Seraphina stared at me from the edge of the Moonwell as if I’d answered her question with complete nonsense. "An investment in what?"
"You."
Her eyes narrowed immediately, and I realized I probably could have worded that better.
The restoration had already changed her dramatically. Color had returned to cheeks that had been pale from months of captivity, and her breathing gradually settled as mana circulated through pathways that had been dead only minutes earlier.
It also didn’t help that the Moonwell had apparently baked her.
Her skin was flushed from the restoration, beads of sweat clinging to her neck and shoulders despite the cool cavern air. Wet blonde hair stuck to her skin, and what remained of her white underclothes wasn’t doing much to hide the toned body underneath.
The woman was fucking gorgeous.
Of course she was. I’d designed her.
’Oh. Right. I made all seven of them ridiculously hot.’
That realization would have been easier to deal with if my new body hadn’t apparently decided to provide its own opinion. Heat gathered embarrassingly low in my stomach, and I froze when I realized exactly what was happening.
’No.’
Seraphina’s gaze followed mine before dropping lower. Her expression hardened immediately, but the faint color spreading across her cheeks ruined most of the effect.
"Are you serious?" she demanded, pulling the remnants of her robes closer around herself.
"In my defense, this body is new."
Her blush deepened. "What the fuck does that mean?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." I turned away before my traitorous anatomy embarrassed me any further. "Forget I said it."
"You healed me and immediately became..." Seraphina stopped, apparently unable to finish the sentence. Her eyes flicked downward once more before snapping back to my face.
I caught a second glance.
’Wait a fucking minute.’
Seraphina realized it too. "Don’t."
"I didn’t say anything."
"Your face did."
"My face is innocent."
"There is nothing innocent about you."
A strangled noise came from Lyra’s direction. When I turned, she had conveniently become extremely interested in one of the ancient pillars.
"Are you laughing?"
"No, Mistress," Lyra replied without looking at me, although her shaking shoulders weren’t particularly convincing.
’Fantastic. Even my servants are making fun of me now.’
I heard fabric shift behind me as Seraphina dressed, and I decided focusing on literally anything else would be preferable.
The System had given me a new skill.
I raised my hand toward an empty section of cavern wall and concentrated on the unfamiliar warmth inside my chest.
[Blighted Radiance]
Black-gold flame erupted above my palm.
Gold burned at the center while black fire curled around its edges. The mana felt nothing like my natural succubus magic. It was denser and sharper, almost uncomfortable beneath my skin.
I pushed my hand forward, sending the flame into the cavern wall. Stone cracked beneath the impact before black-gold fire briefly spread across its surface.
"Holy magic."
Seraphina’s voice had lost all of its earlier embarrassment.
I turned to find her staring at the scorched stone. "Not exactly."
"That was divine mana." She approached the wall and examined the residue, her brows slowly drawing together. "Corrupted divine mana."
"You’ve seen it before?"
"No." Seraphina turned sharply toward me. "Where did you learn that?"
"I didn’t."
"Don’t lie to me."
"I’m not."
"You expect me to believe a Lesser Succubus accidentally discovered corrupted holy magic?"
"Considering how my morning has gone, that’s not even in the top five strangest things that have happened to me."
She clearly didn’t believe me, but I wasn’t about to explain that I’d received a fragment of a bloodline she apparently didn’t even know she possessed.
Instead, something else she’d said caught my attention.
"You trained in the Church?"
"For fifteen years."
That meant she’d entered their service at nine.
I looked at the fading marks around her wrists. "Who destroyed your mana channels?"
Seraphina’s expression immediately closed. "We’ve already discussed this."
"No. I asked, and you refused to answer." I crossed my arms, pushing my ample breasts even higher. "Someone crippled you without killing you, then you somehow ended up being sold into the Demon Frontier. If whoever did that comes looking for you, it becomes my problem."
Seraphina remained silent for several seconds before looking toward the Moonwell. "The Church."
I’d suspected it, but hearing her say it still felt different.
"The Order of the Sacred Dawn raised me," she continued, her voice becoming colder. "They taught me scripture, healing, purification, and combat. Everything expected of a Saintess candidate."
Candidate... That was new.
"What happened?"
"During a purification ceremony, something reacted to my mana. The bishops stopped the ritual and confined me." Her fingers tightened around her robes. "Three days later, they declared my existence a corruption of divine law."
’Fallen Seraph.’
I kept my expression neutral. "What did they find?"
"They never told me. The next morning, they destroyed my mana channels and transported me in secret." Seraphina looked away. "The soldiers eventually handed me to another group. After that, I changed hands more times than I remember until I arrived here."
And I’d reduced all of that to a few dramatic sentences about her faith turning into hatred.
Standing in front of the actual woman, those sentences suddenly sounded incredibly fucking lazy.
’Maybe she had a reason.’
I started toward the passage. "Come on."
"Where?" Seraphina asked.
"Upstairs. Preferably somewhere with food."
She didn’t follow. When I turned, Seraphina remained beside the Moonwell, clutching the front of her ruined robes. The hostility in her expression had faded, replaced by uncertainty.
"What happens to me?"
The question killed most of my humor.
"You’re not going back into the cell, if that’s what you’re asking."
Seraphina studied me carefully. "You purchased me."
"Velessa purchased you. She’s dead."
"And you inherited her dungeon."
"I inherited thirteen silver, a dying mushroom farm, twenty-three hungry demons, a cracked magical crystal that kills me if someone breaks it, and several prisoners nobody bothered telling me about." I gestured toward her. "I’m drawing the inheritance line before slavery."
Lyra lowered her eyes, clearly hiding another smile.
"So I can leave?" Seraphina asked.
"If you want."
Her brow furrowed. "No contract? No oath of service?"
"No."
"And you expect absolutely nothing from me?"
"I wouldn’t say absolutely nothing."
Seraphina stiffened, and despite everything we’d just discussed, her gaze betrayed her by dropping toward my waist again. It lasted barely a second before her eyes snapped back to mine, but the flush spreading across her cheeks told me she’d realized exactly what she’d done.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Don’t," she warned.
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was enjoying the fact that you apparently needed to check twice."
Her blush deepened as she glared at me. "I was making sure you weren’t still..."
My grin widened when she stopped. "Still what?"
"Being disgusting."
"That’s disappointing. For a second there, I thought the former Saintess candidate might actually be curious."
Seraphina stepped closer, blue eyes flashing. "You could be the last woman alive in this miserable world, and I still wouldn’t touch you."
I glanced at the distance she’d just closed between us before meeting her eyes again. "You moved closer to tell me that."
She froze.
Behind her, Lyra suddenly found the Moonwell fascinating again.
"I hate you," Seraphina muttered through clenched teeth.
"Much more convincing."
She shoved past me, shoulder clipping mine as she headed for the passage. Her face was still noticeably red.
’Oh, this is going to be fun.’
"There’s one problem with leaving," I called after her. "You have no money, supplies, or decent clothes, and your legs just started working again."
Seraphina stopped.
"Your channels are repaired, but your body still needs time. Stay here, eat, recover, and train until you’re strong enough to survive outside." I walked past her toward the stairs. "After that, if you still want to leave, nobody will stop you."
"And what do you get?" she asked suspiciously.
This time, her eyes remained very firmly on my face.
"Don’t stab my residents."
"That’s it?"
"Preferably don’t stab me either."
The corner of her mouth twitched before she caught herself. "No promises."
"Wonderful. We’re already negotiating."
Seraphina followed me toward the stairs, refusing Lyra’s offered hand even though her steps remained unsteady. Pride apparently survived mana-channel destruction, starvation, imprisonment, and accidental flirting without so much as a scratch.
Halfway up, she glanced back at me. "I still hate demons, and I don’t trust you."
"I’d be concerned if you did. We’ve known each other for an hour."
Her brow furrowed as if I’d given the wrong response. "Healing me changes nothing between us."
Between us?
There hadn’t been an us an hour ago.
I wisely decided not to mention that.
"Whatever helps you sleep tonight."
A faint blush returned to her cheeks.
Seraphina immediately caught my smile. "Say one fucking word."
I raised both hands. "Didn’t say anything."
"You were going to."
She turned and continued up the stairs, muttering something decidedly un-Saintess-like under her breath.
I followed with a grin.
Saving the future Fallen Saintess was already proving considerably more entertaining than killing her had been.