Chapter One
The Devil's Contract
Squinting against the glare of a techno-colored strobe light, I blocked the beam with my hand as I shouldered my way through a throng of sweaty, gyrating bodies. The fog machine made it difficult to spot the woman I was here to see. Difficult, but not impossible. Her hot pink bandage dress glowed under the black light, honing in my sight like a beacon.
Bass thundered through the floorboards and up through my bones, each beat matching the throb of tension in my temples. The crowd pressed in from all sides—designer perfumes mixing with spilled drinks and desperation. A guy in a mesh tank top stumbled into me, his pupils blown wide, mumbling an apology I couldn’t hear over the relentless EDM.
I kept my eyes locked on that dress, watching it weave through the chaos like a shark fin through choppy waters. She hadn’t spotted me yet. Thetemperature spiked ten degrees as I closed in. Neon-painted dancers on elevated platforms cast writhing shadows across her face, but I could still make out that signature red lipstick smile. She turned, a glass of champagne dangling from manicured fingers, and I saw the exact moment recognition flickered in those cat-like eyes.
“Alex, to what do I owe the pleasure?” She purred, slinking closer and gently tapping my face, causing her bejeweled bangles to jingle. Her voice carried a hypnotic undertone, the kind that made promises feel like silk across skin—promises that would slowly strangle you if you weren’t careful.
“I’m here to resolve our contract.” I tried to keep my voice steady. The money I’d been saving since before running away was in the duffle bag hanging over my shoulder. I was finally going to be free of her and this club forever.
Her smile widened, revealing teeth too sharp to be human. The surrounding air shimmered like heat waves off hot asphalt.
The Madam laughed, “Oh, Alex. You still owe me quite a bit for breaking our contract early. With interest, it’s grown to...what was it now? Fifty thousand?”
My mouth went dry. Of course she’d try to change the deal last minute.“That wasn’t our agreement. The buyout was five thousand.”
She leaned in close, her breath smelling of expensive wine and ozone. “Times are tough without my Will-o’-Wisp. If you come back to Ogygia, you can work it off on time.”
“Get bent, Michelle. There’s no way I’m coming back to work for you.” Shehmphedand jerked her head towards the door. Two hulking shapes materialized from the shadows. The Madam’s enforcers: one with skin like granite, the other wreathed in perpetual darkness. Their hands clamped down on my shoulders with inhuman strength.
“Now darlin’,” the Madam said, examining her nails, “about my money…”
“I don’t have fifty thousand and you know it. Ihavewhat we agreed on, right here in this bag.”
The bruiser’s fist connected with my stomach. I doubled over, wheezing.
“I’m sure that your new boss at that drab little store could loan the rest to you.” She said, leaning back against the bar. “Or, you could come crawling back to me. I’d make sure you’re taken care of.” The patrons scooted away. They all knew who was boss here, and it wasn’t me.
The smokey one grabbed my collar and started dragging me toward the back exit. One of his tendrils snatched the duffle bag off my shoulder and placed it at the Madam’s feet. The crowd parted like water, their eyes glazed over—the club’s glamour made them ignore the violence.
“Think about my offer, Alex!” The Madam called after me. “I’m always hiring.” They threw me into the alley hard enough to scrape my palms on the concrete. The door slammed shut, leaving me alone with the distant thump of bass and the taste of copper in my mouth.
The gravel dug deeper into the jagged scrapes in my calloused hands as I pushed myself up off the pavement. Bracing against the grime laden brick wall, I pulled myself to my feet. Each breath was a struggle as I tried to suck down the panic mounting in my chest. The world blurred around the edges, but the pain in my hands kept me grounded.
Ogygia was a nightclub for the creatures of the night to flaunt their talents and lure lusty human patrons into emptying their pockets. I’d worked here as a bartender...and later as an escort. When Madam Michelle realized how easily the mortals fell for my charms, she’d perfected the art of seduction into a predatory science—selling illusions as addictive as any drug, promising dreams that would consume those who believed in them.
She sold me to whomever would pay the most foran hour in a curtained corner. In those secluded areas, which should have been private, she’d hidden cameras. Anyone in the world could watch what I did with those high paying clients, for a fee. A fee, mind you, that I never saw a dime of.
The neon sign above cast a sickly green glow across the wet asphalt. Music still pulsed through the walls, but out here it sounded hollow, like a heartbeat echoing through an empty chest. A rat scurried past, its eyes gleaming an unnatural violet—one of the Madam’s many spies, no doubt. Even the vermin in this part of town answered to her.
Twyla’s shop felt worlds away now. I’d built that life from scratch after escaping this place—the honest work of crafting belts, wallets, and armor–the simple pride of creating something with my own hands. My calluses were earned through that redemption, not through serving the whims of monsters who wore designer suits and diamond rings.
They all wanted my ‘gift’, that damned ancestral charm that made mortals want to please us, protect us, give us anything we asked for. I’d tried to suppress it. Madam Michelle had gotten to me though, whispering promises of power and wealth, of controlling the gift instead of hiding it. I’d ended up dancing on that cursed stage while creatures with teeth like needles and eyes like frozen stars watched from the VIP section.¡Ay, carajo! This is never going to end.
I became the star of her show—her ‘Will-o’-Wisp’, drawing patrons like moths to flame. My soft, almost feminine features combined with my glamour magic made me irresistible. People would spend fortunes just to see me dance, crowding the stage with tips every night. But the real money came from the backrooms. High-class businessmen and women would pay obscene amounts for ‘private dances’—a poorly disguised code for sex. What the Madam discovered, and what made her grip on me so tight, was that my glamour created a kind of addiction in humans.
The wealthy elite who sampled my talents once would inevitably return, spending more each time, investing in the club just to ensure their continued access to me. I was her golden goose, her perfect trap for the rich and powerful. As the money poured in, I realizedwith growing dread that she would never let me go. Even when my seven-year contract expired, she’d find some way to extend it—a clause I’d missed, a debt I couldn’t repay, perhaps even outright blackmail with the recordings. When I finally understood the depth of my slavery—that she’d secretly filmed these encounters and sold the recordings worldwide—I knew I had to leave, contract be damned.
The back door creaked open, spilling out electronic bass and sweetened smoke. A couple stumbled into the alley—the woman’s guise glamour flickering to reveal scaled skin beneath her sequined dress, her companion too enthralled to notice. They were too wrapped up in each other to see me, but I pressed deeper into the shadows, anyway. Old habits die hard in a place like this.
I pushed off from the wall, testing my legs. They held, barely. I needed a plan. There were others who’d escaped the Madam’s clutches, others who owed her money or blood or years of their lives.Maybe together we could...The thought died as I spotted another rat watching me from behind a dumpster, unblinking.No, I couldn’t afford to think like that.Not here.First, I needed to get somewhere safe, somewhere to lick my wounds.
The distant wail of sirens echoed off the buildings—another “accident” at one of the Madam’s other establishments. This city belonged to her kind after dark, and the human authorities knew better than to look too closely. I limped toward the street, leaving bloody handprints on the wall that would be gone by morning.Nothing in this alley lasted long enough to tell tales. If I didn’t get a handle on this debt, neither would I.
Chapter Two
