the myriad cycles of boom and bust humanity had weathered over the centuries. But the endless war between Heaven and Hell was far from over. We’d simply entered a new phase of it.

But humanity now had the tools to fight. To survive. To thrive.

“I didn’t,” I managed, glancing to my side.

Stephanie knelt next to me, her fangs extended and fresh puncture wounds in her other wrist. Despite the damage she’d taken during the fight, the vampire hadn’t hesitated to offer me her own heart’s blood to get me back on my feet.

I admired the vampire’s gesture. But I shook my head gently. Two doses in such a short time period was sure to have unwanted side effects.

“Huh?” Fliss looked over at the scanners as if they were going to say something different, then back at me. “Jax, it’s over. It’s done. You won…!”

I managed to smirk. “I know,” I said, propping myself up on my elbows. “But it wasn’t me. It was us. ”

All of my women smiled.

“Well,” Stephanie chuckled, tousling her long, dark hair, “I suppose we deserve a little of the credit. But it was mostly you.”

Mia was still staring at the screen, flatfooted. “I can’t believe this. This is more than I ever dared to hope for. Jax, this makes me so… so…”

The fox girl turned to look at me. Pure lust burned in her eyes.

Seeing it, my harem’s smiles turned to lewd grins.

“Bedroom,” I grunted.

Fliss and Charlie shared looks. “Do you need us to carry you?” they asked.

I was already hauling myself back to my feet. “I can handle it,” I assured them. “Gonna be a little sore, though…”

Both women chuckled. Soon, Stephanie and Mia were chuckling, too.

“Don’t worry about that,” they assured me. “You relax, hero. Let your girls do all the work…”

Even much later, I would have no conscious memory of how I managed to make it to the bedroom. One moment I was standing in the central chamber, swaying on my feet as I did my best not to show my harem how exhausted I was—and in the next, I was in bed, down to nothing but my boxers.

My women lay around me, a harem in the truly old-school sense of the term. I felt like a fucking sultan in his king-sized bed, surrounded by half-naked beauties who were quickly taking the half part out of the equation.

“Jax,” Charlie purred. My childhood best friend was still in her dark elf transformation, but she’d stripped off her chainmail and her fur stole and was down to nothing but her thong panties. A tuft of snow-white pubic hair showed above the rim of the undergarments, and the fabric was soaked with her juices.

“It’s me,” I chuckled.

The dark elf growled and raked my chest with her nails. “I want you,” she said, looking me directly in the eyes. “I want to ride your cock until I cum, and then I want you to cum inside of me.” She paused, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “And I want you to make me pregnant.”

To say I was stunned would have been a major understatement. “I can’t promise the last one,” I told her, reaching for the glorious orbs of her breasts. “But I can take care of the first two as many times as you want. And I promise I’ll do my best on the third…”

Charlie chuckled low in her throat. “Get him ready for me,” she whispered, glancing down at my thighs.

I glanced down as well. Stephanie and Mia were both curled up around my legs, in vampire form and fox girl form respectively. Unlike Charlie, they weren’t even wearing panties—Stephanie was pale and nude, like an X-rated version of a Renaissance painting. Mia crouched on all fours near the foot of the bed, on her hands and knees as her gorgeous red curls hung down to her breasts.

And there was another girl between my legs.

“There you are,” I said. I hadn’t realized how worried I’d been until those worries were banished. “I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to make your way back out of Hell…”

Erika lay on her stomach, lazily running her fingers over the bulge in my boxers.

“Oh, I’m not that easy to restrain,” the demoness purred. “Though Dad is super pissed off at you right now. I’m pretty sure I won’t get an invitation to come home for the unholy days…”

“Do you really want one?” Fliss asked.

The pink-haired demon shook her head. “Nope. I don’t ever need to go down there again. This is my home now. This place, and these people. And…”

She grabbed the waistband of my boxers and tugged it under my balls.

“This beautiful fucking cock,” she groaned, sticking out her long, pink tongue. “Please, please tell me I can taste it, Master…”

Charlie leaned over and kissed me. Fliss did the same. The feeling of two beautiful female bodies all over mine was just great. My hands went everywhere, and my girls loved it—I gripped Fliss’s tits and spanked Charlie’s ass as I held them close, savoring the taste of the sweat on their lips as they gave themselves to me.

“Suck it,” I commanded.

Erika knelt down and pressed her lips to the underside of my crown. “Yes, sir—”

“That wasn’t just a command for you ,” I added.

Stephanie and Mia shared a look. Both girls giggled, then joined the pink-haired demon at my manhood. Mia lay on my right thigh, Stephanie on my left, and when they kissed with my cock head between them, I nearly lost control and shot right then and there despite my exhaustion.

“Don’t shoot too quick, hero,” Charlie whispered—she must have felt the sudden tension in my shoulders. “Enjoy their mouths, but my pussy is what’s going to milk you dry. Every drop of that hot cum is going right in my womb where it belongs!”

I could barely think, much less speak. Stephanie and Mia broke their sloppy kiss, a line of my pre-cum connecting their pouty lips, and then all three of them were kissing, slurping and licking my rod. Three tongues bathed my shaft in saliva, and three sets of lips kissed my manhood, worshiping it.

“How did you girls decide this?” I managed to gasp. “You get Erika to make some more straws from the replicator and draw them?”

The dark elf chuckled low in her throat. “We’ve had a few conversations about it,” she confessed, sharing a nod with Fliss. “Just us girls, figuring out how we’re going to make this whole family thing work once you save the world.”

“We always knew you’d do it,” Fliss agreed, kissing the side of my neck. “You’re just awesome that way.”

“It was decided,” Charlie said, stretching and sighing as she prepared to mount me, “that the person who’s known you the longest time ought to get the privilege of being the first girl to have your babies.”

“The vote was unanimous!” Stephanie said brightly, looking up from her place at my cock. Erika was currently inhaling my prick, taking it all the way down her throat with tears in her eyes. Mia watched, furiously rubbing her tight little fox pussy as she buried her face in my balls and worked her tongue around them.

Charlie nodded. “Fliss has dibs on you next,” she agreed. “We’re not super sure of the order after that, and it’s possible you might randomly knock a girl up anyway. Mia volunteered to be last, said something about hunting down the remaining members of the Obsidian Eye—but who knows?”

“That—” I groaned as the fox girl and the demoness switched places, a new mouth working down my shaft, “—won’t be an issue. All the Anchorites are dead.”

None of them even questioned it.

The sounds of hot, wet sex filled the bedroom. I expected my girls to play with each other a little bit more, but other than some light kissing and fondling (along with rubbing themselves as they watched) their focus was completely on me. As if what we were doing was a ritual of its own.

Hell. Maybe it was.

With three gorgeous bitches sharing my cock, it didn’t take long at all before I felt the familiar tingle working its way from my balls to the tip of my crown. My prick swelled and thickened against the back of Mia’s throat, and the redhead pulled off of me with a gasp and a wink.

“He’s ready,” the fox girl chuckled. “If we don’t slow down, our hero’s going to pop…”

The other two girls laying on my thighs looked like they wouldn’t have minded that one bit. “Mmh, but it would be so nice to see this cock spurt all over my pretty face!” Erika giggled. “And Stephanie’s titties are just begging to be glazed with Master’s load…”

Charlie laughed and shook her head. “You can take the demon out of hell, but you can’t take the hell out of the demon,” the dark elf said, pursing her lips as she straddled me. “She’d ruin that load if you let her, Jax…”

I knew that. But damn if it wasn’t tempting.

“And if you did that ,” Charlie added, with a little groan in her voice like she knew exactly what I’d been thinking, “then you wouldn’t get to enjoy this tight, wet little elf pussy. A wet little pussy I’ve been getting hot and ready for you, baby—”

To prove herself, Charlie ran the lips of her sex up and down my prick. I groaned with utter bliss as her labia caressed my shaft, jerking me off with what was between her legs.

The dark elf let out an utterly feral groan. “Fuck, I can’t take it anymore!” she cried, putting both hands on my shoulders and spreading her legs. “I’ve got to get fucked —!”

The gorgeous dark elf ripped her panties off and impaled herself on my prick.

Both of us groaned in unison as I thrust all the way inside of her, bottoming out in her. Her tight, wet walls were so slick that I almost lost myself immediately, and the way my dick curved inside of her clenching walls sent the crown of my cock hitting her g-spot and ringing it like a bell.

“Unnnngh!” Charlie’s head rocked back on her shoulders, shimmering white locks trailing down her bare back. Her tits heaved as she rocked her hips, her walls stretching to accommodate me. “Yeah, that’s it! Right fucking there, Jax! God, you know just what I need!”

My hands went to her ass. Even exhausted from the twin catastrophes of the battle and the aftermath of the Lattice, I had enough strength to dig my fingers into that glorious, heart-shaped booty and upthrust between the dark elf’s legs.

Wet squelching sounds filled the bedroom as Charlie and I fucked.

I did my part, but make no mistake—the dark elf did most of the work. She was like a porn star, a stripper bouncing on top of me as she took my cock deep inside her holy of holies. Every thrust into her channel felt better than the one before, and the wave of bliss I’d only so recently fought away during the triple blowjob came back with a vengeance.

“I’m not stopping,” she purred, leaning in close and kissing me hard. Her tits pressed against my chest, the nipples as hard as diamonds. “Gonna milk all that hot cum out of your balls, baby. I’m ready for it. I’m ready for you to make me a Mommy…”

“Do it,” Fliss begged. The Valkyrie rubbed her pussy shamelessly against my thigh, groaning as she watched me fuck her bestie’s brains out. “Fucking pump her full, Jax! God, doesn’t she deserve it? Isn’t she riding you like a fucking dream ?”

She was. Even if I wanted to hold back, I didn’t have the option. The walls of the dark elf’s pussy weren’t just asking for my load, they were demanding it. Gripping me as tight as a fist as her hips slapped against mine, impaling her perfect body on me again and again and again…

Suddenly Charlie rocked backward. She put both hands on the bed, shifting her weight, then did the craziest thing I’d ever seen. She crossed her legs, putting one over the other so that they straddled my chest while she fucked me.

It made everything between her legs even tighter and hotter. The dark elf buried me deep inside her once, twice, then shuddered as an orgasm washed over her beautiful body. Her cheeks went pink, sweat beading on her tits as she blew her bliss out and let me watch her walls drip all over my prick.

“Fuck, yes! ” Charlie’s mouth opened as wide as an opera singer’s as she rode out her climax. “Oh fuck, Jax, please! I’m ready, baby, I’m waiting for it! I’m begging for it!”

I’d already hit the point of no return. I thrust right through it, locking eyes with the dark elf as I reached the peak. I wanted her to know it when I came inside of her—when I made her mine forever, body and soul.

“Yes, yes, yes baby,” she babbled, grabbing the back of my head. “Shoot in me, Jax, please, shoot all that cream just fucking come inside of me…! ”

It was too much for me to resist. No man on Earth could have held back before an assault like that. The combination of Charlie’s filthy words and her acrobatic sex moves were too powerful to stop.

My cries of passion became a roar as I came. My cock jerked deep inside of Charlie, swelled—and shot. Her walls were so snug around me that I had no idea how I could shoot all the way into her womb, but I did. Thick ropes of liquid lava filled her womb, pumping her fuller than full. Each burst was an orgasm, each white-hot pulse of bliss an explosion behind my eyelids.

“Yes, yes thank you! ” Another orgasm crashed through Charlie, her body quivering around me as her inner muscles sucked my seed deep where it belonged. “Oh fuck, baby, there’s so much…!”

There was. I kept on shooting, over and over again until I was completely dry. By the time I was done, there was little doubt in my mind or the minds of any of my harem girls that I’d done my job.

Charlie kissed me once more once it was all over, then rolled to the side of the bed, sweating and satisfied. “That was exactly what I needed,” she panted, licking her lips. “Fuck, it’s all so fucking hot!”

I expected cheers. Instead, another woman mounted me.

“You ready to go again?” It was Stephanie, who looked like she’d gladly give me another pint of black blood if it meant fucking her like a beast. She reached between my legs and stroked my cock, still slick with the dark elf’s juices. “You sure as shit feel ready to go. You’re still so hard…”

I grinned. “Want to try and make it soft?” I asked.

Matching my grin, Stephanie impaled herself on my prick.

The next few hours were a blur. I know that I fucked each member of my harem at least once—most of them got a second or even a third helping before they were finally satisfied. Whenever I wasn’t balls-deep inside one of my harem girls, the others were anything but idle. I saw them kissing, fondling, trading enthusiastic dirty talk about how hot it would be for all of them to be carrying the savior of humanity’s babies.

By the time I was finished, the aftermath of the battle wasn’t the only source of my exhaustion. A pleasant ache filled my limbs, and streaks of my cum dried on the faces and tits of every woman who loved and followed me. To be honest, I was a little surprised I’d managed to cum at all: by the third or fourth fuck, I’d have assumed I was shooting nothing but little puffs of air.

Laughing, satisfied women surrounded me. Hands caressed me all over as I lay back against the pillow, and someone threw a blanket over our bodies.

Fuck, I thought, looking at my harem. I could sleep for a fucking week…

My eyes began to close.

And I realized that I’d been able to hear the sound of voices in the other room for some time now.

Huh?

Erika noticed them too. The pink-haired demon cracked an eyelid and peered at me in the darkness; most of the other harem girls were already snoozing, wearing nothing but smiles, bite marks and handprints on their ass cheeks.

“Master?” Sleepiness made her slur her words cutely. “There’s someone in here…”

Yawning, I rolled out of bed. I had the presence of mind to throw on one of the replicator’s robes before I stepped out into the hallway, which was good.

Because there were cameras.

Flashes accompanied me as I stepped into the great room. I’d never seen the Stronghold packed so full before: there were hundreds of humans standing in our rec room, wearing the uniforms of the Archon System. Many of them were still transformed, men and women with the powers of great beasts.

At their head was Heather, along with her camera crew.

A half-dozen men and women stood in a knot next to her. There was something different about those people, and I noticed it right away. They were… special, somehow. More powerful, maybe?

Heather saw me, smiled, and stepped forward. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “BNN wasn’t recording your fun.” She glanced over her shoulder. “There were a few private individuals with phones who might have made recordings of your women shaking the walls, however…”

I just laughed. I didn’t care—if anything, the performance appeared to have made most of the superhuman women in the chamber even more interested in me. I wondered how many of them had spent the last couple of hours fantasizing about stripping off their clothes, entering the bedroom and kneeling before me.

“No big deal,” I said. “I’m assuming we won?”

Heather laughed, giving me a wide-eyed stare. “Jax, you really don’t know what’s happened, do you?”

I looked from her to the people accompanying her. “What? What did we miss?”

One of the women extended a hand. She was Asian—Japanese—and the top of her head rose no higher than my shoulder. “It is an honor to meet you, Jaxon Bryant,” she whispered, her tone filled with awe and her English only slightly accented. “My name is Minato. I am… I mean, I have…”

Looking into her eyes, something clicked.

“You’re a Powermancer,” I realized.

She nodded. “There is a building like this one,” she said, gesturing around the fortress. “In Nagoya. I felt its call as soon as I awakened to the Archon System.”

My shock deepened. “You’re all Powermancers,” I said, my jaw falling open. “You’ve all got the gift, just like me…”

“They have,” Heather said, gesturing for her camera crew to start filming. “And each Powermancer has a Stronghold, Jax. In the last few hours, the new humans have discovered a dozen of them, just like this one. And we’re thinking there may be even more.” She smirked at me. “Humanity is never going to be the same. What do you think about that?”

As cheers rang out throughout the fortress, I shook my head in amazement. The people were looking for me to say something clever and stirring—and the new Powermancers were looking to me for guidance and assistance.

I was going to have a lot of work to do.

“I’m shocked,” I said, not having to lie. “I just…”

The door behind me opened. “Master?”

Erika stood in the doorway, accompanied with all of my other women. They’d thrown on bras and panties before coming out, but any human being with two brain cells to rub together could tell exactly what they looked like naked.

Just like they could tell my girls had been fucked. And fucked well.

“What’s going on?” Fliss asked, stepping forward. None of my women were holding onto their transformations, but they were all still gorgeous. Everyone was staring, and everyone was jealous. The only thing that changed with gender was whom they felt jealous of.

“Girls,” I said, grinning. “Come here. We’re giving an interview.”

My women shared confused glances, then started to laugh.

“Well,” Charlie said, “I don’t exactly look my best. But if you don’t mind…”

“Are you kidding?” Heather was aghast. “All of you look incredible. I’m green with envy!”

I turned to the camera, surrounded by my harem of hotties. “I want to make something really clear before we start,” I said, giving the crowd my most camera-perfect grin. “I might be the Powermancer. But these girls are the real reason humanity is free today…”

Fliss punched me on the shoulder. “He’s so modest,” she told the camera. “We couldn’t have done it without him.”

“He’s pretty fucking great,” Stephanie added.

“We love Master!” Erika giggled.

Mia rolled her eyes. “I’m sure the lady has questions,” the redhead growled. “Maybe we should get to it?”

“This is all wonderful,” Heather said, grinning. I could tell she had another Pulitzer Prize in her sights. “I suppose the first thing our viewers want to know is: how did all of this happen? How did the Powermancer and his harem girls meet, exactly?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s a long story,” I said. “But I guess we’ve got time now, don’t we?”

I looked at my women.

My harem.

My family.

They nodded.

And so, with an audience of millions hanging on my every word, I started to tell the story of a cool first date at an art museum in the midwest…

Epilogue

Three Months Later

“And so that’s pretty much it,” I said, giving the interviewer a sheepish grin. “Once the Archon System came back to life, my fate was pretty much set. The rest, as they say, is history.”

I sat in the middle of a massive couch, surrounded by my harem girls. In marked contrast to my first interview with Heather Holcomb, my women were all dressed—dressed up to the nines, in designer gear that had been provided by gracious fashionistas the world over in gratitude for awakening the Lattice and saving humanity. My uniform was a little starched compared to what the replicators in the Stronghold made for me, but I supposed I couldn’t complain.

This penthouse in Chicago was pretty different from the Stronghold, too. BNN’s headquarters had been destroyed in the final phase of the Bellum Aeternum, but in the three months following the end of what the press was calling the ‘Great War’, repairs had gone swiftly. It helped when nearly every human being on the planet had super strength, and no small percentage of them could fly.

Things had changed so quickly that the world as it used to be felt like a foreign land. We knew the Lattice would grant humanity power on a level never seen before, but what I hadn’t expected was the sense of connection it would foster between people. Humanity was more peaceful than it had ever been, and wonderful things were happening in the world.

Violence wasn’t entirely gone—not yet, at least—but it was hard to muster up much animosity towards an enemy when you had a common enemy like angels and demons to band against. War, at least, was in humanity’s rear-view mirror, if for no other reason than humanity’s new powers making any such proposition ‘mutually assured destruction’ on a scale never imagined.

One nice thing: my harem’s interviews with Heather never needed to be translated into any other languages. The innate connection between humans had many effects beyond superpowers, and one was that one day, people just started understanding each other’s words no matter what language they spoke.

A little boring compared to magical swords and world-destroying spells. But considering everything I’d been through, boring was pretty fucking great.

“I appreciate you sitting down with me once again, Councilman,” Heather said with a rakish smile. “It feels like only yesterday that we started having these chats—and yet so much longer than three months at the same time. Any concerns about the big meeting tonight?”

Oh yeah. The meeting.

In the aftermath of the Bellum Aeternum, humanity was forced to come up with a new, temporary form of government. The old borders between nations simply didn’t work, while enforcing law and order became an increasingly large headache thanks to the massive, swelling numbers of ordinary human beings with superhuman powers.

The answer we came up with was the Archon’s League. It might not be the best answer, or the final one, but my women and I were committed to it. For the moment, at least.

Every Powermancer was a leader in the Archon’s League. I knew all of them by name now—there were nearly two dozen just like me, from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe. Most of them had harems just as large as mine, if not even larger.

A couple of them, like Minato, had even hooked up with me and my harem. A Powermancer having another Powermancer as his harem girl was the sort of thing no one had dared to try yet, but from the way my women talked about it, they were more than willing for me to go out on a limb and become the first.

After all, most of them were about to become parents. I was going to need a few more girls to keep me occupied.

Even as I thought it, I felt Heather’s gaze traveling from me to my women. By now, even the camera couldn’t fail to notice the gentle swell that Charlie had beneath her Harley Quinn t-shirt or the thickening around her hips and tits. We hadn’t announced it just yet, but she wasn’t the only one of my girls who’d gotten a positive pregnancy test since the end of the Bellum Aeternum. Half the women sitting with me on the couch were carrying my future child.

Which half? I was keeping that to my chest for now. But I felt certain that Heather and the others would start speculating soon enough.

“It looks like the Powermancer’s personal band might be growing by leaps and bounds in the future?” Heather asked, cocking her eyebrow.

Polite laughter greeted her question. The term ‘ personal band’ had become probably the biggest meme in the last three months—everyone knew exactly what it meant; a harem. All the Powermancers had them, and many of the more powerful superhumans did, too.

Strangely, personal bands were starting to get more common everywhere else, too. I wondered if the Archon System had something to do with that, but it was probably just my frequent TV appearances and the air of glamor they gave me and my girls. Monkey see, monkey do.

You put a guy with a harem of beautiful women on the television, everyone’s going to want one, I thought, smiling internally. Well, there were worse things in the world to want.

“Oh, we’re very, very happy,” Charlie said, stroking her bump in a way I knew would stoke a whole new wave of rumors on the Internet tomorrow. “We’ve all been telling Jax he’s got a lot to live up to. Some of us have been calling him a modern Ghengis Khan…”

Fliss giggled at that. “He’d have a pretty hard time beating that high score,” she said, draping an arm over my shoulder. “Though I wouldn’t mind watching you try…”

Heather’s lips compressed to a tight little line. I could tell she wanted to end the interview right then and there, but she had a final question for me before we wrapped up.

“Councilman Bryant… since the awakening of the Lattice, humanity has received no further incursions from the spiritual realm. Angels, demons, and all sundry: they’ve been giving us a wide berth ever since you activated the Archon System worldwide.”

My women all leaned forward a bit, giving the interviewer their complete attention. I sat up a little straighter. “Yes, that’s true.”

“I suppose my question—and the question on the minds of so many viewers at home who’ve watched the world change so much over the last few months is this: is it really over?”

I thought about that. Really thought about it.

The gates of Heaven and Hell were still open a crack. If they weren’t, Erika wouldn’t be here with us, and I’d have lost a member of my harem forever. It was possible for an angel or a demon to slip the veil and cause havoc in the mortal world, but none of them seemed interested in doing so lately.

The future looked bright. But there was that message Erika received a few days after settling in at the Stronghold once we’d stopped the Obsidian Eye’s ritual.

A message from her father.

He congratulated me on my victory—and told me how much he was ‘looking forward to a rematch’ in a few decades. So there was that I had to worry about, at the absolute least.

From his counterpart, the Nameless Angel, I’d heard nothing at all. The Almighty’s herald either chose to be silent or could reach us no longer.

I cleared my throat. “We have to stay vigilant,” I told Heather. “Now that we have these powers, we have to make sure they don’t get out of hand—we have to use them for good. I pledge to do that, and all the other members of the Archon’s League have pledged the same.”

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Fliss added. “But the future is bright.”

“ So bright,” Charlie said, putting her hand on her bump.

The interview wrapped up after that. Ten seconds after the camera was off, Heather Holcomb was sitting in my lap and making out with me while my other girls hooted and hollered. Mia negotiated with a couple of the crew members, insisting on a few small changes in post that would make our interview look even better than it already did.

“God, I can’t believe I have to keep pretending to have neutrality,” Heather gasped, breaking the kiss. “The whole time we were talking, I just wanted to rip off my microphone and mount you in front of everyone!”

“Maybe you should do it!” Erika suggested. An impish gleam glistened in her eyes, and I remembered what Mia said about ‘taking the hell out of the demon’. She was always going to encourage the women around me to do lewd things, and I was okay with it. “I mean, the FTC hasn’t been censoring shit since the Bellum Aeternum. You could totally get away with it…”

Heather and Erika were about to start a whole fantasy where the reporter got publicly fucked on her own newscast. But before they could, the door opened and a harried-looking secretary arrived.

“Excuse me… Miss Holcomb?” She carried a small wrapped gift box, like a Christmas present, but she was holding it like it was a poisonous snake she’d found on the side of the road. “I need to show you something.”

“Hmm?” Heather glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, what is that? A present? For me?”

The secretary shook her head. “It’s, um, for him. ”

And she pointed at me.

I stiffened. I sat up and gently shifted Heather into the seat next to mine. Now what was this ?

“It came during the interview,” the woman explained, making a face. “The person who brought it—I couldn’t see their face. I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman. But they said you would want this…”

I took the package, feeling only a slight trepidation. The thought of an assassination attempt wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility—there were plenty of Powermancers who probably thought they could do an even better job of running the Archon’s League than I could—but actually trying to kill me didn’t feel like something any of them would do. There’d been hardly any murders worldwide, actually, since the Archon System activated across humanity.

“You sure this is safe?” Charlie whispered.

“Nope,” I said. “Maybe you girls should leave the room, just in case.”

“Fuck that!” Charlie snickered, pulling a face. “If whatever’s in this box tries to kill you, I want to be right there to kick its ass!”

I peeled off the paper. Underneath of it was a small wooden box, covered in arcane symbols. The craftsmanship was impeccable. I could tell this had been made by a true artisan, someone skilled at the art of creating beautiful things.

I just didn’t know what it was supposed to be.

My women all crowded around, peering over my shoulder at the box. After a moment, Fliss gasped. “Give me the box?” she asked.

I handed it over to her. Her fingers traced the symbols on the front of the box, lingering longer on a larger glyph near the center of the main design.

“I know what this is,” Fliss announced. “I’ve seen it before—in my father’s collection.”

“What is it?” Stephanie asked.

Fliss frowned. “It’s the crest of Ys, one of the ancient cities that fell the last time humanity tried to win the Bellum Aeternum. This is… Jax. This box is thousands of years old. Older than the pyramids…”

With a nod, I took the box back. “Let’s see what’s inside this old box.”

I popped the lid. No poison dart sprang from inside, and no poison gas filled the room. I’d been wrong—this was no assassination attempt.

Inside the box was a little silver key and a note.

The note interested me, but something about that key tugged my very soul. I felt like I’d seen it in a dream, that it was something I’d been subconsciously looking for it for all my life. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d taken the key from the box and slipped it into the pocket of my jacket. The metal was cold against my fingers.

Then I stood up and took the note out of the box. I didn’t want my women peeking at this part. I’d tell them what was in the note, of course, but it was meant for me, and me alone.

I read it, while my women gathered around and tried to catch a glimpse.

Then I read it again.

Finally the silence in the room stretched until it snapped. “Well?” Charlie asked, holding her bump like she was ready to defend her unborn child. “What does it say, babe?”

I looked up from the note. Tears streamed down my face.

“It’s from my parents,” I said, my hands shaking around the parchment. “They’re alive.”

My women were stunned.

“And they want to meet their son,” I whispered. “The one who just saved the world…”

End of Book 3

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