Athena's Jewel (Aya Harris Collection 2)

“Sure, sure,” Mr. Jones mumbled. “Take all the time you need. That is, of course, if it’s alright with Mr. McAllister.”

My attention shot to Trent. He was still watching me, a look of mild amusement crossing his face.

I narrowed my eyes and forced myself to turn back to Mr. Jones. “Wh

at do you mean?”

“Well, Mr. McAllister is buying the museum from me, of course.” Mr. Jones rubbed a hand across his belly and laughed. “I’m getting too old for these kinds of adventures. My friend Trent here is an aficionado of all things supernatural. He’ll take good care of the place.”

My heart shattered into a million tiny shards of glass, and settled in my stomach to rip at my intestines. In one day, my plan of owning a little piece of the museum had been torn to shreds. By the looks of this man, with his slightly upturned nose and his manicured hands, he wouldn’t want to share a business with someone like me. I’d lost my dreams, my goals, and the place that mattered most to me.

I could feel Angel’s eyes on me, and I realized this was what she had been trying to tell me. That my absence yesterday had caused me to miss the sale of my museum. Maybe if I’d been here, and not kidnapped by some crazy harpies and their cult, I could’ve stopped it. I could’ve asked Mr. Jones to sell it to me. But now, we could chock this up as another way the HQ has ruined my life, and another reason why I would never join them.

“Why… why are you selling?” I could barely get the words out. I braced myself against the counter and waited for my knees to stop shaking.

“Like I said, I’m too old.” Mr. Jones made a face, the corners of his mouth pulling down into a comical frown. “And Trent made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I’m thinking about spending the rest of my days on a beach in Tahiti, with a beautiful waitress and all the rum I can drink.”

He slapped a hand on Trent’s shoulder, nearly pushing him into the counter. Trent maintained a dignified smirk and straightened his suit jacket.

Angel elbowed me, tearing my attention away from our former boss. She tilted her head down at the floor and silently mouthed for me to say something, before she snuck away to the back of the museum where a few customers lurked. But, there wasn’t anything I could say. The museum had been sold. I didn’t have enough money to buy it back from Trent McAllister and his expensive suit. The deed was done.

“I just hope that Mr. McAllister finds everything to his liking,” I said, dropping the stack of mail I’d been slowly rolling in my hands. “We’ve made a lot of improvements to the museum during my time here and I hope to make more.”

“Oh yeah, I’d love to hear more about your ideas,” he said. His voice was smooth and pleasant, like a baritone in a church choir. He smirked, his eyes narrowing. “Maybe I can get you to agree to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night and you can fill me in on all of your grand ideas.”

I took a small step back from the counter and bit the inside of my cheek. As tempting as it was to flirt with the new boss and get on his good side, Gideon and I had just broken up and it didn’t feel right to move on so quickly. Plus, I wanted to be taken seriously by the new management, and throwing in a little after-work flirtation was a quick way to ensure that never happened.

“I’m not so sure about that, Mr. McAllister,” I started. “Maybe we should plan a day meeting once I’m back from vacation.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Don’t you eat? I find business meetings are much less dull over a good meal and a drink.”

“Well, I don’t find business meetings about the museum dull at all,” I snapped back.

I winced at my tone of voice, but the damage had been done. His other eyebrow raised and now I had my future employer staring at me like I’d just keyed his Range Rover or something. Time to do some back peddling.

“What I meant to say is that, I’d rather meet during the day so that I can give you a proper tour of everything at the museum.”

I added my most charming smile and the look of surprise melted from his face.

“Sure, we can do that.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Mr. Jones. “I guess I’m stuck buying you dinner, Eddie.”

Mr. Jones cracked up, his belly undulating with the effort. “I’m afraid I’m not half as fun as Ms. Harris, but I’ll gladly take the free booze.”

They stepped away, but Mr. McAllister paused and turned to look at me. The air shimmered around his form, although no monster tail or scales popped out on his body. Instead, two long canine teeth flashed as he smiled at me. My new boss was a vampire – an immortal bloodsucking parasite. No wonder I disliked him already.

“Oh and by the way,” he said, the shimmer disappearing and his smile returning to normal, “I really insist you call me Trent.”

I nodded dully and pressed my dry lips together, determined not to fall into any charming trap he might set for me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a navy suit. Gideon had just entered the museum, looking as suave as ever, with his naturally tousled hair and a hint of stubble. My heart did a quick pitter patter as we made eye contact, and he waved uncertainly at me. I hadn’t expected to see him so soon after our breakup. Heartbreak like this required longer than three days apart to heal. He couldn’t just pop in whenever he felt like it and ruin my process.

I slid out from behind the counter and approached him at the front display. With a few deep breaths, I was able to slow my heartbeat back down to nearly normal.

“What are you doing here?”

He looked at me from under those long eyelashes and frowned. “Angel called me yesterday. She said she couldn’t get ahold of you. We were worried.”

“Well, I’m fine.”