Page 82 of Demons in My Bed
Seriously, fuck him. I wasn’t going to just stand here and let him talk to me like that. I stepped to the side and made it one step closer to the door when I was yanked backward by my hair.
“Ow, what the fuck?!” I shrieked, twisting around with my fist ready to smash into his nose.
“I’m done with these bullshit games. I want answers and I want them right fucking now, or so help me.” His body seemed to be expanding before my eyes. His demon was very close to the surface right now, so I had to swallow the urge to tell him to piss off again. I wasn’t telling him shit, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
Chapter twenty
“WhatdoIwantto know?” I laughed darkly. “Everything.”
She shifted her weight, popping out a hip and crossing her arms. If defiance had a face, it would be this woman’s right here. My palm practically itched with the urge to spank her.
“Well, ask away. I don’t have all day for your temper tantrum.”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering what exactly she’d been through in her life that gave her bigger balls than ninety percent of the people I’d ever encountered. We’d shifted in front of her, fought in front of her—hell, I’d fucking foughtwithher—and yet she had no fear. A person without fear was a loose cannon. Reckless and unpredictable. I didn’t have time for any of that shit.
“How’d you learn to fight like that?” I guessed starting out easy was wise because I knew if she felt cornered, she’d lock herself down in a heartbeat.
She shrugged. “Started learning martial arts as a kid. Earned my black belt in karate when I turned sixteen, and I study several other different fight styles.”
“A black belt at sixteen is impressive. Why did you hide that?”
“I didn’t hide it. It’s just not exactly something I lead with when I meet new people.” Her gaze shifted from my face to behind me, and I looked over my shoulder, not seeing anything there.
“I see. Well, you had a perfect opportunity to use your skills in the maze, yet you didn’t give away a thing that indicated you had any training.”
That was the part that really confused me. After she saw what we were, she didn’t fight very hard to get away… and as far as I knew, she didn’t even attempt to escape once Misha took her upstairs after the hunt. No, something wasn’t adding up.
“What can I say?” She held her hands out at her sides. “I wanted a night with The Exiled, same as everyone else in that damn club. Why is that so hard for you to believe? Even now, I can see the doubt in your eyes.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that part, little girl. Your cunt was weeping for my boys before they even suggested the maze.” I shook my head when her mouth opened, ready as ever to argue with me. “Don’t try to deny it.” I leaned in, an inch from her face. “I smelled how wet you were.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “Get the fuck out of my face, Rhodes. I’m two seconds away from throat punching you and pushing you down this flight of stairs.”
I laughed and straightened my back so I was once again towering over her tiny frame. There’d been a moment there in the ring when I’d actually felt a surge of something resembling respect. I probably would’ve given her credit where credit was due—if I didn’t feel like she was full of fucking shit and lying about everything. It was hard for me to find a worthy opponent that wasn’t one of the guys.
Since she was still being evasive about the fight skills, I asked the next question I was really interested in. “What’s your affinity?”
“That’s rude as fuck, you know?”
I cracked my neck. “Yeah, I don’t fucking care. Answer the gods damned question.”
“I see dead people,” she said in a sugary sweet tone that grated on my last fucking nerve.
I pinched my nose and shut my eyes, trying to calm myself down. I’d had enough of her sass. “Palmer, listen. I’m beyond playing these games with you. What. Is. Your. Affinity?”
“You deaf? I told you, I see ghosts. Spirits. Whatever you wanna call them.”
Was she serious? She certainly looked like she was serious, though I knew deep in my bones that this woman was a liar and loved to fuck with me. Rile me up. Well, it wasn’t going to work this fucking time.
“I know you think I’m an idiot, just like you think the others are. They fell to their knees for you so damn easy, didn’t they? You don’t want to tell me what your affinity is? I’m not surprised.” I ran my thumb back and forth over the dark stubble on my jaw as I considered what to do next.
Palmer was shaking her head at me with disgust on her face, but her tricks weren’t going to work on me.
“They had you tied up in Ash’s room. How’d you get out of there?” I snapped my fingers. “Aha! One of your ghost buddies help you break out?”
“Yes, actually. He was very helpful in my escape. At least, he was until I got fucking caught by a cigar-toking troll beast.”
