Page 118 of My Roommate from Hell
I go totally still.
“If I have to go back,” he says. “That means we need to break up.”
Does it? We could pretend to date long distance. Actually, what am I thinking? That’s ridiculous. He’s right, we need to break up. Logically, it makes sense. Still, I wish there were some other way, a different path we could take.
“It should be somewhere public,” he continues. “So you’re free to do whatever you want next semester.”
I still don’t know what to say. I don’t want to think about next semester without him, or being free to date somebody else. I don’t want that, but I don’t think it’s my place to tell him that he should stand up to his parents and stay. It’s what I want, but I’m sure if it were an option, Zarmenus would have properly considered it.
“What if we break up at the end-of-semester dance?” he asks. “The Heaven and Hell one? That seems appropriate.”
I know exactly what he’s referring to. There is a school-wide dance being thrown on the last day of exam week. It’s Heaven and Hell themed, because once again Point is wanting to capitalize on Zarmenus being here.
It is the perfect place to break up, though. It’s in public, and if we make a big scene, word will spread fast.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “We can make it amicable, or I can be the bad guy. Humans break up all the time, and Leeke’s deal with youwas to stay together until the end of the semester, right? So we’ll be fine.”
For a moment I think he’s going to say something else, but then the moment passes, flickering out and dying before it can be saved.
“Easy,” I say.
I don’t mean it.
I don’t think there will be anything even remotely easy about this.
CHAPTER FORTY
Oh, what now?
In the time that I’ve shared a room with Zarmenus, I’ve been woken up by so many different things that I truly don’t know what to expect when I open my eyes. Has the tentacled creature under the bed finally decided to show its face? Or is it some new horror?
My eyes adjust to the darkness, and I can make out a shadowy figure standing over Zarmenus’s bed. Actually, there are a few of them, as two are standing by the door. They are human in shape, but their faces are gold and featureless.
“Do it,” whispers one. Their voice is surprising in that it’s so ordinary, so distinctly human. “Before he wakes up.”
My eyes have adjusted so I can see those aren’t their faces. They are people, wearing golden masks. They’re detailed and ornate, the metal inscribed with patterns that look like rays of the sun. Then it clicks.
They aren’t some supernatural horror.
They’re cultists.
I’d guess they’re members of the Order of the Golden Sun.
One of them presses a cloth over Zarmenus’s mouth. He wakes up and starts to struggle, but the other figures leap forward, pinning his arms and legs down. Zarmenus kicks at them, but they must be strong, as they manage to hold him down. I expect Zarmenusto send them flying, to deal with them as easily as he did the first demon hunter who attacked him.
But he doesn’t. He seems to be trying his hardest, but he can’t get them off.
I need to do something. What, though? There are three of them. And if they can overpower the prince of Hell, what can I do?
Whoever they are, they’re clearly a threat. They’re busy with thrashing Zarmenus, so they haven’t noticed me. I move my hand until I reach my phone. It might not be my first choice of weapon, but it’s the only thing close by.
My bed creaks, and the masked figures all turn to face me. I go still, pretending to be asleep.
“He’s awake,” says the cultist by the door.
“Don’t hurt him! He’s why we’re doing this, remember? He’s been brainwashed. It’s the only way a human could love a demon.”
“Hey!” I shout. “Let him go!”
