I studied the crowd, casting discreet glances upward when I could. I recognized no one. Every vampire here was older and more powerful than most I’d ever seen. Older vampires just had a thing about them—an air, an aura, an otherworldliness that I picked up on easily now. They screamed “deadly” to my human senses; they made me want to run. It must come from their ability to use a tiny bit more magic. Vampires didn’t have magic, not really, not anything special, but they could do a few tricks with blood. Enact glamours, hide or find things, change human memories… I didn’t really know much about it. Franklin wasn’t powerful enough for any of that. Not like the others here.
And before the end of the night, one of them might be my new owner. I shuddered.
Don’t think about it, the tiny voice trying to keep me sane said, but I couldn’t help it.
Would it be the vampire female in the pink chiffon dress, following me with her eyes as she took a long drink of red wine? Her manicured nails were like talons, her sneer cruel. Nah—she was looking for a man, probably, given the way she was basking in the stares of a gaggle of male vampires on the opposite wall.
Or would it be the salt-and-pepper-haired vampire who leaned back in his chair. He gave me a half-insane grin as I passed. He had a human with him, a girl of maybe twenty. She was wearing a collar, and he held her leash. She looked well taken care of, at least. Maybe he was the type who kept “show” humans, like those people who owned teacup poodles or munchkin cats or whatever. I had no idea what that life was like, no idea if it would be better than what I had now. I hated that I only had bad options to consider and hope for.
My pulse raced. If there’d been anything at all in my stomach, I might’ve been trying to throw it up.
We reached Table 15. Franklin shoved me down into a chair. I looked away, annoyed, and my gaze landed on a male sitting on the edge of the auction stage.
His gaze was fixed on me in return, curious and interested.
He was a vampire—pale, thin, with the telltale shadows under his eyes and that aura of menace they all had. His dark, glossy hair fell across his forehead. His sensual lips twisted into a small smile as I studied him, my eyes trailing over his fox-like face, long limbs, and the elegant way he held his glass.
He was very pretty, especially for a vampire. Although they tended to have pristine features, their ghoulish skin ruined the entire image. But this one…his skin was snowy and there was just something about his eyes…
Otherworldly.
His smug smile widened under my attention, revealing the slight edge of his pointed fangs. I looked away, unnerved, just as Franklin rapped my wrist.
“Mmm?” I said, casting my attention back toward him.
“Drink?”
There was a waiter at his elbow, taking his order. Franklin must’ve been in an excellent mood if he was asking my opinion about anything.
I swallowed. “Anything is fine.” I wasn’t about to be disagreeable.
I didn’t hear what he told the waiter, irrationally eager to study the mysterious vampire again. I brought my gaze back up to the edge of the stage, but he was gone.
Chapter 4
I spent an hour ignoring everything except the champagne Franklin handed me. I drank whenever I could. Alcohol had a great way of making me forget things, and I really wanted to let this night fade into fuzziness. It also made me sick to my stomach, but that was fine. I’d take the trade.
TV shows and books about fake vampires might’ve led me to believe I should keep my wits about me at all times, but there really wasn’t a need for that. Humans couldn’t fight vampires. We couldn’t escape them. Maybe it didn’t make me the best or most ambitious person in the world, but I’d learned that it was easier to be compliant.
I was sick of getting hurt. Sick of pain. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to get away from it. If I couldn’t have true freedom, just keeping the pain away was its own kind of freedom, the one thing I could control about my life.
I was more content with small victories now than ever before, even if I longed for bigger ones.
Franklin got up, mingled, talked to others. That was fine. Great, even. I loved it when his attention fell on things other than me. All the windows and doors here had magical alarms keyed to the imprints on the back of my hands. I couldn’t escape, so it hardly mattered whether I was within his sight or not.
Hunger gnawed at my insides, but there was no food here. I’d never seen a vampire eat a single thing, and I’d never asked Franklin if they could.
I took another sip of champagne and stared down at the empty table.
Everyone ignored me. It would be impolite to address me without addressing Franklin first, and there would be punishment here for any vampire who harmed a human they didn’t own.
I’d be fine for at least another few hours, and I was trying my best not to imagine what would happen after that.
Trying not to let myself hope that this whole building might burn down or blow up before that happened.
I looked up occasionally, trying to catch a glimpse of the vampire I’d seen earlier, but I didn’t see him. I caught sight of many vampires here with dark hair and pale skin and tailored black suits, but none of them were him. None of them had his oddly captivating presence, alluring in a dangerous way, like a beautiful wild animal.
Franklin returned. He smacked my shoulder. “Your hair is coming undone. Go fix it.”
Why the hell do you even care?
Woodenly, I got up and spotted the women’s bathroom in the corner near the entrance.
“Don’t take too long, and keep your mouth shut,” he added, catching my arm.
Damn, I really couldn’t wait to get away from him. I shook him off gently—he probably wouldn’t care about that mild disobedience—and walked away without a word.
Could I go the rest of the night without speaking to him again?
The bathroom was mercifully empty when I entered, full of marble and dim lights and soft music. I retied my hair as Franklin had demanded and wet a paper towel, dabbing my watery eyes and hot cheeks. I was pale and shaking. Hunger, not fear. I still wasn’t letting myself think about the fact that there was a good chance life was about to get worse.
Were there any nice vampires? They were all human once, right? So what happened? Why didn’t they look at humans and feel bad about the things they did?
The door swished open behind me, and I jumped.
Two female vampires entered. Twins, with light skin, and white gowns, and auburn hair—stunning, like dolls or figures from a painting.
The one on the left noticed me and let out a low laugh. “What do we have here?”
The other tilted her head. “A lone human.”
“What a shame,” the first said, giving her sister an awful smile.
I stood straighter and held up my hands. “I’m for sale.”
“We know,” the second one said.
“We don’t care,” the first one added.
Oh shit.
I took a step back. Vampires could move far more quickly than I could, almost as quick as lightning, and these two were blocking the door. I wouldn’t be able to get past them. My only other option was to scream and hope someone heard.
I opened my mouth—
The first one gripped me from behind, her right hand crushed over my lips, her left pulling my ponytail. I hadn’t seen her move. I whimpered, trying to free my arms and reach up to claw at her, but it was no use.