Sympathy For The Devil

“ I s everything ready for the retrieval tomorrow?”

Standing behind my enormous mahogany desk, I glare at the staff gathered in front of me. We are way behind schedule with this recruit and it’s because one of them got clever. Discordia University is not in the habit of accepting lost ones; that’s a job for places like State U or Blackmoor Academy. However, the whispers from my seers told me I should allow this student, even if they have not been part of the supernatural world before.

My favorite divinator practically demanded I listen—something that seldom happens, as I don’t take kindly to demands. I’ve been running Discordia since before the Crusades and even my demon brethren know better than to control my behavior. My assignment has always been to cultivate the most powerful demons and hybrids to keep the balance between above and below even.

Not that I believe there should be a balance, but as long as the Society rules, demons will keep their treaties.

“Your Grace, we sent Dank to monitor him until we arrive. The process of scanning, loading, and erasing records from human systems is in progress. Silvera is gathering all the things the new student will need and setting up their dorm. All is in place.”

Something about Beccarus’ tone tells me she’s not being entirely truthful. I’m not foolish enough to think I have this minor demon’s fealty; she’s for sale to the highest bidder as most of her kind are. But when I ask a direct question, I expect the whole truth or I’ll have her exiled to the barrens. Given her vanity and lack of skills, she won’t survive a day before the ghouls or hounds take care of her.

“What aren’t you telling me, Beccarus? You are rarely so cautious with your words unless you are trying to hide something.” I look at her with glowing orange eyes, hoping to reinforce her fear of older, more powerful demon kin.

“A familiar felt the call. It joined him disguised as a pet and he kept it. I know you prefer the untrained without for the first year, but it was quite determined, and the hybrid had yet to accept their invitation.”

Fire engulfs me as my temper gets the best of me, and I glare at the assembled fools. “That means he’s partially a magic user— dual natured—and you missed it! I should exile you all to the wastelands for dog food!”

The group of demons from admissions cowers in front of me, dropping to their knees to accept penance for their failure. With a deep breath, I get control of my hellfire, straightening my tie as I work to calm the fury within me.

This strange freshman is already causing problems, and he hasn’t even set one foot on campus yet. If the seers hadn’t insisted he was the key to our future, I’d arrange for an ‘accident’ the moment he arrives. I had enough to deal with wrangling the grown children of my actual species, much less a mysterious human raised hybrid with no knowledge of our world. Perhaps that is the answer: put this Kit Camponella through such torture in the first semester that he either rises to the occasion or earns a one-way ticket to the wastelands.

I know exactly how to ensure that happens.

“I prefer those who have no companions or familiars to come to Discordia with a clean slate, but since you have failed, I will have to adjust my plans. Beccarus, fetch Jasper. He will need to be informed that we have no room in Citadel ’s lower levels for our new student. Instead, we will pair him with Salem on the top floor owned by their caliphate.”

“I don’t want to question your orders, Your Grace, but…”

“Then don’t. I expect Jasper within the hour. All of you… be gone. You have work to do.”

With a flick of my hand, I send them hurdling out the door to my office, closing it with a loud click. I do not wish to be disturbed until the Prince arrives. He’ll be angry because he dislikes being summoned, but if he wants to continue working at Discordia until his entire caliphate graduates, he’ll bend the knee. His mother put me in charge of this place centuries ago and his father may be the current ruler, but I’ve survived many more kings of Hell over the eons.

I would have been, had I not been marked by my family’s shame.

But that will change eventually. I’ve been waiting and watching for the right opening like a trap-door spider. Years in this place have given me access to many vulnerable demons and hybrids; that’s a boon I have not wasted. My loyal followers are embedded in so many places that when the time comes, I will barely have to lift a finger to take my rightful place on the throne.

Until then, I need to keep developing my acolytes and ridding myself of anyone who dares to defy me. Jasper’s caliphate is one of those problems, but taking him out would be a bad political move. The rest of his six friends have varying levels of power and their own mythos in Hell. I’ve been waiting for them to get to Discordia so I can determine how strong they are—both individually and together. Once I make an assessment, they will either be swayed to join me or they will die with their royal friend.

For now, I’m amusing myself by sticking them with the new student. Rich, powerful idiots like the caliphate will eat a human hybrid who isn’t even aware of our world alive. They will resent being invaded and encourage the entire freshman class to punish Kit for the offense he had nothing to do with. Either this chosen boy will face the bullying and pain, or he won’t. I’m no worse off regardless, but at least I gave credence to the strident advice of my seers.

After all, the devil is in the details and I’m a demon.

“You may enter,” I say as I flick my wrist and undo the magical tumblers on the lock. I’ve been waiting much longer than the Dean should when requesting an employee’s presence, but Jasper is a prince, so he runs on his own timetable. I know how far I can push without angering his mother, and she is more formidable than his father. The Queen dwarfs the King of Hell’s power, though she hasn’t actively taken part in running this realm since not long after humans left their garden.

The demon in question opens the door, striding in with a look of annoyance on his face. Jasper Eversore is huge—not surprising given he’s a dragon-demon hybrid. His black eyes flash with the emerald fire of his dragon as he glares at me down his sharp, aquiline nose. When he was a student, all the students and most of the staff, both for his lineage and the ferocity of his beast, feared him. It’s something he enjoys and encourages by tailoring his appearance: dark green and black hair, septum and lip piercings, tattoos from neck to feet, and spiked plate modifications along his spine that are visible when he’s not fully dressed.

Of course, it doesn’t frighten me in the slightest, even when the little shit half-shifts, so his long, spiked tail is whipping about.

I arch a brow, waiting for him to speak. He’s well versed in the power plays of shifters and demons alike, so we could sit here silently for some time, but the impatience of youth will win this battle for me. Steepling my fingertips, I lean back in my large chair as I watch him quietly. Jasper may be highly intelligent and calculating, but his dragon is impetuous by nature. If he gets irritated enough, he’ll break the quiet because he cannot stand it any longer.

“By Azazel’s horns, Lucian. What the fuck do you want? I don’t have time to play games with you.”

That didn’t take long.

Smirking, I lift a file from my desk and hold it out. “ Citadel is quite full this semester and I have a late arrival. Unfortunately, we cannot house him anywhere but on the top floor with your caliphate. Salem has a single room, so we will put young Kit with him.”

“What?!” he shouts as he pops out of his seat. “That’s unacceptable, Lucian. That floor is not available to anyone outside of our group—it has always been allocated to the strongest groups with the deepest bonds. You don’t have the authority to change the university charter, old man.”

“You’ll find I do when it is a matter of necessity, which this is. Your new floor mate’s details are in the file; I suggest you share them with your ‘brothers’ and prepare for his arrival within the next day. I have already sent my staff to make certain the room is ready for a second occupant. This wasn’t a request—it is a done deal, Professor.”

His rage is palpable as he stands in front of me, struggling to control both sides of his supe nature. Jasper knows he cannot attack me for an administrative matter—not without serious consequences he doesn’t want. He wouldn’t get punished in a traditional sense, but I’d be within my rights to fire him and ban him from campus. That would impact his access to his caliphate and damage his ability to combine powers and stamina.

His father would lose his mind if his favorite enforcer was weakened.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Lucian, but this won’t last.” His eyes are slitted with the shadow of his dragon, and I have to stifle a laugh. “None of my brothers will accept some measly human freshman as part of the unit.”

I shrug, dusting a piece of imaginary lint off my suit coat. “As a professor and representative of the university, I suggest you comport yourself accordingly. You are to ensure this new student learns the rules of the university, just as any floor monitor would be. His successes and his failures are yours.”

My implied threat gets his attention and I know he’s planning something, but he nods. “Fine. I’ll treat this idiot exactly how I would treat anyone else on our floor—as you’ve instructed, Lucian.”

“Excellent. I appreciate your attention to this matter, Jasper. I will note your compliance in my reports,” I reply as I look at my watch. “For now, go back to Canto IV and prepare the others for your new student’s imminent arrival. I trust you will ensure they receive a proper welcome when Dank retrieves him?“

His lips curve and I can feel the malice in his tone. “Oh, I certainly will. It will be a welcome he won’t soon forget.”

Waving my hand at the door to my office, I watch it swing open and push him out with a gust of wind. It closes quickly, preventing re-entry, and I smile to myself. I don’t know why the seers insist the Fates themselves have sent this young man my way, but I have no interest in nurturing a weakling. If Kit survives the caliphate’s torture, then I’ll take him under my wing and discern what his true purpose is. If not, I will have lost nothing.

I’m a fan of win-win situations and this one seems like a no-brainer.