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Then, finally, I reached the second level and came face to face with a man with white shoulder-length hair and violet, dream-like eyes.
“You—” He brushed a lock of my hair out of my face, and I stumbled back. “Are a beautiful little secret.”
My brows furrowed as the willowy man closed the distance between us, his nose almost touching mine. Was he a member of Nightshade? No, he had to be one of the guests.
“Sebastian didn’t say he was keeping a sorceress here.” He touched my arm, turning over my bracelet-less wrist. I never put it back on. “Naughty Sebastian, keeping secrets from his king. Never mind, I won’t tell on him.” His thin lips curled into a cruel smile. “If he won’t tell on me.”
“Please—” He slapped a hand over my mouth, muffling my plea.
“Hush now, sweetheart,” he whispered. “If you struggle, it won’t end well for you.”
My scream rang out against his palm as he lowered his mouth to my neck. My heart raced, and adrenaline spiked. A tingle of magic jolted through me. If only I could do something, anything, to get Sebastian or Erianna’s attention, but it was too late.
My eyes closed as his fangs sank into my skin, bringing with them a desperate agony, buckling my knees, choking my cry into a squeal. He held me up, his long arm coiled around my waist, knotting us together. Venom seared heat into me, setting every nerve ending on fire, and my body grew limp. I could feel him suckling against my neck, his lips like a suction on my skin, weakening me while he trembled with excitement.
My barrier lowered as my blood drained, and I could feel everything the vampire did—the most potent emotion reached me first: desire.
He moved his hand from my mouth, but I was too incapacitated to shout, scream, or do anything to alert anyone. So this was how it felt to feel utterly powerless, to have one’s mortality stripped from them as if they were nothing more than a thing to feed on.
He pulled back as I reached the brink of passing out. “I see why Sebastian keeps you here. A sorcerer’s blood is intoxicating,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. He ran his thumb at the tip of my spine as a soft moan left his lips. “You are worth a hundred mortals to the right buyer.” He laced his other hand against my cheek. “I will give Sebastian a cut to make it up to him.” He lifted me into his arms.
I slumped against him, helpless, as he sped us out the open door and into the heart of the city.
TWELVE
Fear outstretched its arms through every room in the auction building, and only immortals were safe. I tried to block the emotions radiating from the other women in this and the surrounding rooms, but the band of fabric covering my eyes only served to heighten my other senses, making it harder to keep my barrier up against so much terror.
“I’m going to die,” a woman whispered. “Oh g-gods,” she cried, her voice faltering.
I wanted to tell her she would be okay, but I’d only be lying. I didn’t need to see the woman—who was at the other end of the room, judging by the distance of her voice and the sound her shoes made when she scuffed them against the ground—to know she was shaking uncontrollably. All that horror quaking through her only elevated my own.
The door opened, hitting the back wall, a sound I’d gotten used to in the two hours since I’d been brought here. The woman screamed as I assumed her band was removed. “Your f-fangs,” she spluttered as she was pulled to standing. She and I were the only two left in this room. When I’d arrived, there were four of us, but a vampire came in and took two of them half an hour ago, and they never returned.
“Please,” she screamed, “no. Help.” I wasn’t sure if it was the gods she was asking or me, but there was nothing any of us could do. My chest tightened as she was pulled from the room, kicking back against what sounded like a chair from the way it fell and hit the floor.
Once the door was closed, I wrestled against the ropes around my wrists. They’d placed a necklace on me before shoving me in here, one that acted similarly to the bracelet Sebastian had given me. The only difference was I couldn’t remove it myself. They didn’t know I was terrible with magic anyway, but I would have loved the ability to try.
Sebastian had to have noticed I was gone by now, or Erianna and Zach. Did they need me enough to come and save me from here? Would they even know where to look? I had concluded that the white-haired vampire who had bitten me was the elusive auction owner to whom Sebastian referred. No, Sebastian had to come; he wouldn’t have bothered getting me from Baldoria if I wasn’t worth something to him. I could only hope he’d figure out where I was, but as the minutes ticked by, that hope slowly dwindled.
Tears soaked the fabric, slicking it against my cheeks as I cried again. The emotions lifted a little with the women gone, but I could still feel everyone else’s from the adjoining rooms. I could taste their dread and panic, and it was nauseating. Mainly because there was nothing I could do to help them, much less myself.
Only fifteen minutes passed when the door opened again. Footsteps stomped across the room, scuffing to a stop in front of me. I didn’t scream or cry like the others. I knew better than to beg these parasites for mercy. They wouldn’t understand the word if it was spelled out in blood for them.
“Darling.” I knew that voice to be the white-haired vampire guy. “I saved you for last. You’re our big finale.”
“How kind of you,” I spat, anger rolling through my bones.
He let out a clipped laugh. “I would keep you for myself if I couldn’t make so much stagma from you.” His tone was gentler than I expected, and my muscles tensed. “Alas”—he brushed a finger over the area where he’d bitten me“—I must keep you clean for our bidders. Such a shame, the things you and I could have done.”
“Sebastian’s going to kill you for this,” I snapped with the only threat that might mean anything.
He untied the blindfold, and my eyes blurred open to a red room. “He may want to, but he knows better than to hurt me. All who have tried so far have ended up dead.”
“It’s good to know your ego is in check.”
He turned my chair until I was facing him and smiled, creasing the corners of his pale cheeks. “You are so beautiful. It’s a shame that vile mouth of yours taints it.” He ran his fingers through my red curls. “Your hair is like royalty, so vibrant.” His eyes lit up when he grinned, showing his fangs. He let my strands fall back to join the rest. “It reminds me of blood.” My nose scrunched as he brought his face inches away from mine, his pale eyes searching mine.
The corner of my eye twitched. If this was going to be my fate anyway, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me afraid. So instead, I lulled him closer, softening my expression. He blinked slowly, and I could feel the desire building inside of him, tasting like honey and spice.
