“I’m pretty sure she likes Toni,” Jude said. “She saw his dicks and seemed impressed. Maybe he should go first and butter her up?”
Toni’s jaw dropped. “I would do anything for you, but I won’t do that!”
“You mean you won’t do her,” Liel corrected snidely. “I don’t think she’d appreciate being called athat.”
“I ain’t doing Tad! Not even to save your lives,” Toni snarled.
“Who’s Tad?” Bryce asked, and everyone blinked at him.
“No one. We were just joking, anyway,” Gem whispered before he turned to the others and gestured at Bryce. “Now that I’m thinking about it, Bryce should go first.”
Everyone nodded their agreement, and even though Bryce wasn’t quite sure what was going on, betrayal trickled through his chest. Like a lamb to slaughter, he cautiously approached the front door. Behind him, Toni carried his duffel bag slung over one shoulder, and Gem held his wheelie bag in front of him like a shield. The Araknis urged him forward with one of his lower hands, and Bryce frowned. When no one moved, he released a breath, and, resigned, he rang the doorbell.
Chapter three
Dental Detective
Bryce
There was no immediateanswer to Bryce’s ring, and Gem inhaled sharply through his teeth. “Oh my gods, maybe Tad really did kill Zef!”
“And y’all wanted me to do her,” Toni harrumphed. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“I’m sure Zef’s fine,” Oliver said, before he eyed Toni suspiciously. “When did Tad see your dicks?”
“Dicks plural?” Bryce asked before he could stop it, but everyone ignored him.
“At your parents’ ranch,” Toni said as he inspected his thumb nail. “I did Jude in the hayloft, and Tad caught us.”
Jude facepalmed as Oliver’s jaw dropped. “You fucked in my parents’ barn?”
“Yeah,” Toni said at the same time Jude said, “Allegedly.”
Before Oliver could respond to that, the door swung open, and Bryce turned back to greet his new demon roommate. His new demon roommatewho currently had a pair of pantyhose on their head, smashing their thin antennas to the sides of their narrow face.
“Hello,” Zef said in their airy voice, but they’d barely gotten the word out before Gem shoved past Bryce, speaking a mile a minute.
“Hi, Zef. So glad you’re not murdered. Weird headpiece, by the way, but I love the fashion statement. Can I use your bathroom? I really gotta pee. Thanks!”
Since Zef had no chance to actually stop the Araknis, they stepped out of the way so Gem could barrel into the house without touching them. “Not murdered?” Cocking their head at Bryce, they asked, “Why would I be murdered?”
“Don’t rightly know,” Bryce said honestly, before he offered Zef a stilted half-bow. “Hi, Zef, it’s good to see you again.”
Blinking those large milky eyes in surprise, Zef returned the bow. “A pleasure, indeed.”
“Did we come at a bad time?” Oliver asked as Zef straightened and opened the door wider.
“Not at all, why?”
“You got something on your face,” Toni said tactfully.
Zef’s wings buzzed as they reached up and touched the netting. They inhaled sharply and ripped it off their head, balling it up in their lower hands as their top hands fretted with the messy bun of white hair atop their head. Loose strands fell around their face, and their green cheeks darkened in embarrassment.
“I was aiding Tad,” they said quickly. “She needed my head.”
“For what?” Oliver asked hesitantly.
“Do we actually want to know?” Bryce heard Liel whisper.
