Page 4 of Demon Dating Service

“Have you noticed that this campus seems to have a lot of ravens?” Harper asked in a low voice, as if she were afraid of the birds overhearing her. “Like, way more than normal.”

“First off, those aren’t ravens. You can tell by the lack of a hook in the beak. These are American crows, and I wouldn’t say there are more than normal. There are a lot of food scraps to be scavenged on campus because of the students. This is a very easy place for them to feed,” Luke murmured. He put his cell phone into his pocket and began digging in his bag.

“Don’t you think they’re creepy?”

“Not at all. Crows are among the smartest birds in the world. It’s Hollywood that has been determined to make them harbingers of evil and death. Bunch of nonsense. Did you know crows have made and used tools? They can recognize human faces and can even hold a grudge.”

“Lovely. It isn’t bad enough that humans can hold a grudge?”

“They also mate for life.”

Harper huffed. “Okay, that part’s romantic at least. Do you think they’d take a fry?” She held one up as if she were about to throw it to the trio still watching them.

Luke’s hand shot out and shoved her hand back toward her. “Don’t you dare give them that crap! Greasy fried human food is horrible for them. They probably have high cholesterol from all the garbage other humans have given them. I’ve got trail mix in my bag. They love peanuts.”

Only when Harper popped the fry into her mouth did Luke return to his digging. He located the half-empty bag of trail mix he’d been nursing between classes. He plucked out some nuts and raisins and tossed them to the ground near the other bench.

The crows didn’t hesitate to jump down and snatch up the new bounty. As soon as it was all gone, the largest of the crows poked at the others, cawing as if he were bossing the other two around.

“Hey! Hey! It’s okay. I’ve got some more.” He grabbed another handful and spread it on the ground, but the largest crow still bullied the others until one flew off, leaving them to eat the seeds and nuts on the ground.

“Guess it’s clear who’s the boss in that clan.” Harper chuckled.

“Murder,” he corrected. He smirked and pointed at the remaining two. “Actually, now it’s an attempted murder. It takes at least three to form a murder.”

Harper groaned. “You’re such a dork.”

“And you wonder why I haven’t tried to talk to Matteo yet.” He grunted and grasped another handful of nuts for the two crows. “No home, two jobs and still broke, and most people on campus have begun calling me the bird weirdo. None of that is a selling point for someone as hot or amazing as Matteo.”

“You’re not a weirdo, and I’ll punch anyone who calls you that. You’re a dork, but you’re a cute, sweet dork. Totally adorkable. Matteo would be lucky to have someone as nice as you to date.”

Nice. Wasn’t that a horrible word? Like he had anicepersonality?

Luke was still stewing over how that nasty word likely spelled the end of all his dating hopes when the third crow returned with a piece of paper in its beak. It landed on the armrest closest to him, causing Harper to squeak and slide even farther away from him. The crows on the sidewalk excitedly hopped and cawed at him as if they were urging him to take it. Was this a ‘thank you’ gift for the nuts he’d given them?

Slowly, he reached out and plucked the paper from the crow’s beak. The bird hopped down to the sidewalk and ate up the last of the nuts the others had left him.

“What is it? Oh man, is there any chance these crows know how to get test answer keys? That would be so freaking awesome!” Harper bounced close, appearing to forget about her fear of the crows.

Luke turned it over to find that it was a room rental listing.

Room For Rent!

Just six blocks from Ravenwood University.

Private room for rent with access to kitchen, laundry room, and private bathroom.

All utilities included.

We even have the high-speed Internet!

Only $150 per month

That was insanely cheap and perfectly timed. Maybe a little too perfectly timed. He glanced over the edge of the paper at the crows, who were watching him very closely. So maybe Harper was right that these crows seemed odd.

“Wow! That’s perfect! And so cheap!” Harper cried.

“Yeah, perfect.” Luke tore his gaze from the crows to stare at the listing. “So cheap that I’m sure someone has already rented the room.”