Page 7 of Demon Dating Service

Luke drew in a deep breath. It was becoming harder to hold on to his smile. “I’m an only child, and my parents barely make enough money for them to get by. Since I turned eighteen, I’ve been pretty much on my own. We’re not a close family.”

“Your self-reliance has made you stronger and more resourceful,” Az praised.

That was certainly one way of looking at it. It had definitely made him creative. But still, he’d like for things to be a little less hard for at least a short period of time. “True. When the crow brought me the listing for this room, though, it was a real godsend,” Luke continued.

Az’s entire body shuddered, and he rubbed his forehead for a moment as if he’d just suffered a sudden migraine. “Yes. A godsend,” he repeated through clenched teeth. Az lowered his hand and smiled at him. “But are you able to attend to all your schooling properly with so many jobs?”

Luke shrugged. “It’s a juggling act, but I manage. Your home is close to the school, and there’s a bus stop close to here that can get me to work.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“So…um…this all looks great to me, and the rent is perfect. When do you think you’ll be deciding who you’ll be renting the room to?” Luke considered offering housekeeping and landscaping services to sweeten the deal for Az, but he wasn’t sure how to say it without offending the man.

Oh, and by the way, I noticed that your yards—front and back—are overgrown jungles. Would you like me to tackle that for you?

No, definitely not.

“My decision is already made. The room is yours if you want it,” Az replied with a broad grin. “You can move in as soon as you pay the first month’s rent.”

“Really? Oh, my God! That’s amazing!” Luke rushed to Az and took his hand, pumping it several times in his excitement. “You have no idea how much this means to me. I swear, you won’t even know I’m here. I’ll be super quiet and very clean. If you also need help with anything around here, I’m your guy. I’m good at cleaning and fixing things.”

“No need to worry about that. You should focus on your studies. My friends and I are the ones who will strive to be quiet so we don’t disturb you.”

The words had barely left Az’s tongue when an explosion from what sounded like the first floor shook the entire house.Bits of dust drifted from the ceiling, and Luke stumbled, catching himself on the mattress at the last second.

A low growl rumbled through the room, and Luke swore Az’s eyes glowed red for a second. Luke blinked, and Az’s eyes were once again black. Must have been a strange trick of the light.

“That would be my companions back from their outing.” Az sounded as if he were talking through his clenched teeth. The smile he flashed in Luke’s direction was tight and lacked all the warmth he’d exhibited earlier. “Allow me to go tell them the good news, and then you can join us for introductions. We’ll be in the family room. Give me about ten minutes, please.”

“Uh. Yeah. Sure,” Luke agreed, pushing to his feet.

Az left the room in a flash, his feet not making a sound on the squeaky stairs.

Okay, definitely Addams Family vibes.

And a little Amityville, too.

But for 150 dollars a month, Luke was willing to live with the devil himself.

Chapter 3

Library Disaster

AZROTH

Azroth raced down the stairs, his thin, lithe body barely more than a blur as he moved. He followed the scent of burning wood and paper to the library, where all his roommates stood in the center of the remains of the room, soot covering their bodies. Scorched paper fragments fluttered from the ceiling while every bookshelf sat broken. The books had been blasted to bits or left in smoldering heaps on the floor. There were even gooey, dripping bits of Ogos on the walls and ceiling.

In the center of the room, Tog snarled at Ogos, who seemed to be studiously ignoring him. Mullmag, Tuk, and Annod gathered off to the side, eyes wide as they waited for yet another explosion.

“By the Dark Lord’s testicles, what do you think you’re doing?” Azroth roared as he slammed the door shut behind him.

“Ogos started it!” Tog cried out, pointing a fat finger at the gelatinous blob on the floor.

Azroth had no doubt Ogos had started it. The demon loved to stir up shit, and Tog was the easiest target. It took nothing at all to send the demon screaming over the edge.

“And have you forgotten that the human student was visiting today?” Azroth hissed. “Did we not plan for you to be out of thehouse today so I could lure him into taking the attic for rent? How are we to go through with our scheme to scare a human to death if you are scaring him awaybeforehe can move in?”

Tog continued to glare at Ogos, who appeared utterly indifferent to everything. Only Tuk, Annod, and Mullmag looked repentant, and they’d had nothing to do with the chaos.