“Only that any woman with whom you form more than most fleeting erotic bond will eventually become a member of your harem—and through that, become one of your Queens.”
My eyebrows rose. “Queens?”
He misunderstood me. “Oh, you can have a one-night stand, certainly. Pull a pretty young demoness into the bathroom at an Academy party and have your way with her before the mirror, or let her sink to her knees before you...that will not create a Queen. But courtship? That most certainly will.”
I looked at Christina with growing realization. That was what I’d been doing, wasn’t it? Sure, we’d been on our way to a one-night-stand back in her house, but it wouldn’t have ended there. Not if I’d had anything to say about it. I definitely wouldn’t have turned down an opportunity to do that again with Christina—hell, I would’ve repeated the performance as many times as I could.
“Trust me, young man,” Lucifer said, sounding impossibly weary. “It behooves you greatly to refrain from sticking your cock in every willing woman who comes along. At least more than once. You may end up having to spend a very, very long time together. Those small flaws you perceive as a mere mild annoyance during courtship have a tendency to bloom into intolerable flaws of character after, oh, a few hundred years or so.” Again he flashed his shark-like grin. “Go on, ask me how I know all this. Ask.”
“I don’t think I need to,” I told him. “I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down, Lucifer. Why are you helping me out like this?”
He sighed, watching as the succubus and my college crush tried on matching bikinis. “I don’t like to see people make the same mistakes,” he muttered. “Even though those mistakes form the basis of my residency here. Ah, well.” He turned back to me, his gaze sharpening. “So what are your designs with this woman, then?”
I’d been so distracted checking out Christina and Mareth that the question snapped me back to my senses. I thought it over for a moment, watching as Christina giggled, teasing Mareth about something I couldn’t make out from that distance.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I said. “Christina doesn’t seem like a nice girl, not exactly, but I’m getting the impression I don’t really want to be surrounded with ‘nice girls’ if I’m going to go to this Academy of yours.”
Lucifer nodded. “Astute. Yet you do desire her.”
I gave Christina’s lush curves a slow, longing glance. “She seems like the kind of girl I could have a lot of fun with,” I said, something dark and primal rearing up inside of me. “And I’m not going to lie—having a harem of women like her and Mareth sounds freaking amazing. I just...I need to think about all this. It’s too early—way too early—for me to start thinking about commitments and matrimony…”
A hand came down on my shoulder—Lucifer’s. “I knew you were chosen for a good reason,” he said, stepping around the desk. “I think you’re going to do a wonderful job as my protege, young man. Just remember to take things slow. Look before you leap. Think before you speak. And for Hell’s sake, cause at least a little trouble, alright?”
I found myself laughing—hell, it was strangely easy to get along with Lucifer. “That sounds like goodbye,” I said, walking with him back toward the center of the chamber. “Are you leaving?”
Mareth noticed Lucifer’s approach and broke off, her fingers wiggling until she and Christina’s clothing went back to what they’d been wearing when they arrived. “Master?”
“Yes,” Lucifer said, looking back at me. “I should be getting along for now. I’m not the man I used to be—these old bones require quite a lot of rest. I will be watching, however, young man. Remember that.”
In a flash, Mareth stood at my side. The succubus’s posture crackled with repressed energy, as if she were waiting for some kind of signal. This close, I couldn’t help but notice how short she was—the slender horns stretching from either side of her head barely came up to my chin. I could pick her up and carry her, I thought, my mind filling with images of the other things I could do with a girl so much smaller than myself.
Finally, I could take her silence no longer. “What’s up?” I asked, glancing down at the succubus. “You’re grinning at me like you know something I don’t.”
Lucifer gave a start as if he’d forgotten something—though with him, this was almost certainly a feint. I got the distinct impression the Lord of Darkness had a mind like a steel trap, and that nothing escaped his notice.
“I’ve asked Mareth to escort you to the Academy,” Lucifer explained. “She’ll guide you along the path to the Infernal Realm. By the way, if you’ve been worried about your vehicle, you can rest easy. It will start when you return to it—the engine trouble it had on the way here has been fixed.”
I both did and didn’t want to know how he’d done that. A Satanic mechanic?
“Your car had trouble?” Mareth asked, cocking one flawless eyebrow.
“All fixed now. Thanks,” I said, slipping an arm around the succubus’s waist. It surprised me how good it felt—how natural. Then I remembered Christina was still standing next to us, staring. “So, uh—I guess this is goodbye then,” I told her. “For now, at least.” A thought occurred to me. “Could I maybe call you sometime…?”
Christina gave me a look like I’d slapped her in the face. “Call!? Like hell! You’re not leaving me—not now. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
Mareth and I shared a look. “Pardon?”
“I’m coming with you.” Christina put her foot down—literally put it down, slamming it on the stone like she’d brook no argument. “You have no idea what kind of rituals
