Chapter 19
The next morning, Soraya awoke with a headache pulsing behind her eyes and an annoying throbbing between her thighs, making her groan.
Rolling over, she blindly reached for her nightstand drawer and pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen and her favorite vibrator.
She dry-swallowed the little pills before clicking on her purple silicone toy and laying the thick head against her clit, just the way she liked it. The sound of an electrical buzz filled the room, mingling with her stilted breath.
Eyes closed against the sunlight pouring through her window, she focused on the pleasure pooling low in her stomach.
She lay there with her legs bent as she tried to reach her orgasm quickly when the unbidden memory of Tariq on top of her—pushing into her— filtered through her mind. Her release was instant.
Her body locked up as the intensity of her orgasm ripped a gasp from her throat.
She lay in bed, shocked at her body’s reaction, before shaking it off.
Even though she only spent one short night with Tariq, his effects on her body lingered.
And she was glad she came to the memory of him and not one of her other recent night trysts.
Not Sorenth, who still hadn’t called her, or Lestis, the bastard who thought her a prostitute.
Forcing herself to get out of bed and dismissing any men from her mind, she cleaned up before throwing on her robe and walking into the kitchen for a much-needed glass of water.
She nursed a cup of filtered water, willing the throbbing behind her eyes to disappear, when a rotten smell reached her.
She covered her nose, looked at the empty trash bin, and determined the smell was coming from somewhere else.
Following the scent of rotting leaves, she threw open the communal bathroom door.
Soraya crouched down, opened the cabinet under the sink, and was immediately overwhelmed. Using the crook of her elbow, she covered half her face and peered into the dark corner of the cabinet where something was growing on the wall. It was black mold.
Stupid old student dorms. She would have to make a report to housing to get it fixed right away.
She needed her phone to make the request.
Back in her room, she found her phone lying on her desk next to the necklace Laura had gifted her.
She let out a sigh when she discovered it was dead.
After plugging it in to charge, she went to her closet to throw on some clothes.
She pulled out a shirt that felt too scratchy and hung it back up before grabbing a pair of jeans that felt too coarse under her fingertips.
Smacking her lips in annoyance, she soon realized all of her clothes felt the same way. Frustrated, she threw a pair of leggings she was holding back into the closet when her eyes snapped to the bag of new clothes she got yesterday lying by the foot of her bed.
A couple of minutes later, Soraya stepped out of her room dressed in a pair of comfy new jeans and a plain white shirt.
She looked over to Jesmine’s closed door when the events of last night struck her. Soraya cursed under her breath; she hadn’t thought about Jesmine until now. Ahvi was supposed to be watching her.
She looked across from her room to see Ahvi’s door cracked open, revealing an empty room with a perfectly made bed.
With an annoyed sigh, she walked over to Jesmine’s door. Ahvi better hope Jesmine didn’t choke on her own vomit. Otherwise, Soraya would have to hunt Ahvi down and kill her for neglecting their friend.
Knocking softly, she heard a gurgled moan from the other side of the door. Taking that as an invitation, Soraya opened the door to reveal a groggy Jesmine lying on her bed with her arm thrown over her face. The party rat mumbled something incoherent.
“Good morning to you, too, love bug,” Soraya cooed with relief. Glad to see her friend awake and somewhat coherent. “You had me scared last night, ass. How do you feel today?”
Kicking off her bedcovers, Jesmine dramatically threw her arm over her head and tossed her face to the side. “Like I’m dying.”
Chuckling, Soraya lowered herself to the edge of the bed before becoming serious. Eyeing the nature poster on her wall, she asked, “Do you want to talk about last night?”
Jesmine closed her eyes and shook her head. “I actually don’t remember last night,” she said with a frown.
“That tends to happen when you drink yourself stupid,” Soraya admonished. “On a Tuesday night, too. Is there something going on with you I should know? Does it have to do with those men you met at the bar—you can tell me anything you know.”
Jesmine groaned again and turned onto her side. “Stop your nagging, woman. I’m fine, other than dying from a massive migraine, I’m the picture of health.”
Soraya pinched her lips together. If Jesmine didn’t want to talk, she knew very well there was nothing she could do to get her to speak.
It was high school all over again. The dream she had last night popped into her mind—a memory from summer break before their senior year, a particularly rough time she had no business bringing up now.
Soraya closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. “Alright, keep your secrets. But I think you should stay put for today. Don’t see those men either.” Soraya quickly noticed that she didn’t deny seeing them last night. “You need to rest.”
Jesmine nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“Do you need me to call you off work?”
“Nope.”
“Do you want breakfast? I can go pick up something.”
Jesmine squinted at her.
“What?” Soraya frowned.
“You do realize it’s dinner time and not breakfast, right?”
Shocked, Soraya stared at the time Jesmine was showing her on her phone. It was around six in the evening.
“Looks like we both slept in today. Were you drinking last night?” she mocked.
Soraya shook her head, perplexed. She slept for over fifteen hours.
Jesmine noted the distress on Soraya’s face and quickly said, “You haven’t been sleeping right for the past couple of days. Understandably so, might I add,” she said with a wink. “Your body must be catching up on some sleep. No big deal.”
Soraya nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, that must be it.”
“But you should definitely get us some food,” Jesmine yawned. “It will definitely help us.”
Soraya snorted. “Uh-huh. I’m sure it will.”
“Good. Bring me back something tasty and save the receipt. I will stay here and guard the fort.” Jesmine burrowed further into her blankets while Soraya rolled her eyes.
As she approached her door to leave, she recalled her dream. Stopping, she questioned, “Hey, Jes, do you still have the bag full of crystals I gave you?”
Jesmine thought briefly and responded, “Yeah, I think they’re around here somewhere. Why? Do you want them back?”
Soraya shook her head. “No, I was just curious.” She didn’t want to bring up her weird dream.
In reality, she had found a bag full of crystals while scavenging for firewood and food, but she didn’t encounter any fairies or metallic doves in a magical glade.
Seeing the dyed bird in Laura’s shop must have triggered the strange dream.
Leaving Jesmine in her blanket burrito, Soraya went to her room to pick up her phone.
She saw several missed calls from work and quickly sent an apology to her boss, explaining that she was sick and wouldn’t be in tomorrow either.
Then, she texted Ahvi, asking for the restaurant name from which she’d gotten food the other night before heading out of the apartment door.
~
“Come on, Ahvi. I’m starving, pick up.” Soraya said to her phone.
Walking along the sidewalk during golden hour, with cars passing by on the busy street, she was determined to find the restaurant Ahvi had introduced her to.
Soraya couldn’t remember the name and had been trying to contact Ahvi for the past twenty minutes with no success.
At this rate, she was going to starve, and Jesmine would waste away in bed.
On top of that, her frustrating libido was acting up again, as if her quick release less than an hour ago hadn’t been enough. She could feel wetness pooling in her underwear at an increasingly uncomfortable rate.
She sighed into the mask the shopkeeper had gifted her. It really helped to keep out the smog and other nasty smells she’d been dealing with for the past couple of days. At least she had that.
Soraya heard voices up ahead as she turned the corner to head down an alley for a shortcut. Walking into the alley out of a side door, three men chatted with one another.
Walking closer to the wall, she kept her eyes forward, picking up her pace. They were good-looking men, but her gut told her that trouble could come from anywhere.
Just as she was about to pass them, one of them sniffed the air. “Hey, wait a second, cutie. Where do you think you’re going?”
Choosing to ignore them, Soraya kept walking, but a hand suddenly gripped her elbow and yanked her around roughly. Her heart jumped into her throat at the abruptness. She tried to jerk her arm away, but the man’s mouth twisted into a cruel grin when she couldn’t break free.
Keeping her voice level, she commanded, “Let me go, or I’ll call the cops.”
She would call them regardless, but needed to scare them off first.
The other two men flanked their friend, standing behind him on either side. Smirking down at her, the man holding her arm laughed callously. “Call out to them, sweetheart. Your warriors won’t be able to hear.”
Warriors?
Her heart pounded harder against her ribcage at the strange phrasing. It wasn’t a good sign that they weren’t scared of her calling the cops. Even if she managed to call them—then what?
“Okay, you can take my wallet. But you have to let go of me first so I can get it,” Soraya said, annoyed, trying to mask her fear with indifference.
“Oh, we’re not here for your money,” he sneered.
“She’s fucking terrified,” the goon on the right snickered.
“Gods, human fear really does something for me,” the one on the left muttered, grabbing at his pants. To Soraya’s horror, he adjusted his hardening dick.
This was about to turn bad, very quickly.
Before she could open her mouth to scream, the man holding her slammed her against the concrete wall. Stars burst in her vision, and her breathing sounded muffled in her ears. The bastards’ laughter echoed distantly, even though they stood right before her.
She tried to open her mouth to scream again, but a hand clamped down over her now maskless lips, silencing her. She struggled wildly, which only made them laugh harder. Even with her muffled cries, no sound escaped loud enough to draw help. Her heart hammered violently in her chest.
“Can you smell that?” One creep said to another.
“Yeah, she smells ripe and ready.”
Soraya did not like the sound of that.
Gathering her waning strength, she drove her knee into the groin of the man holding her. A guttural grunt escaped his lips, and she took her chance, bolting down the alley when his grip loosened.
Before she could make it far, a hand seized her by her hair and yanked hard, pulling her off her feet. She slammed back into his chest, and despite her desperate, hoarse cry, her struggles were in vain.
Then, suddenly, the man let her go.
Stumbling forward with loose hair in her eyes, Soraya whirled around to face her attacker head-on. Her gaze darted wildly around the alley, her breath ragged and chest heaving.
There was no one there.
The alley was empty.
Straining her ears for retreating footsteps, all she could hear was the blare of a car horn from the street beyond.
“Are you alright?” A calm, deep voice asked behind her.
Jerking around, Soraya took a stumbling step back as her eyes landed on a broad chest. Her gaze traveled up, and up, and up until she had her head tilted back to meet the eyes of a very attractive stranger.
She was looking at a man who was easily twice her height, and he was gazing down at her with gentle, deep-set eyes that seemed to pull her in.
She also noted his high cheekbones and full lips, her heart beating wildly.
His long blond hair was pulled back, away from his brown, elegant face.
Tucked below his mouth and in the corners of his eyes, she could see years of hardness tempered by his gray eyes.
Despite his kind demeanor, she stepped back from the giant of a man.
Soraya wasn’t sure if her reaction was because three men had just assaulted her, or if the stranger himself exuded such a quiet power that it left her feeling thoroughly intimidated.
His eyes softened further. “I’m Alkimos of Lunosis. May I help you, fierce one?”