“So,” Isabella said, “have you thought about my offer?”

  I blinked. “Your offer was to be friends. That’s not exactly something requiring deliberation.”

  “True. But I have a more specific proposition now.” She gestured to the broken tea set scattered across the gazebo floor. “The Academy requires group projects starting in the second semester. Teams of three to five students collaborate on advanced coursework.”

  “Right,” Aria said slowly. “My mother mentioned something about that.”

  A test within a test. The Academy evaluated more than magical competence—it measured political acumen, alliance-building, social manoeuvring. Students who failed at networking would either suffer consequences or be forced to work significantly harder solo.

  Which meant absolutely nothing to me. I’d be gone long before second semester.

  But Aria wouldn’t.

  “Why us?” I asked. “What’s so special about us?”

  Aria leaned forward. “Yeah, why not recruit other purebloods? Wouldn’t that make more sense for someone like you?”

  “There’s only one other pureblood in our seminar group besides me,” Isabella said. “And our houses don’t get along.” Her gaze shifted between us. “And, like I mentioned in the cafeteria, you don’t seem the type who’d stick to me purely because of my name.”

  She had a point. Most demons treated nobility like divine beings. Even here, surrounded by students supposedly united by meritocracy, the hierarchy reasserted itself constantly. Valentina’s sycophants proved that.

  “And after your stunt here,” Isabella continued, nodding toward the garden path where Valentina had fled, “she’ll certainly retaliate. Having House Lilitu’s backing would complicate any revenge she attempts.”

  I considered the angles.

  Isabella gained two students who wouldn’t grovel. We gained protection from a vindictive pureblood with a grudge. Standard transaction.

  Except I didn’t need Isabella’s backing. My actual status trumped hers by several orders of magnitude. One word to Lilith and Valentina would disappear into the palace dungeons.

  But Aria was a commoner. Vulnerable. Without connections beyond her manipulative mother and whatever fragile friendships she’d built here.

  And despite every rational reason to maintain distance, I’d somehow started caring about what happened to her.

  Fuck.

  “It sounds like a good idea,” I said.

  “Then it’s settled,” Isabella replied immediately.

  “Wait.” I held up a hand. “I didn’t agree yet. I want to clarify things first.”

  Isabella’s eyebrow arched, but she waited.

  “I want to clarify something first,” I said. “If we’re doing this, we’re equals. Not your subordinates. Not servants. Equals.”

  Aria nodded immediately.

  Isabella’s expression didn’t change. “Obviously.”

  “Just making sure we’re on the same page.” I paused, watching her face for signs of insincerity. Nothing. Either she meant it or she was an exceptional liar. “Fine. We can form a team.”

  “Excellent.” The satisfaction in Isabella’s voice was unmistakable. Her posture relaxed fractionally, shoulders dropping by perhaps half a centimetre. “I’ll send you both a wisp with the details. Meeting times, project preferences, that sort of thing.”

  Right. Wisps. Hell’s equivalent of text messages—scraps of parchment that vanished in smoke and rematerialized near the recipient. Convenient, modern yet archaic, and thoroughly demonic.

  Which reminded me: Lilith wanted regular updates. Letters. As if I were some noble daughter away at boarding school rather than a displaced human desperately researching dimensional travel.

  I’d been putting it off for three days now.

  “Sounds good,” Aria said brightly. “Should we exchange room numbers or—”

  “Room 413,” I supplied. “Fifth floor, dormitory wing.”

  Isabella produced a small leather-bound notebook from nowhere—probably a spatial ring of her own—and made a note with an enchanted quill that wrote in silvery ink. “Perfect. I’ll contact you tomorrow evening.”

  “Looking forward to it,” Aria said.

  I said nothing. My tail flicked once, betraying my scepticism.

  Isabella noticed. Her gaze dropped to the spaded tip, then returned to my face. “Something concerns you?”

  “Just tired,” I lied. “Long day.”

  “Understandable.” She tucked the notebook away. “I should return to my quarters before curfew. Goodnight.”

  She turned and walked toward the garden’s northern exit, her movements economical and precise. No wasted energy. No unnecessary flourishes.

  A political creature through and through.

  “Well,” Aria said once Isabella disappeared beyond the trees, “that went better than expected.”

  “Did it?” I started toward the dormitory path.

  “We got protection from a high-ranking pureblood without having to grovel.” Aria fell into step beside me. “Valentina won’t risk crossing House Lilitu openly. And we didn’t even have to promise anything concrete.”

  True. From Aria’s perspective, this was an unambiguous win.

  From mine, it was one more thread tying me to this place. One more complication delaying my research. One more person who’d expect me to still be here in six months.

  I wouldn’t be.

  Couldn’t be.

  The path wound through clusters of hellfire flowers that cast crimson light across the obsidian walkways. Other students passed in small groups, their conversations muted and their wings folded tight. The Academy felt different at night—quieter, more intimate. Less performative.

  “You okay?” Aria asked.

  “Fine.”

  “You’ve been weird since the fight.”

  “I got jumped by multiple demons,” I pointed out. “That seems like reasonable cause for being weird.”

  “Fair.” She grinned. “But you handled it pretty well. That elbow you landed on Seris? She’s going to feel that tomorrow.”

  My stomach tightened. The violence had come so easily. Instinct overriding thought, muscle memory executing techniques I’d never learned. The succubus body knew how to fight.

  And I’d let it.

  “Lucky hit,” I said.

  “Sure.” Aria’s tone suggested she didn’t believe me for a second.

  We reached the dormitory entrance. The heavy doors swung open at our approach, responding to some enchantment I still didn’t fully understand. Inside, the common room was nearly empty—just two students sprawled on a couch, sharing a bottle of something that glowed faintly purple.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  Neither looked up as we passed.

  “I’m exhausted,” Aria announced as we climbed the stairs. “Today was way too much drama.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Bellas better have the bath ready.”

  My jaw tightened. Right. Bellas. The elf prince we owned. The slave I’d fed on two days ago.

  The memory surfaced unbidden—his taste, his warmth, the rush of power as his vital essence flooded into me.

  I shoved it down.

  * * *

  The fifth-floor corridor stretched before us, empty save for the faint glow of crystal sconces. My boots clicked against stone in rhythm with Aria’s lighter steps.

  We reached room 413. The door swung inward.

  Bellas stood near the wardrobe, head bowed. “Mistresses. Welcome back.”

  The formal greeting still made my skin crawl. Not because of what he was—I’d already accepted that particular horror—but because of how naturally he delivered it. No hesitation. No resentment.

  Just perfect obedience.

  “Bellas!” Aria brushed past me, already pulling pins from her hair. “Please tell me the bath is ready. Today was absolutely brutal.”

  “Of course, Mistress Aria. The water should be at optimal temperature.”

  “You’re a lifesaver.” She kicked off her heels, sending them skittering across the floor. “Lily, you coming? I need to destress after that whole Valentina disaster.”

  I moved toward my desk, already mentally cataloguing which texts I needed from the library. Something about sensing mana for certain. Maybe that treatise on sensory exercises if Meridia could locate it. “I’ll pass. Got reading to do.”

  “Reading?” Aria’s reflection appeared in the mirror as she unclasped her corset. “The library can wait. You’ve been buried in books since we got here.”

  “That’s kind of the point of academy.”

  “The point of academy is learning, yes, but also living.” She turned, corset dangling from one hand. “Come on. One hour. Just relax with me.”

  The offer was tempting. My shoulders ached from the earlier fight, and the idea of hot water sounded—

  No.

  I had two weeks. Maybe less. Every hour mattered.

  “I can’t,” I said. “I need to figure out…” I caught myself before saying ‘mana sensing.’ “There’s a practical component to Magic Theory next week. I want to be prepared.”

  Aria’s expression shifted through several emotions too quickly to track. Finally she settled on a pout that would’ve looked ridiculous on anyone else but somehow worked on her. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  She huffed grabbing a towel, and disappeared into the bathroom.

  The door closed with a soft click.

  Silence settled over the room. Bellas remained motionless by the wardrobe, awaiting further instruction that wouldn’t come.

  I pulled my spatial ring from my finger, set it on the desk, and stared at the metal band.

  I had a limited window to master magic and find a way home—whether through dimensional gates, summoning contracts, or whatever else might work. The clock was ticking before the hunger returned and forced another choice about who I was becoming.

  The bathwater ran in the next room. Faint splashing sounds filtered through the door.

  Aria had asked for one hour.

  One hour wouldn’t destroy my timeline. The library never closed anyway. I’d been planning to go after she fell asleep.

  This was stupid. She was a demon. We’d known each other three days. There was no logical reason to feel guilty about declining an invitation to take a bath together.

  Except she hadn’t abandoned me when facing against Valentina. And she genuinely seemed to enjoy my company despite having no rational reason to care about a random commoner roommate.

  It was true that Aria had facilitated my first feeding—pushed me toward Bellas when the hunger became unbearable, guided me through mechanics I’d had no context for. But she’d been helpful about it. In a way, she had been trying to help. The alternative would’ve been worse.

  “Damn it.”

  I stood, crossed to the bathroom door, and knocked once before entering.

  Steam billowed out. Aria had already sunk into the massive marble tub, head tilted back against the rim, eyes closed. The black water came up to her collarbones.

  Her eyes opened. “Thought you had reading to do?”

  “I do. Library.” I moved to the shelf where we kept clean towels. “But I can spare an hour.”

  The smile that broke across her face was… bright. Genuinely, unreservedly delighted.

  Which made no sense.

  We barely knew each other. Why did my presence matter this much?

  “Really?” Aria sat up straighter, sending ripples across the water’s surface. “You’re actually staying?”

  “Don’t make me regret it.”

  “I won’t! I promise.”

  I started on the academy uniform—fingers finding the corset laces without conscious thought, pulling them free in quick downward motions.

  “Damn, Lily.”

  I froze halfway through removing my skirt.

  “You’ve got a body that would bring priests to their knees. Like, seriously. If we ever visit the mortal realms, you’d cause riots.”

  The comment shouldn’t have landed. These weren’t compliments I wanted. they weren’t even directed at me—not really. This body belonged to Lilithiel Morningstar, demon princess, not Liam Dawnstar, human engineer.

  Yet something warm unfurled in my chest anyway. Pleasure. Satisfaction.

  I hated it.

  I finished undressing and caught my reflection in the mirror. The movement I’d used to remove the skirt—the slight hip tilt, the way I’d hooked my thumbs into the waistband—played back in my memory.

  A striptease.

  I’d been performing. The uniform removal had been unconscious muscle memory, same as walking or sitting, and I’d apparently just executed a striptease without meaning to.

  The body knew what it was doing even when I didn’t.

  “Thanks,” I managed, and stepped into the tub.

  The water embraced me immediately—hot enough to sting, mineral-rich and silky against skin. I sank down until it reached my shoulders.

  “Bellas,” Aria called. “We need massages.”

  “Of course, Mistress Aria.”

  His footsteps approached. Hands settled on my shoulders—firm pressure finding knots I hadn’t realized existed.

  I let my eyes close.

  Maybe Aria was right. Maybe one hour wouldn’t hurt.

  The tension in my shoulders began to unravel as Bellas worked. His thumbs found the pressure points along my spine with mechanical precision.

  “Better?” Aria’s voice drifted from across the tub.

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “Better.”

  * * *

  We walked back to the room. Water still dripped from my hair despite the towel, leaving a trail of dark spots on the stone floor.

  Aria pushed through the door first, humming something tuneless under her breath. Happy. She was genuinely happy.

  “You know,” she said, tossing her towel onto one of the chairs, “you might be boring sometimes. All that reading and researching and—gosh, the notes. You take so many notes.”

  “Thanks,” I said flatly.

  “But when it comes to sex—”

  “Don’t finish that sentence.”

  She grinned wider. “—once you get going, you’re—”

  “Aria.”

  “—insatiable.”

  I grabbed a pillow from the nearest bed and threw it at her face.

  She caught it mid-air, laughing, and threw it back. “See? Adorable. Especially with that whole shy act you’ve got going.”

  The pillow hit my chest. I dropped it.

  “I’m not shy,” I muttered.

  She was still smiling. That bright, uncomplicated joy that made something in my chest tighten uncomfortably.

  I moved to my bed and sat. The mattress accepted my weight with familiar give. My body felt… loose. Relaxed in a way I hadn’t experienced since waking up in this place.

  Three hours.

  I’d planned for one. Maybe ninety minutes at most. Just enough to satisfy Aria’s expectations and maintain our cover as normal roommates.

  Instead, I’d spent three hours in that bath. Trading touches and tastes and sounds until the water went cold and my body felt wrung out.

  Three hours I should’ve been in the library.

  Three hours closer to the two-week deadline.

  I lay back, staring at the ceiling. The stone arches curved overhead, traced with those faint luminescent veins that provided Hell’s version of ambient lighting.

  My mind churned.

  Scrying rituals. Dimensional theory. Summoning contracts. I had so much research left, and I’d just wasted an entire evening—

  “You’re cute when you’re lost in your thoughts like that,” Aria said.

  I turned my head. She’d sprawled across her own bed, still naked, watching me with her chin propped on one hand.

  “I wasn’t—”

  “You get this little crease right here.” She tapped the space between her eyebrows. “All serious and broody.”

  I didn’t answer.

  She shifted, rolling onto her back. Her tail swayed lazily above her. “You still want to go to the library?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  She sat up and crossed to the wardrobe.

  I blinked. “You’re coming?”

  “After that?” She pulled out her uniform, the cropped shirt and short skirt. “I won’t be able to sleep anyway.”

  Oh.

  Oh no.

  Aria in the library meant Aria watching what I researched. Asking questions. Getting curious about why I cared so much about planar mechanics and dimensional barriers and—

  “Unless you want to go alone?” She glanced over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised.

  “No,” I said quickly. Too quickly. “No, it’s fine. We can go together.”

  Maintaining the facade. That’s what mattered.

  I stood and moved to my own wardrobe. The spatial ring held most of my clothes, but I kept a few items here for convenience. I retrieved my uniform. The fabric felt strange against my cooling skin—restrictive after hours of nakedness, but also grounding.

  I dressed methodically. Shirt first, the white cotton settling just below my bust. The red necktie. The black corset at my waist, laces tightening with familiar muscle memory my conscious mind still found mildly disturbing.

  Aria finished before me. She’d added stockings, the black fabric climbing her thighs, and was currently examining herself in the small mirror near the door.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  I pulled on my own stockings. Adjusted the skirt. “Yeah.”

  Bellas remained asleep in his bed, one arm thrown over his face. We’d dismissed him after the bath. He hadn’t protested.

  Aria opened the door. The hallway stretched before us, empty at this hour. Most students were either sleeping or occupying themselves elsewhere—clubs, feeding rooms, wherever demons went at night.

  We stepped out together.

  The door clicked shut behind us.

  Two succubi in Academy uniforms, heading to the library for late-night studying.

  Perfectly normal.

  Perfectly unremarkable.