Chapter One
Trying to date while a malevolent spirit played third wheel was a bitch.
Why the heck did I keep trying? Oh, yeah. Because I was damned if I’d allow a ghostly pest problem to ruin my love life.
I deserved to date like any other normal… Okay, so I was far from normal, but still. I deserved to bloody date, and Keith from work was up for the challenge.
A Magiguard with biceps to spare and kind brown eyes that always smiled at me, he’d been asking me out for weeks now. I’d turned him down—repeatedly—because, well, being cursed meant I was never alone for long. But Keith was adamant he could handle the parasite connected to me.
We’d met while I was working a freelance case for the Magiguard, or as I liked to call them, the outlier police. The Magiguard policed the supernatural community and, from time to time, hired me to help on the cases that required a heavier hand than they were permitted to apply. Or the ones where a little sneakiness was required. I was good for both, and they knew it.
Keith was a teddy bear of a warlock, a cutie with a smile always at the ready… Except for now. Nope, right now, he looked like someone had shoved a rod up his backside and was slowly rotating it, rotisserie style.
Jasper’s presence had that effect on people.
Jasper. My curse, and the bane of my existence, picked up his whiskey glass and took a sip before arching a brow my way. His lithe form was folded into a seat he’d dragged over from a nearby table to add to my table for two.
He’d dressed in a black, long-sleeved polo jumper that molded to his body, showcasing the lean muscle beneath. His dark hair was glossy, freshly washed, and brushed back off his forehead, so his high cheekbones and chiseled features were showcased to their best advantage.
There was a cruel beauty to Jasper.
Compelling and hypnotic if you looked too long.
I tore my gaze away from his piercing green eyes. Yeah, I’d learned not to look too long.
Instead, I focused on Keith and fixed a smile on my face, hoping he’d stop staring at Jasper and smile back at me. He obliged, but I instantly wished he hadn’t because there was a wild look in his eyes—a matador dressed in red in a bullring kinda look.
As usual, Jasper was the fucking bull.
We hadn’t even ordered yet, but like fuck was I making him stay if he didn’t want to be here.
I glanced down at the empty plate in front of me, the one that would be taken away when my order arrived. Never understood the point of those plates.
I pushed it aside and braced my forearms on the table. “Listen, Keith. You can go if you want. I told you this wouldn’t be easy.”
He sat up straighter, his jaw tightening as if I’d thrown him a challenge. What was it with most guys?
“I’m fine.” His gaze flicked to Jasper again. “I just didn’t expect the spirit to look so…”
“Handsome?” Jasper said smoothly.
Keith flinched. “It spoke to me.”
I groaned and closed my eyes.
“What?” Keith’s gaze flicked between Jasper and me. “It did.”
“I never said he was mute.”
Explaining Jasper’s existence and his connection to me was always awkward. I’d taken him on a year ago, agreed to allow him to bind to me to save the life of some friends. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Little had I known what the price would be and how often he’d exact it.
Not anymore though.
Now I had some control. Not enough to make him go away, but enough to keep him at bay. Having him follow me on dates, or show up while I showered, was a small cost to avoid the price he wanted me to pay.
Keith stared at me, waiting for me to explain Jasper to him. Honestly, I didn’t have the energy, but Jasper obviously did.
He set his glass down. “I speak. I eat. I drink, and I fuck.” His gaze slid my way. “She likes it when I bend her over and take her roughly from behind.”
I didn’t flinch at his words.
Jasper was a wanker. He said wankerish things to try and get a rise out of me. I was becoming totally desensitized to him. Didn’t mean I wasn’t tempted to punch him in the mouth, and if I’d thought it would hurt him, I might have.
Keith looked at me in horror as if to ask, is this true? I met his gaze levelly, and he made a choking sound of indignation, whether on my behalf or just in general, I wasn’t too sure.
“Yes,” Jasper said with a nod. “That’s exactly the sound she makes when she has my cock down her throat.”
I picked up the useless plate and smashed it into Jasper’s face. It shattered before making contact, pieces falling to the ground with soft chinks. Jasper smirked, and I curbed the urge to throttle him.
Maybe I wasn’t totally desensitized.
Around us, the room had descended into silence as the general hum of conversation ceased, but I didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought.
I glared at Jasper as he calmly sipped his drink. “Say what the fuck you want, Jasper. It’s just words now. Tag along on my dates, spy on me taking a fucking shit if you want, I don’t give a flying fuck, because you have no power over me.”
The hollow feeling in my chest contradicted my words, but that was my problem to deal with. I’d keep the upper hand as long as he didn’t know how much his presence affected me.
Jasper shrugged. “Really? No power over you? I’d say making you come so hard you stop breathing is a pretty awesome power.”
My eyes burned with anger and shame. “Fuck you, Jasper.”
His gaze dropped to my neck, to the amulet nestled at the base of my throat. “You can, Cora. All you need to do is take that thing off.” His tone was soft, almost wistful, and for some reason, my rage evaporated, leaving me drained.
“I’m not doing this with you.”
“Who else will you do it with?” Jasper asked. He tipped his head toward Keith. “The Magiguard who slipped away?”
Keith’s seat was empty.
Fuck.
“I hate you.” I took long strides down the street as if that would get me away from Jasper. “I fucking hate you so much.”
“No, you don’t,” he said. “You hate yourself for wanting me.”
“If I wanted you, I wouldn’t have had this commissioned.” I tugged at the chain around my neck to show off the amulet.
It winked blood-red in the streetlights.
Okay, so I hadn’t had it commissioned. It had been a gift—but Jasper didn’t need to know that.
I tucked it back under my shirt and picked up the pace down the street, boots clipping neatly against the pavement. Awesome, fuck-me boots. Four-inch heels, calf-high, and the softest leather. I’d even mown my lawn and waxed my legs. I hadn’t had sex in months. Keith was meant to be the icebreaker, the heat bringer, the meat plunger. Urgh. I’d even changed my sheets and put out candles.
Hope was a sneaky bitch. Hope could go suck an egg. I was done hoping.
Jasper was a plague, a limpet, a fucking ingrowing hair that kept…ingrowing.
I was supposed to be fucking tonight, and now I wasn’t, because like a wet fart, Jasper had scared off my ride.
At least this time, I’d chosen an outlier, not a human. The last guy Jasper had chased away was in therapy. Even though humans had been able to see ghosts for decades, the presence of a malevolent spirit like Jasper was enough to send even the most well-adjusted human screaming for the hills. I’d become so acclimatized to Jasper’s presence that I forgot how insidious and evil it could be to others.