Chapter
One
It was the sound of her mother screaming that had Audrey waking up. Her heart raced, and the voice in her head said Run! But she couldn’t leave without her mother and brother. They’d been prepared for this, or as prepared as they could be.
The slavers have come for us.
Audrey was out of the bed and rushing toward the door in only a matter of seconds. She held her breath as she gripped the handle and pulled the door open as silently as she could. There was a flickering of light from the candle in the center of the kitchen table. Her mother insisted on leaving one lit throughout the night.
But the shadows were thick, and the sound of another scream had Audrey reacting. She couldn’t run, even if her mother had told her to if the slavers ever came to their village and took them. No, Audrey couldn’t just leave her mother and brother to a fate worse than death.
Because her mother was older, she’d be sold as house stock. And her brother, because he was male and in good physical health, would be used as field stock.
But Audrey wouldn’t be used in the house or field. She swallowed, her fear rising. She’d be used as sex stock, and that was not what she was going to allow herself to be. Before leaving the room, she grabbed a large log that was over by the fireplace in her room. Curling her fingers around the rough bark, she took a steadying breath. Audrey would not allow her mother or brother to be used as slaves either. She’d rather die than see them end that way.
Without thinking about it anymore, Audrey left the room, careful of her surroundings. She didn’t know how many slavers were in the house, but she knew there was always more than one.
Her mother screamed once more, and then there was a sickening thud, and all sound ceased. Audrey’s heart stopped, her throat tightened, and her mouth went dry. The rough wood flooring beneath her bare feet made her steps soundless. Her long red hair was in loose strands over her shoulders and falling to her waist, and she wished she’d tied it up, not wanting any obstructions.
Audrey’s mother’s door was partially open, and through the flickering of the candlelight, she could see large shadows moving around. If they’d been wealthy and lived in a city, they wouldn’t have slavers kidnapping and killing them. But being poor, living in a small village, and having no electricity or the common comforts the rich had made Audrey and others like her easy prey. It also didn’t help that her government was corrupt, even condoning and encouraging slavers to hunt down and “get rid” of the poor, as they saw them as nothing more than vermin.
And just as she was about to push the door open, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She stilled, turned her head, and her world fell away as she saw the lifeless eyes of her brother staring at her. Tears instantly welled in her eyes, and a small sound escaped her.
Then her mother’s door opened, and Audrey turned her head to look into the cold, black eyes of one of the slave traders. Audrey looked around his shoulder and saw a puddle of blood on the ground, followed by her mother’s body. Audrey looked at the man again and saw the grisly smile on his face. He stepped to the side, and that’s when she knew he’d killed her mother. The tears fell down her cheeks, and as much as she wanted to scream, run, fight back, all she could do was stand there frozen, with horror, agony, and despair filling her.
“Shame about the boy,” the slaver said. “He would have made good field stock.” He looked over his shoulder at her mother. “But the old woman put up too much of a fight. She should have come, and she would have had a cushy position as house stock.”
Audrey swallowed, the tears falling harder and faster down her cheeks. The slaver reached out and grabbed the white nightgown she wore.
“But you,” he all but purred. “You’ll make good pussy stock.”
And then Audrey felt something sharp go into her arm. She turned around and saw the second slaver standing behind her. She opened her mouth to scream, not that it would do much good, but before anything came out, a wave of haziness filled her. Reaching out and grabbing on to the doorframe, Audrey pushed her way past the man behind her. He didn’t stop her, but with the drugs he’d injected into her, she knew it wasn’t likely she could get far.
She reached out to grab the wall, but the floor rushed up to greet her. It was when she was face down on the ground, with the laughter of the slavers filling her head, that Audrey knew her life was truly over.
Days later
“Five thousand lupines.”
Audrey felt her throat tighten at the sum that had been called out … the amount she had just been bought for.
Someone grabbed her arm roughly and jerked her back. She wore another white dress, similar to the nightgown she’d been wearing when taken from her home, but this one was ornamented with lace and even a few gems. It was to attract buyers, to make her seem more appealing.
It was so she’d fetch the highest amount she could get.
“Move,” the slaver ordered her, all but pushing her off the stage. Tripping over her feet, she braced a hand on the fencing that had been erected around the auction block.
When she’d woken up after the drugs had worn off several days ago, she’d found herself in the back of a cargo vehicle, a handful of other kidnapped women sitting around her. They all stared at her, but none would make eye contact. So she’d sat in the back of that cargo vehicle, the clear roof above her giving her a shot of the sky as it went from light to dark.
Once they’d reached their destination, which had been days’ worth of travel, the slavers had taken them out of the back of the vehicle by pulling on the chains that were wrapped around their necks.
And then she’d been put in a room, fed scraps, given filthy water, and only allowed one bath since her capture … and that bath had come right before this auction.
The auction, or “Floating Sale,” as it was known in this country, moved around. But buyers came from all over the world to purchase slaves. Today had been about the sex slaves, and she’d been thrown in with the other young, fertile, and healthy females.
Some of the females would be strictly used for sex by their “masters.” The fertile females would be used as breeding stock for their masters and their wives who couldn’t have children. And then there were the rare “Gems,” as the slavers called them, who were sold for astronomical prices due to the fact they still had their virginity intact.
Audrey had been one of the Gems thrown up on the block.
“Get in the back with the others and wait for your buyer to claim you.” The slaver pushed her forward, and she stumbled, nearly falling over and onto the girl in front of her. The chain around her neck was removed, and although she wasn’t restrained at the moment, there were several slavers around with electrical prods that they used on the disobedient “stock.”
“Fuck you,” a female said, her voice loud.
Audrey looked to the side and watched the situation unfold. She remembered the woman from earlier today. She’d been the first to be placed on the auction block, sold as breeding stock. She’d been feisty, though, and even if she’d been slapped around, gotten the electrical prod, and had a split lip, she’d still gotten a large sum from a buyer. She also hadn’t stopped fighting.