Page 12 of My Demon Teacher

The relief running through my body is indescribable. It’s so strong that I…I feel like I can stand up and face Ryan myself.

I have no idea how he found me, how he knew I was here, but I’m never—ever—lying to him again.

“What the fuck do you want?” Ryan asks, but Lucian ignores him.

His eyes are pinned on me. Specifically, my arms.

“What did he do to you?”

I look at the blood staining both my arms. I open and close my mouth. Where do I begin?

“You better get out of here, mister.” Ryan rubs his hands together, and Lucian looks up at an eldritch creature copying him.

“Did he do this? Did he do this through you?” I can see the wheels turning behind his eyes.

Lucian is not stupid. He’s been around for centuries. He’s knowledgeable. And he can put two and two together at an alarming rate.

I nod. He growls.

His fists immediately catch fire and he steps forward. He aims a fireball at Ryan, but the eldritch creature jumps in front of him, taking the brunt of the attack.

I’m not surprised the creature isn’t phazed by the fire. Eldritch monsters are made of tougher stuff. When I was possessed by one against my stepfather, I couldn’t burn or feel pain. I was unstoppable.

The creature’s jaw drops, and an ear-piercing scream escapes it as it swings its arm back and punches Lucian. He flies across the room.

“Lucian!” I stand and watch as my demon boyfriend stretches his dark, feathery wings and stops himself from crashing into the bleachers.

“You really shouldn’t have done that,” he shouts and flies back, burning the perimeter around Ryan.

“Huh. You think that will stop me?” Ryan closes his fists beside him and looks up at the ceiling.

The eldritch creature roars and flies toward Lucian. They grab at each other and shoot from one side of the gym to the other, their wings wrapping around them. Fire erupts and covers them both, making them look like a weird, giant bullet.

I watch them, mesmerized by their stamina, their strength, their luminosity. Lucian is powerful, but something tells me the eldritch creature is stronger. Fire can’t affect it. I don’t even know how invincible it is. I haven’t had time to test its limits. But I also don’t know Lucian’s. I don’t know how much he held back so as not to hurt me when he was protecting me against my step-family.

I need to stop them. I need to stop this madness before either one gets hurt. I need to do something.

I glance around me. Ryan is still in some sort of trance that controls the creature, surrounded by fire that would scorch him in an instant.

I spot the book.

The leather-bound old tome that one of Ryan’s illusions had been holding before they made me summon the creature.

I crawl across the room toward it and leaf through the pages. There must be an answer here. There must be a way to sever the bond between Ryan and the eldritch monster and stop this ridiculous situation.

The pages are old and stained and so hard but in a fragile way that I’m scared to turn the pages for fear of breaking them.

The cover page reads Eldritch Dimension: A Comprehensive Guide to Power, Published in 1756

What the fuck?

This book is old. Too old. I wouldn’t even know where to find it, and I’m pretty sure I found nothing in the library records about any books, checked out or not, about my power.

Then again, Ryan is a rich guy. What tells me he hasn’t spent his daddy’s money to get his hands on his book so he can gain power for himself from the guy his best friend has been raping for the past five years?

It makes me question everything that has happened today. Were the lackeys he was with after class even real? Is his power that of illusion? Is he even a student? Did he fall behind so he could be in the same year as me? How the hell would he know I was going to start this semester anyway?

So many questions, and I doubted I’d get any answers.