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I stood in the large central auditorium, near the back, trying to ignore the stress that increased like the winding of a clock.
Movement across the room drew my attention, my instincts and skills honed to the point that at times they alerted me before my conscious mind caught up. This was one such time, my gaze zeroing in on a figure moving. They wore thick glasses and hunched forward, their movement that of an elderly man.
However, after a moment, I recognized the reason for my attention. While they walked with a cane, the movement wasn’tquiteright. They didn’t rely heavily enough on the cane, and the slight drag of the opposite leg didn’t appear regular enough.
It had me moving in that direction as the auctioneer offered up the final item on the list—a vase that was over three thousand years old. It had people bidding, using the small tablets that allowed them to bid without drawing attention to themselves. Only their numbers flashed on the large screen as the auctioneer called them off.
As I neared the person, my certainty grew. It was Lorien. I had no doubt about that at all, his features clearer, his movements all calculated. I reached into my pocket and wrapped my fingers around the blade that I’d snuck in.
No weapons were allowed, but that hardly stopped men like me or Lorien. I had no doubt he had weapons of his own, after all.
I got just beside him, so close that I couldtastemy win. I pulled my blade, aiming for his throat, wanting it over quickly. Not because I gave a damn if he suffered, but because I didn’t want to risk anything going wrong. Succeeding was far more important than my own desire to see him suffer for what he’d done.
When I attacked, however, Lorien responded just as fast, mirroring my moves, proving how evenly matched we were. I moved in close, lifting my knife to slide it across his neck. One good swipe would handle the problem once and for all.
Lorien must have anticipated it, because his hand caught my wrist a breath from my goal. He shifted, and with the same sense he used, I brought my free hand down, catching his wrist just as the sharp point of a knife pressed against my side.
It felt as though each action had taken forever, but I knew we had ended up in this position in only a split second. Despite others surrounding us, no one had taken notice because of the speed we’d used. We both paused to take inventory, to recognize we’d ended up on equal footing.
Which was fine by me. I didn’t mind one bit dying here so long as I took him out with me.I wouldneverlet him get close to Kenz again, wherever she was.
“And now, a special item of the night,” the auctioneer called out, his voice ringing through the auditorium, silencing the chattering that usually happened at the end.
A special item?That had never happened before, and something about it caused unease inside me.
I allowed my eyes to flick toward the stage as something was rolled onto stage, a large piece of black fabric over the square mystery. Lorien did the same, as though he felt the same discomfort.
“You’ll be excited for this one, I’m sure! It is unlike anything we’ve sold before. All pertinent information is being transmitted to your tablets now, so feel free to peruse it. You will have five minutes to make your decisions before I open the bidding for our final item, the last heir of two powerful bloodlines, a powerful tool for any looking to further their position, Mackenzie Hester-Williams.” The auctioneer pulled the sheet off, and sure enough, my greatest fear stood there.
Kenz, back in a cage, being sold yet again.
Talk about déjà vu.
Chapter Twenty
Char
The sight of Kenz on stage made me wonder if shock alone couldn’t stop a person’s heart.
When she’d disappeared, I’d thought she’d left. I’d thought she might show up at our house sometime later. The one place I sure as fuck hadn’t expected to see her was in a cage getting auctioned off.
Again.
Just how many times could one little girl get herself sold?
To the far side of the large central room, where Tor had encountered Lorien, the two men stood still. It seemed Kenz had managed to surprise us all. They shoved apart, with Tor taking off toward a side door, no doubt heading for a way to get to Kenz. Lorien leaned down, grabbing a bidding tablet he must have dropped in the struggle with Tor.
What got me moving was the auctioneer speaking up again. “All right. Bids open now, starting at one million.” Immediately, the large screen above the stage lit up with numbers as people bid. It went up in twenty-thousand-dollar increments.
Well, it seemed that people knew exactly how valuable that woman was.And yet they don’t know the half of her worth.
That got me moving, and I quickly bid as well. Maybe this was for the best…maybe we could win this? If Bradley put her up again, this time without any of us cheating, he had to follow through with protecting such a bid.
Which meant our only hope at this point was to win, because if we didn’t?
Someone else would.
The amount ran up quickly, exceeding two million, five million, ten million. All auctions had a time limit included to ensure they didn’t carry on too long. That was ten minutes total. It meant we were likely to run out of time before we ran out of money.
