Another one?
Beast Two grunts like my best friend’s life means nothing.
Did he kill my sister, too?
“And the other one? Where is she?” I ask, dreading the answer.
“Goes to Antonov. Virgins get more money on the black market. The underground market is where all the action is.”
It clicks. “My sister. Where is she?” I wrench myself out of his tight grip and spring for the door. Not the best-laid plan, but I’m working on the fly. It’s a miracle I get past them, but I manage to get a few feet outside the door before I’m cruelly stopped in my tracks and fall flat on my face.
I peer over my shoulder to find both beasts wearing disgusting grins, the end of the chain still connected to my ankle in the larger man’s hand.
Beast One prowls over and takes a hard look at my ankle before clucking his tongue like some freakshow mother hen. “Look what you did to yourself. The brothers are not going to be happy. This will cost them on the sale.” He says a string of something in Russian which makes the other man grimace.
Whatever he growled out to his partner probably didn’t bode well for me in the end. If the rough tone didn’t give me a clue the glaring murderous look Beast Two slices my way clues me in big time.
They drag me back and the other one takes my ankle in hand. I kick the guy who is kneeling in front of me away but he only shoots me an annoyed leer.
He grips a handful of my hair and I yelp in pain. My chest tightens and I start to tremble.
Don’t go there, Nova.I slam my eyes closed and frantically shove the edges of a panic attack working its way through me.
I struggle but there’s no getting free from his vice-like grip. “Get the hell away from me you freak show!” I grit through the stinging and keep my eyes glued to him waiting for the knife to the gut or throat. It’s not that I’ve watched too many movies. Not a habit I ever formed. But more out of experience and past horrors.
On the outside, I might be all badass and uncaring. But that shit is only skin deep. Inside I’m a trembling poodle. But my sister is here. And I need to find her.
Another shake of my head and he finally lets me go. I scramble backward and pay no attention to the rough cement ripping at my palms.
Both swoop in and box me in. I’m over one man’s shoulder one minute and thrown into a cold shower the next. Someone forces liquid down my throat and I fight against the drugs making my head spin and fingers tingly.
My feet are shoved into shoes with heels as high as my forearm is long. I try to push away the old lady smearing something shiny over my skin and fixing my hair but my arms and legs don’t seem to be on the same earthly plain as the rest of me. I stumble into anything within reach. Walls, chairs, and those freaking beasts with men’s faces.
I fist the long waves of hair spilling over my shoulders trying to regain control over my body and snap out of this trance just as I am shoved into the middle of another dark room. I turn in a circle trying to get my bearings and all I can think about is why the fuck am I naked?
I try to cover myself but it’s useless. Shadows move to either side of me and a hard hand lands on my shoulder. Instinct drives my elbow into his gut while his partner gets the pointy end of my shoe driven into his foot.
Both grunt and shake me violently but they fall back the second a light comes on.
Intense white light flares around me from above and small dome lights flicker to life in front of me. They are in a semicircle and a God-like voice booms overhead.
Two men wearing full-face masks step up beside me and I kick out with no real aim, but I land a heel where it counts anyway. Yay for me. I stumble forward but catch myself before tumbling to the floor.
My brain can’t focus too hard but I catch five words that sober me the heck up pretty fast. The sound system grows quiet several seconds before the announcer rocks me to my core.
“Booth eight. Fifteen point five million dollars. Do I hear sixteen? Sixteen? Okay then, going once, twice... SOLD! The lovely lady with the spitfire attitude is sold to the bidder in booth eight. Congratulations on your new acquisition.”
My eyes search the glass boxes I can only guess are numbered in order from right to left. Not that I can see anyone inside, but my gut tells me the man who just bought me for a crazy amount of money is in one of them and I’m going to drive a knife into his heart the second I see him.
Four
Ares
Ichase the moon as she finally peaks from behind angry rain clouds. I twist the throttle and my bike grumbles over wet pavement resembling obsidian. I follow the shimmering white reflection as I ride the last handful of miles to the compound with the roar of the wind in my ears and the beast between my legs wide open. The deep purr helps my soul find a calm I can’t find anywhere else. I lean into the curves and take them with ease from years of riding these back roads.
I shake the energy of the city off my shoulders and welcome the silence. The large clubhouse is more of a mansion sitting on ten acres not too far outside city limits. I have to be close enough to where I earn my money, but I like my privacy too.
The second I’m through the gates of the compound my mind shifts from enjoying the New York spring air to rumbling back to all the shit the Savages are handling. The Volkov brothers are just a fraction of where our energy goes. It’s been slow going up until now given our limited crew. No surprise, but finding enough men willing to do fucked up shit all in the name of justice is harder than it sounds. Psychos need not apply. Rage, my right-hand man, is crazy enough on his own.