Chapter 1123: You Smell Tasty (Magic Castle Bonus)

Chapter 1123 – You Smell Tasty

Lux’s first thought was simple. ’Oh, it’s working!’ His second thought arrived half a breath later, wearing a suit, carrying a clipboard, and screaming.

This was ancient demoness waking up under his mouth, smiling against his lips like she had tasted his name before, and suddenly deciding the coffin was not a prison anymore but a very intimate seating arrangement.

Her hand slid to the back of his neck.

Then she pulled.

Lux fell forward into the crystal coffin.

Cyrinne made a strangled sound behind him. "Lux."

Very helpful.

Lux landed half over the demoness, one hand braced beside her head, the other catching the coffin edge before his entire dignity collapsed into her chest. The crystal beneath them was cold. Her body was not. Heat bloomed from her like a slow infernal sunrise, ancient and deep, rolling through his spirit-form in waves that made every instinct in him go abruptly awake.

The demoness smiled wider.

Then kissed him again.

Not gentle this time.

The first kiss had been an answer.

This one was conquest wrapped in curiosity.

Her mouth opened beneath his, and Lux replied. He was Lux Vaelthorn, and his self-control was excellent right up until an ancient legendary demoness dragged him into a coffin and kissed him like the apocalypse had dimples. Their tongues clashed, slow and heated, her taste dark as burnt honey and old wine, edged with something metallic, something royal, something that made his Greed hiss ’mine?’ and his rational mind slap it with a legal objection.

No.

Not now.

Not while time was dying.

Her fingers moved down from his neck, exploring his shoulder, his chest, the edge of his suit like she was reading him through touch. The contact was not weak. Nothing about her was weak. Even newly awakened, even drained, even half-starved by five siphon crystals, she touched like a queen inspecting tribute.

Lux’s pulse thundered somewhere his physical body was not supposed to have one.

His Lust instinct purred.

His Greed sharpened.

His brain, thank all financial gods, finally returned from its scandalous vacation.

He caught her wrist.

Not hard.

Firm.

Her red eyes flicked to his hand.

Then back to his face.

Lux breathed against her mouth. "We need to go now."

Her smile deepened. "Do we?"

"Yes."

"How rude."

"Our time is less than a minute."

"Time," she murmured, tasting the word like it was funny. "Mortals worship it. Demons waste it. Kings steal it."

Lux’s grip tightened slightly.

Cyrinne hissed from beside the coffin, "Lux. Fifty seconds."

The demoness did not even look at her. Her eyes stayed on Lux with lazy, dangerous amusement.

"To where?" she asked. "You woke me, little Greed. I can kill them now."

Lux opened his mouth to say no.

Because no was the sane answer.

No, because if she killed every guard in a controlled strike, the king would know someone had tampered with the siphon. No, because the entire point of this ridiculous ten-minute coffin romance burglary was to gather power without alerting the throne.

Then Lux stopped.

His eyes shifted.

Coffin. Crystals. Door. Guards outside. Royal seal. Siphon loop. Demoness awake.

If she woke quietly, suspicious.

If she was rescued cleanly, catastrophic.

But if she woke wrong?

If the ancient thing Kaelmor had been draining suddenly snapped awake, broke the chamber in rage, and attacked because imprisonment had finally irritated her beyond containment...

That was not evidence of Lux.

That was a containment failure.

A royal asset gone unstable.

A disaster Kaelmor caused himself.

Lux smiled.

Slowly.

The demoness watched the smile bloom across his face and looked delighted.

Cyrinne said, "Lux, thirty seconds."

Lux’s eyes stayed on the demoness. "Wait... that’s a good idea."

Cyrinne’s face went through four emotions in one second. Horror, understanding, hatred, and professional admiration.

"Lux."

He leaned closer to the demoness, still holding her wrist, voice low and fast. "Break the coffin. Break the chamber. Make it look like you woke up wrongly and got pissed off because of it."

Her lashes lowered.

"Oh?"

"Don’t escape cleanly. Don’t hide the damage. Make noise. Make them believe the siphon failed because they drained you too long."

Cyrinne’s voice sharpened. "Twenty seconds."

The demoness lifted her free hand.

Lux held still as her fingertips touched his temple, then slid down his cheek. Her nails were black, elegant, sharp enough to peel lies from bone. The touch was intimate, almost tender, and somehow more threatening than a blade.

She studied him.

Close enough that her breath warmed his mouth.

"Hm..." she murmured. "And what do I get in return?"

Lux did not hesitate. "What do you want?"

Cyrinne made a sound that translated roughly to "unbelievable man".

The demoness smiled.

"You."

Lux went still.

Cyrinne snapped, "Ten seconds."

The demoness’s fingers traced his jaw. "At your best. Alone. With me."

Her gaze dipped once, not subtle at all, and returned to his eyes. "You smell tasty."

Lux’s brain tried to open three departments at once.

Lust said yes with fireworks.

Greed asked for terms.

Common sense resigned.

Kaelmor’s guards, the dying timer, the unstable seal, and the soon-to-be furious ancient demoness all leaned over the table and screamed, answer now.

Lux bared his teeth in a smile. "Deal."

Cyrinne looked ready to murder him herself.

The demoness’s smile turned radiant. "Then get ready."

She opened her mouth.

Not to kiss.

To scream.

Lux felt the power gather before sound existed. Invisible pressure compressed inside the coffin, pulling the air inward, sucking flame, dust, silence, and old magic into the center of her throat. Her body arched slightly beneath him, not weak, not fragile, but unfurling. Like something with wings remembering the sky.

Cyrinne grabbed Lux’s arm.

Lux moved at the same instant.

He twisted out of the coffin. One hand shot toward the door seal.

The Ten-Minute Ledger of False Continuity trembled there, still embedded in Kaelmor’s royal lock, trying very hard to convince reality that everything was fine.

Lux extended his hand. "Come."

The artifact tore free.

Red-gold seal light flickered in confusion.