Page 27 of My Demon Mate

When I step back into the restaurant, the sheriff has his food, another server having dropped it off. Mitch gives me the evil eyes but doesn’t say anything to me as he’s pretty swamped. I’m sure when he gets a free moment and I step behind that swinging door, he’ll give me an earful.

Work drags on, the sheriff making snide comments when I check on his table, but I ignore him. Nothing he can say to me will get me down, since I know he doesn’t have much time left in the world. He signed his own death warrant by talking shit to my face, in the past as well as the present.

Knowing I’ll see Raven in just a few hours doesn’t hurt either.

In the graphic novel I wrote for him, Sheriff Drake is nailed to the wall, both hands impaled with long knives. After listening to him cry and beg and plead for his life, Nightshade guts Drake, his organs falling from his jiggly belly and landing on the floor in front of him. I wonder if Raven can do that or if it’s too much trouble. I’m not sure where he would get the knives that are needed to impale the sheriff, but it’s nice to dream.

By the time my shift is over, I’m more than ready to go home. And not just for the night. For good. I don’t want to work here anymore. I can’t. I can’t take the abuse anymore. I’m not sure what I’ll do for money, but it can’t be here. If I work here any longer, I’ll snap and one of Mitch’s sharp knives might end up in his neck. I don’t know how Raven would be able to help me out of that jam.

If Raven hadn’t come along, I would have continued to toil at this shitty diner for shitty pay and even shittier treatment. The abuse was already normal at home and here at work, it was becoming an almost daily occurrence. Over time, I wouldn’t have tried to leave—I would have stayed and let Mitch abuse me for low pay just to keep me and my dad afloat.

No more.

Raven has awakened something inside me, reminding me I had a backbone when I thought it was gone forever. He’s helped me see that there is more to life than taking the punches thrown at me. I can walk away. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be fucking worth it.

After the last customer leaves, I walk to the cooks window and get Mitch’s attention. When he looks up at me with a scowl, I tell him bluntly, “I quit.”

His face morphs into anger. “You can’t fucking quit. I own you, understand?” He points his spatula at me, the tip shaking menacingly.

A few days ago, I probably would have shrank under his tone. Hell, I wouldn’t have quit a few days ago. Now, I’m not taking his shit. “No, you don’t own me.” Mitch’s face tightens with fury. “I quit, Mitch. I’ll finish my shift tonight, but I’m done.”

Without another word, I walk away and start my closing duties.

In a fit of anger, Mitch storms from the back, getting in my face. “You think you can quit? Feeling brave after that showdown with your father? Danae ain’t here to help you, and I’m not a falling down drunk like your dad. She wouldn’t be able to pull that shit with me.”

I’m not so sure. Something about Danae rings that no one can walk over her, her small size be damned. Mitch wouldn’t dare put a hand on her, as infatuated as he is with her. His eyes dance when he sees her, probably trying to get in her pants. Danae would chew him up and spit him out.

Raven growls in my head, rocking my brain against my skull. His anger flows through me, giving me courage to finally speak my mind. “I’m not feeling brave because of that. I’m standing up for myself against you. I’m quitting because you’re a terrible boss and a terrible fucking person. Beating on me because you’re bigger. You’re nothing but a fucking bully, and I won’t work for you any longer.”

He raises his hand as if to strike me, and I flinch and dance out of his way. I might want him to know how I feel, but I don’t want him to hit me.

Mitch’s eyes glow with triumph, like he beat me somehow.

I take off my apron and toss it at his feet. “Find someone else to abuse.”

The triumphant light winks from his eyes, and he looks so mad, steam could be pouring from his ears. He scoffs, storming away and pushing through the front door. “Someone lock up. I don’t need to take this shit.”

Surprised that he’s choosing to walk away and not smack me around, I go over to the door and lock it as he said. He spits on the window, shouting, “Clean that the fuck up, you ungrateful son of a bitch.” There’s no way I’m going to clean up his filth. The next poor schmuck can do that.

“So brave, baby. Do you still want to kill him?” Raven’s voice is like a soft caress in my head, giving me the strength I need to walk away from the door, ignoring that window, even though the fear in me is nudging me to go back and clean it.

“Yes, please.” There’s no way all of the other shit will be swept under the rug since Mitch has been this way for years. Just because he refrained from hitting me this time doesn’t excuse how often he’s done it before.

Besides, he has his own graphic novel. He’s going to die for how he treated me.

The other server wipes his tables down, then bids me good night. I wave, gather the trash and head through the back alley to throw it away in the dumpster.

“Ready when you are,” I tell Raven telepathically, since he’s picking me up from work.

“Be there soon.”

Since I already locked the front door, I walk through the alley to the front to wait for Raven. The night air blows around me softly, cooling my heated skin. The stars are shining brightly, twinkling overhead like guardians. It’s been years since I stood under the stars and just admired them. I think I’ll take Raven out one night so we can star gaze and?—

A thick hand wraps around my bicep and slams me against the wall of the alley, my head knocking against the cold bricks. I gasp in pain, seeing stars for a different reason. When my vision clears, Mitch’s blazing eyes greet me.

“The fuck are you still doing here?” he growls, spittle flying on my left cheek. “You quit, remember?”

Barely able to get the words out through my fear, I say, “I’m leaving now.” I have to fight through my terror to reach up and wipe my face.

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