Page 25 of My Demon Mate

“I do not know my mother. She was a breeder.” I frown and Raven laughs when he sees my expression. “It sounds awful to humans, but that is just their station. It is not shameful. It just is. All of our breeders are there by choice, not by circumstance.” I don’t question it. I don’t know anything about demons from hell, so I’ll take his word for it. “After I was born, she turned me over to my father, who raised me and my siblings. There are six of us altogether. Three males and three females. Everyone is mated, but me. Well, I am now.” He grabs my hand and kisses the back of it. “They are scoundrels, all of them,” Raven finishes, a smile plastered on his face.

“You love them,” I ask in surprise.

He chuckles. “Do not sound so shocked. I told you, demons are capable of great love. They are my family. I love them very much.”

Sometimes, I wished I had siblings so I wouldn’t be alone all the time. Then I thought about how my father mistreated me, and I’m glad he and my mother only had me. I don’t think I could have taken it if my siblings went through abuse too.

“I’d love to meet them someday,” I tell him, threading our fingers together.

“You shall. As soon as we go to Xendail, you will at least meet my brother …” he pauses and a look of concentration crosses his face. “I am not sure what his name would be in this tongue. In Xendailish, it is—” he makes a nasally hissing noise in his throat. “I guess it would be loosely translated to Phoenix. He and his mate live next door to me. He may not leave us alone when we visit.”

I smile, loving the sound of that already. It would be nice to meet more people and have some friends.

CHAPTER 10

EVEREST

I’m loathed to go to work and leave Raven, but after we eat our lunch in the car, he takes me to the diner. He kisses me deeply, tongue snaking into my mouth before I reluctantly push him away and head inside. It’s an exercise in restraint that I don’t paste myself to Raven’s side and tell him to take me home and ravage me.

I’m floating on clouds when I step inside Mitch’s shitty little diner. Danae sees me and smiles, sauntering over to me after she finishes taking an order.

“Hey.” She sounds bubbly and happy, her eyes sparkling when she stands in front of me. “You look happy today. What am I missing?”

I smile back, wanting to tell her everything, finally having someone to confide in. Before I can, the door to the diner opens and my father staggers inside. It’s the first time I’ve seen him in public besides at a liquor store. He looks bad, his filthy shirt riding up over his sloppy belly. His pants are a few sizes too big, falling off his hips. He lazily pulls them up, but not before his holey boxers make an appearance. He could do with a haircut, the tangled locks falling into his eyes and matting to his scalp.

His eyes bounce around wildly until he sees me. I shrink in on myself, stepping away from Danae so she’s not in the line of fire if he charges over to me. It’s why I didn’t ask her to take me to the hospital before Raven came for me—my father will go through anyone to get to me. I don’t want my only friend caught in the crossfire of my family bullshit.

She’s not having it. Danae steps closer to me, almost hiding me behind her smaller body. “Do you know that man?”

Nodding—though she can’t see me—I whisper, “It’s my dad. Move away from me. He’s violent. I don’t want him to hurt you.”

Steel enters her tone as she squares her shoulders. “I don’t like violent men.”

My dad makes his way over to me, causing a commotion, all eyes darting to us. Dad points his finger at me as he staggers over and says, “You need to get your ass back home now. I haven’t eaten for the past two days. There needs to be food on that damn stove in the next hour or there will be hell to pay!”

I wince at his yelling and how embarrassing it is that he brought this to my place of work.

Shoulders sagging, I nod and step around Denae, but she puts her arm out, stopping me. I could easily push past her, but her willingness to stand up for me freezes me in my tracks.

Her voice hard as granite, she tells my father, “He’s not going anywhere with you. You’re a grown ass man. If you’re hungry, make your own dinner. If you haven’t eaten in two days, it’s because your lazy ass didn’t get up and go to the kitchen.”

My mouth gapes open as I listen to Danae. She has no fear of the man standing before me. I turn to look at him and realize … I shouldn’t either. He’s taller than me, but he’s not in great shape. He’s strong and fast, but he would get winded if I ran away from him. I could hurt him if I want. I …could hurt him. If I didn’t allow my fear to get in the way, I could do some real damage.

Pulling myself to my full height and taking a stand for only the second time in my life, I stare into his eyes. Dad’s narrowed gaze locks on mine, like he’s waiting for me to say something he doesn’t like. I accept the challenge. “No, Dad. I don’t live there anymore, and I won’t be going back to feed you. Go home and leave me alone. I want nothing to do with you.”

“You little shit!” he shouts and reaches for me. I dance out of the way, making sure he doesn’t hit me. I try to grab at Danae, but she’s already in motion. I might think I’m fast, but Denae is faster. She slaps his hand down and pushes him in the chest with one hand, causing him to stumble back into a table and fall to the floor. He holds his chest where she struck him, looking at her with wide, almost fearful eyes.

Her body radiates anger and she looks like she’s grown … bigger, even though her body size obviously doesn’t change. Her posture displays power and strength, like she dares my father to get up and do something about her attack. “You will not put your hands on him, you sorry excuse for a man. Get the fuck out of here before I call the police.”

My father scrambles to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His dingy shirt slides up, showing his hairy beer gut. I look away in disgust. “You have this bitch fighting your battles?” my dad asks, eyeing Denae, but making no move to step closer.

Gathering all the strength I can, I step around her. “No. I can do it on my own.” My voice shakes with fear, but that can’t be helped. I’ve been afraid of this man all of my life. It won’t go away in a matter of two days just because I’ve been away from him.

Swallowing hard, I mutter, “I’m not coming back home, Jack.” His eyes blaze with anger at me calling him by his first name. He’s never acted like my father, so he doesn’t deserve to be called dad. “Now, go home. I never want to see you again.”

He growls, but walks away, stepping around people that just came into the restaurant. “This ain’t over. You’ll be back. That man will get sick of you, and you’ll come crawling back like the fucking scum you are. Mark my words.” Jack stumbles out and I deflate, leaning against the counter.

Danae puts an arm around my shoulder, walking me to the back while people stare and whisper behind me. “I’m sorry you’ve been going through that. I fucking loathe abusive men. I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself.”

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