Page 11 of Demon Dating Service
“What? What? I…I…”
Luke’s head snapped up at the unfamiliar voice to find a tall man with long dark hair and pale skin stumble down the hall as if he’d come from the living room or possibly the kitchen.
“I’m sorry. I thought I was the only one awake,” Luke said. “You’re…”
“Mullmag,” the man answered, though he didn’t lift his eyes from the murder scene in front of him. “The…spiders…”
“Oh, yeah. There were a lot of them. Az didn’t mention that you might have a bug problem. When there were too many for me to take care of without making an enormous mess, I invited Dante and his friends in for a feast.”
“Dante?”
Luke winced. He didn’t sound his sanest, but he was exhausted to his very core, and he just wanted to climb into bed. Unfortunately, these spiders needed to be taken care offirst. “Dante is the crow. That one.” He pointed to the largest of the sextet. As if realizing they were talking about him, Dante the crow popped his head up and cawed once at Luke before returning his attention to the spiders.
“Ah, but…but aren’t you afraid of spiders? Didn’t so many spiders coming down the stairs frighten you terribly?”
“Oh.Umm…”Actually, now that Mullmag put it that way, he should have been scared to death. It was just that he was so very tired, and he didn’t have the energy to be afraid. All he knew was that the spiders stood between him and his waiting bed. “Not really, I guess. I’ve lived in a lot of places that had spiders and other annoying bugs. You get rid of them and go on about your day. Is it normal to have this many spiders in the house?”
“No. No, we rarely have so many spiders.” Mullmag shook his head violently, sending his hair fanning out around him. “I think…I think one of the neighbors had an exterminator over. I bet all the spiders fled their house for ours to escape the poison.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.”
Dante cawed at him, and Luke gazed at him to find that the crows had emptied the stairs and hallway of the spiders. The fat bird and his friends had enjoyed quite the feast, and those that escaped had left the house in order not to be eaten.
“You look like you can’t eat another bite. It’s best you go sleep it off.” Luke motioned to the doors, shooing the birds outside. Several were so full, they needed to make several attempts to get off the ground and fly. Luke followed the birds to the doors and closed them.
As he turned into the house, Luke found Mullmag still standing at the foot of the stairs, a very confused expression on his face, his hands twisted together in front of his chest.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Mullmag? Is there something I can help you with?”
“No. And you can call me Mullmag. Or just Mull. That’s what the others do.” He lifted his head and squinted at Luke as if he were struggling to see him clearly in the dark hallway. “You must be a very brave person. Most people would have been terrified by so many spiders crawling at them.”
Luke laughed and shook his head. “Not brave. I’m not brave at all. I’m really fucking exhausted. Today was supposed to be my day off, but I ended up working fourteen hours.”
“Oh.”
Luke stared at Mullmag for another couple of seconds, but the strange man didn’t appear to have anything else to say. With a sigh, Luke scooped up his duffel bag and his backpack, sliding them onto his shoulders. “Well, I’m going to steal a few hours of sleep before I have to get up for school. If you have any more spider trouble, come and get me. I’ll be happy to take care of them for you.”
Mullmag blinked impossibly black eyes at him, and his thick lips formed a crooked smile. “That’s very nice of you. Thank you.”
“Not a problem. I figured since we’re roommates now, we should help each other out.”
“Yes. Yes, that’s a wonderful idea.”
Luke trudged up the stairs, feeling so drained that his eyes were burning and his stomach was churning. But at least he’d met one of his roommates properly. Mullmag might be quiet and nervous, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. Hell of a lot better than some roommates he’d had in the past.
Chapter 5
Beware the Cats
LUKE
One week later…
Weekends sucked.
That was when he had to pull a double shift. It usually started at Burger Hut and then finished with a shift at Sinful Soaps stocking and entering products into the system. Both were exhausting in their own way. At least during the week, he had only classes and a shift at one of his jobs.
Life on Sleepy Hollow Road wasn’t bad. His bed was comfortable, and during the rare times he had the chance to relax there, the place was quiet, allowing him to study without a problem. There was also plenty of food in the fridge, which Az invited him to enjoy. He was eating better and sleeping better than he had in a long time.