Page 57 of The Cursed Chalice

Leaving the basket behind, I grab Nisa’s hand and hurry to the security guard. “Hi, there is a man following me.” I feel Nisa tense beside me.

“Where is he?” The guard asks.

I look back, and no one is behind me. “I’m telling you, I am being followed.”

“No one doubts you.”

I leave the basket and food behind. “Let’s go, Nisa.”

I appreciate Nisa’s urgency. She is moving next to me.

“Sorry, let me escort you to your car.” The officer huffs to the side of me like he was trying to catch his breath.

“Um, sure,” I reply, moving Nisa from the center to my side. Just as I’m about to reach my car, a black van opens and three men jump out.

Nisa screams, and they move to grab her.

“Let her go!” I shout. Every fiber of my body is tense. I knock a man on his head with my bag. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the guard freeze, one hand hovering near his radio, the other tightening around something in his pocket. He is not helping. He’s waiting.

“Noooo!” Nisa screams. Her teeth sink into the assailant. He delivers a backhand, and instantly she collapses.

“I am going to kill you.” No one in the parking lot stopped and helped. They all stare as I am being hoisted into the car.

“Let me the fuck go! Help!” Then, I feel a prickly pinch on the side of my neck.

My world tilts, and I feel my knees go weak. “Ares,” I whisper right before it all becomes dark.

ARIC

“Seventy-five million,” I state.

On the other side of the laptop, the figure sits in darkness; their voice is distorted through a diffuser. “That asking price is too high.”

“Why does this mortal think he can hide from us?”

“Well, that’s my asking price,” I stop mid-sentence as the air shifts around me. Something was wrong. My scar pulses.

“I will contact you tomorrow.” I don’t wait to hear his response. I close the laptop and head out of my office. I know Nisa and Soraya ate breakfast this morning. I smelled the pancakes that she had made.

“Soraya?” I shout, knowing that she was not in the house.

“Something is wrong, Ares.”

I lift my head and sniff to see if an entity had entered my house. But I get nothing.

“What the hell is going on, Aric?”

I take my phone out and dial her number, and it goes straight to voicemail. Maybe they’re in the garden having a picnic. I dash back into the office and pull my blinds aside.

“Hecate!” I shout. She doesn’t show up. I close my eyes and breathe.

“Phobos, Deimos, come to me, please.” I pace the length of my office.

Deimos appears, sitting on one of my office chairs. He stretches his arms over his head, and the pink shirt rides up, showing off his tattooed abs. The belt hangs open on his emerald green pants.

“Just as I was about to get some head, you?—”

I shake my head like I was trying to clear away fog. “The girls are missing.”