Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
This was surreal.
It felt like a bad dream. Like every single horror movie, dark-themed book, and snippet of true crime documentary Emma had ever seen in her entire life had combined together to create this horrific nightmare that was too awful to be real.
Only it was real.
There really was a collar locked around her neck, her wrists really were bound with leather straps to her sides, where they connected to the skimpy lingerie she’d been forced to wear.
A thin metal chain ran from her collar to the wall, and she was forced to remain seated because the length of the chain didn't allow for anything else.
Another eleven women sat in the large space with her, and the tension in the room crackled like fire. Unlike the women she’d been kept with before, these ones didn't appear to be as docile. Between them, they’d shared whispered stories of their journeys to this point.
Whatever Emma had thought she’d known about the depths of human depravity had been blown out of the water. The things these women had been through, that she herself had been through, proved that evil truly did exist.
Together, they’d tried to come up with a plan, but they were all bound, the men had guns and were so much bigger than them, and even all twelve of them working as a team couldn’t come up with a workable solution to their problems, beyond venting about what they’d love to do to their captors.
“Time to move,” a man dressed all in black announced as he strolled into the room.
If they’d hoped that perhaps they wouldn't be outnumbered, they weren't in luck. There was one guard for each of them, plus the one who seemed to be in charge.
That huge seven-foot-tall mountain of a man came straight for Emma, his beady little eyes roaming her body like he’d love the chance to explore it.
It took basically all the strength she had left not to cower before him, to keep her back straight and her gaze steady as he unhooked the other end of her chain from the wall and jerked on it, forcing her to her feet.
The blow to her head from trying to escape must have left her with a concussion because the world still spun a little every time she was upright, and the lingering nausea wasn't entirely from fear.
As much as Emma would love to say she was ready to fight to the death, the truth was, she didn't want to die, didn't want to accept that her fate was already sealed.
Nathan.
So many times that single word shot through her mind. She was torn between hating him for lying to her and praying that he found a way to come for her.
The problem was, she didn't know if he’d been lying or not.
It certainly made sense that he had been lying, it was a great and shockingly effective way to get her to become more compliant.
Yet she couldn’t deny that he hadn't felt the same way as the other men had. Maybe he was just a great actor. Or maybe she’d just been desperate enough to believe what she wanted to believe.
In the end, it didn't really matter.
Whatever the truth was, she was still there. Still about to be sold. Still about to be thrown into a world where she would wish for death.
Jerking on his end of the chain, the huge man caught her off-balance.
The heels didn't help with the dizziness, and she stumbled, her body careening into his.
Without her hands to help steady herself, she slammed into his rock-hard chest, hating the way he snickered, clearly amused about toying with her for no reason other than he could and there was nothing she could do about it.
With his sleazy gaze still roaming her all but naked body, he reached out lazy fingers and slid them beneath the thin lace cup of her bra to tweak her nipple.
“Don’t touch me,” she growled, trying to jerk her body back, but the chain didn't allow her to go far, and he merely pinched her nipple hard, making her yelp.
“Who’s going to stop me?” he asked as he removed his fingers from her breast and instead pushed them between her legs.
Her attempt to squeeze her legs together was utterly useless, and those fat fingers of his shoved aside the scrap of silk that covered her and grabbed her bud, pinching it roughly and making her yelp again.
“Stop,” she hissed, aware that hers weren't the only sounds of pain, fear, and anger in the room. All of them talked a good talk, focused on their rage at their situation, but none of that erased the terror.
“You think this is all you're going to go through?” the man asked with a chuckle, pinching her bundle of nerves again before withdrawing his fingers and trying to shove them between her lips.
If he thought he was going to do that and not get bitten, he was an idiot.
Sinking her teeth into his flesh, she refused to let go when he howled. Blood coated her tongue, and she almost gagged on it when it slid down her throat, but she didn't let go. This wasn't going to change her situation any, but it felt so damn good.
“You want to wear a gag, girl?” the man snapped as he slammed his fist into the side of her head, making her see stars and lose her grip on his finger.
“Idiot,” the guy in charge grumbled as he must have stormed over to them, although her vision was too spotty to see properly. “You shouldn’t put your fingers where you don’t want them bitten. And don’t hit her again, she’s about to go on stage.”
Too woozy now to do much but try to remain upright as she was dragged along by the man holding her chain, Emma couldn’t think of anything even vaguely effective that she could do to escape.
She and the others were led to the side of a stage, and she could see a man dressed in a tux standing on it, talking animatedly to an audience, although the rushing in her ears meant she couldn’t make out any of his words.
First one woman, then another, and another, were led across the stage by the man holding the chain attached to their collar. More voices rang out from the audience. Sick men placing twisted bids to own a human being.
“You're up,” the huge man said as he yanked on her chain, forcing her to stumble after him.
Bright lights blinded her, making the searing pain behind her eyes so much worse.
The voices of the bidders and the auctioneer blended into one pounding sound that hurt her ears.
She wanted to scream at them all to stop, to tell them what monsters she thought they were, remind them that sooner or later they’d be the ones without power while someone else stood over them, deciding their fate.
But that was probably wishful thinking.
Who was going to hold them to account?
Certainly not her. She didn't have that power. Not Nathan either. Even if he hadn't been lying to her, he’d been powerless to stop her from being sold despite telling her he wouldn't let it happen.
Someone must have bought her because she was guided off stage, back through a warren of hallways and corridors, and into the same cell she’d first woken up in. Only this time, the thin chain running from her collar was attached to a metal ring in the floor, keeping her down on her knees.
Right where these men wanted her.
It felt like she knelt there for hours, her cut knees quickly protesting the position, but there was nothing she could do about it.
Nothing she could do about any of this.
And when the door to her cell was finally opened, and a man with dark skin, a shaved head, and an expensive-looking suit stood there, her mouth went completely dry.
This was it.
The beginning of the end.
“You're even more beautiful up close,” he said, almost a hint of wonder in his voice as he took a step closer.
“And you're even more evil,” she shot back before she could think about the consequences of her actions.
These men weren't to be messed with, and Nathan wasn’t there to step in, offering either fake or real comfort and protection. She was on her own, and if she was going to survive, she had to be smart. Don’t worry about winning the battles, just focus on winning the war.
Instead of hitting her, kicking her, or threatening her in any way, the man in the suit just laughed. “Oh, you are going to be a delight,” he said, his accented voice telling her that he was from somewhere in Africa, although she didn't know enough about accents to figure out which country.
Not that it really mattered. She was about to be transported halfway around the world, away from her family and friends, her job and hobbies, her home and the life that she’d built for herself.
Away from any hope that she might be saved.
August 6th
11:19 A.M.
They weren't doing anything to further his goal.
Nothing.
Not a single thing.
If Falcon was trying to annoy him by remaining calm and composed when Nathan felt anything but, then his boss was doing a damn good job of it.
There wasn't a worse feeling in the world than losing control, having nothing solid beneath your feet.
It was exhausting. It felt like constantly having to tread water, in an ocean that was actively trying to drown you.
Water kept shoving him down, closing in over his head, slipping into his mouth, and choking him.
It was literally everything he could do right now just to keep his head above that water.
Because he’d been living at the warehouse since he was initiated into Azure, and because he spent most of his time moving from job to job with little downtime, he didn't have a place to stay, so Falcon had offered to let him crash at his place while they figured out a plan.
The house was nice, and there was a guest suite with its own bathroom, so he didn't have to share one with two seven-year-olds and a two-year-old, but being around this sweet, happy little family, while the only woman he’d ever felt anything beyond attraction for had been sold, was hell.
Felt like rubbing in his face everything he’d never have.