Thief: A dark reverse harem romance (Sterling Falls Book 1), page 2
Now I do pause, pursing my lips. “He asked to see me.”
“He’s busy.”
“Fucking a girl? Nothing I haven’t seen before.” Indifference.
That’s the only way I’ve survived the last three months. Uncaring. Stamping down every single emotion until there’s nothing left.
I’ve done my best to channel that moment. The one where Hades declared I didn’t exist. I didn’t believe him, but I’ll give him credit: he worked fast.
My escape plan was solid. Move to Sterling Falls, work over the summer, get to know the town and the campus, then start school in the fall. But when I arrived at my new job…
They acted like I hadn’t interviewed.
Hadn’t come into their office twice.
I was shown the door and asked not to return, like it was my fault they didn’t know me.
If I hadn’t sunk all of my savings into the apartment I rented, I might’ve just called it quits and went back home for the summer. But my rental lease was ironclad, and that meant I’d be out thousands of dollars if I turned tail.
And then summer orientation rolled around, and I was called to the financial aid office on the first day.
There was an issue.
My scholarship disappeared. An error in the system, maybe, because apparently they didn’t know I accepted it. My lack of response prompted them to offer it to another student, so there was no more money for me.
No job.
No scholarship.
I knew the point—he wanted me gone.
But too bad for him, because I wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t. Not when I had someone even worse waiting for me in Emerald Cove. Call me foolhardy, but by June I was pissed as hell. The first month was the hardest. I applied for jobs everywhere, but no one called me back.
I should’ve withdrawn from SFU. Because of the eleventh-hour mix up, I had no financial aid to speak of, except for the last-ditch effort loan I was able to procure. It covered my first semester’s tuition and rent, because the only thing that would be shittier than this predicament is homelessness. I pulled five hundred dollars out in cash to use for food, but it went too quickly.
But now I’m here to try and beg for more time from my lender.
I know, I know, it sounds bad. What sort of lender conducts business in a bar?
But listen.
No bank in their right mind would give a jobless, creditless girl a loan. My first mistake was trying to find creative workarounds. My second mistake was telling the bartender of Descend all about it while spending my last few dollars on vodka instead of… I don’t know, a burger. Or a train ticket out of here.
It should’ve been a sign when the bartender didn’t card me.
And I was certainly not going to cry to my parents about this. Not when I fought so hard to get here. To them, everything is fine and has been fine. I just started classes last week, and being at a real university is everything I’ve wanted. It can help me land a decent job—in another city, to be sure—and I’ll actually go somewhere with my life.
My dreams are so close I can touch them… if I can figure this out. Reapply for the scholarship for next year, maybe. Something.
“He’s not fucking a girl,” the guard sneers. “He’s on a call.”
I cross my arms, snapped back from my depressing thoughts. It can be a bit of a downward spiral—but isn’t that what I’ve been doing for the last three months? Spiraling?
“A call,” I echo. “He asked to see me.”
He raises an eyebrow. “And you took your sweet time getting here.”
That’s true. But nerves delayed me, because being unable to pay means…
Well, I’m not sure. I managed to pay the first two months. Barely. But the third was due a week ago, and the price is too high. I don’t have the money. Any money.
I swallow. I’ve hit the bottom and somehow, I keep digging myself deeper.
I half-expected him to break down my door and cut off my hand when I told him I didn’t have any money left. I’d lost ten pounds in the last month, I felt tired all the time, but could I quit school? Admit defeat?
Absolutely not.
I borrow my school books from the library. Occasionally, I sneak into the dining hall so I won’t pass out from hunger. It might be slightly more than occasionally at this point, though.
“He has something for you.” The guard jerks his head toward the bar. “Sit. Eat something before you fall over. He’ll be out soon.”
I grunt, but my stomach cramps. I can’t even deny that I’m starving, so I slide onto a barstool and motion to the bartender. He comes over and takes my short order, returning fairly quickly with a basket of fries and a soda.
“You eat that crap?”
I glance over my shoulder at the guard. “You give a shit?”
“Just wondering how you stay skinny.”
I roll my eyes. “Eating on a budget, jackass.”
The fries are lukewarm and have a slightly stale taste, but it doesn’t stop me from eating as fast as I can. I feel a bit feral. No one gives a shit, though.
“Your turn,” the guard calls.
The door behind him cracks open, and I shove three more fries in my mouth before standing. I take my drink with me. The guard lets out a sigh as I pass. Am I that unsavory?
Three months in this town, and I don’t know how I ever thought it was normal. It’s ruled by two gangs, whose focuses range from war to money. But in the end, those two things both translate into one: power.
“My invisible girl,” the lender calls when I enter. He’s smug behind his huge metal desk. “How’s the food?”
“Could be better.” I shrug and sit, crossing my legs. I’ve made myself bold recently to hide my fear. He only gave me the loan when I demanded it. Said, at first, that he didn’t deal with little girls. I made him change his mind, and I wholeheartedly regret it.
He snickers. “Sure.”
“You needed me for something?”
His eyes light up, roaming up and down my body. My curves are hidden under a baggy t-shirt, but he doesn’t seem to give a shit.
“Do you know who declared you the invisible girl? Who wiped you off the map?”
I grit my teeth and don’t answer.
I’ve avoided Olympus like the plague since that night. It hasn’t stopped me from trying to sleuth out who they are. I’ve come up with nothing, though. And I can’t figure out where they fit in. Two feuding gangs have the power in Sterling Falls, but so do they.
Clearly, because one minute, my life was together. The next… poof. But I never learned his name. Just Hades. Their masked faces are burned into the back of my mind. Hades, Apollo, and the third with the blood-red mask. Hades was the one who decided I had to disappear. The one who pulled the strings and made it happen. I know it in my bones. He’s the one I have a grudge against.
“Well, at least you still have some fire in you.” He leans forward, bracing his elbows on the desk. “You do this for me, and I wipe your debt.”
I straighten in my seat. “Completely?”
“Yep.” He pops the word and raises his eyebrows. “You have thirty seconds to decide.”
I freeze. “Wait. You’re not going to tell me what it is? What I have to do?”
The room presses in on me with the weight of decision. Of the risk that’s going to be involved in saying yes—or no. I desperately want revenge… but it’s the desperation that gives me pause. It’s a weakness. An exploitation.
And I’m already here because he exploited a need.
He winks, ignoring the indecision on my face. “I can’t ruin the fun.”
I narrow my eyes. “Then, no.”
“Great.” He beckons me forward. “Give me your hand.”
“Why?”
He glares. “You ask too many questions.”
Abruptly, he rises and circles around the desk. I hesitate when he stops beside me. He’s just an inch taller than me and built like a bulldog. Squat and packed with muscle. His hair is dark with streaks of gray. And more than that, he gives me a creepy feeling—like all the negative energy of the bar emanates from him.
Our similar height doesn’t factor when he towers over my chair.
“Here’s the deal, invisible girl. You owe me money. And unfortunately for you, I can’t just let you walk away from that without penalty. How would that look?”
I swallow.
“Every day, your debt grows bigger. Interest, you know. I have a business to run.” He squints at me. “Give me your arm.”
My stomach twists. I suddenly wish I hadn’t eaten the fries before I came in, because the nausea is at the forefront of my thoughts. And not losing what little I ate on his shoes.
The gleam in his eye is a test.
At the end of the day, I choose nonviolence, so I do as he asks and give him my arm. It’s a weak attempt to placate him.
He takes my left wrist, running his finger across the underside of it, then stands and pulls my arm flat across his desk. I tug back, sudden fear strangling me, but he holds firm.
He moves to his side again and locks a cuff on me before I can get free. It’s attached to his side of the desk, the chain coming up and barely allowing any wiggle room. My arm is stretched out across the surface, my body halfway out of the chair. I shove against the desk with my other hand, but he comes to the other side and snatches that one, too.
“What are you doing?” I promised myself to never show fear around men like him—and here I am, trembling against his desk. I can’t even keep my voice from wobbling, like I’m on the verge of tears.
You’ve survived worse.
He ignores my question and goes to the fireplace.
I yank at my wrists again, but the metal cuffs don’t budge. What sort of sadistic bastard is he?
He grabs a metal rod and frees it from the flames, then circles back around to his chair.
“Such pretty skin.” He traces my left wrist with his free hand. “This is the consequence for being unable to pay me.”
“A brand?” I can’t take my eyes off the glowing white-orange end of the rod. Loathing and fear turn my stomach, and I press my lips together to keep from gagging. “You can’t be serious. I will get your money—”
“You might think I’m the scourge of the earth.” He’s turning this into a damn conversation. “And you’d be right.”
He shows me the hot end, so I can see it clearly: an hourglass.
Chills sweep down my back.
“Kronos is the Titan of time and the ages. We choose our names when we enter into this life. It’s a rebirth, of sorts, or an awakening. I’ve always been obsessed with time. How it slips through our fingers.”
A Titan—I knew he was in one of the gangs, but I have a sudden feeling that it’s more than that. I’m going to be sick. And on top of that, I’m ashamed of myself.
“Please don’t.” I pull again, although it’s pointless. I know I can’t get free.
Eyes are the windows to the soul, aren’t they? That’s what everyone always says. But my pleading doesn’t soften his—if anything, his expression deadens. “I did you a favor. And you repay me with insolence and trying to escape your debt—what, without lifting a finger?”
I shudder. “I didn’t try to escape it. I needed an extension—”
He reaches out and pinches my cheek. He stares into my eyes and lets me see behind the curtain. Just a peek. And what I see scares the shit out of me. There’s nothing but depravity in his expression. “I hope you scream.”
Every bad thing that’s ever happened to me comes roaring back—but this time, fear takes a back seat to fury. If he was so serious about not doing business with me, he should’ve kept refusing.
I spit at him. “Fuck you, old man.”
He smirks. He doesn’t even wipe away the saliva that drips down his cheek. He just steadies my left hand, palm up, and lifts the rod. I can’t look away as he flips it around, until the glowing white hourglass hovers above my skin. The heat burns into me, even inches away.
“Stop, stop, I’ll do whatever you want.” I’m reduced to begging, but I can’t seem to stop the words from slipping out of my mouth. “I’ll do it—”
“Your thirty seconds passed. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I’m going to enjoy this.”
He meets my gaze for a moment, before his attention returns to my wrist. The same wrist that has held more bruises in the shape of fingerprints than I can count. The same wrist that’s been broken more than once. There’s a thin scar farther up my forearm where the bone went through my skin.
My arms have endured a lot of trauma at the hands of others.
So when he holds down my arm and presses the hot metal to my skin, I don’t feel it for a moment.
Just a moment, though.
And then the smell of burning flesh hits me, and agony rips through me. I clench my teeth so hard, I catch the edge of my tongue. Hot blood fills my mouth, but it helps me suppress the scream the bastard wants.
He pulls the metal away, and my body flashes hot. God, it’s like my skin is on fire.
I fall forward onto the desk. My forehead rests on my forearms for a moment. I have to push aside the throbbing pain and rein in my desperation to get out. My panic rides up, closing my throat. I’ve got a weight on my chest that makes it impossible to breathe.
I don’t do well being trapped and hurt.
He laughs and shoves the brand back into the fire, probably to prepare it for the next unsuspecting victim.
He sits in his chair and tips back, crossing his legs, and ignores the way I’m hunched over his desk. He scoots forward, until my curled fingers are inches from his chest. And he watches me with far too much amusement.
This is his position of power.
With people stretched out across his desk. Defeated.
“I warned you,” he eventually says. “I warned you that we didn’t do business with little girls like you. But I will enjoy our next meeting, if it’s anything like this one.”
I shudder. “You’re a fucking sadist. Let me go.”
“You should put a salve on that when you get home.” He flashes me a key, then unlocks the cuffs. First my uninjured arm, then the other.
I stumble backward, cradling my wrist to my stomach. I can’t even look at it.
He eyes me and my quick shuffle to the door.
“Invisible girl,” he calls. “If you don’t pay next month, expect a repeat. Or…”
It’s enough to give me pause, and he knows it. He’s dangling that job in front of me. Job or favor, I’m not sure what to classify it. It could be a suicide mission, for all I know. But I’m expendable.
We both know it.
He raises his eyebrows when I stop moving.
“Fine,” I grit out. “Is it going to get me killed?”
He laughs. “Only if you get caught.”
I swallow. “If I’m successful, we’re clear. No more debt. No more favors.”
“And if you’re unsuccessful, then payments continue… with double the interest.” He opens a drawer and removes an envelope, tossing it across the desk. “You have until the end of the month. That’s the only grace period I’m going to extend to you.”
I dart forward and grab the envelope. When I’m halfway to the door, he makes another noise. I slow to a stop, grinding my teeth.
“Yes, one last thing.” He strides across the room and steps into my space. Our height difference isn’t so great now, but he feels larger than life. A small smirk curls his lips. “If you even think of leaving Sterling Falls, all bets are off. I won’t just go for you, though. I’ll find your family. The accountant mother, the dear father who works at the newspaper in Emerald Cove… Or maybe that charming best friend of yours. Marley. She’d look good pinned to my desk, as you were. Maybe I’ll work my way down the line and see whose scream is the sweetest. I’ll take what’s due to me from their flesh… then I’ll take the rest from you.”
He pats my cheek again, then holds up a photo. It’s of Marley and me on the Sterling Falls University campus. I jerk back.
“Yes, invisible girl. I do my research. Whatever little plan you concoct to escape, know that I’ve already thought it. And moved to prevent it. Run along, now.”
I hightail it out of there with the envelope crumpled in my fist.
He knows my family. My best friend. That’s how all the villains operate, isn’t it? They find leverage and they’ll exploit it however they can.
Tears fill my eyes once I’m on the sidewalk and rushing away from Descend. I’m the worst sort of idiot. The kind who doesn’t even know she’s in over her head until she hits the bottom of the freaking ocean.
It takes me half the walk to realize that I could’ve skipped the brand if I had agreed to Kronos’ blind deal. My arm throbs, from my wrist all the way up my shoulder. I pull it away from my shirt and immediately put it back. My skin is angry red and blistered.
Downtown has changed with the rest of the city. Everything is at an angle, like the skyscrapers have buckled under expectation. In the daytime, the shops beckon passersby to enter. It was built to entice tourists and college students—people who don’t really understand Sterling Falls. It’s all a trap, though. A well-thought-out illusion. Behind every shop, every restaurant, is a darker scheme. And that became clear when the curtain was ripped aside.
My eyes were opened, and there’s no going back.
When I first moved here, I had no idea. Sterling Falls was my shining beacon of hope. The argument I had with my parents to even let me come here… I risked my relationship with them to make it work.
They’re reasonable people. Mom’s an accountant at a small, family-owned firm. She worked her way through school. Dad started as a writer for the Emerald Cove—the town I grew up in—newspaper, and since climbed up the ranks to editor without a degree.
But reasonable can only stretch so far to accommodate dreams.
And now… nightmares. Funnily enough, I moved here to escape my nightmares. Somehow, I waltzed right into another one.
I hurry through West Falls until I reach SFU’s campus. West Falls is Titans’ territory, something I didn’t know until after I accepted the loan from the man who calls himself Kronos, and I’m eager to leave it behind. He’s their leader. He must be. Kronos never said as much, but after today, I’m fairly certain.
