Page 5

“You’ve got thirty seconds to respond before I open the door anyway!” Carter yelled.

I hastily bundled my blankets into my lap in an attempt to hide my morning wood that lately had been more like morning steel.

With a few deep breaths to try and get myself under control, I called my roommate inside. The door cracked open and he poked his head through, taking in the scene: my disheveled bed, me on the floor… with my hand suspiciously bundled over my junk. Carter flashed me a knowing grin. “Hurry up,” he said simply. “You don’t want to be late again, do you?”

Gulping, I shook my head, and the door clicked shut. Man, he was testy before coffee.

Smooth, Tate.

I sighed, blowing a rogue strand of hair out of my eyes. I’d tossed and turned for hours before passing out, just as I had for the last week. It wasn’t for lack of trying—I was exhausted. Adjusting to a new schedule plus a new environment had been tough. I’d been in charge of getting myself up and ready for school since I was old enough to know better, but college was a different level of responsibility that I was wildly unprepared for.

I’d been trying to find the right balance of sleep, schoolwork, classes, and the expected level of socialization—that was exceptionally difficult.

I didn’t know where I was expected to fit in—with the humans? Mingle with monsters?

Then there was the demon.

He was everywhere.

I didn’t know exactly who he was, only that my brain seemed determined to seek him out at every opportunity. With every day that passed, the feeling of being watched grew stronger and at the bonfire, it felt like my skin was crawling.

Carter’s brother, Chris, and his ogre best friend, Jaxon were in the middle of a story about… something I couldn’t quite remember, because I felt like someone—or something—was burning a hole into my back. I scanned the humans and monsters surrounding me, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

Phoenixes tended to the fire. Vampires and mummies moved through the crowd, handing out bottles of Boowery Beer and trays of colorful shooters and cocktails. I politely declined a shot of something called Tentacle Tequila that looked enticingly similar to my favorite blue raspberry lemonade.

Then I saw him, lurking in the shadows of the trees like some kind of… creature.

Vibrant purple eyes beamed through the darkness like two spotlights, aimed right at me.

He rested casually against the trunk of a tree, like a human setting eyes on a literal demon was something that happened every day.

Large, dragon-like wings that were likely twice as wide as I was tall blanketed his shoulders like a thick, veiny cloak. Dark hair fell into his eyes, and a wicked grin curled his lips.

Unlike most of the students around us, he was dressed… older. More mature, I guess.

He’d rolled the sleeves of his white button-up shirt to his elbows, practically begging me to admire the veins in his forearms. His dark waistcoat and tailored slacks fit him like a glove, seeming to blend into the forest’s shadows like it was intentional. Movement near his hips drew my eyes south, gut twisting at the sight of his tail flicking around his thighs.

Uncontrollable heat shot to my cheeks and twisted something in my stomach. The breath whooshed from my lungs, and a cool breeze made me shiver.

It had to be the wind, right?

I pulled my arms tight around me and when Chris noticed my strange behavior, I feigned a headache and excused myself to bed early.

Any odd feelings I had about this man–this demon–just had to be the result of move-in day exhaustion and the first attractive man to look at me like that since…

Since ever, really. I tended to disappear in the shadows of my older brothers. Anyone who ever looked at me was quickly redirected by the older, hotter versions that had more potential than the mousy kid trailing behind them.

I even found myself glancing over my shoulders to try and get a glimpse of who the demon could be staring at, and it was most definitely me.

I had no idea why.

Even worse, I couldn’t get that damn demon’s face out of my mind. His broody, violet eyes that seemed to scan right through my clothes. The cocky and confident grin that awakened something deep in my gut that I’d never even thought about.

I’d had crushes before, but never like this.

Every waking moment became consumed by this creature, by thoughts of him and what those wings would feel like under my fingers, what his lips tasted like.

And that tail…