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)
Not that he wanted to scare Luke.
He was a nice person who was working hard to get his degree and earn enough money to stand on his own two feet. Not to mention, his love life was kind of sucky. Tog had been all too happy to spill the beans to the rest of the demons. Of course, they all might have bragged about getting the chance to spend some one-on-one time with their new roommate.
It was just the other day that Luke had shown him how long to keep water balloons in the freezer so that the water started to get those fragile ice crystals but didn’t completely freeze. He’d also worked out a fun slingshot that got them to arc over the fence and onto some neighbors. Their outraged and pained screams were a symphony that couldn’t be matched.
But they’d made this bet. He had to scare Luke.
If he lost the bet, the other demons would never let him hear the end of it. He’d never been scary, and this would put another nail in the coffin for him as being known as the least scary demon this side of Hell.
The front door creaked on the first floor, announcing Luke’s arrival home. Bath’tuk did a little dance and hurried to the top of the stairs. He peered down the curved staircase, looking for any sign of the graduate student. Soft footsteps shuffled across the hall carpet, and the tinkle of metal keys danced through the air. A low wooden groan announced that Luke had reached the first step, but it was followed by a lot of nothing.
Seconds ticked by, and still nothing.
“Luke?” Tuk called out. “You home, Luke?” He shouted again even though he knew the answer.
“Hm?”
“You coming up? I’ve got something to show you.”
“Yeah. ’Mkay.” His words were mumbled and soft, but they sounded like Luke.
Tuk waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
He glanced over his shoulder at the hall clock to find that he’d been waiting for Luke to climb the stairs for five whole minutes.
What the hell?
“Luke?” he called out again, but this time there was no answer.
With a huff, Tuk stomped his way down the stairs. If one of the other demons had done something to Luke to interrupt his grand plan, he was going to be seriously pissed. It was against the rules to interfere in another demon’s scare. This had taken him days to organize. It wasn’t like zombies stayed fresh.
But Tuk stopped mid-stomp when he found Luke sitting on the first step, curled around his giant backpack, snoring. The poor guy had run out of steam. He couldn’t even make it up to his room.
How could anyone expect him to keep this crazy schedule? He went to school, taking classes for a master’s degree, and he was working two jobs. And that didn’t include the time he generously gave his crazy roommates or how he tried to keep the house tidy, even though the rest of them had magic to take care of the house.
Well, crap…
How was he supposed to scare him now? It wasn’t as if he could wake him up. He was sleeping so well, with his hair all ruffled and his lips parted. It was like that time someone had found one of those baby imp demons sleeping in Satan’s slipper.
Nope, he was calling it off. No one was scaring Luke tonight. He needed sleep.
Tuk eased to the last of the stairs and scooped the young man up in his arms. Luke gave a snort but didn’t wake as he turned to rest his head on Tuk’s shoulder. And yeah, maybe that made Tuk’s black heart thump, but he wasn’t telling anyone about that.
He snagged Luke’s bag and grunted under the staggering weight. Luke was carrying this around every day? Oh, somebody needed to have words with his professors. They were trying to break their Luke in half.
Trying hard not to disturb him, Tuk carried Luke up to the second floor.
Tuk’s bedroom door flew open when he was within a few feet of it. Craig opened his mouth to howl, but Tuk hissed, “Zip it!” and cut him off.
The werewolf choked on his howl and stared at the man in Tuk’s arms, his furry face twisting up in confusion.
“I’m calling off the scare. He’s not up for it,” Tuk announced.
“Whatever, man. I’ve got cars to chase and hydrants to piss on.” Craig strutted down the stairs without glancing back.
Tuk continued along the hall, flinching as he neared Mag’s room. Except the door didn’t fly open. It sort of rattled in its frame and muffled the moans of the zombies.
A low, weary sigh escaped the demon. The zombies couldn’t open the door.
Mental note: Don’t use zombies for anything.
Of course, the vampires were prompt about flying out of the room as bats, but as soon as they saw Luke in Tuk’s arms, they rematerialized as humans and crowded close.