Free Bleak Devotion by Gemma Drazin Page B

front room.
    “Hey, girls.” Zach sidled up next to Jessica as they turned into the entryway.
    “ Hi, Zach.” Julie beamed.
    Jessica lowered her eyes. “Hi.”
    “Whatcha girls up to?”
    “ Just cleaning,” Julie replied. “Deborah put me in charge of the front room and Jessica in charge of the living room. We thought that it would be more fun if we did it together.”
    They turned into the living room. Jessica and Julie each grabbed a rag out of the bucket. While they set to work cleaning the room, Zach lounged on the couch.
    “You missed a spot, Jessica.”
    Jessica rolled her eyes. She knelt down behind a chair in the corner to dust off the baseboard.
    “Would you like some help, Julie?” The monster's voice came from somewhere on the other side of the chair.
    Jessica hunkered down, waiting for Julie to tell it they had everything under control and for the monster to leave.
    “Thanks, Blade. That'd be awesome. Jessica is working on dusting and I'm almost finished with the windows. Do you mind vacuuming?”
    Jessica silently cursed her roommate in the pause that followed. When the monster spoke, it sounded hesitant. “Are you sure I won't be bothering you?”
    “Oh, please. We left the vacuum in the living room.”
    Jessica waited until the monster's footsteps could no longer be heard and then flew out at Julie. “What are you thinking? I don't want to work with that mo—”
    “I have asked you very nicely not to call him that. In any case, you should be happy that we'll be done sooner.”
    “ I would rather clean the entire cabin by myself. Now I'm going to be looking over my shoulder the whole time, ready for it to attack me.”
    “ Chill,” Zach said. “Nothing's going to happen. And if by some strange chance it does, I'm here.”
    Jessica turned an icy glare on him. He sat up and reached for her hand with a grin on his face. “Really, Jessica. Don't worry about Blade. He’s harmless. Remember when you were in pain in front of him and nothing happened?”
    “Yes, but—”
    “ But nothing,” Julie interrupted. “You need to get used to him being around anyway.”
    The sound of the vacuum rolling across the hard wood floor stopped Jessica's protest. She clenched her jaw and glowered at the monster as it rolled the vacuum on the carpet. It kept its eyes down.
    A low growl escaped Jessica's throat. Zach squeezed her hand, but she didn't look at him. She kept her eyes focused on the monster. It slowly raised its head until their gazes met. Her defenses gave way. Her jaw relaxed, breathing deepening.
    She searched for her anger in the fog of confusion clouding her mind. Something tugged on her arm. She wiggled her arm, trying to get whatever it was to stop while she kept watching the monster. The thing yanked harder on her arm. She glanced down to see Zach staring up at her with a worried expression.
    “You okay?” he whispered.
    Jessica looked back up at the monster, who was untangling the cord, eyes focused on the task. She nodded.
    “Don't worry about him. He's really a good guy once you give him a chance.”
    “ Whatever.”
    Jessica backed up to the end table. Pulling himself off the couch, Zach blocked her view of the monster. She edged around the table until she could see the monster plugging in the vacuum. Her eyes never left him as she skirted around the room, trying to keep distance between them, but still getting her chores done.
    As her rag wiped the last surface, Zach said, “Come on, let's go play a board game.”
    “ Sounds fun.” Jessica looked at him, though she still watched the monster, who was winding up the vacuum cord, out of the corner of her eye. “What game did you have in mind?”
    “ I'll let you pick. We have a whole stack of them. What about you, Julie? Wanna join us?”
    “ I'd love to.”
    “ Great,” Zach looked over at the monster and Jessica felt the enthusiasm drain from her. “What about you, Blade? Wanna play a game with us?”
    The monster slowly