I turn and glance back. I can’t see him, but that doesn’t mean I’m safe. The wall of bodies in front of me thins and I run smack into the back of a young tourist girl whose mother quickly pulls her out of my way. I stumble forward, right into the middle of Times Square. Billboard upon billboard flashes advertisements at me. People stare while giving me a wide berth. My heart pounds in my chest and my ears whoosh. It’s too loud, too bright, too much. I double over, my hands covering my ears as I scream. I’m panting, but I can’t hear my breaths. I’m surrounded by people, flashing signs, cars, smoke, smog, and snow in the world’s largest tourist attraction, and all I want is my Sir, and the quiet confinement of my room where my birds’ songs are a comfort. I left them. I left them in their cage. I escaped mine, but left them there to rot. Will he kill them? Set them free like he did with me? Oh god, what will happen to him when Hermes wakes and finds me gone?
Sir’s face flashes unbidden in my mind. That face, so familiar, so cold and stoic in its beauty, and yet so filled with . . . what? Love? Compassion? Humanity? Surely not. Ares is cruel and vengeful. A god—at least in my world. My captor, my creator, my punisher, my executioner, and that’s exactly what he’s done by letting me go. He’s destroyed me.
My breath turns to clouds of smoke as I sob and shiver uncontrollably. I stare up at the billboard. Feathers, white then black flit across the screen in quick succession. Over the din of the busy street, the faint sounds of a classical piece that I know well float on the air to my ears, and the words Swan Lake flash up on the screen. The face of the swan is familiar. It’s not mine, though I know instantly it should be. A beat is all it takes for me to unravel, for my past to come surging at me like the flashing billboards and lights of Time Square.
“I’m the swan,” I say breathlessly. I’m dizzy, nauseous, whether from the realization or the running, I don’t know. What I do know with blinding clarity is who I am. Or who I was supposed to be before he stole me. “I’m the swan.”
Several people turn and stare at me and I crumple to the ground from the noise, the exposure. My teeth chatter, my heart pounds, and the need to purge the contents of my stomach overruns me. I puke on the dirty pavement. My lungs suck back air that I can’t feel. I miss my room. I miss the warmth of Ares’ arms, his cruel touch, the peace I found in waiting for him to strike me.
“Miss.” A thick New Yorker accent chases away my thought, and I look up at the dark uniform, shiny badge, and blue hat of a police officer in full uniform. “Are you okay?”
I don’t realize the keening cry piercing my eardrums is coming from my own mouth until he says, “Ma’am, calm down. I need you to talk to me, okay?”
“I’m the swan.”
“What?” He turns to the officer beside him, who shrugs as he stares down at me with a bored look. “Okay, listen, miss, you can’t be outside here in your unmentionables. Especially not in December. It’s snowing. What’s your name?”
“Pet,” I say automatically.
He turns to his partner. “What’d she say?”
I shake my head. My name is not Pet. All my conditioning tells me that it’s wrong to call myself anything else, but that’s not my name. I don’t know my name, but I know I must have had one.
“Miss.” The officer waves his hand in front of my face. I snap out of my reverie. “We’re trying to help you, but you gotta give us something to go off.”
“I don’t know,” I say through chattering teeth.
“You don’t know your name?”
I shake my head. “I’m the swan.”
He looks at his partner, lips pursed, eyes narrowed. “Jesus Christ. We’re gonna need to call this in. See if Bellevue has a bed for her tonight. Any longer in this weather and she’s gonna end up with frostbite. Psych can evaluate her in the morning.”
“No. I’m not crazy. I was abducted.”
He laughs as if I’m kidding, and then his eyes roam over me, the bruises, my dirty negligee. “What did you say?”
“I was abducted. I don’t know my name, but I know I’m a dancer. I was the swan. I was taken.”
“Holy shit, you’re her,” he says, and turns to his partner. “Get her a blanket, would ya?”
“Her?”
“You’re the Flynn girl.” He frowns as if concentrating. “Camille Flynn, that famous ballerina who went missing after opening night. Every cop in this city’s been looking for you. Your family put up a hefty price to get you back. Three million dollars.”
“My family?” I’m reeling. My head spins as I’m covered in a blanket and ushered toward a car. The officer opens the door, but before I climb in, I stare up at the billboard again, and then a movement nearby catches my eye. Standing at the edge of the crowd who’ve gathered to watch is a man—no, a god—with dark eyes and darker leather, who kisses hard, who fucks harder, and who tore my whole world apart. He watches me with a stony expression. He presses his index finger to his pursed lips, something I’ve seen him do a thousand times. That domineering gaze cuts me right to the core. With a small, seemingly insignificant gesture, my Sir has just given me an order. I suck in a deep breath as he turns and melts back into the throng of people. And just like that, my world is ripped in two again. Instead of my freedom, I’ve entered another cage. One where I’m the victim. One that I’ll never escape.
Maybe that’s the point. Maybe in letting me go, Ares knew I’d be safe. He’ll never have me again, and if he can’t get his hands on me, I’ll never be sold.
I can’t decide which is worse: being discarded like trash in order to save me, or sold off to the highest bidder. Either way, it was his decision to make. I belong to him. I’m his Pet. I never had a choice in any of it, not my captivity, not my freedom, and not in my love for him. I don’t know how to be free anymore. How do I return to my old life, co-exist with mere mortals, after living so long in a land of gods and monsters?
CONTINUE THE STORY ...
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MORE BY CARMEN JENNER
Welcome to Sugartown (Sugartown Series #1)
Enjoy Your Stay (Sugartown Series #2)
Greetings from Sugartown (Sugartown Series #3)
Now Leaving Sugartown (Sugartown Series #4)
Sugartown: The Collection
REVELRY (Taint #1)
CLOSER (Taint #2)
KICK (Savage Saints MC #1)
TANK (Savage Saints MC #2)
Finding North
Toward the Sound of Chaos
The Way Back Home
Harley & Rose
Puck Love
Cake
Bittersweet (Co-write with Lauren K. McKellar)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carmen Jenner is a USA Today and international bestselling author.
A hardcore red lipstick addict and a romantic at heart, Carmen strives to give her characters the HEA they deserve, but not before ruining their lives completely first ... because what's a happily ever after without a little torture?
AUTHOR LINKS
Website → www.carmenjenner.com
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To my darling non-husband Ben, you are my everything! I love you so much! Thanks for supporting me through all of the crazy this life throws our way.
Ava Ros
e and Ari Danger, I love you more than the sun, and more than the stars, and more than the moon, and more than Mars, and way more than ... chickens!
To my gorgeous family, I love you!
To my beautiful beta readers: Kristina Zolnar, Ali Hymer, and Anne Dawson. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I appreciate you all so much! I’m truly honored that you read for me time and again, but more than that I’m blessed to call all three of you my friends.
Lauren from Lauren Clarke Editing, thank you for being a super awesome editor who just gets it. I’m forever grateful. Also, you’re a freaking awesome friend, and now I want to steal both of your babies.
To the ridiculously talented Ben from Be Designs, this cover! *Dies* I really am the luckiest girl in all the land and I can’t wait for everyone to fall in love with your talent the way I have.
And finally, THANK YOU to the readers! I hope you loved Ares as much as I do. It’s okay if you hate him a little bit too. Just don’t say it to his face or he may spank you. ;) I can’t wait to show you what’s next for Ares and his Pet. Thank you for all your love and support. It means the world to me!
In the Land of Gods and Monsters, Part One Page 17