It was a vain hope, though. The very next day, I had to lose two different fire giant tails on the way to school. One of them might not have been his, and to be charitable, he might be watching me for any sign of wavering.

He’d been so nice to me.

So had Tyz’vel.

The other shoe, though, was hovering in the air somewhere above me. It had to be. Or maybe it was an entire, full-sized, acme anvil.

I only had the rest of this semester, at least. Then I could focus on modeling, make lots of money, and somehow…

How could I use it to keep Surtur off my back? Maybe I could find a way to stall him. To get him to leave me alone for a while.

And I still had the succubus to worry about. I forced myself to focus on class. Clara came up to me at lunch.

She sniffed. “You smell of fire and brimstone.”

“Surtur was trying to be nice to me.”

“How much did he succeed?”

“If I didn’t know he was crazy and wanted to end the world, he’d have been quite reasonable.”

Clara laughed. “Is he…no, wait. Let me rephrase.”

I laughed myself. “He’s hot. He’s not that handsome. But he does have the rich and powerful factor.”

“Sugar daddy,” she teased.

I felt abruptly much better, although I had to protest, “This is serious, woman.”

“I know. And I trust you not to actually fall for him when you have Kanesha.”

“I’ll let her know you complimented her. What about you and Seb?”

She blushed.

“I think that answers that.” I wasn’t pushing any further, as I was pretty sure there was a birthday in the way of their relationship and if so I didn’t want to know.

“So, what are you going to do about him?”

“I’m still trying to work that out.”

“If he was a real guy I’d slip a potion into his drink. I found a recipe for one which takes away the performance.”

“Clara!”

I was very glad nobody was close enough to hear us. Of course, I’d made sure of that. But…Clara having such a thing.

“But really, the only way to get rid of a guy is to redirect him.”

Which I knew. “Then I’m stuck waiting for him to give up. If he ever does.”

It was an unfortunate thought, but what could I do?