Chapter 5 #2
Phobos checks his watch. “It’s almost three. I have some work to do upstairs in my office. Then I am gone.”
I nod. I see Ares pass the bag of phones to Phobos, and they continue speaking in their foreign tongue.
Phobos jogs up the stairs, and then in a blink, he is gone.
“If you didn’t want me to hear what you were saying, you could have asked me to leave.”
Ares touches the jagged skin with the back of his fingers. “Have a good evening, Little Flame.”
With that, he turns and leaves me standing in front of Nisa’s bedroom. The nerve.
I go to the kitchen and open the fridge. I take out a roasted chicken, some peppers, and mayo. He is getting under my skin. I don’t want to feel this way about him. I don’t want to need him. I wash my hands and proceed to chop the chicken up.
Maybe I will stay here until Nisa’s school opens in a week and then leave. Go to the press. Tell them my story. Find a safe house. Find something.
It doesn’t take me long to make a chicken salad. I open the freezer and pull out some ready-to-bake croissants.
After adding some melted butter to them, I shove them into the oven.
ARES
“Are you smelling that, Ares?” Aric was pacing in the windowpane.
“Yes, I am.” I continued reading my email. “Elias Thorne is a known name on the dark web.”
I don’t hear a reply, so I look up. “What?”
“Fuck Elias Thorne. There is a woman in our kitchen cooking dinner.”
I push myself away from the desk. “I will eat in a bit.”
Aric taps the windowpane slowly. “You can’t kiss her again. To protect her, you can’t claim her.”
I walk to the side table and pick up the chalice. “It’s too late now. Her lips already answered me. She can’t lie to herself.”
My finger grazes against the gold leaves on the chalice.
“Lying to herself? You lost control. You snapped.”
“I couldn’t hold myself back. There, is that what you want to hear me say?”
I bring the chalice to my lips and kiss it. “She is mine now. That’s all there is to it.”
“Then she is already dead.”
“Ares…free me.” Talia’s soul whispers.
“Do you hear that, Aric?” I ask.
“Hear what?”
I don’t panic like I did before.
I put the chalice down, and I don’t bother to tell Aric that I have been hearing Talia’s pleas. Instead, I walk back to the desk. I have work to complete. I begin reading my ledgers and looking at the shipments coming out of Lakeshore.
My brain wanders to Soraya and the way her fingers dug into my jacket. The small moans she released when I deepened the kiss. The scar on my face pulses at the thought of her. I can feel myself.
Her taste has branded my very soul, and I hate how much I crave for more. It’s a weird balance between wanting to make her mine and keeping her at a distance.
I lick my lips, still tasting the hints of her lip gloss.
“We can’t keep her. If you want her to live, you can’t chain her, Ares. She will run.”
Maybe I’m becoming more insane, because I don’t want her to leave. The thought of her leaving makes me sick. “If she runs, I will put her into a gold-gilded cage.”
“No, you can’t, Ares. Think.”
I slam my fist down. “I am thinking. I will break her resistance until one day…she begs for me.”
“We are fucked.”
SORAYA
I couldn’t eat. I wasn’t hungry. Dinner was saved by Nisa talking animatedly.
I think we both, Ares and I, focused on her.
Apparently, she never had chicken salad before.
Croissants and chicken salad were now her new favorite foods.
I decided to sit at the other end of the table, far away from Ares.
Nisa is sitting in the middle. It’s so quiet without Phobos, Hecate, or Deimos.
Every so often, I would catch Ares staring at me over the rim of his wineglass.
My eyes hold his as he sets the glass down on the table.
At this point, it was a battle of wills to see who would turn away first. My toes curl, trying my best to keep staring.
When he stares, it makes me feel hot, like he is stripping me and screwing me in ten different positions.
“Einstein.” Nisa’s voice breaks our silent match. Ares exhales, and his face transforms into a smile as he listens to Nisa. They are talking about the clouds or the sun.
I stand, beginning to take up the dishes from the table. I pick up Nisa’s, then I pass behind Ares’s chair.
“Are you finished?” I ask.
He takes up the plate and hands it to me. Just as I am about to turn away, he calls my name.
“You don’t have to make dinner. Mrs. Grady will be back soon.”
I look back at him. “A ‘thank you’ would suffice.”
His nose flares, and I turn to the kitchen. I begin to pack the dishes into the dishwasher.
By the time I return to the table, it’s clear. I walk to Nisa’s room, just to make sure she’s fine. Upon arriving, I hear the small chatter between Ares and Nisa.
“You really think I can be an astronaut?” Nisa asks. I lean forward, spying Nisa in her pajamas sitting on the bed looking up at Ares.
“I think you can be anything you want to be, princess. Now get some rest.”
I move quickly, heading to my bedroom. I think Ares and I have had enough of each other’s company for the day.
I enter my room, head to the bathroom, and strip down. The hot water calms my mind as I step under it. My mind flashes to the kiss at the car, and my body feels hot.
“No.” I shout out, then I chuckle as I grab my Sugah Bae sugar scrub called Sky. It’s light, and it smells like fresh rain.
After I rinse my skin, I step out of the bathroom. My stomach grumbles.
Maybe I was hungry after all. I moisturize with a body butter, then change into my beige silk nightgown. I grab the robe that goes with it. I stop in my tracks. There is a black phone and five phone cases on my bed. I sit on the bed and grab the phone. Everything is ready for me.
I look behind it, and there is a small sticky note. “Enjoy, Ares.”
I roll my eyes. Hmm, I could try to call Michelle. It fails to connect.
Hmm, okay. I try calling again and again, but it doesn’t go through. I open my contacts. I see Deimos, Phobos, Hecate, and finally, Ares’s number. I dial Hecate, and it rings.
“Yes?”
“Hi, Hecate, it’s Raya. Save this number; it’s mine.”
I hear her moving something that sounds like paper bags. “Well, look at you with a phone.”
“I thought something was wrong with it. I tried calling my cousin’s phone, and it didn’t go through.”
Hecate’s warm chuckle seeps through the phone. “Who got you the phone?”
“Ares.”
“He most likely has her blocked; that’s why.”
I feel my anger ignite. “He can’t do that.”
“Check your blocked numbers in your settings.”
Quickly, my fingers move over the phone, and yes, there is a list of blocked numbers. Even the stupid place where he bought the phones.
My blood runs cold. It feels like a different method, but it’s the same suffocating strategy. Elias did the same thing. Slowly isolating me from anyone he couldn’t control. Ares is just more efficient; it feels like he is moving me toward a new gilded cage.
“He has some nerve.”
Hecate laughs. “Don’t be afraid to give him a piece of your mind.”
“Agreed. Anyway, have a great night, Hecate.”
“Nights were designed with me in mind.” I try to unblock the numbers, but they remain blocked. How did he get ahold of these numbers? My stomach interrupts my thoughts. Maybe I should eat and then give Ares a piece of my mind.
“Who does he think he is?” I grumble.
I open the door, waiting to hear the sound of movement. Nothing. The lights are off. I guess everyone went to bed.
I tiptoe past Nisa’s room and past some other rooms. The only light I have is the moonlight beaming through the windows. At night, the house feels even huger than during the day.
I hear a sound coming from Ares’s office. He must be blasting it because it’s far away. I stop and look back. Is he listening to Katseye? I scoff as I shuffle through the dining room, pushing open the door to the kitchen. I flick on the switch, and the room comes alive.
“Do I want to eat? Wait, maybe I should ask Ares what I should eat since he wants to control my life.” I open the fridge, bending down to take out the chicken salad. Maybe I will have it after all.
I close the fridge and scream, dropping the chicken salad on the floor.
Ares is leaning against the kitchen island with his arms folded, like he is waiting for me to see him.
“Shit, Ares,” I press my hand to my chest. “You find joy in sneaking up on people?”
I bend to grab the chicken salad .
Ares shrugs. “I enjoy watching you panic. You get all flustered.”
I slam the chicken salad down on the table. “Do you also enjoy controlling me?”
Ares sighs and bites his lip. “How do I control you, Little Flame?”
“My phone has blocked numbers that I didn’t block myself.” I can feel my rage igniting.
“That’s protection, not control.”
My jaw drops. “No, you tampered with the phone—”
“I didn’t; Phobos did.”
“Under your command,” I add.
He smirks. “True. But it’s for your protection.”
I shake my head. “No, I have been here before. This is not protection; you are doing this to own me. To cage me. You get to decide who I can talk to.”
“Yes, I can and I did.” He shrugs like it wasn’t a big deal, and I can feel my temper rising.
“No, you can’t. I am not a slave or a spouse. One and the same, if you ask me, and I am neither.”
“That can be changed too.”
“You are not taking me seriously, Ares, and it’s pissing me off.”
He rubs his face with the back of his fingers. “You live under my roof. I control and protect whoever lives under my roof.”
I open the chicken salad. “Well, maybe it’s time for me to get a new roof.”
“What did you say, Little Flame?” He grits his words through his teeth.
I raise my eyebrows and smile. “I can get my own roof.”
He pushes away from the counter and stands in front of me. “You don’t understand. My world is a dangerous one. There are threats on every corner. Let’s not forget your psycho fiancé. You are in danger, and instead of thanking me, you are fussing about control.”