Page 5 of Demon Dating Service

“Maybe, but you’ve got to at least check. With rent this cheap, you might be able to quit one of your jobs.”

“Or get murdered in my sleep by one of my new roommates,” Luke muttered under his breath.

“Are you going to call?”

Luke sighed. The problem was that he was desperate. So desperate that he was willing to risk some crazy roommates yet again. “Yeah, I’ll call.” He forced a smile when he looked at Harper. “Maybe this is a sign that my luck is finally turning around.”

Chapter 2

The Tour

LUKE

Luke stood outside the enormous pea-soup green house with the dark-brown shutters and swallowed hard. He checked the scrap of paper where he’d written the address for the place with the room for rent: 666 Sleepy Hollow Road.

That felt like an omen all on its own.

Still, he glanced at the number on the mailbox, and it matched. This was the right house, but something felt so very wrong. He couldn’t figure out if the vibe was Addams Family or Amityville Horror. He was hoping for the former. The Addams Family might have been a little kooky, but they meant well.

Amityville, not so much.

Not that he had much choice if this building turned out to be haunted by an entire gaggle of poltergeists. Gaggle? Fleet? Flock? What was the collective noun for poltergeists?

Never mind. He was fucking stalling.

He’d talked to someone named Az Jones on the phone yesterday, who’d confirmed that the room was still for rent and that the monthly rent was, in fact, only 150 dollars. They’d set up a time for him to meet with the owner and to see the room. As long as the room sheltered him from the elements and hadheat for the coming winter months, he couldn’t pass on this opportunity.

Fuck, even if it didn’t have heat, he had a feeling he would have to take the room. He was out of places to crash. His couch-surfing days were at an end. Right now, his options were a park bench or the homeless shelter.

“Quit being such a baby,” Luke muttered to himself. “So, it’s a bit creepy. It’s not like it’s haunted. There are no such things as ghosts, poltergeists, or demons. Besides, between work and school, I won’t even be here that much. Just a place to shower and sleep.”

Feeling buoyed by his pep talk, Luke shoved the piece of paper into his pocket and marched up the broken sidewalk, past the overgrown front yard filled with thorny vines and high, brown grass. Sounds of movement caused him to quicken his steps. God only knew what was living in the shadowy garden, and he wasn’t interested in meeting it. Maybe if this worked out, his new landlord would pay him for some landscaping work or take a chunk off his monthly rent.

The wooden porch stairs creaked and groaned under his feet, announcing his approach long before the doorbell that echoed like a giant gong through the house. Yep, this house was leaning more toward Addams Family.

He took a deep breath and forced his heart out of his throat, only to have it leap up when both doors were flung open. A ridiculously tall man stepped forward to tower over him.

Not Lurch.

Luke stood, speechless, as he stared at the lean figure with the razor-sharp features and eyes as black as coal. His black hair was styled away from his face, and he wore a black suit with a burgundy button-down shirt, and it all accentuated his long lankiness.

“Mr. Luke Carter, I presume?” the giant inquired in a gentle voice.

“Yes,” Luke squeaked. He cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to clear his brain of its nonsense. “Yes. That’s me. Are you Az Jones?”

“Yes, I am. Please come inside.” Az’s smile was warm and inviting as he stepped aside and motioned for Luke to enter.

As he walked into the foyer, it was like stepping into a thick shadow. For a moment, he was blind, and his heart skipped, but his eyes adjusted from the sunny day to the dimmer interior a second later. He was stunned to find he was standing in a foyer filled with elegant dark woods, thick carpets, and old oil paintings that appeared as if they belonged in a museum. He’d never been in a house so rich. It almost felt as if he were making it dirty by standing there.

“This…this is gorgeous,” Luke whispered. It felt like a sin to even break the peaceful quiet.

The doors closed with a heavy, deepthudbehind him, and Az swept soundlessly around Luke. He cocked his head and gave an odd little grin. “Do you think so?”

“Yes, definitely! It’s stunning. When I heard there was a room for rent, I wasn’t expecting the house to be anything like this.”

Az seemed to like Luke’s praise, because the man straightened, seeming to become even taller as he tipped his chin up. “It is a rather lovely house. I share it with five…friends. A sort of makeshift family. We don’t always get along, but we’ve found that living together is more enjoyable than living apart. Recently, we thought we should put the empty room in the attic to use, and what better way to do that than rent it out to a college student?” Az turned his laser-like focus on Luke. “You did say on the phone that you’re attending classes at Ravenwood University, correct?”

For a moment, Luke’s tongue stopped working. He could only nod twice while he rebooted his brain. “Yes. Yes, I’m a graduate student at Ravenwood. I am studying ornithology and environmental sciences and engineering.”