Page 10 of Monster's Obsession

“Yeah, I’m good. So, which floor will I be on?”

“All first years sleep on the sixth floor.”

I glanced up and up and up. “Where’s the elevator?”

He smirked.

Ugh. I was so not a fan of cardio. “Great. What’s next? I assume I need to check in with an administrator or something.”

He tsked. “Such a rules follower. I’m mildly disappointed.”

“Good.” Hopefully, that would dull this crazy attraction even further, because let me be clear, I was not hooking up with Mr. Lust Demon, no matter how hot or how helpful he was or how desperate I became.

Not. The. Plan.

“Ah, there you are.”

Mrs. Caldwell was suddenly standing in the hall, in front of a giant mirror tucked into a darkened corner. I swear she hadn’t been there two seconds ago.

The surface of the mirror began to swirl and twist, like a spinning top, sort of. And then a leg was stepping through the swirling mass.

What the hell?

An arm thrust through, bumped into Mrs. Caldwell, gave her a little shove. She moved out of the way, and Professor Holtsclaw slid through the mirror like she was slipping through a waterfall.

So that was the deal with the mirrors. I needed to figure out how to do that.

“First years can’t use mirror travel,” Asmoday whispered. His breath stirred the fine hairs on my neck.

I swatted at him like he was an annoying bug. He caught my hand and gave the fingers a quick kiss, and I snatched it back so quickly, we probably both had whiplash.

Smoke swirled up from my fingers. Damn it. The only time my body reacted like that was when my emotions were heightened.

I inched away from Asmoday.

“Come, come,” Mrs. Caldwell called out, waving me forward. “Let’s go get you registered for classes. Asmoday, thank you for getting her up here safe and sound.”

He grinned wolfishly. “Entirely my pleasure.” And then he bowed, like he was royalty or something. Or thought I was, I guess. “Until we meet again, Daruka.”

I did not like the way he said my name.

Because I really, really liked the way he said my name.

I followed Mrs. Caldwell down the hall that Asmoday said led to the administrative offices. She chattered the entire way.

“I’ll take you down to Professor Dunlop in a moment so he can get you registered for classes, but first, we need to stop at my office. Unfortunately, you’re sort of doubly screwed—you’re a freshman coming in after the semester has already started, so you aren’t going to have much choice over the classes you’ll take. Hopefully, you’re a good student, because you’re almost a month behind. You have a great deal of catching up to do.”

I didn’t give a rat’s ass about classes. All I needed was a place to lay low so Daddy couldn’t find me.

“Hey,” I interrupted as she was telling me I wouldn’t have much choice of roommate either, since pretty much everybody was paired up already. “This place is, like, super secure, right?”

“In what regard?” Mrs. Caldwell asked, pausing in front of an arched wooden door and thrusting a skeleton key into the lock.

It wasn’t a good idea to tell these people I was here hiding from the Devil, who also happened to be my father. Most people were deathly afraid of the guy, with good reason.

“I just want to make sure all the students are safe, that’s all,” I said lamely.

She paused before pushing the door open. “Daruka, are you afraid your true self will come out and you will be a danger to the other students?”

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