Page 4 of Darcy By Day, Demon By Night

I barked out a laugh and he glared at me. “It’s not funny Vanth. Everyone will upset when they show up to this.”

“Ah, see, there’s a trick to it,” I said, giving him my best charming grin. “I’m going to put a portal spell on your door. When they step through, they’ll be transported to my house.”

“In the demon realm?” he screeched, tossing his hands up in the air and sending the coat flying. “You can’t do that to a bunch of innocent people!"

I sniffed at him, a little stung. “It’s called the Midnight Realm, and there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Except there are monsters all over the place, like that big scaly thing that tried to eat me when I was ten!”

“The harnar only wanted to lick you; he was trying to be friendly,” I reminded him. “And I can spell the doors so no one leaves my home. It’s the perfect place. A giant gothic castle with real ghosts.”

“Are you going to make Sanlum and Grumlum perform for your guests?" Yuri asked. “Because that seems rude.”

“Only if they want to,” I answered. “It’s not like I can make them do anything. Besides, they’ll probably enjoy it. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the human world and they’re lonely.”

Yuri shook his head. “This is such a bad idea.”

“No,” I disagreed, picking him up and twirling him around, knocking over a few boxes in the process. “This is going to be perfect!”

Chapter 2

Eden

I tried hard to keep an open mind about Vanth’s party. The guy was cute and seemed genuinely interested in me despite my hair choosing violence earlier and going full frizz. I’d given a little shriek of fright when I’d finally seen myself in a mirror after getting home from the tea party.

I was still annoyed that Nan let me remain in public with my hair like that. She pointed out she’d been distracted by a sexy guy named Yuri.

When I said he'd be at the party too, Nan and Justice, her partner, demanded to go with me. They also invited a dozen other people, and now we were all standing outside of a rundown apartment building.

My optimism was fading.

“Well, you can’t judge a book by its cover,” Justice said. “Maybe the place is nicer on the inside.”

“You can totally judge a book by its cover,” I argued. “If there’s a picture of a hot, purple, green, or blue guy with outer space behind him, you know it’s going to be a great alien romance. If the hot dude is wearing armor, it’s going to be romantasy.” I gestured to the apartment building. “This cover is giving me autobiographical-broken-dreams vibes.”

Nan snorted. “Don’t be so dramatic. So the party might not be that great, who cares?”

“I care,” I responded. “It’s been a rough year, and I deserve a good Halloween party.”

Nan and Justice’s expressions turned sympathetic. I lost my mom in January. She’d fought hard, but the cancer won.

It had always been the two of against the world. Now that she was gone I felt alone, despite my friends’ best efforts.

“We might as well go in,” one of Justice’s friends said, going for the door. “Then we can start drinking.”

Eager to avoid talking to me about death, Nan, Justice, and everyone else rushed to follow the guy. We all trooped up two flights of stairs to door 2C. There was a handwritten note to step in slowly because it was dark.

The door wasn’t locked, and I heard gasps and rapid, excited conversations as people shuffled inside. I was the last one to enter and could immediately see why everyone was reacting so strongly.

I’d been promised a spectacular Halloween experience and Vanth had delivered.

I walked into an elaborately decorated room, complete with tapestries hanging off the walls, chandeliers full of flickering candles, and tables groaning under the weight of so much food. A massive arched window showed a dark exterior with a night sky full of stars without a hint of light pollution. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was looking out a real window.

That was some expensive tech to create such a realistic illusion!

The apartment must take up the entire floor because I could see corridors leading off to more rooms beyond the enticing foyer. All the walls were done up with amazingly realistic stone facades and everything was lit by candlelight. I couldn’t see a single bulb or artificial light.

I didn’t even want to think how dangerous it was to have all these candles everywhere because the entire effect was beyond my wildest dreams.