Chapter 32
Phoenix
Iknow better than to barge in while Clark is conducting his bidding. But I don't care. Not this time. Not with her out there. I push into the sound room, and I can tell he's surprised.
“What the fuck?” he snaps before thinking to cut the sound to his microphone off. “Phoenix, what the hell are you doing in here?”
“Where the fuck did you get this girl? The one you're auctioning right now. Roni.”
“Phoenix, this is entirely unacceptable,” he snarls, but I don’t give a fuck.
“Please. It's important. I'll explain, and I'll hope you'll hear me out. I just gotta know. Where the fuck did she come from?”
He thinks for a moment, before returning to his microphone, making an announcement to the crowd below.
“I'm sorry, folks. Had a brief hiccup. We're addressing it now, I assure you.
I'll be with you shortly, and we will resume right where we left off.” He shuts the sound down again and turns, glaring at me through the holes in his leather mask.
“Clark, I need you to tell me.”
“Fine. Then you're going to explain to me what the fuck you think you’re doing. And then you're going to tell me how you're going to make this up to him.”
“Agreed.” I nod. “Now, tell me,” I insist.
“Do you remember when you brought in the ginger, the girl you actually purchased this evening, if you want to call it that?”
“Yes, Mercy, I do.”
“Something about the way you explained where you found her and how it went. Working at a little coffee shack out in the middle of nowhere off the side of the road made too much sense. Too good to be true. Turns out there are these little coffee shops everywhere. So, the boss gave Jimmy orders.”
“Jimmy?” I question, though I know exactly who he's talking about. “You mean the horse guy? The dickhead you have trading livestock for an extra buck? That Jimmy?”
“That's the one,” he confirms.
My teeth start to grind because I fucking knew it. I fucking knew when I saw him at Roni's work. I—I could have fucking saved her.
God, Phoenix, you're such a fucking dumbass.
“And so, he got her in the trailer and brought her in. Is that right?”
“Yeah. How'd you know?”
“Clark, that is my girl, Roni. The one I told you I thought disappeared. The one I said ghosted me. The one I love.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he snaps at me.
“Not long before she went missing, I went to pick her up from work. Your guy, Jimmy, was there with his horse trailer. She climbed into the back, but I had just pulled in, so I was a witness. Hell, she and I had a whole argument about it, because I didn't think it was safe for her to be climbing into the back of a stranger’s fucking trailer.”
“Kind of ironic how right you were.” His words jab at me.
“Look, I'm not here to fight with you about the business or anything else. But that is my girl.”
“Okay,” he mutters, and I can hear the wheels spinning in his head. “What do you propose we do about that? You do know this isn't her first auction.”
Rage boils inside me. At this very second, I’m convinced I could kill everything and everyone here. But it would create too much of a mess. I have a different idea.
“Let me go down and participate in this auction,” I demand.
“Phoenix, you know we can't do that. You already—” I cut him off.
“I understand, Clark. I realize that I made a mistake in choosing Mercy. That can be your justification. Cling to confidentiality as a reason to withhold the details, but after Roni's auction, which you will let me win, put Mercy back up. Let people believe that I’m in love for a million dollars and that I would like to get as much of that money back as possible. The boss can keep every dime they pay.”
“Okay. And what do we do with this bid for your girl?” he pushes, knowing he has me by the emotional balls.
“I need you to call him. Call him and tell him I need to buy her out. I cannot leave here without her. I know that's asking a lot, but here's what I can offer. The Sect will get my next year of services free of charge in exchange for letting me take her home.”
“Okay, but how do you think this will work?” he inquires. “Don't you think it'll be a little odd if she finds you out there, chasing her, if previously, when she ran, she was caught by a hunter and ravaged against a tree? Won’t that cause problems in your beloved relationship?”
He’s fucking playing games with me now. I know he doesn’t give a flying fuck about my relationship. Or about me. Or her. None of it. He just lusts for this power he pretends he has.
“Yes, it absolutely will,” I admit quickly. “Which is why that's not what's going to happen.”
“Do tell.”
“None of the girls are being set loose until after all the bidding is done.
Roni will simply be the last one to be let loose for The Chase.
I won't pay extra for her to be set free first. She will have to wait until everyone else goes.
While all the bidding for the first girl to run is happening, I'm going to make my way to the edge of the property line, at the far end of the woods.
I'm going to take whatever gear I find here to help me pose as a camper.
I'll be out there waiting for her. I will not have a mask. I will just be a man camping in the woods. She will run and run and run. I know her. She will keep running. And when she gets to me, I will take her, and I will keep her safe forever. And then for the next year, you have me to do as you need, no questions asked.”