A Demon’s Soul (Vice College For Young Demons)

  Copyright © 2022 by Marie Mistry.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademark owners of various products, brands and/or stores referenced in this work of fiction which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  The right of Marie Mistry to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the author. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  ISBN: 978-1-915066-98-5

  www.mariemistry.com

  Cover art and design by Nichole Witholder of Rainy Day Artwork.

  www.rainydayartwork.com

  Edited by Kaye Kemp Book Polishing.

  Psst, you. Yes, you.

  I don’t know if anyone’s told you today, but you’re smart, strong, and beautiful. Now go kick ass in your pyjamas.

  CONTENTS

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  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

  Acknowledgments

  Cast of Characters

  Books By Marie Mistry

  About the Author

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Nelly’s story begins just after Vendra’s death and continues past the end of A Demon’s Heart. Chronologically, the prologue of this book begins at the end of Chapter 30, when Lilith passes out while visiting Nelly—who has just lost her arm in the assault on the Ajax Fortress—and is possessed by the Strange God. Chapter 1 then picks up with Nelly’s perspective of the Strange God’s reincarnation (A Demon’s Heart Chapter 34) and continues beyond the end of Lilith’s books. This is a companion novella to the Vice College for Young Demons Series and not intended to be read separately.

  Detailed content warnings are available at www.mariemistry.com/triggers

  This book has been professionally edited, but we’re all human. So, if you spot a typo, please contact Marie directly using the form on her website. Please don’t report it to Amazon, as this feature can lead to books being taken down.

  This book is enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, that means it is not available, legally, on any platform that is not Amazon. If you’ve downloaded the book from somewhere else, you’re committing book piracy which is seriously not cool and can also lead to the book being taken down.

  PROLOGUE

  “If you do this, all of them will die.”

  My hand froze, the glass pricking my neck. Only the unexpected bolt of familiarity stopped me from taking that step that would put me out of my misery.

  That pause was all he needed.

  My bleeding fingers spasmed against my will.

  Glass fell to the floor of my private room in Rutia’s infirmary. It shattered further on contact with the wood and radiated out until it cut into my bare feet.

  I couldn't move, could barely breathe.

  Shit, even thinking was difficult past the wave of pure emotion that hammered me.

  The voice that had haunted both my dreams and my waking moments for months was echoing out of my best friend's mouth.

  Lilith's eyes were vacant, her body motionless and rigid in front of me as the Strange God spoke through her. Behind her, the door and surrounding wall were almost vibrating with her mates' efforts to get to her.

  It wouldn't work.

  No demon could overpower a god.

  “If your life ends, Cornelia, I will help Vendra succeed in her quest for my death. I will follow you into the shadowy abyss, and your friends will pay the price.”

  He always called me by my full name. Never 'Nelly,' like everyone else.

  That, more than anything, convinced me that the voice I'd been hearing for months was his.

  The Strange God's.

  The shock of recognition overwhelmed my brain for a few precious seconds until I finally processed what he was saying.

  “You don't mean that.” My throat was dry, and the words sounded scratchy and raw.

  Lilith's mouth opened wide with an eerie smile and belted out a deep laugh. It was the kind of sound her vocal cords shouldn't have been capable of making.

  “I'd never lie about a bargain.”

  A drop of blood fell from Lilith's right nostril.

  What was his possession doing to her?

  “You're hurting my friend.” My voice wobbled as I spoke, shock and panic robbing my words of strength.

  “It will stop the moment you promise not to harm yourself again,” he vowed. “She and her mates can live long and happy lives if you agree to never end your own and keep my secrets. Refuse, and they will all die… along with your sister and everyone else you hold dear.”

  It wasn't a choice, really. I'd always protected Lulu, and Lilith was as close to a little sister as we would ever have. He knew that.

  The blood was flowing freely from both nostrils now. Dark trails of red snaked down to the corners of her mouth.

  “I agree.” I stumbled over the words in my haste to get them out, but the Strange God didn’t care.

  Lilith's lips twitched with a ghost of a smile that wasn't her own.

  “Why do you even care?” I whispered, wanting him to admit it. “I'm just a stupid Lust demon with only one fucking arm.” I glanced bitterly at the stump hanging uselessly from my shoulder.

  I hated that I remembered losing it. I'd just looked down in the middle of battle. Blood was everywhere, while my arm was simply… gone. The whole thing felt like a blurry dream that I knew would haunt me for the rest of my life. Nothing had felt real until I woke up here, with Lulu crying over me. It still didn’t.

  The Strange God cocked Lilith's head to one side. “Why wouldn't I want to keep a delectable little thing, like yourself, alive?”

  “I want to hear the truth.” I wanted to know if he really was the man who'd invaded my dreams. If the promises he'd whispered in my sleeping ears were true.

  “If you insist, but remember, you're bound to keep my secrets now.” Lilith's body shuddered, limbs quaking under the stress of whatever he was doing to her. “You, Cornelia Drabos, were born to be mine. You're my mate.”

  I snorted. I couldn't help it. It was almost a relief to hear it confirmed while I was awake. To know that it wasn't a fantasy cocked up by an unstable mind.

  “You got a broken mate.” I said, dryly. “I guess being a god doesn't guarantee you everything you want.”

  Her eyes flashed, and a fresh trickle of blood started to trace the sides of her face. It was falling from her ears as well as her nose now.

  Lilith looked like she was part of a scene in a horror movie.

  “If you're so certain you're broken, perhaps you'll indulge me with another bargain?”

  “No.” I wanted him out of Lilith's body.

  “It will only take a moment, Cornelia. You never know, perhaps you'll like my terms.”

  I grimaced. He wasn't going to let this go, and the longer he dragged it out, the worse Lilith’s suffering would become. “Get on with it.”

  “So concerned,” he cooed. “How… touching. Very well. One day soon, I will escape my realm and we will meet face to face. When that happens, if I look upon you, all of you, and still feel desire, you will stay with me for the following month. We will stay in the same lodgings, eat at the same table… sleep in the same bed.”

  “And when you don't?”

  “If I don't desire you, you may ask me one favour, and whatever it is, I will grant it.” That smile crept over Lilith's face again. “Imagine what you could ask a god for. I could make you richer than Ajax, more coveted than gold. I could even restore your arm, if that’s what you want.”

  My breath hitched, but I shoved that selfish want down deep.

  He may be acting like some magical genie, but if he was telling the truth about leaving the shadow realm, then when I won this bargain, there was only one thing I could ask for.

  I couldn't let this kind of power loose on the world without a leash. He may have promised my family and friends long and happy lives, but that didn't protect everyone else. Happiness was subjective, anyway. Who knew what a god would do if unleashed on the world, bound by only that tiny, flimsy promise?

  If I had to give up my power to extract his promise not to try to reshape the world to his liking, then at least that would give me a purpose. A reason to keep me from losing my mind as a powerless demon.

  A moment ago, all I wanted to do was die. I'd been ready for it. Welcomed it instead of becoming a burden on my friends.

  It seemed destiny had othe

r plans for me. I took a deep, steadying breath, then let it out slowly.

  “I accept. Now get out of Lilith's body.”

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Kneel.”

  Fuck, I was going to be too late.

  My armour scraped against the rock as I shoved my body through the crevice and into the cavern littered with dead bodies. My eyes flicked between those who remained standing, then down to where Rina was clutching a collapsed figure on the ground—Blaze, I realised with shock.

  Lilith and the rest of her mates stood in front of them, guarding against the demon chucking power around the chamber like fireworks. With each pulse of energy, Lilith seemed to glow a little more. Her wings grew with tiny shudders as she faced down whatever was threatening her wounded mate.

  He was striding towards the group with determination, his dark hair caught in some invisible wind. He was huge—easily a foot and a half taller than my petite frame—and built like, well, a god. Each inch of him was like chiselled marble made flesh, gorgeous, yet untouchable.

  “I said kneel.” His expression didn't change, but I could feel the displeasure behind his words. It made me shake as I tiptoed closer to the group.

  How could anyone resist such an order? I was amazed my knees didn't just buckle at his command.

  In the weeks since I'd lost my arm, I'd convinced myself I'd been imagining the way his voice sounded so similar to the one in my head. It was even easier to do that when he stopped communicating with me afterwards. Even his whispers in my dreams had stopped, and I'd been left feeling sane for the first time in months.

  Hearing him again, there was no way to deny it.

  I hadn't imagined the whole thing, and that terrified me more than the prospect of being crazy.

  Lilith wasn't cowed. “No. I no longer answer to you.”

  His power licked against my skin, and Lilith must have felt it too, because she raised a shield in readiness.

  But it was an alien power—cold and vacuous. Would a conventional shield even work against such a thing? I wasn’t about to risk my friends’ lives to find out.

  In desperation, I abandoned my tiptoeing and strode past Lilith, shoving her out of the way to put myself between her and my… mate.

  I had no idea if his power would hurt me—for all I knew, our connection might not follow any of the rules of demonic matings—but he didn't want my death, and that was enough to give me confidence as I stared him down with my hand on my hip, daring him.

  His power kept coming. My legs turned to jelly beneath me. What if it didn’t work? What if he was wrong? I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, only releasing it when his power dissipated within six feet of me.

  Relief hit hard and fast, threatening to topple me. At least I had that kind of protection if I needed it.

  “Cornelia.”

  The caution in his tone would have been amusing if his black eyes weren't roving over my body. They lingered on my arm, my scars. Everything in me wanted to hide. To turn so he couldn’t see me. But I’d made this bargain, and there was no point in trying to run from it now.

  Power—pure, warm, beautiful power—zinged through me like electricity, making me gasp.

  Shit.

  He still desired me?

  I soaked it up like a sponge. I hadn't had a full burst in so long. Though that was partly my own fault. Since I’d lost my arm, I poured myself into my work, forgoing attempts to be intimate with any of my usual partners. For ages now, the most I'd gotten were wisps, and those were hard to come by when everyone in my friendship circle had their own mates now.

  I met the Strange God's black eyes levelly, letting him know I knew he'd won that bargain, but I didn't care.

  “Stand aside.” His voice was softer, but no less commanding.

  I shook my head. “I've told you before. My name is Nelly. And if you hurt anyone here, I won't give you what you want.”

  “We had a bargain.”

  “I know.” Why was my voice shaking? I was supposed to be strong, dammit. “I'll honour it. I want to make a new bargain.”

  The corners of the Strange God's lips curved up just the smallest fraction and his posture visibly relaxed. Bargains were his playground, and he knew it.

  “Name your terms.”

  I glanced back at the others and chewed my lip. Lilith was giving me a look that was halfway between shock and alarm, so I did my best to plaster a reassuring look on my face as I mouthed 'trust me.'

  I'd thought about this long into the night. The Strange God was famously bound by his own bargains, so as long as I allowed no loopholes, there should be no issues. Or, at least, that was what I kept telling myself.

  “You can never harm my friends or family, and you must do your best to live a normal, demon life outside of the spotlight. No subjugating demons, trying to take over the world, or starting wars, or whatever it was you planned on doing when you got here.”

  He cocked a single, imperious brow. “And in return?”

  I took a deep breath before I replied, “I'll give you the bond.”

  His answering grin was savage, and I got the disturbing sense I'd just handed him everything he wanted.

  “It is done.” He strode forward, hand outstretched. “Come, I've already planned where we shall stay.”

  I took an automatic step back. “Wait...” How could he have planned that already? I cast around frantically, trying to stall. “I owe Lilith an explanation first.”

  I hadn't told her any of this because of our last bargain, even though it had killed something inside me to keep so many secrets. Even now, I was dreading her reaction.

  He sighed and looked impatiently at the rest of them, then back to me. “You have one day to get your affairs in order.”

  Without another word, the Strange God disappeared, leaving no trace of his presence except for the cold which lingered on my skin and the grimness of his last words. I should have felt relief that he was gone, but instead I just felt a bit deflated. His presence had, for a moment, shaken the bleak fog I’d existed in since I’d lost my arm.

  I took a deep, steadying breath and turned, ready to face the music. Most of my friends were still stuck in shock. Only Enzo seemed to have fully processed what had just happened, and he glared at me as he released his hold on Lilith.

  “What the hell was that?” she demanded, pulling me into a tight hug. “What did you agree to?”

  I hesitated for a second, sighed, and then shrugged out of her hold. I swallowed as I forced myself to meet her eyes. I'd kept so much from everyone—even if it had been against my will—and I knew I looked just as guilty as I felt.

  At least I had an excuse to put off explaining everything, just a little longer. There was still a war going on above us.

  “I want to explain, but we have a battle to finish. Not to mention, my sister needs to hear this too… It's not going to be easy, and I'm not even sure I understand it.” I looked back at the entrance. “We need to get moving. He will be back in exactly one day.”

  I was surprised he hadn't just demanded I bond with him then and there. I'd been granted a reprieve, but for how long?

  Enzo kept shooting suspicious glares my way as he strode toward Vendra and promptly removed her head with a savage slash of his sword. Lilith obviously sensed his tension down the bond because she crossed to him and took his free hand in hers.

  “I give you permission to tell them of our bargains.” The voice in my head, hauntingly familiar, was stronger now.

  Before, it had been barely a whisper. Now it felt like he was right there next to me.

  “Bargains only, Cornelia. Nothing more.”

  I had no idea what 'more' he was talking about, but I was silently grateful. I didn't want to keep secrets from my friends. As it was, Lulu was going to cry when she found out.

  That thought alone made me nauseous.

  I hated my sister's tears.

  My gloomy thoughts kept me quiet and introspective as Enzo flashed us through the shadow realm to the top of the castle. I watched Lilith end the battle with a few well-placed words, then berated myself for how tired and exhausted she looked.

  She'd had to kill her grandmother today. I could practically see how much the responsibility weighed on her as she sagged against Aeron.

  Now I was heaping more trouble into her lap.