by Dante King
I stepped through the portal, leaving my trio of harem girls behind in my subspace.
It was time to find out what was going on with Maddie, and bring the last member of my harem home for the mission.
Chapter 6
The Celestial Academy was surprisingly quiet. No chorus of heavenly trumpets greeted me as I stepped through into the great hall. No gaggle of seraphim taking a smoke break pointed at me and began giggling excitedly. The upstairs set was in the middle of classes, learning about the cardinal virtues in their Schools, and as such, I had nearly the entire Academy to myself.
I snuck through the halls, moving quickly and with a purpose. I’d found through experience that the best way to get people to leave you alone when you were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be was to act like you belonged there. I’d gotten into concerts that way back when I was in college, and I used those skills now, walking like I was on my way to a meeting. The few angels out in the hallways between classes barely spared me a second glance.
In truth, I was worried about being caught. Not that I could get in trouble for being in the Celestial Academy—after all, I was a dual enrollment student with access to both Hell and Heaven’s colleges. But I had unfinished business in these halls, and there was one person among the angelic set I very much was not ready to see.
Judyth Dominia, the school’s Headmistress.
Technically, I was a spy for Judyth. I’d agreed to gather information on the Infernal Realm for her, in exchange for Maddie’s safety while attending the Celestial Academy. The angels had too many damned rules—if Judyth wanted, it would be easy to find an excuse to expel both me and my angelic girlfriend. Staying on the Headmistress’s good side kept Maddie safe and allowed me to gain the knowledge of the other side I’d one day need to take over for Lucifer as Archlord of Hell.
The only problem was, it meant I owed Judyth. And I hadn’t even begun to pay up.
I don’t want to get on her bad side, I thought, worming through a narrow hallway that allowed me to skip the Fortitude School entirely. Just like the Infernal Academy’s syllabus was based around the seven deadly sins, the angelic academy revolved around virtues. That bitch was cold enough to leave her chief lieutenant in the Fae Realm to die. She’d toss me and my harem into a lake of fire in a heartbeat, just to watch us squirm.
I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Holofernes. The Angel of Vengeance had seemed like the only check on Judyth’s power while I’d been taking classes in the Celestial Academy. With him gone, there was no one to stop Headmistress Dominia from ruling the place with an iron fist.
What was happening with him? Was he still alive?
I was still thinking about it when I came around the corner and slammed face-first into a very surprised angel.
Panic flared in me for a moment, and I was sure the alarm was about to be raised—until I saw who it was standing before me.
Gordon, one of the Fortitude School’s most talented angels.
“By the Virtues!” Gordon rubbed his bald pate, his halo hanging at an angle that reminded me of a backward baseball cap. “What are you doing here today, Luke? I thought you weren’t due back for more Celestial classes for a couple of weeks now?”
I put a finger to my lips, silencing the big angel.
“Here for a special mission,” I told Gordon. “I need to pick up Maddie for it. Any idea where she might be?”
Gordon thought about it for a moment.
“She just left Fortitude about a half-hour ago,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t know her exact schedule, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to a Divination lesson with Professor Eiko after sparring practice?”
Perfect.
Eiko’s tower was located in the heart of the Prudence School, the Celestial Academy’s equivalent of the Infernal Realm’s Pride School. Which made it a dangerous place to tread—but paradoxically, the safest place to hide from Judyth. She’d never look for me in her own backyard, and Eiko’s tower was nice and isolated even by Celestial standards.
“Thanks for the tip,” I said, nodding at him. “By the way, please don’t tell your boss that I’m here. I’m trying to avoid running into her…”
Gordon laughed. “I couldn’t tell Judyth if I wanted, Luke. The Headmistress isn’t here.”
I’d been in the middle of stepping away when he said that. I froze in my tracks, absorbing the new knowledge as I was drawn up short.
“What!? What do you mean, Judyth isn’t here?” I asked.
“She’s on sabbatical,” Gordon said with a shrug. “Taking some time off, apparently. No one really knows what she’s up to—it’s not like Judyth’s the kind of person to let people in on her plans.”
“How long has she been gone?” I asked, my mind whirling.
Gordon had to put a thumb against his chin and think about it.
“A couple of days, I guess,” he said with another of those shrugs. “I’m not that upset that she’s gone, to tell you the truth. Whole place feels a little bit less high pressure with her out of the building, you know?”
I knew. But I also knew that if Judyth was outside of the Celestial Realm, then she was planning something.
“Thanks for letting me know,” I told Gordon, giving him a fist-bump as I headed out. No worries that he’d go blabbing to any angels—Gord was a pretty good guy. He didn’t seem to give a shit about good or evil, as long as he got to spar and compete. The guy lived for fighting and sports.
I moved like an arrow toward my destination, following the path like a pirate with a treasure map.
The news about Judyth had left me on high alert, so I took no chances on my way through the Prudence School.
The ice cavern with its gorgeous palace and spires of wintry frost filled me with a deep sense of unease as I slipped unseen toward Eiko’s tower.
This was Judyth’s kingdom. Why was her throne empty?
The question pursued me all the way up the stairs to Eiko’s chambers.
Gaps in the stairs let me look out on the icy kingdom that was the pride and joy of the Celestial School. A few angels flew back and forth through the air, enjoying the updrafts, but for the most part, no one spared a glance at little old me making my way up the tower.
Like a snake, I thought, grinning to myself. In the Garden of Eden.
These people had no idea how badly I wanted to corrupt them all.
The sound of chanting reached my ears as I ascended the last flight of steps.
Eiko’s door stood open a crack, shelves stuffed with books visible on the opposite wall.
The chanting was in two different voices: Eiko’s, along with one I would have recognized anywhere.
My angelic girlfriend, Maddie.
That explained a lot. Maddie wouldn’t be picking up her phone if she were in the middle of a lesson—much less one of Eiko’s lessons.
The gorgeous Divination instructor was almost too sultry for the Celestial Academy’s roster—she liked to meditate naked, for starters, and didn’t seem too put out by fornicating with one of Lucifer’s candidates for Archlord.
That’s right, I’d tasted Eiko—though not long enough to bind her to me.
Being with an older, experienced woman had felt amazing, and I’d been sorely tempted to add her to the harem—but the fact of her being an instructor at the Celestial Academy held me back. Both of us would get in too much trouble, so I’d just made her come on my cock twice and called it a day.
As I approached the door, Eiko’s chanting broke off.
“Enter,” the Divination instructor purred, a knowing lilt to her tone. “Don’t just stand there on the threshold—you’re much too bold for that…”
I swallowed hard.
Had she just been thinking the same thing as me?
Only one way to find out.
Marshalling my courage, I stepped inside.
Eiko was indeed meditating naked, as was her custom. The beautiful Asian-looking instructor sat cross-legged before a mas
sive pit of sand, watching through heavy-lidded eyes as Maddie worked her way through whatever lesson Eiko intended to teach.
It looked like the pair of them were standing in a Japanese Zen Garden, and the long-handled rake in Maddie’s hand only added to the feeling.
“Ah, Luke Bell. I knew you were just about to arrive.” Eiko couldn’t have sounded smugger about it if she tried. “Is everything in my tower to your liking, young man?”
It most certainly was.
Most women looked even better in some skimpy clothing than they did naked, but Eiko was one hell of an exception. With her high cheekbones, raven-dark hair, and ample breasts, she looked like some kind of empress or courtesan from a samurai epic.
Her four fox tails beat a tattoo against the floor around her thighs, two black and two white. Was that her restraining her excitement to see me—like a dog happy to see its Master coming home? Or was she just toying with me?
“Very much so,” I said, tearing my eyes away with reluctance from the naked form of the mature instructor. “You haven’t been answering your phone, Maddie?”
My angelic girlfriend stood staring deeply into the lines she’d made on the sand. At the sound of my voice, she gave a start like someone snapping out of a trance, shaking herself gently.
A big smile spread across her face at the sight of me, and she dropped the rake and came racing over to me.
“Luke!” Maddie was in my arms, giggling and squeeing. “It’s so good to see you, baby! What brings you to the Celestial Realm?”
“I missed you,” I murmured, then corrected myself. “But that’s not the only reason. I messaged you, but you must have been way too into this lesson to pick up.”
Eiko leaned back smoothly, a beam of sunlight from the ceiling illuminating her naked breasts.
“You’re going to the Fae Realm,” the instructor said, the corner of her mouth making a Mona Lisa smile.
Maddie’s mouth formed a little ‘o’ of surprise. “What? Again?”
She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone that, but I got the distinct impression Eiko knew everything there was to know about our excursion in the liminal zone already.
“It’s kind of an emergency,” I said, putting an arm around Maddie’s waist.
Holy shit it felt good to hold her. I loved using my demon girls like living sex toys, but there was just a different energy between me and Maddie. Something more like the old-school version of love and devotion than the perverted stuff I got up to with the rest of my harem—though Maddie could be plenty freaky when the moment called for it.
“I’ll explain when we meet the rest of the harem,” I said. “We’ve got a new member, by the way.”
Maddie’s face lit up. “Is it Raquelle!? Oh, Luke, I’m so happy—but I wish I could have been there!”
“It’s better this way,” Eiko said smoothly. As if she knew everything.
I whirled on the instructor, irritation on my face. “How do you know about the Fae Realm?”
A smug smirk spread across the instructor’s obscenely hot goddess face. “What sort of Professor of Divination would I be were I not to know a thing like that?” She gestured for me to approach the dais on which she sat. “Come closer. I want to show you something, Luke Bell.”
I hesitated. Was this some kind of trap?
Eiko certainly hadn’t seemed to be on Judyth’s side back when we’d made love for the first time. Yet that could all have been part of the plan: like an undercover cop who let themself get in deep with a cartel, Eiko could have allowed herself to be fucked right up to the point of falling under my control in order to ingratiate herself with my harem.
She could be working for Judyth, her agent in the Prudence School, planning to capture me—
Stop it, I told myself.
Down that road lay madness. I could not allow my paranoia to get the better of me. If I did, I’d be seeing enemies around every corner.
Besides, I’d seen the look in Eiko’s eyes when I drove my cock deep inside of her. I’d felt her walls grip me like they never wanted to let me go while she rode me, skillfully gripping my prick with her soft folds. I knew there was no betrayal in this woman’s heart.
I stood beside her. My eyes remained fixed on her curves, which made Eiko’s smile deepen.
“Look down,” she purred, pointing at the pit of sand. “Tell me what you see.”
“Sand,” I said, glancing at the lines Maddie had driven into the flat expanse of sand. There were some patterns, to be sure, but nothing I could make any sense of.
“Sand!” Eiko repeated with a land. “Maddie and I have been practicing Sand Divination—an ancient art, the practice of seeing the future in patterns of sand. Specifically, your future.” Eiko leaned back. “That’s why she hasn’t been checking her phone. Look closer, Luke Bell. Look into the fragments of becoming.”
At first, I didn’t understand what she meant. All I saw was an endless expanse of sand, stretching from one end of my view to the other.
Then the sand began to swirl like a spiral, forming a whirlpool that washed over all three of us.
“What the hell!?” I yelled, raising my voice over the sound of the storm. “Is this some kind of trick, Eiko!?”
“No trick,” the instructor assured me.
Oddly, the sand didn’t seem to touch her—it rolled around her naked body rather than scraping it, though endless grains of it cut across my robes while the walls embraced us.
“Watch closely, Luke,” Eiko said. “Watch the future!”
Lights flashed in the darkness. At first, the images I saw in each brief explosion of light made no sense—then I realized what I was seeing.
The Fae Realm.
I saw myself riding atop of a massive armored tank, leading an army into battle. I saw my girls fighting, unleashing untold amounts of supernatural energy against an army of Fae monsters.
Christina, Mareth, Maddie, Raquelle—even Lilith entered the fray, fighting against the same twisted fairy tale elves we’d fought in the liminal zone.
Only now there were more of them. A lot more.
“It’s a whole army!” I howled as the scenes changed.
They flashed and flickered now, like a film reel that had split in the middle of an act. A sad-eyed redhead wearing a tiara. Lucifer looking more haggard than I’d ever seen the Prince of Darkness. Lilith speared through by an unseen figure wielding a golden bow. Christina screaming as her leathery wings were torn off her body.
I saw the Celestial Academy, and the Infernal one, invaded by a fleet of Fae. A gray-skinned female elf stood at their head, accepting the surrender of the faculty with a wicked smile stretched too-far across her face.
There was only one conclusion I could draw from all of this: we were up against something very, very bad in the Fae Realm. Something that could resist my entire team, that could invade our Realms like an army…
Before the vision faded, I saw the most horrible thing of all.
Armies of Fae clambering at the Pearly Gates and the Infernal Entrance, kicking open the doors to Hell and Heaven. Sweeping all the Realms, knocking them down like dominos before turning toward the ultimate prize.
Earth.
The walls of sand collapsed around me, and the three of us were back in Eiko’s study.
Tears streamed down Maddie’s cheeks, my angelic girlfriend’s shoulders shaking in silent sobs.
I could tell that what she’d seen had affected her deeply—and if I were to look in a mirror, I’d probably see a similar expression on my own face.
Lilith and Christina taking mortal wounds? My whole harem being destroyed by the Fae?
It was unthinkable. Impossible.
“What am I looking at?” I said, rubbing sweat from my forehead.
My knees shook gently as I got control of myself, turning to look at Eiko.
The raven-haired Divination instructor leaned back against her chair, sighing like she’d just set down a heavy weight.
I knew what she
was going to say before she said it.
“The Day of Judgement,” Eiko whispered, speaking the ancient words.
It was just as I feared.
But even I couldn’t have guessed what she’d say next.
“You, Luke Bell,” Eiko said, a faint smile playing across her features. “You are about to cause it.”
Chapter 7
I stared at Eiko, shocked to my core.
The Day of Judgement?
I’d thought the fucking Day of Judgement was just a legend—the Infernal and Celestial equivalent of Ragnarök. A day that might come in the distant future when the combined forces of Heaven and Hell met on a battlefield to decide the fate of all existence.
On a logical level, I knew that might be something that could happen—maybe somewhere near the end of time. The thought that not only would I live through the Day of Judgement, but that I might be its catalyst!?
It blew my mind.
“That’s not possible,” I said, the words falling like ash from my lips. “The Day of Judgement is just a myth…”
Eiko laughed, but there was nothing humorous about her tone.
“It is anything but,” the instructor said, still making no move to cover up her nudity. “Though he knows it not, your servant Oni has unintentionally set both Heaven and Hell on the path to the Day of Judgement, Luke. But while Oni doused both Realms in gasoline, it’s you who is going to light the fuse. You, Luke Bell, will be the catalyst that pushes both the Celestial and Infernal Academies into outright war.”
I couldn’t believe it.
“I won’t,” I said, shaking my head. “There’s no way I’d do that! I don’t want to start a war—I just want to succeed Lucifer as the Lord of Hell!”
“You don’t have a choice,” Eiko said sadly. “If you continue on the path you are walking, the Day of Judgement will be inevitable. As you’ve seen, both Heaven and Hell will be conquered by the Fae. Your harem will be utterly destroyed, and while your own future is more uncertain, I doubt you want to continue in a world without your women.”
Tears flowed freely down Maddie’s cheeks now, and her sobs were no longer silent.
