How was I going to coerce the Headmaster’s own son into giving me his soul? Which sin could I exploit? My first instinct was to hope he was lustful. I watched the duplicating girl (now known as Mia) fawn over him like moths to a lighthouse. Were he lustful, it would dawn on him that this girl’s abilities would make it very advantageous to court her. To quote one of the sinners I met in Lust ‘So many holes, so little time.’ It’d be natural to give in to her advances, flirt back, maybe even “give her his number” whatever that meant. I assumed she meant room number so she could visit him in the dorms. So I observed how he would respond to this possible temptation.

In response to her obvious advances, Gideon Marvell picked up a duplicate and held her at arm’s length.

“Thanks for the— warm welcome Mia.” He cleared his throat: “I’m flattered by all the compliments, but I came over here because I heard screaming? A lot of screaming.”

All of her duplicates disappeared, except for the one dangling from his grip.

“Oh ha ha! Funny story. Me and Barry were playing a game and we got a little carried away with the foreplay. He’s a great sport and all so I’m fine. Everything’s fine! And you’re way hotter. So did you want to take out a rental boat after class? I could take you out to the middle of the ocean. Total privacy. No one around, we could really get to know each other. Did I tell you I’m good at massages? ‘Cause I’m so good at massages. Great even! I give myself massages every day. That's how I’m so flexible. You can bend me into any position.” She winked.

This girl had no shame.

“Oh, that’s… very talented of you.” He chuckled. He lowered her to her feet and looked away. “Maybe, so long as it doesn’t interrupt our studies. My mom would kill me if I slacked off.”

“Totally understandable, completely agree. You get your timetable for school, tell me when to pick you up on the shore, and I can give you a rub down okay? Okay. And here’s my number, email, and socials.” She procured a card out of nowhere and slipped it into his jean pocket. As she went to retract her hand, Gideon grabbed her arm.

“Mia, you’re bleeding.”

“Oh only a little, don’t worry!”

“It’s your entire arm. Here let me look.”

Mia did not reject that offer as he inspected the puncture wounds my claws inflicted on her.

“How did this happen?” He glanced at me.

My words caught in my throat like lumps of coal. Why? I don’t know. It was the way he stared, similar to the way Marvella looked at me. Where any second my torso could’ve been spliced by his laser eyed judgment.

“I… it was an accident?”

His eyebrows scrunched together. “Was it?” He looked at Mia.

“Oh my gosh, of course it was babe. Barry is just a squishy little baby boy. He’s a wittle squooshy-wooshy marshmallow man. He’s just a wittle guy you can push down the stairs.”

“The hell I am!”

Gideon sighed, and took off his shirt like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. I almost wondered if I hallucinated him taking it off but no— it was really happening. Mia would have fainted if not for Gideon taking a knee and holding her steady. He took the shirt, ripped it in half, and wrapped both of her arms up with the skill of a doctor. Once he’d finished, he lifted Mia up. She swooned and let him cradle her in his disgustingly bulging muscular arms. His shirt had covered how ridiculously toned his abs and chest were. What was he going to do with those? Punch bad guys with his erect nipple man boobs? It was stupid how much girls cared about dumb muscles. I had muscles too, lean practical muscles, so why did it matter so much how big they were?

Gideon looked at Mia with concern. “I will take you to the nurse’s office before you pass out. And as for you,” His eyes fixated on me—and I imagined his irises burning a hole through my nose. “I know it’s the first day of school, so I am going to overlook this. But don’t break the rules again, okay?”

Despite being threatened by a superpowered snitch, I perked up at his reaction.

“Oh? What would you do if I kept breaking the rules? Would you get angry? Would you try to take matters into your own hands?” I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Was wrath the sin I could toy with? It’d be easy enough as lust to lure out. I just had to tease him in other ways.

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Gideon flinched but it was nigh-impossible to catch. Instead he chuckled and shook his head.

“Come on man, I don’t have time for this. I just meant I’d have to tell my mom about it. And I don’t want people hurting each other as much as the next guy.” He shrugged, and then looked at Mia fondling his necklace. “Would you be comfortable with me flying you to the nurse’s office or—”

“YES.” She gripped his shoulders. “Take me Gideon, take my supple body and ravish me in the heavens. God yes!” She cried.

Gideon cleared his throat once again. “I’m going to assume that’s the blood loss talking.”

He levitated from the ground but before he could go much higher—I grabbed his leg.

“What are you doing?! Let go of me.” He tried shaking me off but my claws gripped him tight. I couldn't pierce his skin but I was definitely hurting him. Ah, it was too easy.

“What’s your choice Gideon? Are you going to let me stop you from saving Mia? Is your reputation more important than her well-being?” I tiled my head. “I wonder what your mom would think if she heard you let a student bleed to death in your arms.”

Gideon’s blue eyes flashed red, crimson, wrath.

“I said let go!”

“Make me stop.” I borrowed Mia’s tactics of aggravation. “You're holding out on me Gideon. You can't be this much of a pushover. You're Marvella’s son and you're leaving a helpless girl to suffer? Tsk, tsk.” I said in the same way Mia did before.

I could see his face twisting with more rage. Behind that ice cold venire of civility, for all his patience he was just an angry little boy hanging by a fucking thread. I was there to rip it in half.

“Uh sir?” Iggy whispered, still hiding in my jacket pocket. “It's probably in your best interest to let go before you piss him off.”

“That's the idea.” I muttered. “I have this under control Iggy. It's psychological warfare—ah!”

Gideon swung his leg trying to shake me off but I wasn't budging. My grip was ironclad around his ankle. After the initial swing I started to adapt to his movements. Mockingly, I even yawned at his attempts to throw me off.

“This is just sad Gideon. You're stalling—make your choice!” And by that point we’d gathered a fair amount of onlookers who were transfixed by the scene. Gideon started breathing quicker and his own sinned scent started to emerge.

“Come on, this isn't funny. Just let go, I'm warning you—”

“I'm not letting go.”

“Why not?! She needs to see the nurse. Are you jealous of the way she treats me or something?”

I laughed and gave him the sinister look I'd practiced in the mirror. The one where my smile widened, my brows furrowed and my eyes crackled like busted light bulbs. “I don't give a fuck about her Gideon. And it seems you don't either since she's still bleeding. So what are you going to do? Follow the rules and let an innocent girl suffer? Or man up and stop me?”

Gideon held her close, burying her face in his chest.

“I’m trying to help her—”

“Then do it.” I sneered. “Or are you a pathetic Samaritan like all the other humans? Only willing to help another soul when it's convenient? When it makes you look good. When it's a girl you could easily take advantage of? Have her indebted to you for your kindness and wrapped around your finger?”

“Yes please.” Mia added, muffled between Gideon’s chest. “Take ad-man-tage of me.”

Gideon looked between her and me with an incredulous expression.

“Seriously, I have to take her to the nurse’s office. Now. She's getting delirious—which you caused! And I was going to be cool about it but you're making things worse.”

I frowned. “Appreciate the flattery, Gideon, but she was damaged before I got here… I did stab her arms though.”

More people were murmuring, watching me dangle from Gideon's leg. And though I was physically below him, I knew I was the one in control. So I twisted the knife.

“If you're so spineless against a classmate, you're never going to cut it as a real hero. You know that right?”

Gideon tried swinging me off his leg again.

“Get off already!”

“Make me.”

“I don't want to hurt you dude. I'm really strong and fast and I don't—”

“Strong? You?” I laughed overdramatically as if it was the most hilarious thing I'd ever heard.

The superpowered snitch burned redder by the second.

Iggy whispered “Sir, asking this kindly as possible, but what the fuck are you doing?”

“Pride.” I answered my skeptical minion, and continued talking to Gideon. “All I see is a self important asshat at his mommy’s school with a savior complex. You're not strong.”

“Yes I am.”

“No you're not—”

“No dude, I'm ridiculously strong and I want you to get off my leg.” His voice cracked. “I'm warning you.”

“Are you?” I yawned again. “I could hang here all day and you wouldn't do a thing about it. You don't have the guts. You're too scared to do the right thing because of how your reputation will make you loo—”

And then my skull hit the outdoor hallway pillar with the force of a sledgehammer. If I were human, I would've died instantly. What happened was Gideon flew near a pillar to have it knock me out.

I suppose no one told him demons don't die.

Even with a caved in skull and my brain matter splattering my uniform, I still gripped his leg with one hand—and the pillar in the other. I felt him jerk against the tension.

“What? You're still conscious? How can you be… oh God! I flew too fast. Oh—” he spluttered as if trying to find the right words to capture his distress, and settled on. “Oh firetruck!”

I couldn't see shit, because my eyes had been jellified on impact. If I could've, I might've given him a look that could rival Marvella’s. Maybe I would've said something like “You nearly killed one of your classmates and all you have to say is ‘firetruck?’. You fucking boy scout. Also I'm glad you bashed in my head so I can't see your disgusting chest anymore. It looks like it got slathered in honey and stung by bees.” But, I didn't say anything because my tongue was licking my amygdala.