“You grew up with her; you named her. She was younger than you, and you took advantage.”
“She wanted us to take advantage. She begged us to tie her up and fuck her like she was one of our father’s slaves.”
“You should have known better.”
“Maybe, but we were all just kids. And if you’d grown up in the world we had, perhaps you too would have made the choices we did.” Hermes shakes his head. “You were raised as a princess in New York, but Athena was a young bastard girl in Mexico. In that world—in our world—she did whatever she had to in order to stay alive.”
Perhaps he’s right. Maybe I would have clung to them both if I’d been in her position. Maybe Athena was smarter than I had been, and used her feminine wiles to ensure she’d be protected.Fat lot of good it did her.
I glance at the traffic in front of us, lines and lines of expensive cars, all making drop-offs, just like this one. All of the passengers in all of these cars will be sold in a matter of hours, just like me.
“Ares said you had intel on Athena. How?” My knees bounce up and down, and I feel sick to my stomach. “You had another girl, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why Vladik couldn’t see us at The Ranch.”
“Yes.”
“And where is she now?
“She’s dead, little mouse.”
Don’t get caught.
I open my mouth to ask “why,” but Hermes beats me to it. “Vladik found her out. He strung her up from the chandelier and decorated the room with her intestines.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“Why? Having second thoughts?”
I inhale slowly through my nose and whisper, “When we get out of here, I’m taking Ares far, far away from you.”
He just chuckles.
“I don’t know why I ever offered to do this. I could have just convinced him to leave with me, and you’d be all alone.”
“But you didn’t, and now it’s too late,” he says, pulling the car to a stop. I glance out the windows at the men crowding around the car with semi-automatic weapons. Beyond them the double doors yawn open, and golden light spills onto the concrete floor of the loading dock. I dart my gaze back to Hermes. “Goodbye, Pet.”
“Don’t you dare call me that,” I say, but Hermes flips a switch, and the divider goes up between us. The door opens, and a beefy arm reaches in and grabs my leash. I swat and kick, not ready for this.I didn’t sign up for this. Why did Ares leave me? Why would he leave me with his brother only to be handed over to these brutes?
“No!” I scream as they pull me from the car by the ankle, depositing me on the wet asphalt.
I’m pulled to my feet, and I struggle as a black fabric bag is shoved over my head. I’m yanked forward, my feet dragging, scraping painfully against the concrete.
“Stop fighting,” a gruff voice says in my ear. I still. For the briefest of seconds I freeze, unable to fight back.What am I doing here? Why did I ever think I could do this? Why would I betray myself and my Master by agreeing to be sold to another?
I must have lost my damn mind when Ares set me free.
“Good. You’re not completely stupid then.” The man yanks me forward, and I have no choice but to keep up or lose the skin on the top of my feet. “This will all go easier if you behave.”
I’m pulled inside a building. I can make out only bits and pieces of my surroundings—a large torso. A long hall. More guns, more guards.
Fear makes my heart trip all over itself as I’m led down the corridor by my leash. At least I’m allowed to walk instead of crawling.
I’m roughly shoved into a room at the end of the passageway. Inside, there’s a quiet, a stillness that is filled with fear. The stench is crippling. Someone coughs. Another person whimpers, but it’s silenced with the sharp whack of a heavy instrument pounding flesh, followed by a guttural cry. The bag is removed from my head. Light blinds me, and I squeeze my eyes closed against the sudden intrusion.
“Get in line. At the back,” my guard says as he shoves me forward. He lets go of my leash too late. I choke as I’m pulled backward and stumble into him. I gag, and cough, but a sharp smack across the back of my thigh with a cane has me standing up straight as white-hot pain lances through me.