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Luka is breathing heavily, his arms hanging down like he doesn’t have the energy to stand up—he probably doesn’t. And the guard is adjusting his uniform and checking that he still has his own gun hidden at his hip. He pulls it and points it at Luka.
“Stay back or we’ll kill you both.”
When Luka looks at me, I see heartbreak in his eyes.
It is unlike anything I have ever seen on his face before. It is a level of agony I’ve never witnessed, and I can only imagine it is the expression he wore the night he realized Milaya and I had been taken.
I hope to never see the expression again.
And then I let a sob wrack through my chest, realizing I very well may not. I may not see any expression on his face again.
Not the tilt of his brow when he is amused, or that half smirk he wears when he is trying to pretend he is angry but is actually fighting a smile. I may not see the flare in his eyes as I walk towards him naked. I may not ever again see the smile he saves for Milaya when he’s singing her to sleep every night.
I may never see this beautiful man again, and something in my chest cracks wide open.
“I love you,” Luka finally says. “I love you so much.”
The guard kicks him in the chest, sending him sprawling back on the floor and writhing in pain.
As the two men pull me out of the room, I try to look back and see him one more time, but I only catch a glimpse of his legs sprawled next to the bed before the door slams closed and is locked from the outside.
* * *
I’m led to the entry hall of the inn where Edgar is waiting.
He has on a crisp black suit, looking like he is headed to a funeral.
For all I know, he might be.
The men stop a few feet from Edgar, and when he nods to each of the guards, they let me go and step away at once.
“Prepare the slaves for transfer,” Edgar says.
I can’t believe I ever thought Edgar was a small man. A weak man.
Heissmall, but only physically. Now, after everything he has put me and Luka through, I realize how tall he holds himself. Edgar’s shoulders are broad, chin lifted, body relaxed. He is the kind of man with obvious power, but I missed it before. I underestimated him before.
I won’t make that mistake again.
“Good news,” Edgar says, clapping his hands together in front of him. “Despite your little show yesterday, you have been purchased.”
My heart sinks like a stone in my chest, but I do my best not to let him see.
“Arnold McGowan,” he says, answering the question I didn’t have the voice to ask. He nods his head towards the lounge, and I turn to see a middle-aged man in a dark green mask staring at me.
I remember seeing him, but he never stood out the way the other men did. He never expressed any interest in me, so I paid him no mind.
I can see the interest now.
Even with his mask on, I can see the hunger in his eyes.
I wonder how much he paid for me. Though, really, I don’t want to know.
Somewhere in the back of the inn a door opens, and I hear the whisper of tears and sobs.
The women are back there, getting ready to be transported. That is what Edgar sent the men to do.
The auction is over.
