Page 33 of Demon Dating Service

“Of course! That’s only fair!”

The words were barely out of Luke’s mouth when the human facade on Azroth melted away. The horns grew out of his head, and his massive wings wrapped his body like a cloak. His fingers were now tipped with long black talons, and his eyes turned an even deeper shade of red.

Now that Luke knew what to expect, he could take in Azroth. He was stunning in a scary way, but also beautiful and interesting.

“Do all the others look like you?” he whispered.

“No, we differ greatly. The rest of them will try to give some warning prior to you seeing them for the first time. Humans take their appearance as something of a shock.”

Luke nodded. That made sense. Azroth was a nightmare come to life. He couldn’t imagine how the others looked.

“The other thing is our new contest.”

Muscles throughout Luke’s body tensed. “Are you going to scare me again?”

Azroth waved a dismissive hand at the notion. “No. No. We did that already. We want to try something much more difficult. We want to help you win the heart of the boy you like. Matteo.”

Luke slid off the edge of the mattress and fell to the floor without blinking an eye. He wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for the impact hurting his tailbone. “I’m sorry. What?” he choked out.

“Yes, we want to help you win Matteo and make him fall in love with you.”

It made no more sense hearing it a second time.

“But you’re all demons. From Hell. And…you want me and Matteo to fall in love with each other?” he asked. This had to be a joke.

“Yes.”

“And it’s a contest?”

“Yes.”

“Um…no offense, but have you and the others ever helped a human with love and romance before?”

“No!” Azroth shouted with a laugh. He clapped his hands, his nails clicking together softly. “But humans fall in love all the time. How hard can it be?”

Luke dropped his face into his hands and moaned. This was bad. He almost wished they’d go back to scaring him. He couldn’t imagine that demons understood anything about human dating habits and rituals.

On the other hand, they had been around for eons. They’d seen everything. Maybe they could help. It wasn’t like he was making any kind of progress with Matteo. There had been that one good encounter at the grocery store, but he’d not been able to work up the courage to text him. What was he supposed to say to him that didn’t sound stupid or sound like a line?

“Don’t worry, Luke. We won’t hurt Matteo or use magic on him. You’re the one who has to win his heart. We are only permitted to give you advice,” Azroth reassured him.

Luke lifted his head. “So, you and the other demons won’t try to kill me. The house won’t try to eat me. And you won’t try to hurt Matteo. Is that correct?”

Azroth regally nodded his head. “Yes.”

“And I can keep living here? Even if Matteo doesn’t fall in love with me?”

“Correct.”

“If Matteo falls in love with me, will I owe you and the demons some kind of payment?” It sounded too good to be true. There had to be some way they were angling for his life or soul.

“No, we ask for nothing from you other than an honest effort to woo Matteo.” Azroth waved his hands in front of him. “As you can see, no contract. You’re in the clear.”

That all seemed fair. It wasn’t like the demons were going to appear to Matteo and whisper in his ear. They were leaving all that to Luke. It meant that he had to pull his courage together and talk to him.

Luke shoved to his feet and closed the distance between him and the demon with his hand extended. Azroth stared at the hand for a second, his eyes widening in what looked like surprise. Very slowly, the demon wrapped his hand around Luke’s. His skin was cool and smooth, like clasping a crystal.

“It’s a deal,” Luke said with a grin. “The important thing is that Matteo isn’t hurt. Even if he doesn’t want me, I don’t want him hurt.”