Dante's Iniquity Ch. 02

Dante's library was one of the largest rooms in his home, with more books than he cared to admit, reading nooks for when he wanted to lounge and a few more serious spaces for times like this.

The two golems were stood on either side of the door as he entered, neither of them paying him any heed, while their mistress stood at a long table carved from a single piece of oak with several comfy chairs. As before, she was sheathed in a thick layer of elemental magic, one that obscured her face, figure and voice from casual observation.

Dante could pierce it if he truly wanted to, but perhaps not without her noticing, and if she did notice, violence would be unavoidable. Pointless violence at that, and in his home, which made it even worse.

No, he'd play along for now.

"You certainly took your time," his guest said, her voice sounding mildly familiar despite the slight crackle of flames twisting it.

"I always do," Dante said, barely paying her any attention as he took a seat at the table and clapped his hands. Red light flickered over the table with the subtle smell of brimstone as an assortment of refreshments and cutlery appeared. "Please, help yourself."

The woman had frozen at the use of magic, but now stared at him incredulously as he poured out a measure of coffee from an ornate container before adding milk and stirring it together with a flick of his wrist.

Ignoring her entirely, Dante picked up a plate and selected a few choice cheeses and his favourite crackers. He'd worked up an appetite earlier, and nothing would irritate his guest more than him taking the time to eat when she was clearly so impatient.

He got halfway through slicing some lovely smoked cheddar when she broke. "This is ridiculous!"

"No, this is what being polite looks like," Dante said evenly, pausing to sip his coffee before continuing. "Perhaps you should give it a try sometime, rather than simply barging in and ruining my plans for the evening?"

Ideally, he'd tell her she ruined the evening itself, but her outrage was somewhat amusing and he'd managed to salvage the situation with the girls. Who knew, this could turn out better in the long run.

"Are you trying to push me into attacking you?" She demanded after a moment of incredulous silence. "Is that what this is?"

"I don't know, where you trying to push me into a fight when you broke into my home, destroyed one of my doors and frightened my guests?"

As he'd hoped, the mention of the sisters seemed to put her off balance and he went back to ignoring her as he sipped his coffee, savouring its warmth and flavour.

"I didn't realise you wouldn't be alone," the mystery woman said eventually, sitting opposite him and pouring a mug of coffee for herself. "I regret that I might have scared them."

Ah, so she did know them, then. Interesting.

"What exactly was the point of such a dramatic entrance then?" Dante asked, looking right into the point of her face where he judged her eyes to be. "If you wanted my attention, you very much have it."

"I need your help," the woman said quickly, shifting in her seat. "I know you won't be willing to help, so a show of force was needed. As I said earlier..."

"Excuse me," Dante said, cutting her off before she could get going and threaten him with blackmail again. "I do believe you have to actually ask for my help before I can refuse it, or have you asked me without this little protection and I've already said no?"

It was entirely possible that she had in all fairness, but he didn't think so. No, this felt like an assumption based on his public persona, which would be all the more fun to play against.

"Well, no, I haven't, but everyone knows..."

"What everyone knows and what is actually true are often not the same thing."

"Well..." She stammered for another moment, clearly wrong footed and unsure of how to continue. Unwilling to help her, Dante finished his cracker and selected some slices of red apple, making it clear that he was waiting patiently.

"I need your help with a daemon summoner," his guest said eventually, the words leaving her in a rush. "I need your help defeating their creatures so I can fight the summoner directly."

"I see, and are you intending to hire me for this, or should I help you out of the goodness of my heart despite everything you've done?" He took great pleasure in making it her fault that he wouldn't help her for free. Even if she'd come on bended knee he wouldn't have helped for nothing, of course, but she didn't know that.

"I can hire you?"

"Yes, of course," Dante said, leaning back in his chair. "I have no need of money, though, so it falls to you to offer something suitable."

"The daemon summoner will have many books and scrolls on his art, you could take those?"

"Ah, so you want to pay me with something that might exist and that you don't have yet," Dante said levelly, arching a brow in her direction. "Surely you can see how that doesn't work?"

They were firmly away from her intended path for this conversation now, and he'd quite successfully shifted the focus of what she was trying to do. Really, the poor girl must be quite inexperienced with high society, he wasn't even very good at this sort of thing.

"I have a scroll that might interest you, it details the resting place of your ancestor, Calacias." Dante froze mid-sip, albeit for only a moment, but she clearly saw the reaction and pressed on. "Help me defeat the daemons and win the day, and the scroll is yours."

"The scroll is mine before we set out to the confrontation, with my earnest oath that I will do all I can to aid you in defeating that daemon summoner," Dante said immediately, unwilling to risk losing such a treasure if she died.

Calacias Drek Knossare had lived hundreds of years ago, but his work on daemons and daemon summoning was beyond compare. How his guest had learnt of something as precious as Calacias's resting place was beyond him, but it made all of this far more than the game it had been initially.

The mystery woman considered his counter offer for a moment before nodding heavily. "Agreed. I will have it brought to you tomorrow evening."

"Well, this has certainly been interesting," Dante said, feeling a shiver of anticipation run down his spine. "I think the time has come for some details, though. Who exactly are you asking that I help you defeat? Depending on just who has drawn your ire, I may not be able to do as much as you would wish. Previous agreements, you see."

Dante had the distinct impression she was frowning at him, and really he'd have preferred to give her that information before they came to an agreement, but he'd never expected her to have something he actually wanted.

"Magus Drek Alberrde."

"Ah. Now I understand," Dante said, more of the evenings actions becoming clear to him. Alberrde was an old and well-established Magus, one of the rare few who'd earned the honorific of Drek before ascending to the rank of Magus.

"Is that an issue?"

"Issue?" Dante echoed, chuckling as he tossed a grape into his mouth and got to his feet. "Tell me, you are familiar with the good Magus, yes?"

"To an extent." The admission seemed to pain her, but Dante didn't care about whatever heartbreak or hurt feelings were involved there.

"Good, good, now tell me, has he changed any of his defences in the last three years?" Dante called the question back over his shoulder, waving for her to wait at the table as he slipped between the shelves of the library. He couldn't have her figuring out where any of his secret stashes were, after all.

He emerged a minute later with a slender volume bound in some rather fine grey leather, though what exactly the leather was from, Dante couldn't remember. "Here we are. Now, did you say there were any changes?"

"Not that I'm aware of." It was hard to read her when he couldn't see her face properly, but Dante was confident he had her right where he wanted her. It was time to see just how far she was willing to go for whatever this was.

"Excellent. The good news, then, is that I already know exactly what his defences are, and more importantly, who he has contracts with."

"Contracts?" She echoed the word distastefully, but Dante simply nodded, ignoring the reaction.

"Yes, there are two kinds with daemons you see. There's the temporary kind, which will be your usual fare of 'guard this door for the next hundred years' or 'kill that man before he can get back into the ballroom'. Fairly standard, but if the daemon is banished then a new contract is needed. Are you with me?"

"I think so, yes."

"Excellent. Then it shouldn't surprise you that our friend Alberrde has two gargoyles guarding the entrance. They're little more than statues animated by daemonic spirits of wrath, but they'll still kill you if you let them. Still, easy enough to deal with, and once banished, they're finished."

"And you can banish them?"

Dante tried not to feel too insulted, it wasn't like she knew any better. "Of course, my dear. The problem, however, is that Alberrde has a permanent contract with a higher order daemon. Any higher order daemon will simply bounce right back from a gentle banishment, so the average attacker would have to fight it. A grim prospect, believe you, me."

"But you have a way around doing that?" The woman asked, sounding both worried and hopeful in equal measure.

"Indeed, I do, because, by quite the coincidence, I have the name and type of daemon recorded here," Dante said, tapping the book with a somewhat predatory smile. He kept extensive notes on the defences, preparations and weaknesses of all the Maguses in the area. As someone firmly in the moral grey area, he knew he was likely to be called on for exactly this sort of task.

It paid to be informed, and Dante made great pains to be particularly well informed.

"What a coincidence," the woman said, the edge of a tight smile visible through her masking magic. She didn't sound particularly enthused, however. "I fail to see how that helps us, though? Unless this daemon has a weakness?"

"Oh, she most certainly does," Dante said, his lips quirking in amusement. "What is more important, though, is that if we summon her in advance, then she can't be there to help Alberrde. If it were just some nameless higher order daemon, that would be impossible, but with her name and type identified. Well, I can do it tonight if you'd like?"

Dante's attacker turned partner straightened in surprise before nodding vigorously. "That would be perfect. If you can deal with this daemon and the gargoyles, I can do the rest."

"Very well, then, let's not waste any time," Dante said, getting to his feet and tightening the knot in his robe with suppressed anticipation. This whole evening was getting odder and odder by the minute, but it certainly wasn't boring. "I have a ritual chamber nearby. Gors, prepare the chamber, please."

"Yes, Master." Gors's voice whispered from the air next to the intruder and the woman flinched a little, which had no doubt been Gors's intention.

Gors was a taciturn and severe fellow, especially for an imp, and he took pride in his work. Pride that had no doubt taken a knock when Dante's new partner had blown a hole in the mansion.

Ah well, it wasn't like she didn't deserve some rudeness. The mystery and impending adventure, not to mention the lure of the scroll, had won Dante over for now, but he had neither forgiven nor forgotten.

Dante led his unnamed guest down a discreet set of stairs to the small ritual chamber he used for lesser rituals like this. As he did, he explained that the first step would be to conduct an exploratory ritual, which would determine if the daemon in question was currently summoned or not.

Really, there was no need for him to be this specific about it all, but it was a good way to see what her knowledge level really was. He'd thrown in a few inaccuracies and blatantly false statements to see what would happen, but so far, she'd simply taken everything he said at face value.

A dangerous precedent for her to set, and one that played into his plans quite nicely.

The small ritual chamber was roughly the size of the living room upstairs, but was dominated by a carved ritual circle in the centre and various storage cabinets off to one side. Rituals required a whole range of material components, so there was everything from bat guano to a daemonically possessed dildo in there.

He still had yet to find a use for the dildo, but it was the sort of thing that no self-respecting daemon-summoner would let slip away once they had it.

Gors had already prepared the materials for the exploratory ritual by the time they arrived, demonstrating his usual efficiency in all things. Placing the boundary candles at the right positions, Dante added a loose layer of salt to the outer ring before carefully lighting the candles.

Preparations done, he cleared his throat and referred to the book one last time before beginning his chant. The words were heavy and cloying on his tongue as they tumbled free, but Dante was no novice and dealt with the mild discomfort with ease.

His guest shivered as each word broke the silence of the room, but she said nothing, simply watching with rapt fascination as Dante got to work.

"Lythoranix, I call on you!" Dante called out, finishing the chant and feeding his magic into the ritual circle.

The candles flared in unison as the air within the circle distorted with an effect similar to that of a heat haze. Slight red cracks in the air threaded through the shimmering distortion, and a sultry whisper emerged from them.

"I am already being summoned, Magus. I do not recognise your magic, but I hope we can get to know each other soon..." The words were deeply sensual, like a lover's ardent caress, and Dante felt his heart quicken despite himself.

He knew what Lythoranix was, of course, and had steeled himself accordingly, but his guest seemed to have been less prepared. Her control of her magic had slipped a little, and he could catch the glimpse of blonde hair through the protective distortion.

As the words faded, though, she regained her composure and her magic reaffirmed itself.

"So, it seems we have an issue," Dante said, putting on a thoughtful expression for his guest's benefit. "She is already being summoned to his side."

"Is there nothing we can do?" His guest was quick to ask, exactly as he'd hoped.

"Well, if it were a fast summoning, then it would already be done. No, he must be going for a longer ritual, one which is easier to perform and takes place over the course of a full day. The only way to counter it now is to break the ritual circle and disperse the magic or perform a counter-summoning."

"A counter-summoning?" She echoed hesitantly, no doubt thinking that this was far more than she'd signed on for.

"Yes, we would perform the short version and essentially steal her out from under him. This circle will do to keep her bound for at least a week with some minor adjustment. Once she's here, though, he won't be able to reach her and will realise something is wrong."

"Could it be something other than this counter-ritual?" She asked thoughtfully, nodding to herself as Dante gave a few other potential causes. "Then we can still act tomorrow. I will bring you the scroll and we will leave directly."

"Very well, then let us steal his daemon," Dante said, flashing her a grin as he subtly signalled Gors to set up the circle. His assistant would be in the corner, as usual, and would fetch the relevant material from the other ritual room. "There is one issue, though."

"What is it?"

"Well, the daemon is of succubus descent, which means there are certain requirements to bringing her into the world. Normally, I would provide the reagent myself, however, that might be an issue."

"Oh." There was a long pause before she spoke again, somewhat hesitantly. "Do you need time to recover first?"

"Yes and no," Dante said, affecting a mein of awkward embarrassment. "The reagent must be fresh, but must also be drawn during the ritual. Forgive my bluntness, but spent as I am, I doubt I could manage it in the time needed. Besides which, if I rest to recover, the opposing ritual may well finish. We must act quickly, if we are to act at all."

"What are you suggesting?" There was a note of something in her voice. It was almost anticipatory in a way, and Dante reflected on his suspicion of her watching him earlier.

"To be direct, if we are going to do this, I will need your help," Dante said, turning and looking directly at where her eyes would be. "I realise the situation isn't ideal..."

"But sacrifices must be made," her voice was a whisper now as she took a hesitant step forward. "I will do what I must. Just tell me when to begin."

It was difficult to read her reaction when Dante couldn't see her face or posture, but the slight tremble in her voice hadn't just been anxiety. Some part of her found this exciting, he knew that for a fact now. Even if he hadn't heard it, her willingness to assist him was a clear sign, and he wondered just how far he could take her down this road.

Reaching down, he undid the knot on his robe, letting it part and reveal his nakedness in full. His arousal was fully evident, even if he was only at half-mast, and he bit back a smile at the little gasp she made.

"Do I...." Her voice trailed off and Dante said nothing, simply waiting patiently as she edged closer and reached out to hesitantly grasp him. The magic sheathing her hand was cool to the touch, but not in an unpleasant way, though her grip was loose and inexperienced.

Feigning discomfort, Dante looked away as she slowly began to move her hand back and forth, her confidence growing as he rose to the task at hand. It was a far cry from some of the handjobs he'd had in the past, but her innocence gave a certain spice to it that Dante found intoxicating.

"Am I doing it right?" The question was so soft that Dante almost missed it, and his mind raced for a moment as he considered his options. Did he keep with the more innocent angle, or did he try something different?

"Your grip needs to be tighter," he said after a moment before quickly wincing. "No, not that tight. Yes, like that, that's better."

Dante took a moment to savour the coolness of her magic mixed with the warmth of her hand and the ragged sound of her breathing as she followed his instructions. Now it was time to push things.

"Faster." She sped up immediately, her breathing growing harsher as she did her best to maintain the speed. She was clearly unused to the motion, though, and he could tell her arm was tiring.

Giving himself another moment to enjoy her ministrations, Dante spoke softly. "I'm not sure this is working. What you're doing is amazing, but it just isn't enough."

"What do you need me to do?" Her voice was little more than a whisper, but Dante could hear the desire threaded through it. He had a feeling he knew exactly what sort of desire it was as well, though it wasn't one that he himself enjoyed.

The feeling of giving away control, of letting someone else make the choices for you. Some, like Lilly, wanted to be used, to be reduced down to little more than a puddle of pleasure and desire.

"I need you to use your mouth," Dante said, unable to keep the heat out of his words.

Her hand faltered before letting go of him, and for a moment, Dante thought he'd pushed too far, too soon. Then she leaned forward, the cold tingle of her magic enveloping his cock right alongside the hot warmth of her mouth as she sank halfway down his length in a single motion.

She was inexperienced, he knew that immediately, her motions were hesitant and exploratory. What he lacked in experience, though, she made up for with enthusiasm, surprisingly so.

Dante guided her with his words, finding to his delight that she was obedient and quick to learn, rapidly finding the right mix of speed and suction. She was a long way from the raw talent of Jessamine, but there was nothing quite like exploring a new partner.

He was already mapping out her desires, her needs. He would explore every inch of her passions and exploit it all, pleasuring her beyond what anyone else had or would. It was a conceit of his, and he knew it, but he took pride in his work.

Letting out a soft groan, Dante felt her go deeper and deeper, pushing herself to try and take his full length. The inevitable gag came as she pushed too far, and she leaned back with a spluttering cough.

"I'm afraid we don't have time for you to learn, my dear," Dante said, reaching down and casually resting a hand atop her head. "If we're going to be in time, we need to be quicker. Do you want me to take over?"

"..... yes."

"I need to hear you say it," Dante said, licking his dry lips as he fought to keep his breathing steady. The little gasp she'd made in response had him hard as iron, and though he ached to explore her further, they truly did need to finish quickly.

"Please use my mouth, Magus." The request was vulnerable and fragile in a way that sent a bolt of heat right to Dante's core.

With a firm hand, Dante drew her forward as he thrust forward, sinking himself into her mouth before taking her head in both hands and fucking her face.

She gagged, but she didn't pull free, leaving him in full control of her motions as he pistoned in and out, the head of his cock pushing again and again into the tight confines of her throat. He went a little further each time as she learned to relax her throat, losing himself in the mixed hot and cold sensations.

His balls tightened as he neared his climax, his grip firm as he rode the very edge of what he could take for a few long torturous seconds. Pulling out at the last moment, Dante turned and called out the words of the ritual, pumping his cock one last time and spraying his cum into the ritual circle.