“He knows,” Chad blurted without ceremony the second Gregory closed the door. The older man’s shoulders stiffened, and he took his time turning back to face us.

“What does he mean, ‘he knows’?” Bub peeped as my rage began to boil up through my stomach, searing my chest, making me want to roar.

“What are you talking about, Mister Cockburn?” Gregory asked, his tone careful, hesitant. Full of deceit.

I’d had enough. I surged forwards, gripping the collar of his starched shirt and slamming the unfortunate little arse into the wall, rattling all his precious framed articles. The breath squeaked out of him.

“I know that you and ‘Mister Cockburn’ colluded to enable him to steal the work of another student, presenting it as his own and ensuring her expulsion from her course!”

“Urrrrgggh!” he gurgled. I released him enough to let him suck in a lungful of air. “I … I don’t know⁠—”

I hefted him off the ground again, revelling at the terrified gurgling sound he made, the way his stumpy little legs flailed wildly. “Why do you pathetic little humans continue to lie, even when it’s so clear you’ve been caught out?” Dumping him on the floor, I loomed over him, finally letting go of the human form. My skin darkened, my horns sprouted. “Time for your reckoning, little man!”

“Wha-what are you?” he blathered, scooting away across the floor, scurrying towards his desk. I sighed, striding over and gripping him by his belt, dragging him back out.

“I am the Prince of Hell. And unless you wish to spend your eternity being tortured by my demons in the most … creative … of ways, you will do as you are told.”

Gregory’s eyes darted between me and Chad, his eyelids fluttering frantically. “Is this real, Cockburn? Did you rat me out to this … this fiend?”

Chad’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

Gregory snapped his head towards me, his chins flapping frantically. “He’s lying, I … he threatened me with physical harm if I did not comply with—” He tried to scuttle around me, scrabbling on all fours towards his office door.

I sighed and whipped my tail, wrapping it around his ankle and dragging him across the floor. A thin wail trembled from him.

“I said, you will do as you are told!” I growled, lifting him in the air so he dangled by his ankle. His shirt slipped up, exposing a jiggling, hairy belly. Garbled, terrified sounds erupted from his lips as I dumped him headfirst into the plush chair behind his desk. “Are you ready to comply? Or are we going to continue to play this game where you think you have a choice? I must admit, I’m finding it rather tiresome. Perhaps I’ll just reap your soul now and be done with it.”