Page 2 of Demon Demands

Ending the call, he whirled on me, looking irritated. “Did ya get my text?”

“Yes.”

“Did ye read any of it?”

I padded into the kitchen, opening the cabinet to pull down liquor and a glass. “No.”

“Feckin’ eejit,” he swore at me, beginning to pace once more. “Nathaniel and Samuel have asked us ta move inta a bigger apartment. It appears that we’ll be gettin’ new roommates.”

“Roommates? As in more than one?” I quirked a brow at him, hating the idea of more unnecessary chatter. Palmer and I had finally fallen into a routine of comfortable silence.

“Three,” Palmer answered, sounding clipped and agitated. “They’re sendin’ three new lads ta town. Potentially a fourth.” He mocked Nathaniel’s dry tone as he looked at the ceiling, rubbing a hand across his clean-shaven jaw.

I watched him with shrewd eyes. “What do you mean by potentially?” I hadn’t been keen on one roommate, much less three or four more.

“I know, right? Well, I asked him about that and all I got back was, ‘If things go right.’ That’s all I got, nothing else,” the mage ranted, stalking across the room. “Then I called Sam about it and all he said was that we’re ta show them ‘round and befriend them.”

“Did he say anything else?”

Palmer snorted. “Yeah. That they’re good guys. But that was it. Not who they are or what they are or why we need ta befriend them. Ya know, all the important shite ya need ta know.”

“I like my life, Palmer,” I cautiously admitted, thinking that my statement wouldn’t be a lie if I found my mystery girl. “I won’t be questioning the Kings. The Devil has never steered me wrong, so I’m sure they have their reasons.”

“That’s it? Yer jus’ gonna blindly follow along because the Devil has never steered ya wrong? Ye can’t be serious, Stone. What’ll ya do? Stay locked in yer room and avoid a whole crowd of lads livin’ under the same roof? Ya barely tolerate me,” he spouted off, gesturing wildly with his hands.

“Yes, yes, and yes. Probably.”

“What?” Palmer shouted, turning to stare at me with his seething gray eyes.

“Yes, I trust the Devil. Yes, I’ll probably stay in my room and avoid everyone as much as I can. But if the Kings want us to be friends with these guys… Wait. Are they all guys?”

The thought of a female roommate sounded equally as dreadful. I missed my tiny loft and not having to share space with anyone.

The mage rolled his eyes at me. “Yes. They’re all males. And ta answer yer next question, I’m not sure if they’re all supes. I didn’t get much more out of the conversation.”

Palmer’s phone chimed as mine buzzed on the counter. The text on the screen was an address a few blocks away with instructions to start moving immediately. What the fuck? I had finals next week.

“Fuck,” Palmer drawled, tossing his phone onto the couch.

“I guess we need to get some boxes,” I commented, pulling the new address up on a map. My nonchalance always had a way of pissing the mage off.

“I have a date tanight. I’m not fuckin’ movin’,” he muttered as he stomped around the open living room of our apartment.

He was working himself into a fit as he started stacking books on the dining table. All I could imagine was him throwing himself onto the ground, kicking his feet and flailing his arms around like a child.

“Cancel it. Let’s go get some boxes and shit. We can pick up Chinese food on the way back.”

He slammed more books down on the table, his ire rising. “I fuckin’ hate Chinese food.”

“You’re an angry little leprechaun, aren’t you?”

“Don’t,” he warned me in a growling tone. I grinned at him, all teeth and sadistic joy. “Do not call me a fuckin’ leprechaun. I will fuckin’ mute ya.”

My smile faded quickly. That wasn’t a threat I’d take lightly again. The bastard had thrown a dictionary at me a few weeks ago, told me to study Earth’s geography more, and to insult his heritage properly next time. He muted me for three entire days, so I couldn’t ask him what the fuck that meant. All because I’d politely suggested that his dad was the Loch Ness monster.

How was I supposed to know he was touchy about where he came from? “The Loch Ness monster is from fuckin’ Scotland.”

He’d raged all night about that shit, and I couldn’t say a word back to him. What he’d inevitably done was give me all the ammunition I needed to piss him off when he asked me too many personal questions.