“What’s going on?” I yelled. “What is that?”
Tala’s face appeared next to my bunk, her yellow eyes wide. “It’s the assessment. The girls told me Wesley does them randomly every week to keep the girls on track. We have to line up in the ballroom.”
Suddenly, the bed stopped moving. I put my hands down to my side and took a deep breath. Athena’s Jewel was really starting to work its magic. My powers were growing stronger every day. It was an amazing feeling.
“Come on.” Tala wrapped a silky pink robe around her thin waist. All around us, the girls rushed to the door. “We don’t want to be late. He’ll punish us.”
I narrowed my eyes. Wesley Blake was the last person I wanted to see today. If his plans had gone right last night, he would’ve forced a stranger on me. It was unforgivable. Luckily for me, Gideon had showed up in just the right place at just the right moment. But I had to fake my misery for Wesley Blake now.
I hopped to the floor in my pajamas and followed her. Tala had yet to ask me about last night. I think she didn’t want to know the details. She could be in the same situation in less than a week. Maybe it was her way of trying to accept the inevitable.
We clamored down the grand staircase and into the ballroom. The gold decorations had been dismantled and put away. Now, a shiny wooden floor and white paneling was all that remained.
In the middle of the expansive floor stood Wesley Blake in a white button up shirt and black pants. Again, it struck me how unassuming he looked. If I had met him on the street, I wouldn’t have given him a second glance. His beard was freshly trimmed, his sideburns neatly combed. A light tint of pink colored his cheeks. Five inches above his outstretched hand, a ballpoint pen floated, as if to remind us of the immense power he held. With a steady gaze, he regarded each girl lined up in front of him as nothing more than an object. There was no lust in his eyes. Just pure business.
My mother stood behind him in a tight dress that hugged her curves and showed off her thin arms. She watched me enter, worry etched on her face. Desperation showed in every tense move that she made, her shoulders high and stiff. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she actually cared what happened to me.
We had one day until the HQ took this place down. I needed to warn her. No longer did she have to work for a monster like Wesley Blake. She was a free woman. She didn't have to be afraid anymore.
Wesley waited until all the ladies had lined up and stood silent. Then, he marched forward and assessed each woman with a calculating gaze, starting with Anastasia.
“Stand up straight,” he commanded the nymph.
She straightened her spine and lifted her exquisite head. Even half asleep and with messy hair, she still resembled a Barbie doll.
He took her chin in his hand. “Beautiful, as always, my dear.”
Her lips parted in a charming smile that dissolved as soon as he moved on to the next woman in line.
“Too thin,” he chided the dark woman in front of him. I hadn’t met her yet, but she seemed like a loner. “Start eating some breakfast.”
He moved down the line, declining to comment on a few of the women until he got to Patty.
“I heard good things from the Wizard of Atticus. He’ll be back for seconds this week.”
She bowed her flaming red head and stood back up, adjusting her large bosom. Behind Wesley’s back, she raised her middle finger and crossed her eyes. I coughed and held in a laugh. This wasn’t the time to laugh. Wesley was moving fast down the line and soon he stood in front of me.
“I suspect you learned your lesson last night, my little harpy?”
Just to the right of Wesley’s shoulder, I saw my mother shift in place, her black stilettos nearly carving into the wooden floorboards.
Lowering my chin to my chest, I tried to look contrite. If he suspected anything, I was dead.
"Ah, I think my punishment worked," he said a little too loudly, so that every girl could hear. "Just let that be a warning to you. If you're not making me money, you're of no use to me."
He softly brought his right hand to my jawline and stroked my neck with the lightest touch of his fingertips. It would've been a loving gesture if not for the way his other hand grasped my wrist like a vice.
"Third chances do not exist around here," he whispered in my ear, the warmth of his breath tickling my skin. "Disappoint me one more time, and you'll be nothing more than a lab rat in Dr. Kim's cage."
I closed my eyes and waited for him to release me and move on. When I opened them again, my mother was staring me down, her hands folded tightly together. The corners of her mouth pulled down in a deep frown that made tears spring unbidden to my eyes. I couldn't wait to see that man behind bars. I would be sure to attend his execution personally.
"And how is my wolf this morning?"
Tala sucked in her cheeks and stared at the little white buttons on Wesley's shirt. "Fine."
"Learning the trade with Livy? How's it going?"
She mumbled a response.
"What's that?" Wesley leaned closer to her mouth, turning his ear to hear. "Speak up, my dear. How's it going?"
"Great!" Tala blushed, her brown skin flushing all the way down her neck. "Perfect, wonderful. I'm learning so much."
"That's what I like to hear." He ran a hand down her sleek black hair. "Such beautiful hair. So much power. My clients will empty their wallets to break you."
He dropped his hand and stepped back, leaving Tala to choke on unsaid words. I interlaced my fingers with hers, squeezing tight. This was one woman he wouldn't break. Not if I had anything to do with it.
"Assessment over," Wesley announced. He waved his arms, sparks flying out of his fingers. "I am proud of your accomplishments. Keep it up and I will reward you all."
Wesley left and the room broke into nervous chatter. Another assessment, over. Even the girls that had been here for years let out a relieved sigh.
"Alright, ladies, back to work," my mother yelled. She swung her hair that hung down in retro waves over her shoulder. "Some of you need to put in time at the gym, others need to refresh on your etiquette lessons. You know who you are. No dawdling."
The girls groaned and began to file out of the ballroom.
"Aya, could you please stay behind?"
I dug the heels of my house slippers into the floor and waited for the last girls to leave. Tala sent me a concerned look before she left, but I smiled warmly at her. She didn't need to be worrying about me.
"I was so worried about you," mom said, taking my hands in hers. "What happened last night?"
I clasped her fingers. "Nothing bad, I promise. It was my friend. Wesley didn't know."
Relief washed over my mother's face, but worry still hung thick on her voice. "Are you sure Wesley didn't figure it out? He's so perceptive."
"No, absolutely not. My friend's SI. He knows how to handle this stuff."
"If he's SI, why didn't he take you with him?" she asked, clutching at my fingers. "He could've saved you from this place."
I smiled at her. "He didn't have backup and I'm not leaving this place without you. I was sent here to rescue you."
She dropped my hands and took a step back. "Please tell me that's not true - that you didn't turn down your one chance to leave this place. I can't leave, Aya. I can never leave this place."
My mother had lived in fear for so long, she couldn't recognize hope when it was standing right in front of her.
"I know you're scared..."
"I'm not scared, Aya." She turned and ran a hand through her hair. "At least not for me. And I could've left here a long time ago if I had wanted to, but I didn't. Wesley saw my flair for management and assigned me to run the Ranch when it was just a fledgling business. I could've escaped a million times, but I didn't. He trusts me. And I want to keep it that way."
It was like I'd been punched in the gut. If what she was saying was true, my mother chose to abandon her children. Without her around, we had grown into our messed up versi
ons of adults, with baggage for miles.
She turned to see the bitter scowl on my face. "Don't look at me like that, Aya. I didn't mean for this all to happen. This mission was supposed to be my last for the HQ. I was going to hand in my notice as soon as I got back. Harpy justice had changed so much during my time. We weren't doing good any more. We were causing more problems than we solved. I just couldn't be a part of that."
I hugged my torso. If she'd quit the HQ and came home to us, our lives would've been completely different. Maybe dad would've gotten help sooner for his drinking problem. Maybe Nicky wouldn't have turned into a homicidal maniac. Maybe I would have grown up with family around me.
"What happened to you?"
The question held more weight for me than the simple four words I uttered. Why hadn't she come home? It had to be the world's best excuse or I would crumble right then and there onto the floor.
"Someone blew my cover." She hissed through her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes. "A traitor among HQ told Bobby Caro I was coming. He tortured and starved me for three weeks before selling me to Wesley Blake for a discount. I barely made it out of there alive."
I thought about the HQ with their gleaming white walls and impressive office among the high-rises of Chicago. It didn't look like the kind of place that harbored traitors. Someone must've really hated my mother.
"Why would they do that?" I demanded. "Why blow your cover?"
"That question haunted me during my weeks of torture." She laid her hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me. "But it wasn't until the last week did the answer come to me. It must've gotten out that I was leaving, that I was done with the HQ. They sent me here to destroy me. No one leaves the HQ and lives to tell about it."
"But that can't be true." I pulled away from her. "The HQ sent me here. They want me to rescue you. They want you safe."
Her eyebrows shot up on her forehead. "You're being manipulated, Aya. They're using you to get to me."
I tried to respond, but she cut me off.
"Besides, my work is here. Once I figured out that working for Wesley Blake was the only way I'd survive the HQ's wrath, I found my niche. I'm the only one that can look after these girls. Without me, they'd suffer under Wesley's harsh judgment and iron fist. I'm a buffer. They wouldn't survive without me."
She lifted her chin in pride and pursed her lips. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her.
"The HQ will take Bobby Caro and Wesley Blake down. They'll stop the magical trafficking and save all the girls. You don't need to do this anymore."
"Men like Wesley Blake will never be stopped." She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and tapped her heel impatiently. "The sooner you accept that, the easier your time here will become. He's too powerful. That's why I offered to work for him and that's why I stay."
Turning on the point of her heel, she marched toward the door. I nearly tripped over my feet to catch up with her.
"Mother, please, listen to me. The HQ will save..."
"I don't need saving," she snapped. Without warning, she swung around to face me and we collided. "That's enough talk about the HQ, Aya. I never want to hear that word again for the rest of my life, and if you know what's best for you, you'll stay far away from them."
I snapped my mouth shut. Disappointment ate at the lining of my stomach. She thought she was a protector, but she was just as guilty as Bobby Caro and Wesley Blake. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that people who stepped aside for evil acts were just as guilty as the ones who committed them. She couldn't see that.
"I don't need saving," mother whispered, running a finger down the side of my face. "So, forget about me. Get yourself out of here, while you still can. Leave this place and never come back."
The clicks of her heels exiting the ballroom punctuated the pounding of my dying heart. Even when the HQ came swooping in here tomorrow to save us, I wasn't so sure I could ever forgive my mother.
Chapter Eighteen
I avoided my mother for the rest of the day. It was easy to do. There was breakfast in the dining hall, followed by a personal training session with Patty on how to please a man - something that I thought I was well versed in, but thanks to Patty’s descriptive class, now realize how mistaken I was. Then, we started preparing for Wesley's big dinner that night with some of his clients.
The word around the Ranch was that a few Maeonian Drakons were attending tonight. They were harsh creatures with nasty friends that liked to fool around with the girls. They had a taste for the darker side of intimacy, and left the girls dreading their annual visit.
The stories about the Drakon and their hostility didn't bother me so much. I was too intent on watching the clock, waiting for the HQ's intervention. Today was the day Ruth said they would come. After tonight, none of these girls would have to worry about a thing. They could go on with their lives. If only they'd hurry up and get here.
"Livy wants you two manning the dessert table in the corner," Patty said in passing. She paused next to the giant dining table draped in a rich mauve table cloth, and gave me a wink. "Try not to throw any clients across the room tonight."
I shrugged. My powers have grown so fast. Who knew what I'd do to the next poor sod who tried to take advantage of me? If they knew what was good for them, they'd leave me alone.
"I hate these stupid dresses," Tala mumbled next to me.
We'd been forced into slinky little black numbers that barely covered our behinds.
"Give me a pair of jeans and a t-shirt any day," she added. "And better yet, let me outside for some sunshine. I've never gone so long without a glimpse of the sun."
"I'm used to it," I told her. "I spend all my days in my museum. It's my pride and joy. I'm going to buy it when I get out of here."
It had been days since I had thought about the museum and its new owner. With new clarity on the subject, I felt more determined than ever to assert my claim on it. I might not have as much money as Mr. Jones or his new investor, but no one knew that place better than me. No one deserved it more than me.
"I spent as many days as I could outside on the reservation." Tala had a faraway look in her yellow eyes. "My pack all lived there. We roamed the sacred lands that our ancestors had walked across since the beginning of time. I can't even remember now why I left..."
Sadness darkened her eyes. I wanted to tell her that it didn't matter and that soon, this would all be over, but I couldn't risk someone overhearing. The HQ needed all the surprise advantage they could get against a powerful mage like Wesley Blake.
"You'll get back to your pack," I told her. "I swear, Tala. You'll go home someday."
She nodded at me with a grateful smile. We took our places at a corner table as the guests arrived. Six men in beautiful silk shirts walked through the door, their eyes hungry. They looked human except for the red scales that lined their skin up to their neck. These were dragons. It was so obvious in the way they gazed at each girl placed in the room for their pleasure… like rabid dogs.
The temperature climbed as the guests began to mill amongst the ladies. Tala and I kept a low profile, the guests too distracted to notice us. By the time the food arrived, most of the men had paired up with a companion or two. It was then that a late guest made his appearance.
"Aya, don't look up," Tala warned.
Despite her warning, I looked up in time to see my old nemesis, the demon Mr. Terrence, enter the room wearing a white suit that showed off his haughty grin and dark tanned skin. His eyes flashed when they spotted me and I quickly averted my gaze.
"This is the last thing I need tonight," I whispered, only loud enough for Tala to hear. "Mr. Terrence had better get his entertainment elsewhere.
"Be careful, he keeps looking over here," Tala whispered. "I think he's going to approach one of us tonight."
Sure enough, he glanced over two seconds later, his dark eyes landing on Tala's athletic figure. The meal was almost done; the dessert dished out. If the HQ didn't get her
e soon, Tala might become another victim of Wesley Blake and his sick sex house. I couldn't let that happen.
I fingered Athena's Jewel around my neck. No one had noticed the long chain that fell beneath the top of my dress. All the other girls had piled on jewelry from the stock room, so my piece wasn't suspicious. If push came to shove, I'd test out my psychic powers again tonight. I prayed I wouldn't have to.
"Aya, could we please talk?" My mother snuck up behind me and pulled on my elbow. "Now?"
I didn't have time for another argument with her, but it didn't seem like I had a choice. Wesley would notice if I snubbed his assistant, and I wasn't interested in drawing his attention.
"Fine."
I let her lead me away, but kept one eye on Mr. Terrence's back. Amongst the dark suits sitting around the dining table, he wasn't hard to miss.
"I made arrangements for you," mother whispered. "Arrangements to get you out of here. Tonight. We'll have to be quick about it."
This caught my attention. "What do you mean? You're sneaking me out of here?"
She nodded. "I can't watch you become Wesley's slave. I pulled a few strings."
I pulled my arm out of her tight grip. "Why would you do that?"
She stared at me as if I were stupid. "Because you don't belong here."
"No one belongs here," I hissed. "Not even you. What about the dozens of other girls you've seen come through here? Did you ever even think about helping them escape?"
She stuttered over her words, turning red. "Well... no... but this is different. You're my daughter."
"And all of those girls are someone's daughters." My cheeks began to heat up. "I'm not leaving them behind. I wouldn't leave for Gideon and I'm not leaving for you."
Mother was about to reply when I saw Wesley stand up at the table. He put his arm around Mr. Terrence and led him over to the dessert table where Tala still sat. They both leaned over her, their conversation mumbled. But, I knew all I needed to hear from the look of horror on Tala's face. Mr. Terrence had made a request Wesley would no doubt supply, even if Tala was days away from completing her training.
Athena's Jewel: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 2) Page 13