Page 72 of Demon Dating Service

“Well, obviously I do now.” Matteo squinted at the people, his brow furrowing. “Are they okay? Do they know they’re frozen?”

“They’re all fine. They have no idea anything has happened to them. Next?”

Matteo shot him a disgruntled look that secretly pleased Azroth. There was some of the spunk and sass that Luke was so fond of. It hadn’t been scared out of him yet. “There’s the whole demon thing.”

“As in you don’t believe in demons?” Matteo opened his mouth to say something, but Azroth didn’t allow it. In the blink of an eye, he lost his human exterior and turned into his true form. Horns, wings, and blood-red eyes.

“Shit!” Matteo lurched to his feet, knocking over his chair. He backpedaled until he banged into another table, but Azroth ignored him.

The demon waved his hand again, and this time, a teacup and saucer with a delicate rosebud pattern appeared before him with a steaming pot of tea. He poured himself a cup and held up the pot toward Matteo. “Would you like a cup?”

Matteo panted, his eyes wide, but he at least had enough presence of mind to shake his head. Azroth nodded and set aside the pot. He picked up his teacup and enjoyed a careful sip.

“You really are a demon. I-I-I can’t believe it.”

Azroth lifted an eyebrow and held his teacup in front of his mouth. “Do you need a demonstration?”

“No! No!” Matteo waved both hands at him. “I believe you. I…I’m just confused.”

“About which part?”

“All of it! Like, like…all of it!”

Damn, he’d broken him. Azroth had been sure that if he just revealed himself, Matteo would adjust and they could work on getting Matteo back with Luke where he belonged. He wasn’t adapting to this new development nearly as fast as Luke had.

Azroth placed his cup on the saucer with a little click and tried to keep the irritation out of his tone as he said, “I will need you to be more specific.”

“Demons are supposed to be evil!”

“We are.”

“But yousavedLuke! Yousavedme. How can you be evil and save people?”

“If it helps, we did have lots of fun tormenting those monsters who attacked you and Luke. That did help to temper the saving part,” Azroth argued.

The fear seemed to wash out of Matteo’s face, and he became very still. “Did you kill them?” Matteo mumbled.

Azroth paused and gazed at Matteo for a long time. That was surprising. He’d not expected such a tone or look from the young man. Maybe he was more interesting than he’d initially given him credit for.

“We didnotkill them, at Luke’s request,” Azroth replied, watching the human closely. “However, we have fixed it so that they will never bother you, Luke, or anyone else again.”

Matteo grunted, his eyes lowered to stare at the floor. “I’m not sure I agree with Luke.”

Azroth sat up and scooted to the edge of his chair. Matteo wasveryinteresting. “You think we should have devoured their souls and sent them to Hell.”

“I think even Hell is too good for them,” Matteo snapped. His eyes blazed with anger as he looked at Azroth. “I had to hear Luke’s panicked voice and his pain. I heard him pleading for them to leave me alone. Luke is the sweetest, gentlest person in the world. How could anyone mistreat him like that? He didn’t do anything to them, but they still attacked him. They probably meant to kill him.”

“They did.”

“See! Why should they be allowed to live?”

Azroth smiled. “Because Luke is a kind and gentle soul. He wants to give everyone a chance, whether they deserve it or not.”

Matteo sighed, and the heat of anger seemed to leave him. “Then maybe Luke is better off without me. I’m not good enough for him. I think you should have tortured them until their hearts exploded.”

Oh, sweet, bloodthirsty human.

Now Azroth wanted to keep this one as well.