CHAPTER ONE
MASON
The alley smells of stale urine, dampness, and exhaust fumes. I keep my head down, keys threaded between my fingers, boots scuffing against the cracked asphalt as I walk through the neighborhood.
It’s oddly quiet tonight. Too quiet for my liking, and a part of me wonders if it was a good idea to take this route back to my apartment.
The other part brushes off that intense, ominous gut feeling. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? I have been taking this path for months now.
I reach the end and take a turn, then stalk down the dimly lit path. The menacing feeling twisting in my belly doubles down, and my steps slow, gaze watchful as I take in the open street.
It’s safe.
I’m only three blocks away from home. Even if something happens, I’ll run. I have done that a lot in the past.
Shoulders rolling, a deep breath pressing into my lungs, I move, stride long and purposeful, as I step out into the light, keeping to the pavement.
That’s when I hear it. A low, consistent hum that approaches. My body springs forward to make a run for it, but the vehicle moves faster. The engine rumbles, rubber tires biting into asphalt as the van parks in a curve, cutting me off.
Before I can turn, the door slides open with a metallic scrape, and three broad-shouldered men spill out onto the asphalt quickly.
Too quickly.
My body moves on instinct, but the sharp click of a gun forces me to halt.
I put my hand up, rooted to the spot as tremors race through my entire body. My keys hit the ground as the men stomp toward me. They pull my backpack off my shoulder and toss it across the street before they force me into the car at gunpoint.
My back slams against the van, the impact knocking the air out of my lungs. The putrid smell of cologne, bleach, and blood lingers in the air. Before I can adjust to the dark, rough fingers grip my jaw and tie a thick fabric over my nostrils.
I struggle. Body buckling against the strength of the bigger and stronger man as he focuses on holding me still.
The nauseating smell from the fabric mixes with my breath and spills into my lungs.
My head becomes light as the shadowy space warps in and out of my vision, knocking consciousness out of me.
When my eyes flutter open, light floods in from every direction of the small room.
I gasp and sit up, slowly scurrying away to the closest wall I can find, body seeking anchorage.
Quick breaths drill out of my lungs as my eyes adjust to the intensity of the light.
My throat works, and my gaze lands on the red door.
It’s the exit.
Instincts kick in. I jerk upright and scramble for the door before the room can close in on me.
This can’t be real, right? I could be in a very horrifying dream and only needed to wake up.
I squeeze my eyes and clench my fists at my sides, then open them back only to realize I’m trapped.
Fuck!
Where am I? Where did those men take me?
My body trembles as I grip the handle and pull aggressively. To my dismay, the door’s locked, and the reality steals every bit of hope inside me piece by piece.
I push back and run my hand through my thick coils of hair, pacing the room as I try to come up with a plan. Then I hear voices outside the door. I move closer, steps as quiet as possible, as I press my head against the polished wood, hoping to make out the words of the men on the other side.
Then footsteps approach in my direction, pressing closer. My heart hammers against my chest so hard it rattles my ribs. Fingers clenching into fists, I try to come up with something. I can fight whoever’s on the other side. But what if they’re armed?
What if I get hurt? Worse, I get killed.
Quick, hot breaths break through my lungs.
Click. Click.
The door slides open, and a tall man whom I have never seen in my life enters the room. He stands barely an inch from the door, dark, intense eyes picking me apart as he watches me.
“You have no reason to worry. After tonight, your life will change.” His lips curl into a soft smile, voice laced with sick admiration.
I know exactly what that smile means.
I can’t trust it.
It’s the type of smile that pulls you in and makes you feel safe. It gives you hope, then steals it right from your hands while the horror unfolds in your reality.
He grips the door and opens it, and two hefty men move toward me, snatching me up and pulling me out of the room.
Fighting now is pointless. I have to figure out where I am and how I can escape.
The men force me down a dark hall that seems almost endless until we appear behind thick, dark red curtains.
The curtains open onto a well-lit stage opposite a house filled with a throng of people.
An intense, blinding light comes off the battens overhead.
I can’t see anyone sitting opposite me. I can’t see anything at all.
Then, the high-pitched crack of a microphone slices the silence, and a deep, controlled voice shatters through my thoughts, and the truth crashes over me all at once.
Cold, suffocating, and undeniable.
I’m being auctioned off to the highest bidder.
“Five hundred thousand. Five hundred thousand.” The man with the microphone repeats.
My heart swells with fear, shattering through every nerve ending in my body. My eyes squint, and I try to make out the occupants of the seating area of the auditorium, but the light is too bright for my vision.
“Six hundred thousand.” The man’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts. Panic sits on my chest, forcing half-breaths through my parted lips. My hands tremble, and I force it to my side.
“Stay strong, Mason. Stay strong.” My words come out broken, and tears roll down my cheeks. Silent and trailing hot.
“Sold!”
The bell tolls, and my heart sinks.
“Sold for six hundred thousand.”
I inhale sharply, chest rising rapidly, feet trembling against the stage as I try to find my balance. Before I can say a word, the same men who had brought me out to the auction block steal me back into the suffocating darkness.
I’m supposed to be in my apartment.
I’m supposed to be dancing to the constant thumping of the local nightclub in the vicinity whilst working through the files I haven’t sorted at the office.
The two men take me out of the building, but thoughts of what’s happening around me send a surge of disorientation through my blood.
Is this what my life has turned into? After nearly seven years of freedom. Of having to look over my back constantly. How am I going to get through this?
The two men hand me over to the same group that had kidnapped me and brought me to this auction house in the middle of nowhere.
They toss me back into the van, and the shortest of the three climbs in with a dark, thick fabric wrapped firmly around his fist. “Hold still.” He grunts.
He slides the blindfold over my eyes, and it swallows the light around me.
The world vanishes, then a second later, metal snaps around my wrists.
The engine revs low, sending a chill through my spine.
Where are these men taking me, and what do they want?
Almost seven years of freedom, and I made sure never to come close to anything that would make me a scapegoat. I have a decent job, and I live in a decent apartment. I have led a quiet life with minimal friends and a home in a discreet neighborhood.
But somehow evil still finds me.
The van jerks forward, and my back slams against the bodywork. Then the driver follows the path, tires rolling over asphalt.
I count turns out of instinct, holding onto the minute hope of survival.
Left.
Right.
Right.
A long stretch of straight tarred road. Tires hum against asphalt, then grind over rougher terrain as the auction house slips away behind us.
The driver navigates the vehicle for almost an hour.
No traffic. No horns. Nothing.
The hope in my chest slowly withers into something lifeless when the sickening truth sinks into my bones. I might never escape where they’re taking me. Is it something worse than the auction house? Am I going to be killed? Everything I think of ends up with me dead or in captivity.
After a while, the vehicle slows, and the brakes groan as we roll to a stop.
The door opens, and night air floods into the space with a tinge of the forest, rust, and stagnant water. Hands grab my arms again, hauling me out of the vehicle. Boots scrunch against gravel and dead leaves, then solid concrete. My steps become uneven as they drag me through a heavy metal door.
The hinges protest as it slams, the sound bouncing off my ears. A metal chair scrapes against concrete, then my captors force me to sit and strap me down with chains. Their steps shuffle as they leave.
Silence sinks into my bones, sending an uneasy chill through me.
It isn’t too long, and the same men bring someone else in. I can tell he’s been here before by the way he begs for mercy. His voice comes out breathless every time the words splutter out of his lips, but his pleas are unmet with care.
These men do not give a damn how much you beg.
They must be cold-blooded monsters.
“The boss is here.” A deep voice echoes in the void just as more footsteps reverberate over the harsh concrete floor.
When one man pulls off my blindfold, pale yellow light spills over me like liquid silk, flooding my vision. My eyes adjust to the mild intensity as the men who had kidnapped me position at the corners of the room, the other two who had just arrived closing the distance.
The man steps close enough for me to see him. He stands in a black suit with a long black tailcoat jacket. Smoke swirls from the lit torpedo cigar trapped between his fingers. He leans closer, and the light pours over his salt and pepper locs.
My throat works, eyes holding his gaze for only a moment before I look away.