She will never forget the first time she died, and neither will you.
In a world where people lived and died in the trade given to them in childhood, we have Calixta, the youngest madam from the best brothel in town. She died saving the lives of two innocent people. She came back to life with some unique gifts. She has a new task to do; mages had to be protected. Society was against her, evil was after her; her options were limited. She must fight back. She has the power, but she doesn’t know how to use it. In a society where most people accepted her, some tolerated her, and a few hated her, she must overcome her unmoving place in society.
The chase to destroy her was on; Evil wanted her dead once and for all.
Vanquisher Dreyden found Calixta in the worst of conditions. Mages, the bringers of peace and order to chaos, must be protected. However, Calixta and Dreyden were running for their lives. Will they find all the members of their team? Will the next time she dies be the last?
Buy Calixta, The Vanquishers of Alhambra, to lose yourself in a world beyond your dreams today!
Calixta, The Vanquishers of Alhambra is now on sale at most online stores. Read the first chapter below.
To purchase, follow this link to access any online store.
https://books2read.com/u/mgj02x
To purchase the audiobook, scroll all the way down, and you will find links to the major online stores where you can find the book.
Calixta is the first in the Series, The Vanquishers of Alhambra. The second book, For Warriors! The Vanquishers of Alhambra book 2, was published on April 14, 2023;
CW: War, adult language, adult content, nonconsensual sex, Occult content, animal sacrifice. Horror type of gore.
This book is for adults ONLY
There is a First Time for Everything
I will never forget the first time I died. You have that memory engraved on your mind for eternity. It was an early morning when my life ended slowly, painfully, and with my last thought focused on castrating the man who killed me. You never know true pain until your lungs fill with blood and you are gasping for air. That morning, I pulled my best friend, Isalia, from the hands of that bastard husband of hers, and my reward was pain. But let me back up a little and start a moment before those events, just to give you a taste of my day and how everything came to pass.
This all happened on the morning of the Day of Stars. It was so early. The morning sun had barely risen. I had to go and have a talk with the high priest at the Sheshlia Cathedral. Women like me can’t be seen in a church during the daytime or evenings, so if we want to pray, we must go at dawn. I didn’t care for prayer. I cared for my coin. I am a businesswoman, or at least I was at the time. Do you know about business? If you don’t, it doesn’t matter. Knowing will not make this story any more surreal.
In any case, one of the older priests had availed himself of the services of two of my youngest girls and he had not paid. You see, I am Madame Calixta Harlow Carlyle, the youngest brothel owner in the port city of Talbert. I owned and managed the Shining Star, the only brothel in Talbert that offered the services of an Exotic—me. I am an exquisitely trained woman, as all Exotics are. I was educated from a very young age in the arts of singing, dancing, letters, numbers, poetry, science, seduction, and sexual pleasures. I was trained to entertain the wealthiest of men and satisfy their every whim, including their sexual desires. Needless to say, Exotics are only available to those who can afford them.
But let’s get back to the high priest. So, the old goat was officiating the service that morning, not his minion who owed my brothel the coin but who had avoided paying. I thought I might as well go to the owner of the place—visit the head of the organization to save myself time and grief. I love the old adage that says if you want something done, don’t talk to the monkeys, go to the circus owner. I wasn’t about to let a sniveling little mongrel get away with a free ride, no pun intended. There is nothing free in this world, and that includes well-paid prostitutes.
My trade was considered undesirable by most of the women of the town, but we are as much a part of our society as the bakers and the farmers. I never cared what any of the Sheshlia women used to say about me. They did not pay my taxes. Society gave me my trade tattoo, and regardless of my prostitute status, being a well-paid Exotic was, in the end, the same as being a wife; I just had multiple wealthy husbands. So, after spending an hour waiting for the old man to finish his sermon, I walked through the middle of his church all the way to his altar. I did not have to shout or raise my voice. Everyone in the wretched city knew Madame Calixta Carlyle. I went to him and held his hands.
“I have never seen you in my parish, Madame Carlyle. Are you converting? Are you contrite from your many sins?” asked the high priest.
“You know why I am here. Your priest, Fenlo, owes me coin. So, pay up!” I said with my head bowed.
“Leave my church, sinful whore,” said the high priest.
“First, I am an Exotic, the likes of which you will never be able to afford, not a lowly whore. Second, if you don’t want me to return during the day and start an Exotic erotic show in the middle of your church and tell everyone the perverted little details of Priest Fenlo’s visits and what he likes to do with my youngest girls, you must pay me the coin he owes me. Now!” I held on tight to both his hands, as all believers do when asking for forgiveness, while delivering my threats in a whisper so only he could hear. The old, sniveling man opened his eyes wide and looked at me. I was all dolled up and beautiful, just like I always am. He trembled, and a drop of sweat fell, tracing the edges of his round face.
“Wait, and do not make a scene,” said the high priest.
It was all it took. The old man turned around very discreetly, dug into the offerings box behind him, took out my girls’ fees, and paid me. I kissed his hands as was customary and left. To the few in attendance, I was a contrite sinner. Hah! What I am is a concerned businesswoman, believe me. I returned to my establishment with the due coin in my purse. And you better believe me when I say I had no second thoughts about my actions.
Anyway, on the Day of Stars—the day I died—I was walking back from the church to my establishment when I saw from a distance up the road that some type of brawl was taking place. I heard loud screams and people shouting. I ran the last few steps to my brothel. When I entered my home, I found mayhem.
“All you puttanas must step away; this doesn’t concern you. Isalia, come with me now!” demanded Todd, her abusive husband. Todd pushed Miomi to the brothel floor. He had a firm grip on Isalia’s arm, pulling her out from the group of women’s hold. He was manhandling her, not appearing to care about her welfare or her clothing tearing in the process.
“You thought you were taking my bambino from me?” Todd spat on Isalia as he talked.
The morning bouncer was fighting two other men who had come with Todd. Chairs were flying, splinters of wood littered the floor, the men were punching each other, and the smell of sweaty men filled the entrance to my brothel.
“Todd, desgraciado, let her go,” said Miomi from the floor.
Todd walked straight into me at the entrance, while he was still pulling my dearest friend, Isalia, by her arm. I had the element of surprise, so I pushed Todd as hard as I could and pulled Isalia out of his grasp at the same time. Todd fell, but quickly stood back up.
“Get out of the way, puttana. ¿Isalia, vieni adesso? You are not taking my son from me.” Todd pulled out a gun as he spoke and waved it, indicating I should move aside.
“No, she stays here. I will not let you hurt her,” I said, as I pushed Isalia behind me and tried to keep my voice firm, and stood tall.
BANG! He didn’t ask me to move again or say another word. He just fired his weapon. I recall Isalia was tucked safely behind me, and there were some Sheshlia women walking on the other side of the road who stopped and watched the scene unfolding through the wide-open door of my house of sin. He must have caught me at an angle because the force of the bullet pushed me back a few steps, but I didn’t bump into Isalia, although I still clung to her. No … I was somehow turned around and propelled toward the doorstep. I touched my chest. Blood was on my hands. Todd tried to pull Isalia from my hand, but I could not and would not let go.
“NO! LEAVE!” My voice came out strong. But I was losing my footing and put out my free arm to steady myself, touching Todd’s chest in the process. He looked down and saw my blood on his shirt and then realized people were watching from across the street. His face changed from showing anger to shock. He stepped back, away from me, and ran out the door. That’s when I finally lost my balance. I staggered down the steps from my brothel, trailing drops of blood; one, two, three steps, and so on, and then the last, onto the sidewalk. My hat flew off, pulling out my hair’s bindings. Another sin: hair being loose in public. My chest hurt.
First, it felt like a fire-ant bit me in the center of my chest. Then a sensation of cold sweat springing up on the back of my neck overtook me. I could feel liquid flowing, which I thought was sweat, but it was my blood. After the initial shock—pain. I hurt so much like someone had kicked me in my chest. And then I started to feel as though I were drowning. My lungs filled with liquid. I was drowning in my own blood. I could breathe in shallow breaths but could barely breathe out.
Strangely, I can remember my last moments with vivid clarity: my hand on my chest, blood, feeling disgusted, a metallic taste in my mouth, and the smell of cordite in my nostrils—a memory that stays with you. The smell of gunpowder. And then a sensation of release, even feeling the blood oozing from the bullet hole. A trembling body, hands shaking uncontrollably; so cold. Both my hands and feet were icy. Everything was happening fast, and at the same time, my ears rang with a constant, high-pitched binging noise, and little dots of colors floated over my eyes. The bing turned to bang-bang in my ears. There were more bullets, scuffling, and shouting all around me. Screams, more bangs—so much noise. Two other men left the brothel, pushing my women out of their way and running. They clambered into a horseless carriage where Todd was apparently waiting and shouting at the men. Finally, Todd left, but Isalia and her unborn child were safe. My one friend of many years was safe.
“Calixta’s shot! Miomi, come over here, fast. She’s hurt,” said Isalia as she ran down the steps toward me.
The finite moment of life and the awareness of imminent death came over me suddenly. I remember sitting on the sidewalk. I remember my hands were covered in mud, but I recall thinking how it hadn’t rained in days. Someone had urinated in front of my brothel—it was urine mud.
“Hate filth … hate dirt,” I whispered. And then I fell sideways, watching a woman running toward me. I blinked. All around me turned endlessly, and I seemed to turn around the world. I tried to breathe. Pain … my chest … was covered in blood, then the smell of urine and mud.
Filth, pain, muck. I could barely breathe; my lungs could not draw in enough air. Now I could no longer breathe in or out at all. I gasped once, twice. Miomi held my head. Isalia was crying; her tears were falling on my arm. I blinked.
I was so tired. I closed my eyes, and it was all …
…
But then, I was pulled out of my body. I could see my head and the backs of people surrounding me. I rose above and saw my beautiful friend, Miomi. She was holding me. Other women, who were not associates of my brothel, ran away or toward my body depending on their nature, but I kept watching as Miomi and Isalia held me in their arms. I saw the entire street, the tops of the buildings, the town, clouds, the world, and a maze of stars—until I got to a train station. It was there my life changed forever.
And this was the first time I died!
To purchase follow the link bellow
https://books2read.com/u/mZBEn2
Calixta is in Audiobook
These are the links to the online stores where you can find Calixta’s audiobook.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/calixta-omayra-v-lez/1133460916
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/calixta-1
https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/455933707/Calixta-The-Vanquishers-Of-Alhambra
https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/id1507372505
https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/calixta-by-omayra-velez
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Omayra_V%C3%A9lez_Calixta?id=AQAAAEDs2E6YsM
https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/13402676
https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/calixta-the-vanquishers-of-alhambra/488278
https://bingebooks.com/book/calixta
https://www.audible.com/pd/Calixta-The-Vanquishers-of-Alhambra-Audiobook/B087YY5GF5
https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781792334511
https://www.storytel.com/se/sv/books/2821490
The Narrator is Corina Ollett
I used e-AudioProductions.com as my recording company. They were phenomenal. I have never worked with a more patient and professional group of people. Ask for Elias…
