Page 79 of Demons in My Bed

I sighed. “No, my reality is worse than my ghosts. I’m in too deep with a group of psychos who are probably going to come in here and rape me. Or kill me. Or both. Who knows.”

His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, that’s not happening. Neither of those things. I won’t allow that.” Once again, that matter-of-fact tone took over, and I wondered if he’d been considered arrogant when he was alive. Or had he managed to pull off confidence without the negative connotation arrogance often carried?

I rolled my eyes and tugged on my restraints. “And how are you going to stop them, ghost man?”

“Ghost man, huh? Is that my name now?” he teased, his lighthearted attitude working to slowly override my anxiety.

“Well, I don’t know your name.”

He smiled. “Jasper. My name is Jasper. Wow, it’s been a very long time since I’ve introduced myself to anyone.”

“I’m Palmer, though I suppose you already know that.”

He shrugged. “Might’ve heard it a time or two.”

“You seem to know a lot about these guys,” I muttered. I needed to figure a way out of here.

“They’re pretty interesting to watch. It can get boring being stuck like this, ya know? Need to find entertainment where I can.”

“They’re all mad at me.”

Jasper paced back and forth in front of me. “I don’t know about all that. I’m not sure mad is the right term.”

Oh.” I laughed sardonically. “No? So this is what they do to women they aren’t mad at?”

“Hurt is a better word. I think they’re hurt that you lied to them.”

Hurt? I’d hurtthem?

“They’re demons! They do horrible, despicable things all the time with no remorse!”

He crossed his arms and pinned me with a serious stare. “And? What? That means they don’t have feelings? That they can’t feel hurt or betrayal? And the things they do, you have proof of that, or is that just the rumor mill working?”

My mouth opened and closed as I thought of what to say. “I saw them kill a man!”

“Why did they kill him?”

“That— That’s irrelevant. You can’t just go around killing people.”

“And your employer? You think they aren’t out there killing everyday?”

My eyes nearly popped out. “What do you mean,my employer?”

Jasper huffed a breath, staring me down. “I’m not blind, Palmer Vale.”

My blood turned icy.He knows my last name?“I’m wondering if you’re even a ghost now. What the fuck?!”

Ghosts were not usually this coherent. Or lucid. Especially not a lengthy amount of time after their death.

I narrowed my eyes. “What are you?”

Jasper laughed. “A friend.”

“I don’t need any of those. I tend to get fucked over by them.”

“Considering you’re the only one who can see me or speak to me, I think you’re pretty safe here.”

“And I’m supposed to just take your word for it? If you know I’m here for my employer, then I’ve been made and that puts me in an extremely dangerous position.”