“Take me to him,” I whispered, looking down at Devyn. “Please.”
“Of course. A favor for a favor,” he said. He stood, eyes straight ahead. “You will follow me on your knees, slave.”
I bent down and crawled after him. Sand and rocks dug into my skin. I even crawled up the splintery steps. I endured it without comment, knowing where it was leading me.
When we reached Lucius, Devyn stopped and grinned over at him. “We’re going to buy you,” he said. “You will belong to us.”
Lucius had eyes only for me. “Is she—”
“She is fine.”
I nodded to let him know it was true.
“She has bargained much to get you free. I hope you appreciate her.”
Lucius’s brow wrinkled in curiosity, but Devyn didn’t explain. He walked away, back to his chair, and I had to follow him. I wanted to run back to Lucius, almost did in fact. Devyn sensed it and locked me in place with his mental shield. As my heart thumped and my blood rushed, I tried to tell Lucius with my eyes that everything really was going to be okay.
“Eden,” the Targon said suddenly, “my calves are aching from those stairs. Massage the muscles for me.”
I leveled him my deadliest glare. He gave an almost imperceptible nod to Lucius and released me from the frozen stun. Free to move, I began kneading my fingers into his calves. I used so much force, he hissed in a breath of pain that he tried to cover with a cough. “This isn’t a game,” I growled quietly.
Lucius looked at Devyn, then at me, and a light of understanding dawned in his eyes. Furious, he bucked against his chains, causing a trickle of blood to run down his arms.
“Put him to sleep,” I beseeched, stopping my massage and giving the Targon my full attention. “Please, put him to sleep like you did before. The guards will subdue him if this continues.”
With another stiff nod, he gazed over at Lucius, and within seconds Lucius’s muscles were relaxing. His head lolled forward as he sank into a deep slumber.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
“Do you see? I’m not such a bad man, Eden.”
“Do I owe you another kiss?” I couldn’t keep the aggravation from my voice.
He frowned. “I am capable of giving free gifts.”
Just then, the murmurs of the crowd quieted. The people began to part, and whispers of “EenLi” surfaced. My head whipped up, and I scanned the building. My eyes narrowed as deep-seated loathing filled me.
EenLi had just entered the warehouse.
Chapter 28
Everyone hurriedly claimed their seats while EenLi climbed the stairs and meandered his way to center stage. As he walked, he waved and winked at the crowd as if he were a superstar and everyone here was his devoted fan. Full cowboy regalia covered his thin Mec body. Cowboy hat, vest, chaps. He looked ridiculous. Smiling, he held up his hands in a gesture for utter silence.
My hatred grew and festered, bubbled over and spewed. I could throw my dagger at his throat, but I didn’t want a long-distance kill this time. I wanted up close and personal, so there would be no doubt of his death, no mistake.
“Can you put everyone to sleep?” I quietly asked Devyn. If the crowd, guards, and EenLi passed out cold, I would blithely walk onto the stage and stab EenLi in the heart. Not that he had one.
Devyn thought about it for a moment. “One at a time, but yes, I could do it.”
“Do it,” I said, the words lashing from me. “Now. Please.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Where is the fun in that? I came all this way, wasted money and two warriors, and I expect a show guaranteed to amuse me.”
I bit my tongue until blood seeped down my throat.
“Welcome,” EenLi said, hushing our conversation. “Welcome, everyone. A.I.R. thought they could close us down, but here we are.”
Cheers erupted.
After a sufficient length of time, EenLi waved again for silence. “I am honored to have everyone here, especially such honored guests as the king of Morevv and the king of Targon.” His gaze paused on Devyn. “I see you brought your new slave, Devyn.”
The Targon nodded regally, his fingers stroking my hair. “That I did, but one can never have enough servants.”
“I hadn’t expected you to tame this one so quickly.”
“Who said she was tame?” Devyn winked.
The crowd laughed. I glared up at EenLi, not even trying to dampen the disgust and loathing in my eyes. His skin glowed a bright shade of blue and pink—he was enjoying himself.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, returning his attention to the crowd. “You have a wide variety to choose from today. Are you ready to begin?”
Another round of cheers.
“Then so we shall.” EenLi stepped to the side as one of his new Targon guards brought forth the first victim, a young, pretty girl of no more than fifteen. Her body trembled, causing locks of her carmine hair to spill forward. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she bit back a sob when EenLi parted her robe, revealing her still-developing nakedness to the onlookers. She didn’t fight. I doubted any of them would. They’d probably been threatened by unimaginable horrors if they so much as uttered a single protest.
“A virgin to tempt any man,” EenLi boasted.
And so the bidding began.
One by one, men and women were sold to the highest bidder. I wanted Devyn to buy them all, but he only bought the virgin, as well as the women who had been locked inside the cell with me. Perhaps because I’d squeezed his thigh until he’d hissed out a price.
Then, finally, Lucius’s turn arrived. He still slept peacefully.
“Look at this prime piece,” EenLi said. “He will be good for manual labor, as well as bedroom labor.”
“Buy him for me,” I whispered up to Devyn.
“I believe I’ve done quite enough for you,” he said, prim now.
“I’ll give you two nights instead of one, plus the two kisses I owe you.”
The king’s eyes swirled vivid amber, and he immediately placed his first bid. Someone else, a white-headed Arcadian female, countered. On and on they bickered. EenLi’s gaze remained narrowed on Devyn, as if he couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.
In the end, Devyn won the battle. He put the Arcadian to sleep, effectively ending her bidding. And so, the auction was over.
“Thank you for coming,” EenLi told everyone. “If you didn’t win or didn’t find what you were looking for, please contact me. I usually hold private auctions, but because of a recent upheaval we had to do things a little differently this time around.”
The people around me stood. “If you put everyone to sleep, I’ll give you three nights,” I said, desperate to keep anyone from leaving. I didn’t want a single “slave” to be dragged out that door. I would set them free—or die trying.
“I might be tired of you after two nights.” Devyn uttered a breezy yawn. “The heat in here is stifling. Should we collect your humans and leave?”
“You vowed to take me to my enemy.”
“And so I have. You see him, do you not?”
“What is it you want from me?” I asked, more desperate now than before.
“The same devotion you give your human. Your vow to eagerly accept me when I take you.”
“Done,” I said, though we both knew I lied.
His gaze darted to the warehouse’s only door. “No one seems to be leaving yet. They’re lingering.”
“So? Put them to sleep before they decide to stop lingering.”
“First I want to thank our host for a wonderful evening.”
Yes, I thought darkly. Let’s thank him properly, shall we? I should have protested, should have insisted Devyn do my bidding, yet the thought of finally, at long last, coming face-to-face with EenLi proved too intoxicating.