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Miri

M iri stared at the ceiling. Demons snored all around her, oblivious to her inner turmoil. In their defense, she hadn’t told them what had happened at work. The boxes of her school supplies and class decor were carefully tucked away in the back of her car.

The drama hadn’t ended with the fumbled board meeting.

Headmaster Dolan had followed her to her classroom and tried to convince her to stay even as she pulled her favorite items off the walls.

She had left most of the decor for the kids even though she had bought it with her own money—they didn’t deserve to finish out the school year in an empty prison cell of a classroom.

Miri was angry with the board, not her students. Hopefully, whoever they got to cover the rest of the semester wasn’t a complete idiot.

She had walked out of Stoneworth with three boxes and a globe.

And she had done it in one trip no less.

Her arms had been killing her, but Miri would be damned if she had to turn around and go back in for a second load.

The boxes had been neatly packed into her car with a blanket tossed over the top so her demons wouldn’t spot them and ask questions.

It’s not that she didn’t want to tell them. Miri didn’t like hiding things from her personal demon variety pack, but she knew they would ask why. How was she supposed to tell them it was because of them?

She could already see Duke’s hurt face and know exactly how Nico would go quiet.

Kaz and Ace would dissolve into an argument about what to do.

And all the while, the four of them would feel guilty.

It wasn’t their fault, but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the four demons would blame themselves.

Miri stared at the spinning ceiling fan. Anxiety was clenching her gut and turning her mind in dizzying circles. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep like this.

Fuck it.

She sat up and carefully lifted Duke’s thick arm off her waist. With a shake of her ankle she dislodged Nico’s hand and Ace’s winding tail.

Wiggling her way out of the demon pile, she crawled over Kaz and lowered her feel to the floor.

Miri opened the bedroom and slipped into the hallway.

Gently closing the door behind her, she made her way downstairs.

She flopped on the couch and stared at the living room ceiling. The view wasn’t any better, but at least she didn’t have to worry about accidentally waking someone up with her loud sighs.

Her laptop rested on the coffee table. Dragging it into her lap, she booted up the screen and pulled up her finances.

She might as well be productive if she wasn’t going to get any sleep.

Miri frowned at her meager savings. Duke had reworked her budget for maximum savings—the sweet nerd—but it wasn’t enough to make a dent in her expenses.

The mortgage alone was going to eat through her emergency savings in only a couple months. Forget about the utilities. They could survive without electricity, right?

Miri cut her yoga classes from the budget and shifted the funds over. Until she landed another job, she was going to have to find her inner peace at home. Thankfully, she had already paid for this month’s punch card, so she was good for another couple weeks.

“Hopefully, the guys are fine with eating cereal for every meal,” she muttered to herself as she eyed the grocery budget.

Miri pulled up the school district website and the list of job openings. There wasn’t much. It was so close to the end of the school year that most schools weren’t hiring for anything but janitorial staff. A couple positions looked decent.

Her stomach rolled. It had been so long since she had worked anywhere but Stoneworth Academy. She hadn’t taught anywhere but the stuffy school since her teaching internship in college. What if she wasn’t any good at teaching public school?

Miri took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She knew she was being ridiculous, but the anxious thoughts wouldn’t stop coming. Kids were kids, whether they were carrying a designer bag or a discount backpack—it was adults that were the real problem.

“Kids are kids,” she murmured. It didn’t matter what kind of school it was, she knew how to teach. That much she was sure of.

Miri eyed the list of substitute positions. She wasn’t a fan of subbing, but it would do in a pinch until she could find something more permanent. Schools always needed substitutes. That was true in every school, private or public.

She frowned at her small summer fund. It had been drilled into her by the teachers that had trained her to always put money aside for summer break.

Some schools split up salaries through the whole year, but others split the funds through the school term.

Even though Stoneworth had paid through the summer, Miri had still been in the habit of putting at least a little summer money aside.

It would cover the utility bills and an extra month of the mortgage. After that… well, who needed a house anyway?

The guys could always chip in for other expense, but not the mortgage. Kaz’s long showers probably accounted for the spike in the water bill and Duke could eat her out of house and home. Miri had no problem if they wanted to pitch in there, but her house? That felt too weird.

She growled and slammed her laptop shut. Fucking Stoneworth. No, fucking Jason. Was it entirely the little weasel’s fault? No, but it made her feel better to blame him.

And to think, her mom had been so sure they were perfect for each other. The joke was on her, though. If Miri ever saw him again, she’d bust up his other eye.

Scrubbing her fingers through her tangled curls, she sighed.

It would all work out. It might take some time, but everything would be okay… and if she got desperate enough, she could always sell feet pics or something. There were always weird dude on the internet ready to drop cash for pictures of feet.

Miri poked her foot out and gave her toes a wiggle. “I hope you’re ready to work, babes.”

Thank the universe she had cute toes. Besides, any excuse to get regular pedicures was always a win.

Speaking of, she needed to cancel the mani-pedi she had planned with Ashley and Nicole. Miri was no longer operating in a mani-pedi economy.

She pulled out her phone and groaned. She hadn’t just avoided telling her demons what had gone down at Stoneworth, Miri hadn’t told her friends yet either.

“Might as well get it over with,” she grunted.

Besides, one of them might have a temp job or something at their work that she could do for a while. Miri was not above doing coffee runs and filling paperwork. In fact, it might be a nice break from herding feral children.

Tapping out the message, she nibbled at her lip and ignored the ball of anxiety eating a hole in her stomach.

Miri

Big news. Guess who quit their job today…

Turns out stuffy private school have a problem with their teachers getting dicked down by a bunch of demons and beating the crap out of their exes. Go figure.

So if either of you know of any temp positions at your jobs, this would be a good time to mention it lol

Miri hit send on the last message. The overly cheery tone might be a bit much, but it was that or start sobbing and taking toes selfies.

Her phone buzzed right away. She knew without looking that it would be Ashley.

Nicole was probably asleep already, but Ashley was one of the bigwig executives at the marketing firm she worked for.

The wild blonde might sit at the head of the table, but she put in more hours than all her interns combined and slept even less.

Knowing her, she was probably still at the office right now.

Ashley

WHAT? Are you fucking kidding right now?

Miri

Nope. They were going to write me up and slap a bullshit excuse on it.

Ashley

Those mother fuckers

We’re slashing tires tomorrow

Miri quieted her laugh with her hand, tears gathering in her eyes. She could always count on Ashley for a laugh when she needed it most.

Miri

I don’t need a felony charge, babe. I need a job.

Ashley

We got you, boo.

I actually might have something coming up. Just need some signatures on contracts

How do you feel about writing?

Miri

Writing what?

Ashley

I can’t say yet but it’ll be something short. Think personal essays.

Miri

If it keeps the lights on, I’ll etch War and Peace in stone.

A heart blinked on the last message. Miri took a deep breath and let it out, the edge of her panic finally dulling. Between her demons and her friends, she would figure it out.

Soft footsteps came down the stairs. Flipping her phone over, she looked toward the hallway. Nico stumbled into the living room, rubbing at one of his dark eyes. He squinted at the light of the table lamp.

She raised her eyebrows at the sleepy demon. “You okay?”

“I took one of Duke’s wings to the eye. Big bastard,” he grumbled. “Why are you up?”

Shit. Miri hadn’t expected any of them to wake up and find her out of bed. She hadn’t thought she’d need a cover story—subterfuge was clearly not her specialty.

“Uh, I couldn’t sleep.” She shrugged and patted the empty cushion beside her. “I didn’t want to wake anyone up so I came down here. I figured I’d watch some shitty infomercials or something until I passed out.”

Nodding, Nico trudged around the coffee table and flopped onto the couch beside her. He slumped sideway and laid his head in her lap. A thick, tattooed arm curled around her hips and hugged her tight.

Miri let out a slow breath as he passed out in her lap, heavy snores filling the quiet room in seconds. He probably wouldn’t even remember their conversation when he woke up. Reaching behind her, she dragged the blanket off the back of the couch and covered the demon beside her.

Her fingers combed through his short hair. Miri leaned back and stared at the ceiling again. She would fix this mess. She had to.