Page 16 of Demons In My Head: Exposing the Exiled
Regardless, I thought his reaction toward Palmer, after she revealed I was with her, was bullshit. If I could've punched him in the face, I would have. That's why I followed her when she fled from the club.
I tightened my grip on Palmer's body as we neared Haunt. Gods, she felt too damn good up against me. Her nails dug intomy shoulders in response, and I had to stifle a moan. Even her fingertips against my skin were such a jolt to my system, adding a hint of pain with it? Fuck. I landed us right in the living room of the penthouse, and found her staring up at me with big blue eyes, her chest heaving with excitement.
"We fucking did it, Jasper!" she exclaimed, grinning. That was something she didn't do nearly enough. Her whole face lit up when she smiled like this.
"I knew you could do it," I replied, realizing that both of her hands were in mine as we stared at each other. Slowly, she averted her gaze and scanned the room. The glorious grin on her face fell away in an instant and was replaced with a scowl.
She dropped my hands like they were burning her. "Why the fuck would you bring me here?! I cannot be here." She turned from me and beelined for the door. "Rhodes will try to kill me. They all will!"
I reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back around to me. "Nobody can see us right now." I wriggled the fingers on my free hand. "See? We're still ghosts."
"But for how long? And what happens when I turn solid and Rhodes walks in? I know you didn't stick around to listen to his threats, but—"
"Actually—" I interjected, "I did."
Her mouth dropped. "And you just, what? Eavesdropped and let him speak to me like that? Why didn't you help me? You could've backed me up!"
Oh, she was furious. Her face was red, and her eyes narrowed on me like she was moments from planning my second death.
"Will you let me explain? I just helped you escape from that fucking lunatic, did I not? What reason do you have not to trust me?"
"Hmm," she hummed sarcastically and tapped her finger on her chin. "Let's see? You're family to them, and if there'sanything I've learned about my limited time with The Exiled, that's all they care about. Each other. Fuck everyone else." She glared at me. "How am I doing so far?"
I crossed my arms. "For such an intelligent woman, sometimes you can be really fucking dense."
Her eyebrows hit her hairline. "Excuse me?"
"First of all, the entire time I've spent in this form, I've had no idea who I was. My past is nothing but a black hole, and my family? Yeah, they don't even speak my fucking name. Trust me, I've been trying to figure out who I was for longer than you've walked this damn realm!" I let out an unnecessary but instinctual deep breath, attempting to regain some composure, but I was hurt and pissed.
"What do you mean you don't know who you were? All ghosts know their past."
"Well, apparently not all. I learned the truth when Rhodes screamed it at you, and I thought he was out of line, so I followed you."
She paced back and forth as she processed my words. Shaking her head, she said, "It doesn't matter. None of it matters. I still need to get as far away from them as possible. I know what they did."
“What do you mean? What did they do?”
She gave me a pointed look and held it, as though she was looking for something. The moment stretched on, and I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“They’re dicks. We both know that. Hell, everyone fucking knows that. But they also care about you. I’ve never seen them like this with a woman, and I’ve been around for a long time.”
Palmer scoffed. “Of course you’d defend them!”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “WHAT DID THEY DO?!”
“They killed my parents!” she shrieked and then picked up a vase and hurled it against the wall.
I reeled back, as though the vase had hit me instead. “What? No, that can’t be right.” Mentally, I began searching and sifting through the memories I did have of my time with The Exiled, the conversations I’d overheard, the things I’d witnessed. “Who told you that?”
“Doesn’t matter who,” she snapped, her shoulders rising and falling with her breathing.
From the intensity of her emotions, this was new information for her. “Scorpio would say anything to turn you against them… you can’t believe him.”
“Scorpio didn’t tell me; it was an old friend, someone I trust completely.”
The man she’d met in the rain before Scorpio kidnapped her.Thatman… I cleared my throat. "Um, well, I have something I need to confess."
My words halted her pacing, and she slowly turned her face to me. She said nothing, just cut me down with those blue eyes.
