Athena's Jewel: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 2)

by Lacy Andersen

  Tala tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Fantasies? What does that mean?”

  “She means it’s a whorehouse,” Jack sneered. “And you’re the newest whores to join the team. Congratulations, ladies. Might have to come visit you myself.”

  I shuddered while Tala’s face paled. Maybe we weren’t being sent to a mine to die in the dark or to a lab to be dissected, but a whorehouse didn’t sound much better.

  My mother checked her watch again and tapped her toe against the ground. “He’s late already. I swear, if that boy didn’t have such an unusual gift, I’d get rid of him myself.”

  As if on cue, a boy appeared in front of her, wearing a giant grin. He had unruly curly brown hair and rosy cheeks. A well-worn black jacket hung over his thin frame and opened to a white Nirvana t-shirt. He looked like any fifteen-year-old boy, if not for the giant pointy ears that framed his head when a shimmer crossed over him.

  “Ready to go?” he chirped. Spinning around, he caught a glimpse of us and whistled low. “Is this the new recruits? You sure know how to pick ‘em, Livy.”

  “You’re late, Aaron.” My mother pursed her lips. “I told you not to be late.”

  He hopped in place and cracked his neck. “Nah, I’m always on time. Aaron time!”

  Mother’s disapproving look did nothing to dampen his spirits. He turned in place, grabbing a porcelain vase off the antique shelf behind him.

  “Say, is this valuable?”

  Mother plucked it from his hands and put it back on the table. “Doesn’t matter. You have a job to do. Get us back to the ranch.”

  “But I just got here…”

  “Now!”

  She held her hand out and lengthened her talons until Aaron blinked nervously. By the way he stood still, I had the feeling he’d already been on the receiving end of a few harpy swipes. His feet snapped together and his face took on a somber expression.

  “Okay, boss-lady. Ready when you are.”

  She sighed and turned toward Jack. “Thank you for your assistance. We won’t be needing you anymore.”

  Jack leaned on the doorframe, his eyes trailing over my body. “Are you sure? This one’s a wild pony. I could break her in for you.”

  I took a step back and swallowed. I’d rather die.

  “That won’t be necessary.” The frown that pulled on the sides of her mouth tremored between impatience and disgust. “We must be going.”

  Jack nodded and drifted through the open door, winking at me before shutting the door behind him. Running my hands up my arms, I tried to dispel the icy coldness running through my veins.

  That monster was going back to a room full of girls. Girls who would be sold and traded and bartered like animals. The moment we left for the ranch, this place would disappear off the map. The HQ would never find it or the girls I’d left behind. I had to save them. I had to get out of here.

  “Let’s go girls.” Mother grabbed Aaron’s arm with her bony hand and nodded. “Grab a hold. He’ll transport us.”

  Tala placed a hand on Aaron’s shoulder, her grip loose. They all looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to copy. But I was too busy squirming in place, looking around the room for an exit. No windows, no other doors except for the one that led to Jack. No way out.

  “Let’s go,” my mother barked. She raised her eyebrows at me. “We’re leaving.”

  I nearly took a step toward the door, when she reached forward and clasped a hand tightly around my wrist. Aaron smacked his lips and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

  Blackness descended on my eyes, as if I’d been dropped into deep outer space. It was the loneliest moment of my life. The emptiness pressed in, like a parasite wanting to empty me of all my organs, all my thoughts, and all my memories. I would’ve gone mad if we hadn’t been dumped on a floor two seconds later.

  The first thing I noticed was the plush carpet cradling my body. When I opened my eyes, I saw the plush maroon shag that perfectly accompanied the warm cream walls. Four antique winged armchairs sat around me, facing a large fireplace. A small fire burned in the hearth, throwing dancing shadows across my pale skin.

  Tala lay on the carpet next to me. Above us, stood my mother with her impatient stare, and Aaron, his face a mask of amusement. He laughed and skipped around the nearest chair, singing a dirty rhyme as he went.

  “Aaron, please knock that childish behavior off and take Tala into the orientation room,” my mother told him with a sharp edge in her voice. “I will follow shortly.”

  He rolled his eyes, but offered Tala his hand and pulled her to her feet. She watched me the entire way out of the room, concern etched on her face. But there was nothing she could do except follow the young boy.

  My mother trailed them to the door and closed it behind them, running her hand along the frame. With a sharp turn on her heels, she faced me and darted across the room, grabbing my shoulders before I could speak.

  “What are you doing here, Aya?” She shook me so hard my vision blurred. “Why would you come here? I thought you were smarter than this.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She did recognize me. My mother, the pimp. I couldn’t find the words to explain the confusion in my head.

  “Tell me. Tell me how you got yourself in this mess. You’re better than this.”

  My head snapped back up and I pushed her hands away, backing into one of the chairs. “Better than this? What about you? I thought you were dead.”

  She closed her mouth and frowned, the smallest hint of her dimple appearing in her right cheek. I used to love that dimple – the way it appeared whenever she smiled at me. It was one of the few things I didn’t inherit from my mother. As a child, I used to draw them on my cheeks with markers.

  “You’ve been alive for fourteen years? And you never contacted me? Never talked to dad? How could you?”

  She caught her breath and crossed her arms tightly over her stomach. “You wouldn’t understand, Aya. I had no choice. This was my only escape from that life. But that didn’t mean I forgot about you, my family. When you moved to Arcana, I even checked in on you occasionally.”

  I tilted my head. All this time I’d been in Arcana, my mother had been only miles away. Maybe she’d been beaten and tortured by Robby Caro’s group, but that was no excuse for getting into the business of pimping innocent young women. I’d rather die.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Please, Aya.” She took a step forward, which made me take a step back. “I’m doing important work here. If you’d just listen…”

  “No, you’re a monster!” I was practically sobbing now. “You left your family. I’ll bet you never even tried to escape. You have no idea what’s happened since you left. You have no idea what it did to our family.”

  It really was time to abandon the mission. Mother or no mother, I wanted out of here. Back to Gideon, back to the museum, back to my old life. I completed the HQ’s mission. They could have my mother, and they could keep her.

  “I wasn’t completely unaware, trust me.” She tried to grab my hands, but I pushed her away. “I’ve had visions of you and Nicky over the years. My powers have waned with very little use, but I still have them once in a while. I looked forward to them, in fact.”

  As if her longing for a vision of her children could make everything all better. It didn’t.

  “Did you know about Nicky? About what he’s become?”

  Surely, if she knew what he’d done, she would’ve come out of hiding. Would’ve tried to talk him into giving up his bloody crimes.

  Her tense jaw told me everything I needed to know. She knew about Nicky – about his fall into darkness. And she’d done nothing. She wasn’t a mother.

  “Aya, listen to me…”

  The door opened and Aaron stood in the stark light, his stupid grin plastered to his face. “She’s ready for you, Livy.”

  Smoothing the hair around her head, the desperate frown on my mother’s face dissolved into a neutra
l expression. She nodded and grabbed my arm, holding tight when I tried to pull away.

  “We’re coming.”

  She led me into the next room, a crowded rectangular space with rows and rows of boxes lined up on the walls. Tala was sitting in a plastic chair on the other side, her back hunched. She straightened and reached for my hand when I sat in the chair next to her.

  “What are they going to do to us?” she whispered.

  I didn’t know what to say. It didn’t matter. We would be out of here soon.

  “Aaron, please leave the room,” my mother said.

  He groaned, a playful grin on his lips. “Do I have to?”

  “Don’t make me go to Wesley,” she warned.

  A sour frown replaced the grin. He slid out the door on the other side, sending us one last longing glance before slamming the door behind him.

  “I need all your belongings.” Mother dropped a box in front of each of us. “Put them in here. They’ll be safe.”

  Tala and I looked at each other. The only belongings we had were a few pieces of jewelry and our dirty clothes.

  “Come on, I need everything. You’re not allowed to take anything into your rooms. Not even your clothes. Drop them in there.”

  Instinctively, my arms crossed over my chest. If she thought I was going to strip naked for her, then she had better get a clue.

  “Do it, now,” she continued, a warning glare in her eyes. “Wesley Blake is not a patient man. He’ll come in here and rip them off if you don’t strip in the next ten seconds.”

  I didn’t know who this Wesley Blake guy was, but I didn’t want to find out. Following Tala’s lead, I pulled off my blouse and dropped it in the box. Next, came the boots. With utter precision, I unzipped them and slid my feet out. Athena’s jewel hung low over my chest.

  “Wesley say’s hurry up.” Aaron peeked his head in the door, causing Tala and me to squeal and cover ourselves up. “He’s getting bored.”

  “Get out!” Mom cried.

  Aaron laughed and pulled his head back out, slamming the door once again.

  “That’s a pretty jewel.” She pointed to my necklace. “Where did you get that?”

  I wrapped my fingers around the gemstone. “From a friend. Please don’t make me give it up.”

  If she took Athena’s jewel, I’d be screwed. Ruth and her army might never find me.

  “Give it here.” She held out her palm expectantly. “Come on, give it to me. Wesley will take it if he sees you wearing it in there.”

  The clasp stuck when I went to undo it. With rage building in my cheeks, I managed to yank it open and dropped the beautiful piece of jewelry onto my mother’s hand. The moment it left my fingers, I felt a hollow sensation build in my chest. The power of the jewel had been working, slowly, inside of me. Without it, I’d never get out of here.

  “Hurry up with the rest of your clothes,” mother snapped. “We’ve been long enough.”

  Once Tala and I were fully nude, trembling in the dank cold of the storage room, my mother brought out a small device that resembled a TV remote. She pushed a few buttons on the metal surface and asked us to hold out our wrists.

  “This will only burn for a second,” she explained. “It’s a mark that IDs you as property of the Ranch. A magical mark. It can never be erased.”

  She swiped it over each of our wrists. My skin burned as if I’d stuck it against the inside of a hot oven, causing me to hiss in pain. On the inside of my wrist appeared a thick black box. Inside of the box was the letter R in a cursive typeset.

  “You are now the property of Wesley Blake,” she said. “Always remember that. He is a fair leader to those who mind the rules. To those who break them, he is unforgiving. Second chances don’t exist here. Mind yourselves.”

  With a second wave of the controller, our metal collars fell open and clattered to the ground. I felt along my neck, relishing the bare feeling of unhindered flesh. I hadn’t realized how much that metal collar choked me. It was like breathing fresh air. My wings and talons urged to be stretched, but from the warning look in my mother’s eyes, I thought it best to hold them in.

  “Come on. He’s waiting.”

  With a wave of her hand, she marched us through the door Aaron had used only minutes before. This room was very similar to the waiting room we’d landed in, but bigger. A giant desk took up a good quarter of it, with a similarly lit fireplace across the room. Sitting at the desk was an unassuming man of about fifty, with salt and pepper hair, gray eyes, a thick beard, and his hands folded on top of a stack of papers. He watched us come in, smiling with gratitude when my mother lined us up in front of him.

  The fact that we were still nude distracted me quite a bit from the man. I tried to cover my body with my hands, but found myself shifting awkwardly. Tala stood still next to me, her arms at her sides and fists clenched. Free from her collar, her eyes shined yellow with anger. It made me grateful to not to be on the receiving end of that glare.

  “Hmmm… another wonderful purchase, Livy.” The man stood up and walked toward us, running his hand across the surface of the desk. “A werewolf and a…” He looked me over, pausing at the tattooed wings on my back. “One of yours, I believe, Livy. A harpy?”

  He didn’t look up to see her nod stiffly.

  “Beautiful. Beautiful creatures. Yes, my clients will pay highly. Your training will begin immediately. In a week’s time, you’ll be integral parts of the team, girls.”

  My talons emerged from my fingers, but Wesley Blake didn’t seem to notice. They pressed against the flesh of my palms, nearly tearing into my skin.

  “Welcome to the Ranch. You’re going to love it here.” He laughed and perched his rear on the edge of the desk. “Well, at least that’s what I tell myself. Really, it doesn’t matter. Because you’re mine. You’re my property and you will do as I see fit. Do I make myself clear?”

  Tala and I didn’t respond. There was no need. We had entered Hell on Earth and in front of us stood the devil.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I woke up in a large room, my face only a couple of feet from the ceiling. Under me and around the room were a dozen bunkbeds. The distinct smell of sweet perfume was a nice change from the pervasive urine scent that had permeated the last room I slept in. Soft sheets and fluffy pillows lined every bed, adding to the comfort.

  In my palm was something hard and smooth. Opening my hand, I found Athena’s Jewel nestled against my skin, the brilliant green gemstone catching the light from a nearby dark shaded lamp. My heart nearly did a flip. My mother must’ve slipped it into my hand last night.

  Before anyone could pass by my bed, I clasped the necklace back around my neck and tucked it under the silk pajama top that had been given to me last night. With it back around my neck, I felt whole again, like a piece of my soul had been returned.

  Maybe my mother wasn’t so lost after all. She was a madman’s right hand, but just maybe, the woman I remembered was still somewhere deep inside.

  My roommates were beginning to mill around the room. Most of them hung about their bunks, yawning and changing out of their pajamas. I recognized a nymph right away. She carried herself like Angel did, with a graceful movement that seemed like a dance. With long flowing blonde hair down to her waist, and porcelain skin, she looked like a life-sized Barbie doll. She caught me staring and winked her long lashes before turning away.

  In the bed above her sat a plump woman with a full bosom. She adjusted her low-cut shirt, making sure the goods were on full display. Vivid red hair was pulled back behind her neck into a low bun. As soon as she looked up, I caught the warm light burning in her eyes. She had to be a fire elemental. They were rarer than air or earth elementals and far more temperamental.

  A tall dark woman strolled past my bed, humming a tune. The notes dripped off her dark red lips like precious water in a desert. I nearly fell out of my mattress, leaning over the side to catch the rest of the tune. She swept her long braids off her shoulder and spun, ex
amining her backside in a long mirror attached to the wall.

  “Careful, Bee, you’re gonna ensnare the newbie with your song,” the redhead on the opposite bunk called.

  The dark woman turned and caught my eye. Her tune cut abruptly off, leaving me with an innate sadness that brought tears to my eyes.

  “Sorry, babe,” she told me. “Patty’s right, I should know better by now. It’ll wear off in an hour or two.”

  I shook my head, dispelling the stinging tears. My sudden reaction made sense now. Bee was a siren. Even her humming was enough to attract me. I couldn’t imagine what power she wielded when she actually sang to her prey.

  “Welcome to the pit,” I heard another woman say. “My name’s Veronica.”

  The sight of her made me catch my breath. Brilliant green scales covered her from head to toe. Her brown hair curled around her shoulders and matched her dark inquisitive eyes. I’d never seen a creature like her, not in all my time in Arcana.

  “I tend to get that reaction,” she said, apologetically. “Inside the city limits, I don’t usually have to worry about it due to the cloaking spell. I’m a Lamian – part snake, part human. We tend to keep to ourselves, but here I am…”

  “She serves a special type of client,” Patty crowed with a snort.

  Pushing myself up, I bumped my head on the ceiling and swore. “City limits? Aren’t we in Arcana?”

  Patty laughed, her voice harsh and cackling. “Can’t you see the shimmer is gone? We’re all our true selves. The Ranch is just outside city limits. Close enough to beckon to our select clientele, but far enough away to avoid the SI’s notice. It’s the perfect location.”

  I closed my eyes, letting the darkness sooth my nerves. It was ridiculous, but being in Arcana had given me some sort of comfort. Gideon was in Arcana. My friends were there. Being outside of its protective boundary left me feeling naked and unsure.