A Demon's Horns: Vice College For Young Demons: Year One

by Marie Mistry

  “She’s my mate too, you arrogant ass!” Jin yelled back, cutting an impressive figure despite only wearing his boxers.

  Aeron crushed the ice with a flex of his hand, sending it flying back towards Jin in a hailstorm of sharp blades. I cried out as one passed so close to my face that I saw my reflection. “Stop it both of you,” I shouted.

  But they didn’t listen. Jin formed the ice shards into a puddle of water that acted as a shield against the fiery blast that Aeron aimed at him next. The rebounded fire caught the bottom of the bedsheets I was wearing, whilst Jin’s icicle riposte sliced my shoulder as it passed me.

  Both men looked at me in shock as I collapsed.

  “Lilith,” they called out as one, both hustling over to me.

  “Don’t touch her!” Nelly yelled, giving up pulling at Aeron, and instead barging past him to cover me, followed by Lulu.

  “You two stupid assholes get out of here right now.” Lulu was actually crying as she extinguished the flames, and I felt tears of my own start to slip down my cheeks.

  “Lilith…” Aeron was gaping at me. “It was an accident!” he protested.

  “Pet, you know I’d never willingly hurt you.” Jin looked horrified. “I physically couldn’t if I tried.”

  I shook my head mutely, but Nelly was my voice.

  “Well accident or not, willingly or not you both clearly have hurt her, now get out of here before you do any more damage.”

  Aeron’s mouth snapped closed, regret etched on his face as he executed a stiff nod of his head before turning on his heel and leaving.

  “You too,” Nelly insisted, looking at Jin with disdain as Lulu chucked his clothes at him from the heap on the floor.

  Jin wasn’t so easily banished. He approached me, ducking past Nelly to press a kiss to my cheek. “I’m so sorry, Pet. I will make this better.” The sincerity shone in his eyes as he collected Doughnut from his hiding spot under my blazer and shuffled out of the room.

  “Men!” Nelly harrumphed, slamming the door after him. “Can’t think past their dicks, the lot of them.”

  “Don’t worry Lilith.” Lulu tried to comfort me with a big squeeze. “We’ll fix you up and then get someone to fix up your room.”

  “Fights break out all the time in the towers,” Nelly added, grabbing me a fresh uniform and rifling through my drawers for underwear. “It’ll be good as new by the time you get back. But for now, come to our room, we’ll get you cleaned up.”

  I allowed them to lead me out of the destroyed room, barely even noticing the damage done to it until Nelly closed the door behind us and I saw the way the door listed to one side.

  A long shower later, and I sat fully dressed on the end of Lulu’s bed playing absently with the replacement ring Hadrian had given me after the previous one had snapped. I had to keep this one in my pocket because it was too large for my fingers, yet would no longer fit over my larger horns.

  “How’s the burn?” Nelly asked, examining my rapidly healing shoulder.

  “Fine,” I muttered, tucking the ring into my pocket before looking at the blistering flesh of my calf. “The top up Jin gave me is helping. I won’t even feel it by lunch.”

  “At least he’s good for something,” she scoffed, moving away to get her things as Lulu handed me my bag.

  “We’ve missed breakfast, but there’s a few vending machine bars in your bag,” she told me. Inwardly I mourned the loss of the pastries I had smelled that morning, likely lost in the destruction. “Want us to walk you to class so we can talk about it on the way?”

  I shook my head, checking the door was closed before I spoke. “There’s nothing to talk about. I don’t know how anyone thought seven mates would ever work in the first place!” I took a deep shuddering breath. “One doesn’t want me, another’s destined to die for me, some of them despise one another and I still haven’t found the last two.” I sulked after them as they left the room. “Knowing my luck, they’ll both hate me.”

  Lulu gave Nelly a pointed look.

  “Lilith, you remember our vow?” Nelly asked as we pushed through the tower door and filed outside. The grounds were deserted, with most people inside for breakfast.

  I nodded, “Lulu’s kept it a secret, so I’ll keep my end of the bargain.”

  Both of them nodded.

  So, I took a deep breath, checked that we were alone and told them. We dawdled down the pathway between the Tower and the castle, checking furtively around us for eavesdroppers as I explained mating Aeron, and then finding the Order of Shadows and talking with the Strange God. I told them about my vision of Professor Saxon and the unnamed people coming to kill me and then how the Order had tried to protect me from the Tester. I spoke wistfully about mating Daron by accident and how shy and sweet he was in comparison to the rest of my mates. Then I explained about last night, how innocently trying to give back a rat had led to my mating Jin and Kain, and how Kain had looked when I’d told him about monogamy.

  When I was finished, I felt like a weight had gone from my shoulders. Nelly and Lulu were quiet, conversing in their own twin way for several minutes, but when we reached the door, Lulu spoke.

  “So, obviously we will be joining this Order of Shadows,” she began. “But I think our best chance of helping would be to find the rest of your mates. As Lust Caste we can case the other towers for potentials and report back. We can also beat Kain into his senses and prod Daron with tips to get him into your bed.”

  “You’ve met mates from Lust, Pride, Wrath, Envy and Sloth,” Nelly mused. “That leaves Greed and Gluttony.”

  “We don’t even know if the last two go to Vice,” I grumbled. “And do I really want to find the other two if it means more of this squabbling and drama?”

  “The alternative is you dying,” Lulu reminded me. “I’m all for team mating personally.”

  “We should help by getting you time alone with Blaze.” Nelly twirled a piece of her hair around her finger thoughtfully. “He’s the only one you haven’t actually mated with yet.”

  “Because he’s going to die if he gets too close to me,” I protested. “I have plenty of time alone with him, he walks me back to my room all the time.” I sighed as we approached Maddox’s door. “If anything, trying to juggle them all is one of my biggest problems.”

  “You’ll manage,” Lulu reassured me. “I have twelve lovers at the moment just to keep up with exams. The secret is to be open with one another.”

  I waved goodbye to both of them before I rolled my eyes. If Aeron, Kain and Jin were ever open with one another, I’d willingly dance naked in front of Calandra Pruitt. That thought had me smirking slightly as I crossed the threshold into Maddox’s class.

  Chapter 28

  I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of the classroom. For the last few weeks the desks had been set out for group work, but now they were back to their normal rows. People were sitting in their old seats, turning around and looking at their groups with expressions of confusion on their faces.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Bane, sliding into my old spot beside him.

  “No idea,” he muttered, then did a double take and properly looked at me. “Lilith have you been crying?”

  I nodded my head. “Is it noticeable?” I didn’t have any mascara and eyeliner to run, thanks to the school’s no-make-up policy, but I was willing to bet that my eyes were red and puffy.

  “A bit,” he admitted, just as Maddox swept into the classroom.

  “Good morning class,” Maddox announced brusquely. “Our work towards this year’s exams is on hold for the day, owing to the need to test all of you for any ability in advanced energy manipulation.” There were mutters and frowns exchanged between students, but Maddox held up a hand for silence. “You will recall at the start of the year I announced that a few of you would be judged gifted enough to take my elective module in specialised energy manipulation next year. These tests will determine those few.”

  More mutters floated through
the classroom. This time Maddox permitted them to carry on for a while before removing a small phial and a white piece of tile from his desk drawer. “The test is quick, and usually there is a negative result at the end. I must urge you not to be disappointed when you are not successful, fewer than one in ten of you will be gifted. I will be calling you up to my desk one by one, where you will direct a beam of pure PK energy into a drop of this solution. The theory behind this fascinating formula is that it reacts to the subliminal levels of energy in your power and changes colour dependant on what it detects. No colour change is a negative result, but a person who is particularly gifted, for example in vitakinesis – or healing as you might know it – will see the liquid turn a bright pink. I have the full book of colour combinations here, but I know almost all of them by now.”

  The room was silent now, staring at the tiny glass phial like it was our doom.

  “We’ll go alphabetically, the rest of you are on silent study till the end of the lesson,” Maddox said, drawing out a sheet of names and placing it beside the tiny phial and the worn-looking book. “Daron Abraxon.”

  Daron’s chair scraped against the floor as he trudged towards the teacher. Maddox took a pipette of the clear liquid and let a single drop fall onto the tile.

  Daron hovered awkwardly before the desk, his eyes glued to the tile.

  “A tiny beam of energy, if you please,” Maddox said, not unkindly.

  Daron’s eyebrows furrowed, and the whole class watched in awe as the drop on the tile slowly turned a bright, iridescent silver colour before switching to a dull, dark grey. It flipped between both colours, and Maddox let out a low whistle. “Interesting.” He pondered, scribbling something on the sheet. “Ferrokinesis is the dark grey…” He flipped through the book. “Electrokinesis for the silver. It isn’t rare to see two talents of a similar type in a person, but it’s interesting when it happens. I’m certain we’ll have fun discovering what you can do with them in my class next year.” He stopped scribbling. “You may go.”

  The next few people passed without their drops changing at all, and then the dreaded moment came when Maddox called my name.

  “Lilith Carazor.”

  Bane smiled reassuringly at me as I got up and moved around the desk, but all I could see as I climbed the steps to the teacher’s platform was the tiny little drop taunting me. What if it showed me nothing? Or worse, what if it showed me a power I didn’t want?

  “Ready when you are,” Maddox prompted, and I realised I’d been staring at the tile.

  I shot a beam of energy into the droplet.

  The change was instant, as though someone had dropped purple ink into the bubble. The colour spread outwards, darkening to a shade so dark it was almost black. But the white tile left no doubt that it was really a deep, deep violet. Then it flickered to a shade of glittery lavender and swiftly back again.

  Maddox frowned and consulted his book, flicking through pages and then muttering.

  “You have a gift for pathokinesis, you may go,” he muttered.

  I frowned. “What is that?” I asked, staring at the purple dot as if that would tell me, wondering why it kept flickering back to lavender, and why he hadn’t said a second gift.

  Maddox shot me a look. “Come see me after class.” Was all he would say.

  I trudged down from the platform and back to my desk to the whispers of the class. I glanced at Daron who shrugged, and then at Rina who was biting her lip with the expression of someone who knows something they shouldn’t.

  Finally, I glanced at Bane, who was staring at me like I was a puzzle he couldn’t work out.

  I sat next to him once again as Maddox called the next person up.

  The drop stubbornly refused to change colour for anyone else. Even when Rina went up, head high as if expecting it to change for her, she left disappointed. By the time it was Bane’s turn, I had begun to tune out the endless stream of people going up to the desk. So whilst I gave him a small smile as he got up, I turned back to my book.

  I looked up again as the whispers started once more to find Bane standing at the desk in front of a droplet that was flicking between a leafy green, a shimmery blue and a mud brown.

  “Terrakinesis, phytokinesis…” He flicked through the book again. “Crystallokinesis. You have a fine talent with the earth, plants and crystals. I hope to see you in my class next year, Krossian.”

  Bane nodded, turning to return to his seat as girl I didn’t know raised her hand.

  “Yes?”

  “Sir, we all know terrakinesis so why didn’t it show up in our drops?” She sounded put out.

  “Only energy manipulations for which you are particularly gifted show in the formula.” Maddox waved the question away. “Like I said, don’t be disappointed. It’s a rare thing.”

  Only one other droplet changed colour after that, and Maddox didn’t even need to look up the dusky pink colour. “Audiokinesis.” He announced to the nervous looking boy in front of him. “The manipulation of sound. Quite common, but surprisingly useful.”

  He scribbled more down on his list. “That’s all of you.” He sighed. “You may as well go early, I doubt you’ll get much more done today.” He glanced at me. “Lilith, remain behind.”

  I packed up my bag and headed towards the desk, but Maddox ignored me until everyone had left the room. Everyone except Daron and Bane, who came to stand beside me, almost daring Maddox to say something against it.

  “What I am about to say may come as a slight shock,” Maddox announced. “Lilith, you do have a gift for pathokinesis, or emotion manipulation, but your second gift is odynokinesis, the ability to manipulate pain.”

  I shook my head, uncomprehending. “I don’t… Why would I want either of those?” I looked down at the little tile. “I think there must be a mistake.”

  Maddox shook his head. “I’m going to have to report both gifts to the school,” he muttered. “But neither of them is a common gift.” He frowned at the droplet. “I’ve never seen either of them in a test before.”

  I looked at him incredulously. “How many times have you done the test?”

  “Thousands of times, probably more.” Maddox sighed. “Don’t worry too much about it, Lilith. But be wary. I’ll have Hadrian start teaching you more about your gifts. He may think that physical strength is important, but he’s waited too long.”

  I frowned thinking of the unfinished arena which I’d only worked on for three days. “If he’s waited too long, it’s because I’m too slow,” I defended the gentle giant.

  “Then for your own sake, hurry up.” Maddox rubbed his temples. “I have another class to get ready for and you look like death warmed up. Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “It’s just silly drama, nothing to worry about.”

  “Yes, I imagine seven mates would be exhausting.” Maddox smiled slightly. “You’re more than capable of dealing with them.”

  I nodded, though I wasn’t sure I agreed, and left him to mutter over his paperwork.

  When we were in the corridor, Bane and Daron both turned to me.

  “Do you want to go to the library?” Bane asked.

  I shook my head, feeling my eyes tear up slightly as I thought of Jin who I usually sat with in the library.

  “Outside then?” he asked, looking through the window at the bleak weather.

  I couldn’t make them suffer sitting in the cold just because I was too chicken to go to the library.

  “No, we can just eat in the hall,” I mumbled.

  “What’s going on?” Daron asked, “You looked upset even before Maddox told you your gift. Did something happen after I left last night?”

  I suppressed a shudder. “Too much happened.” I mumbled, checking the corridor was deserted before continuing. “Kain doesn’t want me, Jin and Aeron nearly had a duel in my bedroom. The only reason they even stopped was because I ended up getting hurt.” Both Bane and Daron stiffened at that news.

  “That’s not like my brother,”
Bane began carefully.

  “Jin and I… He was giving me power.” I thought wistfully about the way Jin had played my body before Aeron interrupted us. “Aeron came in.” I frowned. “I never meant for him to find out like that, but he can’t expect me to have seven mates and only sleep with him. He knows I can’t get as much power from just a kiss.”

  Daron stared. “You can’t?”

  I blushed as I realised my rant had revealed more than I’d meant to. “No. It helps, really, it does. But I can’t get as much as I can from…” I shuffled uncomfortably. “Either way, I don’t want to go to the library where Jin will be, and I’m not exactly sure where I could go to escape having to see Aeron, but I’m starving so I might have to risk it.”