Arcana was safe. The Ranch was hell.
“I have to get out of here.” I hopped off the bed, landing on my bare feet. “I have to get out of here, now.”
“They won’t let you leave.” Tala turned over in the bunkbed below mine. Her eyes shined yellow. “Wesley Blake isn’t playing around. He’ll stop you before you take one foot outside this place.”
“Wolf girl is right,” Patty snapped. She pinched her cheeks and wiped a bit of smeared mascara from under her eyes. “Wesley’s got this place on lockdown. No one leaves without his permission. You ain’t going nowhere, honey.”
I set my jaw and curled my talons into my palms. If only I could get a message out to Ruth, then I wouldn’t have to wait for the clock to wind down on their charm. All of the HQ would come down on this place like an unholy swarm of locusts. Surely one of the rooms on the first floor had a telephone. I’d seen one on Wesley’s desk.
“How do I get into Wesley office?
“You don’t.” Patty crawled out of her bed and hopped down beside me. “Anyone goes into that office, and we all get punished. You hear me? So, just get in line and shut up.”
I sat on the bed next to Tala. Her yellow eyes stared at the bottom of my mattress, unblinking. Last night’s scene was probably playing over and over again in her head. Once we were provided with new clothes, Wesley Blake had filled us in on the rules of the Ranch.
Rule number 1: we were there to entertain his guests.
Men and women with various tastes for the supernatural came from all over the world. Some just wanted to party. Others wanted a night alone with a lady or two. It didn’t matter. We were part of his collection now, like Barbie dolls he could take out and play with any time of the day.
“You girls are lucky,” the tall nymph said as she rolled on a sheer pair of panty hose over her exquisite legs. “Tonight’s the Golden Ball. We’re just there to entertain. It’s a good way to ease into the business. You’ll have a week to learn what we do from Livy, then they set you loose.”
“How is any of this lucky?” Tala mumbled. She turned to face the wall, wrapping her arm over her head.
“Entertain?” I asked the nymph.
That didn’t sound too bad. At least I had a week before they would expect me to jump into bed with any of the freaks that came in here. And if I could convince my mother to help me, she could get my boots back.
“Yeah, serve drinks and look pretty.” The nymph swept her hair out of her face and into an effortless knot at the top of her head. “Wesley invites his best clients. They drink themselves silly and end up too trashed by the end of the night to want anything more than a kiss on the cheek.”
I could serve drinks. Waitressing had paid some of the bills when I was in college. Easy.
“By the way, my name’s Anastasia,” the nymph said. She gave me a sympathetic smile. “It’s rough for everyone at first. But Livy takes care of us girls. You’ll see. She’s our buffer.”
“Yeah, Livy’s the only reason I survived my first week,” Patty added. She had slipped on a black corset and motioned for Anastasia to tie it up. “Some half breed giant wanted to buy me from Wesley. Livy talked him out of it. The guy was gonna add me to his collection of dead girlfriends. A real sicko. Ted Bundy type.”
So, my mother was some sort of handler for these girls? What about her two kids? Didn’t she care about what happened to them?
I didn’t have time to question my mother’s intents any further. Anastasia whisked me away into a giant hall with mirrors that lined one entire wall. Warm yellow lightbulbs jutted out around the mirrors, like some movie star’s dressing room. Vanity tables piled high with makeup and hair products sat underneath the mirrors in a neat little row.
“Wesley doesn’t skimp on the product,” Bee told me as she passed by and settled herself on the edge of a stool in front of the nearest vanity. “We’re expected to look our best.”
“And tonight, gold is in,” Patty added.
Four hours later, after I’d been painted from head to toe in gold body paint, with shimmery gold fingernail polish, golden hair dye, and a sleek golden mini dress, I followed the girls into the ballroom. Luxurious golden drapes hung from the ceilings in elegant arches. Table clothes, platters, and even the food, all shone with the same golden hue. It screamed wealth to me. Wealth gained through the abuse of women like myself.
“This is your chance, ladies,” Anastasia said, cornering Tala and me before we could head to the drinks table. “Set the tone with Wesley. Smile and flirt with the customers, and he’ll love you for life. Be surly and mean, and he’ll throw you to the nastiest clients he’s got. This is your only chance.”
Tala and I exchanged looks. Neither of us exactly felt like smiling and flirting, but I didn’t want to end up on Wesley’s bad side just yet. I could probably fake a few compliments, but Tala worried me. Her eyes still had the haunted look of someone desperate to retreat into herself. It would take a miracle for her to play the flirtatious host tonight.
“Oh, and let down your wings, Aya. The clients will want to see them,” Anastasia added with a flirtatious wink. “And you, wolf girl. Show them your yellow eyes. They’ll eat that up.”
She left us to perch on a stand in the middle of the room with trays of food balanced delicately in each of her hands. Standing next to Tala, I could practically taste the anxiety coming off of her in waves.
“It’s just a sick game,” I whispered into her ear. “A sick game that you have to play. Put on your best smile and don’t think about tomorrow.” Grasping her hands in mine, I held them tight. “Tonight, we’re just waitresses. Tell yourself that. We’ll get out of here. I promise.”
A spark of hope lit up in her eyes. She squeezed my hands and nodded. Waitresses. That was all we were. Just a few more days. That was all I needed. If they were all like this, I could play along.
The customers began arriving soon after we took our places. Giant men with bowler hats, women with forked tongues that darted out of their mouths, a pale-skinned man that moved like an insect, another man with two faces on his head. I found myself staring at the monstrosities coming through the door. Without the magical spell that hid creatures in Arcana, everyone here was their true self. It was a jarring and fascinating thing to look over the crowd and see men with scales, women with red eyes, and humans mixed among them.
Drinks flowed from our hands into the cups of the guests. At one point, even Wesley Blake strolled through our line, a charming smile playing on his lips. I knew he was only there to check up on us. I did my best impression of a ditzy girl with a careless laugh. Even Tala managed a smile. In all, I thought we were winning the night. No one seemed to pay us any more attention than what was needed to fill their drinks.
That was, until a man with red eyes that scorched through me like the devil himself approached our table. It didn’t take much guessing to figure out what he was – I’d seen plenty of them around Arcana. He was a demon in a human host. Wrapping his fingers around my shoulders, he spun me around until I was forced to face him.
“What a pretty little thing you are,” he purred. The smell of whiskey was hot on his breath. “Such pretty black wings. You look like an angel. You could be my fallen angel tonight.”
I twisted my torso, tearing way from his ice cold fingers and leaning back against the table to put some space between us. “I don’t think so. Tonight, I’m just pouring drinks.”
He tilted his head, a mass of light brown wavy hair falling into his chilling grey eyes. “I think Wesley can spare you from this job. Besides, you’ve got a friend here taking good care of everyone else” – he pointed at Tala – “take a break and come have some fun with me. This demon has endowed me in more ways than one.”
I shuddered and stepped aside, but he would have none of it. Grabbing my wrist, he yanked me back against his chest and pinned me there.
“Come on, fallen angel. No need to run away.”
“I said no.” My wrist grew numb
under the force of his grip. “Leave me alone.”
Despite my protests, he began to drag me from the room, his grip growing even tighter. Tala stared hopelessly as I kicked and shrieked, my fight drawing attention from the surrounding guests.
The demon inside the man laughed with glee. I could tell he liked a fighter. It would give him great pleasure to overpower someone like me. He might even kill me. I had seen that look in a man’s eyes before.
With a last ditch effort, I closed my eyes and willed the power of Athena’s Jewel to come to me. I’d used it in an emergency before. Maybe, if I concentrated hard enough, I could melt the guy like I melted the handcuffs. That wouldn’t be a terrible loss for the world. One less filthy parasitic demon.
The power grew inside of me. With my free hand, I wheeled back and threw my body into a cross punch, catching the demon across the jaw. My psychic powers followed through the punch, throwing him several feet back into a wall, where he left a man-sized dent in the golden plaster.
All was silent as the demon slid to the floor. Every eye in the room was on me.
So much for me avoiding attention.
A bolt of electricity charged through my feet and up to my head. It fried every nerve, freezing me into agonizing stillness. As the thought crossed my mind that I was going to die, the electricity suddenly stopped, and I fell to the floor in a heap of gold paint and glitter. I could barely lift my head to watch the pair of expensive leather boots that tromped my way.
“What is this? Why is Mr. Terrence on the floor?” Wesley Blake’s voice rang out, a deadly tremor in his question. “What happened?”
“That whore assaulted me,” Mr. Terrence shrieked. He jumped to his feet and pointed at me. “She punched me. I told her I required her services and she attacked me.”
Wesley knelt down beside me, taking my chin in his hand. A concerned frown tugged at the corners of his mouth, but from this close distance, there was no mistaking the rage burning quietly in his eyes. He hated me. I would pay for this.
“Go to the dressing room, get yourself cleaned up,” he hissed. “We’ll discuss this later.”
I nodded until my eyes blurred and collected myself from the floor.
“Mr. Terrence, I would like to express my sincerest apologies,” Wesley exclaimed, loud enough for the whole room to hear. “Please, enjoy a night with Anastasia on the house. She is our best. I’m sure you will be very pleased.”
Anastasia slinked past me and looped her arm through Mr. Terrence’s. She pressed a hand to his chest and smiled, drawing his gaze to her lips. I wondered how many times she’d had to pull that same move on a client. They might not have noticed, but I could see in her eyes the way she withdrew into herself.
The woman they got tonight wasn’t Anastasia. It was a façade. The gestures, the smiles, the laughter --- were all an act. They’d claim her body, but they wouldn’t have her.
I watched them walk away, the room growing noisy once again with conversation. It wasn’t until I felt the tickle of a whisper against my ear did I realize Wesley Blake was leaning down to say something to me.
“You mean nothing to me unless you’re earning money,” he said. “Pull that stunt again and I’ll kill you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Wesley Blake’s words reverberated around my skull for the rest of the night. They kept me paralyzed on my bunk mattress, my limbs frozen in fear. There was no doubt that he’d follow through on his threat. He had just enough disregard for life in his dark eyes that confirmed it for me. We were nothing but dollar signs.
By the time the girls began to stir, it was already afternoon. The golden ball had kept them up until the early morning hours. I imagined the sun was already lighting up the tops of the buildings by the time they made it to bed, but I couldn’t know for sure. There were no windows in the Ranch.
From what I’d learned listening to the girls during our preparation for the ball yesterday, Wesley Blake was a mage of untold power. He protected the Ranch from the prying eyes of the SI and enclosed us in with enchantments. There was no way out of this place without a magical crowbar. I prayed that Ruth and the HQ had enough magic in their back pockets to burst through the front doors when I called them.
I was about to swing over the side and check on Tala in the bunk below, when I felt a sinking motion that swept me into a vision more powerful than any I’ve had before. Clutching at my chest, I waited for the overwhelming pain that would soon follow, but got nothing. Instead, I watched three dark figures burst into the back of a building, spreading out as they entered the closed jewelry store.
They snatched up everything they could, and made their way to the giant safe at the back. One of the dark figures was able to reach through the safe door and pull out its contents, depositing gold and jewels in his bag by the handful. Once he was finished, he motioned to his companions and they left, carrying thousands of dollars of merchandize with them.
My eyes cleared up and I was back in my bunk, staring at the ceiling above me. A dull headache pulsed in my right temple, but other than that, I felt perfect. Athena’s jewel laid flat against my skin, reminding me of Ruth’s gift.
If the rest of my visions were that easy, I could live with these abilities. There was no telling how powerful I could become with the help of the jewel.
I groaned at the thought of those robbers, getting away with their crime. Gideon couldn’t stop them with me trapped at the Ranch. This whole mission had been a mistake. I should’ve listened to him.
“You girls gonna stay in here all day?” Patty purred from her bed. She’d already donned a purple sheer dress that left little to the imagination. “If you don’t get downstairs for lunch soon, you’ll be starving during your lessons with Livy in an hour.”
My stomach growled in response to Patty’s warnings. It seemed like days since I’d had my last real meal. Going down to the dining room would be a great chance to refuel and explore more of this place. Surely, the storage room was nearby.
“Come on, Tala,” I said, jumping off the top bunk.
She was lying with her arm over her eyes, a scowl on her full lips.
“Don’t tell me you’re not starving,” I said.
With a groan, she pushed herself out of bed, and shook down her long dark hair. Remnants of gold paint still clung to the strands, showering the oak wooden floorboards with tiny little flakes. She’d been lucky enough to escape the notice of any clients last night. After the ball, we huddled in her bed, whispering comforts back and forth until our need for sleep overcame our overwhelming fear.
Tala and I left the boarding room and made our way down to the dining room. It sat in a corner next to the ballroom, with a long wooden table covered in a lace tablecloth. Three women I hadn’t met shuffled in and out of the dining room carrying trays of food. They held their heads down, their gaze plastered to the floor. Nothing spectacular about them attracted my attention. From the looks of their mundane skin and movements, they were human. Human slaves.
“I thought I’d never see another waffle in my life,” Tala squealed, sitting down at a platter and digging in.
The humans glanced at us, but didn’t say anything. They wore shapeless linen shifts that buttoned high on their necks. Compared to the outfits of the girls upstairs, they looked like nuns.
Days without proper food had taken a toll on me, so I wasted no time in filling a plate full of waffles, sausage, bacon, fruit salad, and scrambled eggs. If there was one thing I could say about Wesley, he didn’t skimp on the good food. The eggs were real – not that powdered crap they served at fast food joints. The bacon was thick and the waffles fluffy. My stomach nearly bulged by the time I was done, and Tala and I leaned back in our chairs to digest the delicious meal.
“Wesley believes that healthy women attract better paying customers.” My mother came in through the door, forcing us to turn in our chairs to face her. “Hence, the grand buffet he serves every day.”
Tala grumbled something incoherent nex
t to me, as I studied my mother’s face. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight low bun that seemed to stretch the skin on her forehead into a taut mask. Makeup didn’t quite cover the dark circles that rimmed her eyes, or the blotchy red that peppered her neck and chest under the plunging neckline of her blouse. Her gaze wavered over my face, but didn’t stay for long.
“I serve as the matron of the house,” she continued. “As such, it is my job to teach you the art of your new position as hostesses at the Ranch. We have precious few days together, so listen carefully.”
“You make it sound like we applied for some job.” Tala crossed her arms over her chest and clenched her jaw. “Like we had a choice.”
“We’re all here because we didn’t have a choice,” mother replied, her gaze meeting mine. “But what I teach you will help you survive.”
As she rounded the dining table, I thought about her words. What did she mean she didn’t have a choice? Maybe she meant she was a prisoner in this system. That she was no different from the human slaves clearing away the last crumbs of breakfast from the table.
“The truth of the matter is that we are all stuck here.” She pulled out a chair and sat across from us. “You can’t see it but this building is surrounded by impenetrable forces. Wesley Blake is a skilled mage – one of the strongest in the world. He keeps us in and the authorities out. Don’t get any ideas about escaping.”
I knew she was talking to me. Our eyes met again and I pursed my lips, struggling against my desire to protest.
“If you take one step outside the Ranch, he will know. I’ve had girls killed trying to escape. I beg you, give up those notions now.”
Tala sank lower in her chair until I was afraid she’d faint and fall beneath the table. The bit of hope that we’d kindled last night, while huddled in her bed, was fast extinguishing.
“But what if we had a way to contact someone on the outside?” I asked, slamming my palm on the table. “What if they could rescue us? Take down Wesley Blake and his magic once and for all?”
Athena's Jewel: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 2) Page 11