My heart pounds at the term of endearment, but I shake my head. “No, no problem. Not at all.”
This is part of our cover story, right? It doesn’t have to be a big deal.
Sharing a room with Diego, my sexy nemesis, doesn’t have to be a big deal.
Diego accepts the single key and I give myself a pep talk as we head upstairs.
Be cool, Cat. Act normal. Say something. “So, uh, what room did we get?”
Diego, who appears completely unbothered by the situation, jingles the skeleton key with its coffin-shaped keychain. “I’ll give you three guesses.”
I groan. “Oh for the love of Luna. Not the Vampire Suite!”
“It’s the only vacant room.”
“But it’s so…”
“Funereal? Macabre? Depressing?”
“Drab.”
Diego unlocks the door and I peer inside.
“See what I mean? Why is it all black? Would it hurt to put a pop of red somewhere? Stop looking at me like that, Diego.”
“You do realize you’re wearing all-black, right?”
“I live in New York City now. I was planning to change, but got sidetracked by a power-hungry demon. In hindsight, the fact that my mother didn’t comment on my outfit should’ve told me immediately that she wasn’t herself.”
“Hey, at least the bed isn’t a coffin.”
“Good point.” There’s an enormous four-poster bed in the center of the room, complete with black hanging drapes. A lot could go on in that bed.
Wait, what am I thinking? This is Diego. Nothing is going to go on in that bed. I look for somewhere else to sit and head for the black velvet fainting couch along the wall. “All right, since we’re here, we might as well get comfortable.”
“And figure out how to exorcise a demon.” Diego stores his luggage by the door and takes a seat in a black leather armchair.
“What if we try to snap my mom out of it?” I suggest. “She’s an expert at exorcisms.”
“Too risky. It might alert the demon that we’re onto it.”
“We should make it a competition, for old time’s sake. See who can banish the demon first.”
“Or we could work together.” He sounds exasperated.
I lounge on the fainting couch, which is surprisingly comfortable. “Yeah, I guess we could do that too.”
“We only have three days. Including today.”
“If we don’t get this demon out of your brother, it’ll have access to the full power of both families. Not to mention, Matteo and Caro’s children will be literal demon spawn. Babysitting our niblings would be absolute hell.”
“I’m a little more concerned about my brother’s quality of life, but sure. Babysitting. Let’s worry about that.”
“Actually, I didn’t want to ask but…”
“No, I’m not dating anyone.”
“That’s not what I was going to ask you!” I sputter.
