The devil i know underwo.., p.1
The Devil I Know (Underworld University Book 2), page 1
The Devil I Know
Underworld University
Book Two
Bex Deveau
This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, people or places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Devil I Know
Copyright © 2023 by Bex Deveau
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design and typography image by: BZN Designs
Edited by: Lisa Nieves-Taylor
Proofread by: Sue Laverty
Created with Vellum
Contents
Author’s Note
Trigger Warnings
1. Dice
2. Wrath
3. Talon
4. Riot
5. Talon
6. Wrath
7. Talon
8. Talon
9. Talon
10. Poison
11. Talon
12. Talon
13. Saint
14. Talon
15. Dice
16. Wrath
17. Talon
18. Poison
19. Riot
20. Talon
21. Talon
22. Talon
23. Talon
24. Wrath
25. Dice
26. Talon
27. Talon
28. Riot
29. Dice
30. Talon
31. Wrath
32. Talon
33. Poison
34. Talon
35. Riot
36. Poison
37. Talon
38. Shadow
39. Talon
40. Talon
41. Saint
42. Talon
Links!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Author’s Note
The novels in the Underworld University series contain themes that heavily rely on Christian-centric rhetoric (demons, angels, the concepts of Hell and Heaven as potential afterlives, penance, etc.) that do not reflect the author’s beliefs. This story is a work of fiction and none of the depictions of religion or religious practices within its pages or associated media should be taken as fact.
Though this story is told from the POV of an American, I am Canadian and do use the British/Canadian spellings of words. I promise they aren’t misspelt.
Trigger Warnings
Disordered eating, depictions of OCD, ableism/ableist language, parental abuse (physical, mental, emotional), kidnapping, gore, blood, violence, gambling, alcohol as a social lubricant, homophobia (historical mentions), hate crime (historical mention), murder, accidental death (historical mention), desecration (by burning) of a church (historical mention), whipping, body shaming, gun violence, swearing, Catholicism, knives, Heaven/Hell mentions, biblical angels, demons, sex work, group sex, explicit sexual content, non-human (monster) sexual content, pet play, dominate/submissive dynamics, use of restraints during sex, tentacle play, praise, voyeurism, degradation, bed humping, masturbation, role play for sexual purposes, cum swapping.
For my friends, Shannon and Paul. Thank you for being my very first fans.
Dice
Prologue
It wasn’t in my nature to lose.
Especially when it came to women.
Talon had all but ignored me since our exchange the morning after the victory party—if you could call her careful avoidance being ignored. Yeah, I’d noticed. Sure I wasn’t the quickest in our group on the uptake, but even I could figure out when someone didn’t want me around.
What I didn’t expect was how much that little nugget of information would hurt.
Saint’s hands circled Talon’s waist, her arms looped around his neck as they rotated in slow circles to the music. I’d hardly call what they were doing together dancing, but it made my chest feel tight all the same.
How did things end up like this?
“Earth to Dice,” Riot muttered irritably, elbowing me in the side and making me wheeze. “Either stop staring or go talk to her. You’re being weird.”
“Fuck off,” I hissed. “She’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Riot’s honey-coloured eyes dipped toward her mated girlfriend, her expression unreadable. “I wouldn’t say that… exactly.”
“Well, if she does want to talk, she has a weird way of showing it.” I sighed, running a hand over the bristly undercut at the back of my head.
“I’m not saying she does,” Riot said quickly. “It would be wildly inappropriate for me to share information that I’ve learned because of our—” She lowered her voice considerably. “—bond.”
“Because of your—” I stopped suddenly, looking between my friend’s flat expression and Talon.
Riot didn’t have to say anything—I knew that. My friend was a lot of things, but a snitch wasn’t one of them.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I didn’t tell you anything,” Riot said pointedly. “If you’re going to talk to her, you better hurry up. After Pan starts yapping I don’t think you’ll have another chance until after break.” She grinned nastily up at me, a reminder that underneath her human skin, she was just as wicked as any demon here. “I don’t want to have to listen to you and Wrath pine for two weeks.”
“You’re such an asshole,” I muttered, nervously buttoning my suit jacket.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Tick, tock.”
As much as I wanted to argue, she had a point. I was on borrowed time when it came to Talon—and we’d let things go too long as it was. I had no grand ideas that she’d want me back—fuck, she’d seen my true face, after all. But maybe, just maybe, we could at least be friends.
It would be hard to watch her with Riot, but if we could at least be in the same room… well, a demon could put their feelings aside if it meant his dream girl was happy, right?
With a final glare at Riot, I made my way through the crowd, stopping just behind Talon to brush my fingers down her arm.
Her dark eyes met mine and my breath caught in my chest, the anxious, tight feeling that I’d been fighting for the last week reaching a crescendo.
She was gorgeous. The deep green velvet of her wrap dress hugged every curve of her like some kind of precious gemstone yet to be named. Her hair was pulled into a simple up-do, the pins in her hair sparkling in the dimmed lights of the ballroom.
“Can we talk?” I asked quietly, running a hand over my messy topknot.
I regretted the style instantly, wishing that I looked half as polished and pretty as she did.
Sparkling.
She looked at Saint who shrugged, his icy blue eyes lined with anxiety. “I’m sure you could spare him one dance, angel.”
Fuck yes, feathers! Way to be team Dice!
I straightened, trying not to be offended by the way Talon sighed, unwinding her arms from the angel’s neck so I could take her hand. The moment my fingers closed around hers, I pulled her against me, relishing in the way her body heat seeped through my clothes.
“One song, then you’re giving me back to my date,” she said seriously, her dark eyes squinting up at me.
I nodded so fast I could’ve given myself whiplash.
One second. One minute. One song. It was more than I deserved.
“I’ll go get you a drink,” Saint said with a quick kiss to her cheek that I tried and failed not to be jealous about.
It was fucking annoying to watch things be so easy between her and someone else when they were so tense between us. But, as she smiled up at me, it didn’t seem to matter as much.
My entire world shrank to a single pinpoint.
Her.
Talon’s plush lips parted as she took me in, her eyes trailing over my glamoured face and body with interest.
Does she only like me because of the glamour? Would she look at me like that if I wasn’t wearing it?
I wound my hand around her waist, willing myself into a waltz made stiff by my desire not to crowd her.
How do you tell a girl how you feel about her? Eve’s soggy left—she’s staring at me. Is she waiting for me to say something? Ah, fuck. I need to say something. Okay, Dice, you got this. Say something. Anything!
“Wrath said you met his dad,” I choked out, heat creeping up the back of my neck.
Nailed it.
“Is that really what you want to talk about?” she asked, frowning.
Aw, fuck.
“No.” I clenched my jaw, caught off guard. “But I’m not good at this shit, Tal, so I’m trying to work my way up to it.” My eyes met hers, imploring her not to push me any further.
I just needed a couple more minutes to figure out what to—
“Just spit it out,” she said flatly, rolling her eyes.
The clock was ticking on my opportunity to win her back; once the imaginary timer hit zero, that meant I’d lost this woman forever. I wasn’t ready to finish that countdown. It was the only explan ation I had for what came out of my mouth next.
“I’m sorry, okay?” I said in a pathetically panicked voice, leaning my chin on the top of her head to hide my reddened cheeks from her. I cupped the back of her neck with my hand, the baby hairs escaping her up-do tickling my palm. “I shouldn’t have said—” I inhaled sharply.
I’d only get the opportunity to say this once—and this wasn’t how I pictured it. I wanted a candlelit dinner, or the two of us in my bed, the curtains drawn to hide away from the world while I bared my soul—at least then when she laughed herself sick we wouldn’t have an audience.
But Riot was right; this couldn’t wait.
A crowded ballroom was just going to have to do.
“You aren’t just a bet to me,” I choked out, hoping my voice sounded stronger to her than it did to me.
She sighed, circling her arms around my middle. “I got the payout after we fought.”
I groaned internally.
With everything else, I’d forgotten about the points. How was she supposed to believe that it was her I cared about when ranks were on the line?
“I know. I fucked up, Talon. I—I’ll give you every rank point I’ve got if that’s what it takes to make you believe me. We can play Rock, Paper, Scissors. I’ll only use scissors, I swear. It’s—I—”
“I don’t want your points, Dice. I’m good,” Talon interrupted, giving me a squeeze.
“How do I fix this?” I asked, pulling away so that I could grip her shoulders, holding her at arm’s length. “I don’t want to lose—I—”
It felt too good to be touched by her. If this was the last time… Lingering would only make things worse.
“Kallum fucked with my grades. I’m going to be expelled tomorrow when the semester ends.”
“What?!” I shouted, making the other dancers turn their heads to look at us.
Expelled? How the fuck is that possible? At rank seven, only tanking every subject would get you tossed. I shook myself, trying to refocus on what mattered. “Who the fuck is Kallum?”
She threw her arms around my neck, standing on tiptoe to turn us in slow circles. “I mean Lucky. Fuck, would you keep your voice down?”
Expelled. Expelled. She was going to get fucking expelled. I was never going to see her again. I’d never even told her how I felt about her.
Riot was going to be in shambles.
“You have to—Eve’s soggy left tit, Talon! They’ll fucking expel you!” I hissed, grabbing fistfuls of her waist tight enough to bruise.
“Eve’s what?” She snorted, a smile stretching her face.
“Does Riot know? What about Wrath? How can we fix this? What do you need me to—”
“Dice, stop,” she insisted. “Just… answer me something, will you?”
Anxiety twisted my heart for Riot; who knew what having an Erros—eternally damned and forever wandering soul—for a mate would do to her?
“Talon, you’re being crazy; how the fuck is she supposed to feel when you are gone—”
“Dice!” Talon snapped, stunning me into silence. “I don’t care right now. And you shouldn’t either. Fuck how Riot’s going to feel. How will you feel?”
“I—” I took a breath, my teeth grinding to dust in my mouth as I scanned the crowd of dancers for any of the other Heads of Cerberus. We were going to need more than just the two of us to fix this mess. “What’s it matter? It’s not like you feel the same.”
“What?” she hissed. “What gave you that stupid idea?”
“You said as much, plus you’ve… I mean you’ve seen me now, right?” I swallowed hard, looking over the top of her head.
Eye contact was too much right now, my priorities shifting from my desire to beg for her forgiveness to protecting her at all costs. I needed Riot or Wrath. Anyone who was smart enough to actually come up with a viable plan that wasn’t putting my fist through Headmistress Pan if she so much as came near—
Talon fisted my tie, yanking me down to her eye level. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Tal—” I choked, my eyes watering from the pressure on my throat.
And then we were kissing. Not like in the movies in some big romantic gesture. This was different. Brutal. Snarling. Teeth and tongues warring.
“You are so stupid!” she all but shouted, the sound lost to my mouth.
I pulled her flush against me, my heart threatening to break my ribs. “I know.”
“Dice, you fucking idiot. You absolute dumbass. You are the hottest, most ridiculous—”
Hottest? There’s no way I’d heard her right.
“But—” I started, Talon ploughing on.
“No, shut up! Don’t you ever listen to anything anyone else says to you? You’re gorgeous. With or without the glamour. I do not care for one second that your face is scarred up. In fact, I actually think it’s kind of hot—”
“Talon,” I said urgently, the pressure in my chest reaching an all-time high.
“You have this whole dark and dangerous vibe going on, which I’m sure it’s easy to imagine I’m into—” she said with a grin that made my knees weak.
“Talon,” I pleaded.
“Which I would have told you the other day if you didn’t decide to be a massive fuck face.”
I stared at her for a long moment, my breathing coming in embarrassing pants and gasps like I’d just run a mile.
She was talking about me like she liked me.
No, she was talking about me like she loved me.
“The bet is over, Talon,” I whispered urgently, desperately trying to hold onto the dam I’d drawn over my emotions.
“I know that,” she said, like I was the one who was acting crazy.
It almost made me laugh. Almost.
“This is real?”
“For me, it is. Is it real for you?”
“Yes,” I sighed, cradling her face in my hands reverently. “It’s been real for me the whole time.”
Didn’t she understand? Couldn’t she see that I’d been obsessed with her from the moment she’d rejected me in that stupid little towel, her hair still dripping onto the rug?
She blinked. “The whole time?”
“I only made that bet with you so that you’d give me the time of day,” I admitted.
“Dice…” She laughed once, a high, panicked noise. “You are such an idiot.”
“I know, treasure,” I murmured, drawing her closer. “But I’m your idiot.”
“Yeah, you are.” She smiled brightly, eyes sparkling as I collected her into my arms for a crushing hug. “Dice, listen, I hate to do this, but—I gotta go.”
“C’mon, surely feathers can wait a few more—” I groaned, cut off by the press of Talon’s lips to mine.
“I need to break into Pan’s office to change my grades so I don’t get fucking expelled.”
I blinked, shifting from loverboy to accomplice lightning fast. “You need backup then.”
“I kind of… already have it?”
“Feathers.” I laughed in equal parts disbelief and irritation. “Who’d think he’d be such a rule breaker.”
“Seriously,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But we can pick this up later?”
“Does this mean I get to call dibs tonight?” I grinned.
“Only if we stay in your room,” Talon said suggestively. “I’m going to prove that asshole roommate of yours wrong.”
I straightened up, grinning ear to ear. “Good, I want to rub his face in it. Miserable asshole.”
Talon kissed my cheek and slipped away from me, heading towards Saint where he waited for her by the refreshments. I pressed my fingers to the spot her lips had touched, her words lingering like smoke in the air.
