Page 17 of Demon Dating Service

“But your roommates have been nice to you? They haven’t said anything to make you feel unwelcome, have they?”

Luke was quick to shake his head. “No! They’ve all been nice. Well, the ones I’ve seen, anyway. With all my classes and work hours, I haven’t been around much, and I haven’t talked to them all that often.”

“Then don’t worry about it. Just some weird shit. Coincidence. That’s all.”

Luke grunted. What Harper was saying made total sense. It was a coincidence that those two strange things had happened so close together. The house wasn’t haunted and trying to get rid of him. His roommates didn’t secretly hate him and want him out of the house. He was being silly and paranoid.

“Hey look! It’s creepy poor Bird Boy!” Several heavy and loud guffaws followed the shout.

Luke’s head snapped up to see a trio of frat boys wandering across the green space, pointing and laughing at him. This was not the first time he’d encountered these idiots. Sadly, every time they ran across each other, crows surrounded him. It had also spread through the campus grapevine after he’d been caught sleeping in one of the school’s stairwells that he was a penniless student studying to be an ornithologist. His reputation on campus was sinking by the day.

He didn’t need this shit. Grabbing his backpack with one hand, he tried to grip the top of his drink with the other. Except it slipped from his fingers as he stood. The lid remained in his hand while the drink came loose, spilling the contents all down his hoodie and jeans. His head jerked up to see who was there to witness the mess, only to lock eyes with the sweet and sexy Matteo as he exited the library close by.

“It looks like a giant bird shit on Bird Boy!” one of the frat goons shouted between his cackles.

Heat swelled in his face, sweeping from the tips of his ears and across his face until Luke swore his entire body was on fire. This was not what he needed. Not in front of Matteo.

Harper jumped to her feet beside him and bellowed, “Fuck off, assholes!” But that made them laugh harder.

For reasons he couldn’t understand, it seemed like the crows weren’t big fans of how he was being treated. Atticus cawed loudly and flapped his wings. The other crows took notice of his cries and began crying out as well. A great cacophony of bird calls filled the quad as if every bird within the immediate area was shouting.

Before he could even wrap his head around it, Atticus took to the air and headed straight for the frat goons. Banks, Caspian, and Dante immediately followed.

And then so did other crows in the quad.

And other birds like starlings, robins, and even tiny finches in the area.

Anything with wings that could hear Atticus’s shouts was now dive-bombing the frat goons.

Another shout went up, and Luke’s heart squeezed. The birds were also harassing Matteo and a few other people who had been unfortunate enough to walk out of the library as this entire incident occurred.

“What…the…fuck…?” Harper said slowly, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Did…did you teach them to do that?”

“Hell, no! How would I even—?” Luke couldn’t finish his question. The idea was mindboggling. How would he teach a bunch of wild animals to protect him from emotional injury? Besides, he’d known Atticus and his companions for only a short time. That wasn’t nearly long enough to train them in anything.

Except birds of thecorvusgenus were known for being remarkably smart.

But still…

He opened his mouth to call Atticus off, but the birds had chased the frat boys and some of the other students to the other end of the quad. He doubted the crows would even hear him. Plus, he didn’t know if they’d listen to him if he shouted. It wasn’t like they’d done this for him. That idea was crazy.

Right?

Chapter 7

It’s Tog’s Turn

TOG

His demon roommates were idiots.

They were making the entire affair of scaring Luke far too complicated. Spiders? Cats? Silly bullshit. It was time to return to basics. Even if it meant getting more than one glared warning from Azroth.

Stuck-up know-it-all asshole.

It was close to midnight, and the entire house was silent. The other demons had returned to their rooms to give him space to work without their possible interference. Luke was later than normal in returning from his night job, but Tog had patience.

When he had at last heard the slowthudof Luke’s steps up the stairs and across the porch, Tog was practically vibrating with excitement.This was going to do it!He was going to hit Luke with everything, and the guy was going to piss his pants. His hair was going to turn white, and his heart would stop in his chest.