Page 4 of My Demon Mate

I shake my head. “Nothing. I fell.”

She pulls her lips in and nods, though I know she doesn’t believe me. Who would? I’m skittish as fuck, and my face is beaten to shit. I’m sure even the most clueless person would know that’s a response from someone who is being knocked around. She just doesn’t know it’s my father. “Are you on break? Let’s talk.”

“I’m on break, but … why do you want to talk to me?”

She shrugs, grinning sweetly, her expression of apprehension gone. “I don’t have any friends here.” She eyes me up and down, still smiling, but with a softer look on her face. “I think that applies to you too. We can be friends.”

“She seems nice, baby. She will not hurt you like everyone else does. Talk to her. Befriend her.”

I shouldn’t listen to the voice. I should do the opposite of what it tells me, just because, well, a voice in my head is talking to me.

But it’s been so long since I’ve had a friend. Years, actually. Maybe I should listen to the voice. Besides telling me to kill people, it hasn’t steered me wrong. It got me out of that hospital, being pumped full of meds that made me feel like a zombie. Maybe it’s right about Danae too.

Swallowing my fear, I nod. “Okay, yeah. I usually just sit in the alley and read.”

“Perfect. I can come out with you. We can chat for a bit. If I’m bothering you, you can tell me to fuck off.” She chuckles lightly, her hand over her mouth.

I gasp. “I’d never tell you that.” Because I know how it feels to be told that in anger, I would never say it to someone else, no matter the reason.

Danae smiles brightly again. “I’m sure you won’t. You’re a sweet kid.”

She loops her arm through mine, and we head out into the alley through the back exit of the diner.

Surprisingly, Danae and I really hit it off. She’s extremely funny, her humor kind of dry, but she pulls more than a few chuckles out of me. Talking to her is the most I’ve spoken to another person in years.

She’s new to town, living with her boyfriend. She says she doesn’t need a job—her boyfriend is a doctor that just got hired at the hospital in the next town over—but she likes getting out of the house to talk to adults every now and then. “The help wanted sign was in the window, so I figured what the hell?” she tells me when I asked why she applied here of all places. “Got hired on the spot. But I chalk that up more to my tits than my ability to wait tables.”

I laugh at her candidness. She’s a shapely woman and Mitch is a fucking pervert, so I agree with her there.

“Here,” Danae says, holding out her hand. “Give me your phone so I can put my number in there. We can text, meet up for coffee, that sort of thing.”

Face burning with embarrassment, I hand her my old iPhone, knowing that I should have upgraded years ago. My phone still has the home button for fuck’s sake. Every morning I turn it on, I’m surprised it still works. I doubt they still make parts for it, so if it dies, I’ll have no method of communication.

Danae doesn’t seem to mind. She taps the keyboard quickly, then her phone rings. “Got you. I’m actually not supposed to start my shift for another hour, so I’m gonna go shopping before I have to clock in. I just wanted to talk to you first.”

That’s weird, but I don’t mind. I’m glad I made a friend after being alone for so long. “I’m off in two hours. But I have the next two days off. We can do something then? If you want?” Hopefully she says yes. I’m already enjoying her company immensely. It would be nice to talk to her somewhere other than a back alley.

“I definitely want,” she says with a happy grin.

I’m not sure if she’s flirting or not, but I feel compelled to tell her, “I know you have a boyfriend and you’re not hitting on me, but I’m gay. So there’s no?—”

She interrupts me with a wild laugh. But she quickly cuts it off when she sees my face fall. “No, I’m sorry for laughing. I only laugh because I know it sounds like I’m flirting when I say certain things, but I’m not. I just have this natural sultriness.” She winds her hips and I chuckle, relieved that she’s not laughing at me. “Seriously, I figured you were gay.”

Raising an eyebrow, I ask, “How?”

“Hello? You haven’t checked out my tits once, even when I said I was hired for my big tits.” She pushes them up and I chuckle again but still don’t ogle them.

“Maybe I’m polite,” I say uselessly. I just told her I was gay.

“Yeah, and I’m the queen of fucking England.” She blows me a kiss and sashays away. “I’ll text you later, Ev.”

Ev. I have a new friend and a new nickname.

CHAPTER 3

EVEREST

“You deserve better than this, my sweet baby. You deserve the world. I can give that to you. Listen to the instructions, and I will come for you.”

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