Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Sorry. I’ve been meaning to fix that,” Luke mumbled, leading the way inside. He figured there was no way he was getting Matteo to go in first.
“Um…yeah…you should get on that,” Matteo mumbled, but he did step into the house. Luke closed the door behind him while muttering a silent prayer that his roommates would remember their agreement not to scare the fuck out of Matteo.
“So, this is the foyer,” Luke started and then winced at his lame comment as he slapped on the light for the grand chandelier that hung overhead.
“Whoa…this is insanely gorgeous.”
“Tell me about it. I don’t know how I got lucky enough to find this place, but I appreciate that the owner has adopted my poor ass.”
Matteo snickered, and Luke could feel some stones in his stomach disappear. He led a more relaxed Matteo through the house, pointing out the grand living room no one ever used before walking past the grand curving staircase of marble.
“Dude, that looks like it belongs in some Parisian manor,” Matteo said, but stopped as they came to the library. Luke sent up a silent thanks Ogos wasn’t picking through the books like he usually was. Even in his human form, the demon was a bit unsettling.
“That has got to be a great spot to study in.” Matteo’s feet seemed to drag as he moved away from the library. “I wouldn’t even bother trying to study in the one at school if I had this at home.”
“And the heat is better in this library,” Luke added.
“Nice. I could…hoooolllyyyy shhhiiiitttt!” Matteo discovered the family room. Luke couldn’t agree with him more. A smile spread across his lips as he watched Matteo drop his heavy backpack on the floor next to the coffee table with a thud and flop onto the large, soft U-shaped sofa. Clearly, he wasn’t scared of the “haunted” house any longer. “Oh my God, how do you get yourself out of the house each day? I think I would live in this room. This couch is amazing, and that TV is insane. Movies must be awesome on that thing.”
“They are. We can put one on while we eat, if you’d like? I’m assuming not horror,” Luke teased.
Matteo spun on the couch so that he was lying on his stomach as he peered at Luke over the cushion. “Yes, please, on the movie. No, thank you for the horror. This house might not be as scary as I thought it would be, but I don’t think I’m ready to watch a horror movie yet.”
“Got it.” Luke set the pizza on the table and put his bag next to Matteo’s on the floor. He stripped off his coat and knit hat, placing them on the back of the couch. “You can relax here. I’ll go get some paper towels and drinks. Water? Soda? Tea?”
“Water is fine for me. Do you want some help?”
“Nope. I got it. You relax.”
Matteo’s happy sigh followed Luke into the nearby kitchen. He grabbed an entire roll of paper towels—he suspected this was going to be a messy pizza—and set it on the center of the counter. Just as he pulled open the door to the fridge, a soft, deep voice drifted around him.
“Things seem to be going well…”
Luke jumped and barely stopped himself from yelping. Azroth approached without making a sound, scaring the hell out of him. He closed the door to find the demon in his human form, grinning broadly.
“Yes, things are going well. The only problem so far is that he’s heard a shit-ton of horror stories about this house.” Luke lifted one accusatory eyebrow at the demon, but Azroth didn’t appear to notice his air of censure at all.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Azroth purred. His shoulders straightened a little as pride beamed out of him.
“No, it’s not nice!” Luke argued, his voice a harsh whisper. “Matteo was almost too scared to come in. I had to promise that this was a normal house. Not haunted. Nothing scary is going to happen to him.”
“Oh…that might be a problem.”
Luke’s stomach dropped to his knees. “What do you mean? We agreed that there would be no scaring of Matteo. This hangout is for reconnaissance. Not romance.”
“Yes, but Bath’tuk, Mullmag, and Tog felt you were being too cautious. Look,” Azroth directed, pointing over Luke’s shoulder toward the living room. “I believe that’s Mullmag now.”
The poor human spun and discovered Mullmag approaching from the opposite hallway in his demon form, all four spidery arms raised, as if he meant to grab Matteo. Thankfully, the college student was staring at something on his phone as he sat low on the sofa, blind to the frightening creature from Hell that was drawing near.
Cursing himself and meddling demons, Luke bolted out of the kitchen into the living room. He leaped, planted one foot on the back of the couch, and launched himself the remaining several feet through the air to crash into a stunned Mullmag. He tackled the demon to the ground, where they slid across the marble floor to crash into the wall.