“I swear, Gideon, if you don’t let me go, we’re definitely over.”
Immediately, I wished that I hadn’t made that threat. Gideon winced and pulled on the front of his jacket, his eyes growing somber as he backed away toward the door.
“If that’s what you want. But I can’t let you go, knowing you’ll only get yourself killed. This is my only option.”
I swore and pulled at my wrists, succeeding only in bruising the tender flesh under the metal. “Come back! Don’t leave me here.”
The sound of the apartment door swinging shut and the deafening silence that followed it told me I was alone. With Johnny out, there was no telling how long I’d be tied to this bed. My cellphone was tucked away in my purse which I’d left in the kitchen. Thanks to my flawless ponytail this morning, I didn’t even have a bobby pin within easy reach. I was screwed.
“This is great,” I muttered. “Knew I shouldn’t have told him.”
I looked around for inspiration. The walls in the apartment were pretty thin, but even if I banged on the wall for an hour, no one would come running. Our neighbors on this floor were med students, and hardly ever home. The guy that lived below us was a vampire, and judging by the darkness creeping over the city, already out for a night of fun. I was alone and trapped. No one was coming to save me.
“Okay girl, now’s the time to think,” I told myself.
Wrenching my body to the side, I felt Athena’s Jewel slide across my chest and under the pink blouse I’d worn today. I hadn’t given it much thought or attention since I came back from HQ headquarters. Without visions, I hadn’t been able to test out my powers and see if they were improving.
Something about my conversation with Ruth was bugging me. She’d casually mentioned that with the jewel, I could maybe even move things with my mind. With two hours left before I needed to meet Matt, if there was ever a time when I needed to move things with my mind, now was it.
“Harpy powers, don’t fail me now.”
I closed my eyes and focused on a mental image of the handcuffs. Shiny and round, they appeared in front of my face. Zooming my concentration in on the keyhole, I pictured the mechanism inside the cuffs moving. All it would take was a little shove and the cuffs would come undone. The tiniest power was all I needed.
I yanked my wrist and gasped when the metal bit into my flesh. So much for that. This jewel was basically useless. It couldn’t even free me from these cuffs.
With a deep breath, I calmed myself. Rome wasn’t built in a day. My physic powers might need a little more time and effort to grow. I couldn’t dismiss them after one lousy try.
I thought about the way my visions would yank at my core, as if a thread was tied to my spine. That seemed to be my power source. If I could replicate that feeling, maybe I could throw enough power into unlocking the cuffs. It was worth a shot.
Closing my eyes again, I pictured the cuffs and concentrated on that thread of power coming from deep within my belly. A warmth began to build, sharpening into a sensation like falling down an elevator shaft. My power was just within reach. A few more seconds, and I’d unlock the cuffs and be free.
With a hard yank on the thin thread of power, I grabbed hold of it and concentrated with all my might on the metal around my wrists. All I needed to hear was that tiny click. With that, I’d be free.
Instead of a click, I heard a pop. At the same time, the thread of power I was mentally grasping at flared to life in a violent outburst of power. I shrieked as sparks flew over my head and scored the popcorn ceiling of my room. Yanking my wrists as hard as I could, the cuffs broke off in pieces and landed red hot on my bed, setting the silky smooth fabric of my comforter on fire.
Cursing under my breath, I ran to the kitchen and got the fire extinguisher Johnny had insisted on installing last year. It might have had something to do with my third grease fire that summer, but he never said. I mentally blessed him as I put out the fire on my three-hundred-dollar comforter, and cursed the handcuffs and my mental powers.
So much for simply unlocking the cuffs. If I wasn’t careful, I’d burn down the whole apartment building.
Once the fire was out, I pulled Athena’s Jewel out from under my shirt. The brilliant green stone flashed, as if it had come to life when I called on my powers. Holding it out in my palm, I could feel the energy trapped inside. It hummed with power. Even in all my years at the museum, I’d never seen anything like it. Most of the things there were your basic cursed or enchanted objects, which sucked the life force out of the user. Athena’s jewel did the opposite. It emanated power.
“Remind me to do some research on you when I get back from my mission,” I whispered to the shiny green stone.
Maybe Ruth would let me add this piece to the museum on loan. Something like this might actually attract some of the supernatural residents of the city. It would be a change of pace from our usual human foot traffic.
From the living room, Johnny’s old cuckoo clock chimed, reminding me I only had two hours before my rendezvous with Matt Rue. The dead weight that I’d been carrying in my stomach since meeting with Ruth suddenly became a hundred pounds heavier. After tonight, there was no going back. Tonight, I’d find my mother.
Chapter Nine
The mind-blowing fact that I had just moved something with the power of my mind and set fire to my bedspread had to be mulled over later. I left my apartment and grabbed a cab. Ruth had given me strict instructions to meet Matt Rue at the Scarab Lounge downtown at 10:00. I’d never been there before, but I’d heard of the seedy little place that smelled like a mixture of cat urine and old booze. Angel’s date had taken her there once. She vowed never to return.
As the cabdriver pulled into traffic, I tucked Athena’s jewel under two layers of tank tops, and a flowy top that would hopefully conceal the jewel from any thieving eyes. My purse and cellphone were at home, next to the note I’d left for Johnny, asking him not to worry about me for a few days. No doubt, he’d call Gideon. But once I was inside Caro’s organization, they wouldn’t be able to find me. There was no point in even trying.
We arrived at the Scarab Lounge sooner than I anticipated. My heart thumped in erratic beats, threatening to jump out of my chest and onto the seat next to me. I slowed it with a couple deep gulps of air and drummed my fingers on the door to distract my nerves. Everything was going to be okay. From what Ruth had told me, this would be a simple operation. Get in, get my mom, get out. No need to get worked up over nothing.
I paid the driver, slid out the door, and stepped in front of the Scarab Lounge’s front door. Red neon lights flashed the club’s name in tacky style. The windows were dark and dirty, with one missing pane covered in cardboard. Its blood red door swung open occasionally, letting out the lone smoker or welcoming a new stumbling group of dancers. The pulse of the music from inside reverberated through the cement and up through the heels of my boots.
Trying not to lose my nerve, I pushed through the swinging door and past a group of young men filing outside for a smoke. A few of them eyed me up and down, but I ignored them and made a bee line for the bar. Planting my rear on one of the abandoned stools, I looked around.
Much like the outside, the inside was dark and drab. Black dusty drapes hung from the blacked out windows and over dark booths that hid couples whispering and kissing each other. The dance floor throbbed with the writhing mass of dancers, sweating out their worries and the sweet scent of booze. For a Thursday night, this place was happening. It probably had something to do with the two dollar shots advertisement hanging over my head.
The bartender wiped down the bar in front of me, and smacked an empty shot glass on the surface. “We just ran out of vodka. What can I get for you?”
I swallowed hard and pulled two dollar bills out of my purse. “Tequila and lime.”
The bartender nodded and filled the shot glass with a bottle of cheap tequila and slid a lime across the bar at me. Downing the shot, I sucked on the lime, relishing the painful tar
tness that stung my mouth. The alcohol eased my nerves just the slightest, which helped me keep my cool when a small man swimming in his leather jacket jumped onto the stool next to me and mumbled my name.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
His eyes swept across the room and back to my face. “Are you Aya Harris?”
Sucking in a steadying breath, I forced a smile on my face. “Yes. Are you Matt?”
He nodded and waved a finger at the bartender, downing the shot glass of tequila thrown his way. “That’s me. Are you sure you want to do this? You’ve still got time to back out.”
I rested my elbow on the bar and turned nonchalantly toward Matt, doing everything within my power to slow the racing of my heart. He was the kind of guy I’d never pick out in a crowd. Everything about him was average. Average height, average weight, average looks. His brown hair hung a bit shaggy around the tops of his ears, and a short beard darkened his face. From what I could see, he was totally human.
“I’m sure,” I told him, although my head was screaming the opposite. “How exactly can you get me into this organization?”
Matt shrugged. “It’s my job to find the girls. I find them in bars across the city. It won’t look suspicious.”
I nearly fell off my stool. “Find the girls? You mean…?”
So, this was the guy that lured the girls away from the safety of their friends and crowded bars? The thought made me want to scoot a few stools away. Glancing at him again, I realized it probably wasn’t that hard for him to do. He wasn’t exactly bad looking. Maybe a bit short for my taste, but most girls would go for a guy like him. All he had to do was get them someplace quieter and they were his – like a spider waiting for its prey to fall into its web.
He grimaced when he caught me side eyeing him and motioned for another shot. “Don’t judge me. The harpies made me get this job. It was either this, or spend the next decade in their secret prison, rotting away.”
I nodded, although it didn’t make me feel much better.
“I don’t suppose you’re one of them,” – he looked me up and down, frowning at my red painted fingernails – “one of them harpies? With the scary talons and stuff?”
Curling my fingernails into my palm, I ignored his question and swung around on my barstool to face the crowded dancefloor. A glimmer ran through the room, revealing a pack of werewolves grinding on one side of the dancefloor, and a few other creatures speckled in-between. I wondered if the dozen or so humans milling about the room had a clue they were surrounded by creatures that could snap them in half with a twitch of their paws. Probably not, judging by the way they danced with abandon, their hands reaching for the black painted ceiling.
“How does this work?” I asked Matt.
He shrugged, nudging a shot of tequila my way. The buzz from the first shot was already beginning to fade, so I downed the liquid courage in one gulp. Matt gave me a satisfied smile that revealed his crooked front teeth.
“Caro’s crew will be here in ten minutes for the pick-up. They’ll take you in a truck to their newest location. Can’t say where that is, as it changes every few hours.”
I bit my tongue and tasted the coppery blood in my mouth. “And then what happens?”
“Do I look like an encyclopedia?” he snapped. “I’m just an outside man. I pick up inventory, they do the rest. After tonight, I’m gone. I’ve done my job for the HQ. They can find someone else to do their dirty work.”
It looked like someone wasn’t too appreciative of the harpies and their favors. I couldn’t blame him. And I certainly didn’t want to ask him how many girls he’d sold to Robert Caro’s group before tonight, all in the hopes of getting a man inside Caro’s organization. Maybe the HQ didn’t mind playing it a little dirty sometimes, but this was messed up.
As if he could read my mind, Matt raised a dark eyebrow at me and swallowed his third shot of tequila for the night. “Hey, if I wasn’t around, someone else would still be doing the job. At least, that’s what I tell myself so I can sleep at night. Maybe you can stop them.”
Stopping Caro’s trafficking of supernatural creatures was on the bottom of my list. The only thing I cared about was finding my mother and getting her out. But, I wasn’t going to admit that to Matt. The way the dark bags hung under his eyes told me he needed to have a little hope. It wasn’t my job to dash them.
“Sure… maybe.” I spun back to the bar and drummed my nails on the shiny surface. Only three minutes to go. Any second now.
Turning to Matt, I felt the room spin in a circle that nearly tipped me out of my stool. Matt grabbed my arm to steady me and grinned when I looked up at him.
“Someone had too much to drink,” he said.
I furrowed my eyebrows. “No. Just two shots. I can’t…”
The room spun again and this time I spilled out of the stool completely, landing in Matt’s arms. He helped me stand up and directed me toward the backdoor.
“Here, let’s get you some air,” he said.
I nodded gratefully and allowed him to pull me along. Maybe the liquid courage had been a bad idea. Along with my nerves, I was starting to lose it. The plan didn’t sound so good at this point. Gideon should be here.
“I just need to make a call,” I said, pulling my cellphone out of my purse.
One call, and he’d be here. We’d take down Robert Caro together.
Matt yanked the phone out of my hand and shoved it in his jean pocket. “I don’t think you’ll be needing that.”
I tried to wrestle it back from him, but my arms were as weak as foam noodles. He pushed me through the back exit and into a darkened alley, next to an overflowing dumpster.
There was no way those two shots had affected me this way. Johnny had just taken me out to dollar shot night at Red’s Bar last week. I’d still managed to make it home on my own two feet. No, this was something else.
“You did this,” I sputtered. Dark clouds were beginning to cover my eyes. Any minute now, I’d give into their pull. “You drugged me.”
“Of course I did.” He waved at someone in the dark that I couldn’t see. “I have to make it look real. This is how I get everyone. Never take a drink from a stranger, FYI.”
A pair of headlights blinded me, lighting up the entire alley. The roar of an engine accompanied the light. I shielded my eyes to watch a truck roll our way, with the passenger door hanging open and a very large man leaning out. While distracted by the truck, I felt a metal collar being clasped around my neck, the ends clicking into place. In shock, I turned to Matt. He shrugged and frowned at me, offering no apologies.
“It gets rid of your supernatural abilities,” he said. “No gutting someone with those talons of yours. It’s a safeguard.”
Effectively declawed, I stared helplessly at the giant man that jumped out of the truck and ambled our way. My vision was blurry from the drugs, but what I could see of the giant’s doughy face was uneven and rough. He scowled at Matt and ran a metal wand over me, the kind they used at airports to search for metal.
“She’s good,” he growled in a low voice. “Throw her in with the others.”
“Not until I get my three hundred,” Matt said, pulling me by the back of my shirt. “You owe me for the last girl, too.”
I resisted the urge to grind my heel into Matt’s toe. He didn’t seem to mind getting paid for his dirty work. If I had my talons handy, I’d leave him a beautiful scar along the inside of his leg to remind him of the women he’d sold into slavery.
“Fine,” the giant grumbled.
He pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and threw it at Matt’s face, laughing as the bills floated to the ground. Matt swore and collected the money from the damp ground. With the fee stashed in his pocket, he spat at the ground and shoved me forward, mumbling a few more curses under his breath.
Stumbling forward, I tripped and landed on all fours, the metal collar digging into my skin. The drugs were really sinking in. I could feel myself losing control and pretty soon, it w
ould overcome me.
“Don’t… please…” I looked up at the giant’s face and blinked away the tears stinging my eyes. “I don’t want to go.”
“Nobody ever wants to go.” He picked me up by the back of my shirt and swung me into his side. “You’re just out of lucky tonight, honey.”
“But my boyfriend…” I struggled to find the words in the fog. My boyfriend. My ex-boyfriend. I needed to call him. I wanted to take it all back. He’d save me. He’d rescue me from my stupid mistake. I couldn’t do this alone. What was I thinking?
The giant opened the back of the truck and swung me into it, like I weighed nothing more than a rag doll. He ignored my pleas and slammed the door, latching it into place. I screamed and dragged my fingernails across the metal, praying for my talons to extend. But the collar kept them hidden. I was stuck. The plan was a success.
Turning around, I blinked and waited for my eyes to adjust to the utter darkness. It only took a few seconds, but soon I saw three other sets of eyes watching me. They peered at me from the other side of the truck, unblinking. There was no time to talk. The drugs finally overtook me, dropping me to the hard metal floor.
Chapter Ten
The first thing I noticed were the urine stains on the bed next to me. They spread across the bare surface like a yellow rash, contaminating the dirty mattress with a smell that burned my nose. Dim lights hung above my head from the ceiling; the black and red wires exposed and dangling. Around me sat about a dozen girls, all around my age, huddled and muttering. They each wore a metal collar that stripped them of their supernatural powers, making them look like a bunch of helpless humans.
I scanned my eyes across the room and found a pair of dark brown eyes staring at me. They belonged to a young woman with striking high cheekbones and long sleek brown hair. Her darkened skin and bone structure reminded me of the Apache Native Americans I’d met during a brief stop in Santa Fe, to pick up a turquoise bracelet that was haunted by a tragic young woman. Once in a while, I’d catch her ghost haunting the museum at night, never to rest until she found her lost lover.
Athena's Jewel: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 2) Page 7