by Chloe Adler
“There’s no way he’ll send one,” says Kaden. “But I have one from the last time he came in with a severe injury. He always wants before and after pics. Crazy fuck posts his wounds on Instagram. His followers eat them up.”
Too bad that doesn’t extend to whores. Imagine the amount of extra business I’d get with these injuries.
Maggie sets out candles and herbs while Kaden thumbs through pics on his phone and finds one of Niall. In it, he looks far worse than I do. Kaden leans the phone on its pullout kickstand.
Maggie lights the candles and sets a large white one in the center. “Hold hands,” she says, sitting down. On the tabletop, we form a small circle with our linked hands. Then she starts reciting something in Latin, stopping occasionally to throw herbs on the flame. It fizzles and sparks, lighting up the room.
I lean back when sparks fly out from the fire. We all do.
“Let them touch you,” Maggie says. “They won’t burn.” Collectively we lean back in.
A sense of calm washes over me as the sparks fly around the living room like fireworks. She’s right, they land in my hair and on my skin but I can’t feel them. I close my eyes and find myself back in Mexico with my mother, sleeping in the same twin bed together. I can see the scene as though I’m floating over our bodies. I’m about eight years old and fast asleep. She’s petting my hair and whispering to me. “I wish I was able to give you a better life, my child. I don’t want this one for you. Maybe when I’m gone you will find a man to love you and take care of you so you never have to sell yourself like me.”
When I open my eyes again, tears streak down my cheeks and the room is dark. I want to let go of the men’s hands to wipe my face, but I can’t. They are clasping my hands so tightly they hurt.
“You can all let go now,” Maggie murmurs but the men still hold on.
I shake their hands loose and stand up, swatting at my face with the backs of my hands.
“I don’t want any of this,” I yell. “I don’t want any of your love. I don’t want your handouts or your pity or your leashes. Thank you, Maggie, because I am so done with this bullshit.”
“Syd, wait.” Maggie reaches out to catch my hand but I pull it free.
“Don’t go.” Jerome stands and starts toward me but trips on something in the dim light.
“We still love you,” Kaden says. But I’m already out the front door, slamming it hard behind me.
I spend the next three nights sleeping in my old apartment in Imperial Beach. I ignore the phone calls from the men and from Miss Cheryl and from Mags. I’m not their fucking charity case.
On the fourth day, I pack my bags. It’s time to go back to Mexico. I’m sure I can find someone willing to give me a ride for a blowjob. What the hell was I thinking anyway, coming to a Signum hotbed to try and fit in with a bunch of supernaturals? I’m a human, and worse, I’m a whore.
I need the money I’ve made at Ichor since my last paycheck, and I hitch a ride there first. Miss Cheryl’s office door is closed and I can hear muffled voices on the other side, the rising pitch of Eleanor and then Maggie.
“Calm down and tell me what’s going on, please,” says Miss Cheryl.
I lean in and press my ear to the cold wood.
“My mother cast a spell to make Jerome—my boyfriend—Niall, and Kaden fall in love with Sydney. I nullified it, then she left, and now she won’t answer our calls.”
“First of all,” Eleanor says stiffly, “I only cast a spell on Jerome to have him sleep with her and then fall in love with her. As for the others, why on earth would I do that? I wanted Kaden to ask you out.”
“What the hell, Mother? There is nothing okay about any of this.”
“Don’t use that tone of voice on me, young lady. I did this all of this for you.” Eleanor’s clipped voice rises.
“Ladies!” Miss Cheryl’s shrill voice silences them both. “I called you here to find out what happened to my most valuable worker bee. Spell-casting is not allowed inside Ichor, Eleanor, and you know that.”
“But you—”
“Eleanor. I’ll let you off with a warning this time but you must leave my merchandise alone. Understand?”
My hand clenches around the doorknob as Maggie screams, “Merchandise? Is that all she is to you? Sydney is a person. She may be royally screwed up but that woman has a good heart. She just needs a chance. A real chance, not another madam pimping her out to the highest bidder.”
I remove my hand from the doorknob as if it burns. My mother’s words fill my head. Find your strength, child. Find your gift.
My gift is whoring, Mamá.
You are so much more, my daughter. So much more.
I can’t believe I’m arguing with a dead woman. I whirl around to leave. Screw the paycheck. Screw these people who think they can help me. Screw this life I don’t deserve to have.
But in front of me are my men. All three of them. Just standing there and looking at me with open arms.
“We love you,” says Niall. “We all fucking love you.”
“It’s not a spell, it’s real,” adds Kaden. “I should know, I’m the warlock.”
Jerome takes a step forward. “Come home with us. Make a life with us.”
“The man who’s never been in love,” says Niall.
“The man who never had time for it,” says Kaden.
“And the woman who needs the love of all three in order to keep up with her. To fulfill her. To fill her,” says Jerome.
I shake my head.
“Why not try?” asks Niall. “We’re willing to.”
I cross my arms and the door to Miss Cheryl’s office opens. Maggie steps out.
“Syd!” She throws her arms around me from behind. “You’re going to stay, aren’t you?”
“Maggie, I fucked up. I don’t deserve your friendship or their love.” I motion toward the entourage.
“Oh but you do,” she whispers in my ear, loosening her grasp.
I spin around to face her. “What about you? What about Jerome?”
She shakes her head. “We weren’t happy, Syd, not the kind of happiness that we both deserve to have. Something between us broke a long time ago and I was hiding from it. I didn’t want my mother to say I told you so. But all I’ve ever wanted was for him to be happy. And I know he’s happy with you.” She shrugs. “Weird, I know, but I’ve always been a little unconventional too. Maybe after I help you find another job, you can help me find another man.”
My nose twitches and I blink over and over, willing myself not to burst into tears. Maggie throws her arms around me again and the men crowd in behind, adding their arms to the mix.
I struggle free. “Okay, everyone, enough with the lovefest.”
“Call me when you get back home.” Maggie kisses my cheek, nods to the men and leaves.
“Will you give us a chance?” asks Kaden. He takes one of my hands and Jerome takes the other. Niall stares at me, his smoldering eyes appearing two shades darker.
What the hell. “If I say no, none of you will ever leave me the fuck alone, right?”
A smile breaks out on their lips and they crash in on me like a tsunami. Kaden puts a hand under one of my arms and Jerome puts a hand under the other. Niall bends down and grabs my ankles. The three of them hoist me up in the air and carry me, giggling, out of Ichor together.
The End
Author Musings - unedited and raw
Sydney’s story was my favorite story to write. I love her drive, her passion, her ferocity. I love that she never questions who she is or why she does what she was trained to do. I love that when she decided to let it go for love, she still never compromised. Sydney lives in the moment. She does what she believes is right, no matter what other people say or think. No matter what limitations or judgments, others try to put on her.
I like to believe that there is some Sydney in all of us. That if we push out the naysayers and critics that condemn our own personal passions and beliefs, we’ll all go farther
in life.
I know there is some Sydney in me. It’s how I was able to write and publish 11 novels in 18 months. It’s how I was able to build a successful day job career, focusing on people’s health. It was how I was able to leave an abusive marriage that spanned 2 decades and learn to stand on my own. My internal Sydney was how I was able to reach for my dreams and achieve them. She encouraged me to take circus lessons, to become a ceramicist, to fly to the stars and back again with only wings to carry me.
There’s one thing I wish for you, dear reader, and that’s for you to discover and embrace YOUR inner Sydney. The woman who doesn’t take no for an answer. The woman who is fierce in her own convictions. The woman who never questions who she is and never judges others for who they are.
I hope you loved reading about this amazing character because I assure you, I LOVED writing her!!!
XXOOXX
CA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you love reverse harems, PNR or both and haven’t read my 3 complete series, you definitely should! They’re really fun and they all take place in my world, Distant Edge. My first series, the 4 book paranormal romance - Love on the Edge - follows the love story of a different heroine (and hero). I also have 2 reverse harem series. Tales from the Edge follows the youngest Holt sister, Iphigenia on her circus journey through love. And Chronicles of Tara follows a very special woman, Amaya, who finds her voice with the help of five strong, and very sexy men. Come live on the edge!
