I stood in front of the mirror. Nope, I could still see everything.
“I can’t go stand in a room full of vampires like this!” I pleaded. Sabrina and Sierra got to wear normal clothes—black tank tops and dress pants. Who did I talk to so I could get that? It certainly wasn’t Lady Desiree.
“They can’t choose you if they can’t see you.” Sierra’s gaze fell over my body. I crossed my legs and put my hand over my chest. She laughed. “Don’t worry. I promise they’ll love you.”
“We’ve never had a girl we prepared for auction rejected,” Sabrina added.
Rejected? No, that wasn’t an option. “What happens to those girls?”
They both shrugged, shaking their heads. I wasn’t about to find out.
I followed the girls down an endless hallway. It was too easy to get lost here. The building was beautiful, with sleek white interiors, metal accents, and no signs of the undead.
Sierra punched a code into a door. “Is this the auction?” I asked. I wasn’t ready to be left on my own yet. I thought we’d have more time to talk about, well, everything. I had so many questions, and now I was kicking myself for not asking. They’d caught me so off-guard, bathing me, making me pretty, and then refusing to give me real clothes, I didn’t realize what they were doing.
Distracting me.
She nodded.
I stopped short before crossing the threshold. “I’m scared.”
“This is the hall.” Sabrina’s cool fingers laced into mine as she brought me into the huge room. We weren’t the only people here. About a dozen other girls dressed (or undressed) like me and their courtesans milled around a huge dining table. “No going to auction with an empty belly. Eat. That’s the best advice I can give you.”
That’s it? Have dinner? I clutched her hand. “What about the rest of it?”
A dreamy smile played on her lips. It was so hard not to look in her eyes. “It’s different for all of us, but I can tell you your life will never be the same after tonight. It’s an honor to be chosen, but remember, you have what they want.”
The girls left me shell-shocked and alone with that riddle.
“Hi.” A girl with long blonde hair, as much makeup and as little clothing as me, flashed a bright smile, bringing me back to the room. “I’m Olivia. Don’t be scared. It’s actually fun.”
“I’m Corynne. How do you know that?” Maybe she’d been brainwashed by Lady Desiree or whatever courtesan got her ready.
Olivia laughed. “I’ve been here before.”
“You came back? Or you didn’t get picked?” Impossible. This girl was absolutely beautiful. Tall, skinny, way prettier than me. I was so screwed.
She shook her head, and some of her confidence faded. “Not yet. But I have a good feeling about tonight. Third time’s a charm. Or else I don’t get to come back.”
We sat together at the table. The other girls going to auction took seats around us. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one marked with a V. That would’ve been awkward. Everybody here was so friendly, and I didn’t expect that. Maybe they’d been like me wherever they’d come from, the one who didn’t belong. Something had to make them want to sell their blood to vampires. Wasn’t exactly what most girls dreamed of doing when they grew up.
More courtesans, dressed in black, brought out trays of meat, fruit, and cheese. Another one filled our glasses with red wine. At least I hoped that’s what it was.
“Tell me what happens.” I ladled fruit salad on my plate and then handed the platter to Olivia.
She popped a piece of watermelon into her mouth, closing her eyes and savoring the taste. “They lead us out on the stage, and the vampires will come up and inspect us. If they’re satisfied with what they’ve seen, they bid on the girls they want.”
These vampires were all about inspections. I crossed my legs instinctively. Olivia loaded her plate with cheese. “Then what?” I was on a need to know basis.
“I don’t know. I never get further than the auction.” Olivia smiled, but the corners of her mouth quivered. It didn’t exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. “I think you’ll get picked tonight. First of all, you have that.” She pointed at the V. She didn’t have one. “They like having first crack at you. A lot. And you’re curvy. Lady Desiree tells me I’m too skinny, that they’ll have nowhere to sink their teeth.”
“But you’re so pretty.” It didn’t make any sense.
“So are you. But things are different here. You’ll see.”
I ate way more than I should have. I didn’t have much money with me, and I hadn’t wanted to waste any of it on food since I had no idea how long I had to make it last. I only sipped my wine. The other girls, including Olivia, had more than one glass, their faces flushed and their laughter growing louder. The courtesans were all too willing to offer refills. I’d never drank before, and the first couple of sips made my head feel funny. Wine was not for me. I couldn’t risk losing what little control I had over my thoughts.
Everyone wouldn’t be so nice to me if they knew what I was capable of doing to them.
The courtesans returned to clear the table. “Come on.” Olivia grabbed my hand. “Let’s get a good spot. You want the vampires to see you first, so they don’t decide on someone else before they even get a chance to look at you.”
“What do I do?” I whispered.
“Follow my lead.” Olivia squeezed my hand. I wished that made me feel better. She’d never been chosen. I didn’t know if there was any difference between that and rejected. I could not get rejected, sent back into the unknown, where the police could find me.
The courtesans opened the door and led us down yet another hallway. It opened to a stage in a small theater. The lights were low, and I could only make out the silhouettes of the men—no, scratch that, vampires—sitting at the tables.
Holy crap, they’re all here to buy us.
I bumped into Olivia when she stopped, and I backed up, completely bewildered. The spotlights coming up from the stage blinded me, its own form of vampire glamour. All I saw were stars for a minute. Once my vision cleared, I looked back to Olivia for guidance. She stood with her hands behind her back, chest out, and I couldn’t tell what she was focused on.
The vampires didn’t make a sound as they came to the stage. They may have looked human, but when they moved, far more gracefully than even the most skilled dancer, the sick knot twisting in my stomach told me otherwise. I held my breath and stood like Olivia, focusing on the color pink. It was my last resort when I couldn’t come up with one positive thing to stop my horrible thoughts.
So many vampires, and not all men, to my surprise. I hadn’t even considered that. I couldn’t risk getting caught in the crossfire of their gazes, so I kept my eyes down. Everyone was well-dressed, and smelled really, really good, but I had no way to tell what they thought of me. They circled slowly, stopping every so often, ushering in a strange stillness. I wished one of them would say something, ask me a question, anything to make this less terrifying. Then they were gone.
Except for the one who lingered.
Thoughts of pink turned to blue, the same tone as his silk shirt. It moved with his lean muscles as he considered me. He was tall—his black dress pants went on forever, and ended in a perfect pair of expensive black dress shoes. His feet moved around me slowly, stopping directly in front of me. I wanted to look at his face so badly. If he was half as handsome as he dressed and smelled—woodsy and spicy—it would take everything I had to stop me from begging him to pick me.
I wanted to touch his shirt, and more importantly, I wanted him to touch me. It was all I could think about—if his hand would be cold or warm, rough or smooth, and where he’d touch me first. Something that felt like a runner’s high flooded my body, and I swore I heard him sigh. I closed my eyes, trying to picture what he looked like. If I could only turn my luck around, change all those evil urges that got me here in the first place...
Well, these thoughts weren’t exactly good, eit
her. When too many bad things kept happening around me, my parents brought me to speak with a priest. Believe or not, exorcisms are a thing. And they don’t work; at least not on me. All it did was give me a real clear idea of everyone else’s definition of good and evil.
What this vampire made me think of danced on the line between the two, teasing me with what it could become. My center pulsed as I got lost in a daydream about letting this vampire whose face I had yet to see have his way with me.
He didn’t have to look me in the eye to cast his spell. And I didn’t have to look at him to know he wanted me.
The emptiness he left behind sucked the air out of my lungs. Once I caught my breath, I scanned the crowd, trying to figure out which one he was. In the low light, it was impossible to make out the details.
“It’s time to start the bidding.” I’d know Lady Desiree’s voice anywhere. Ice water flushed my veins. She paced the front of the stage in impossibly high heels, her thin legs bare. “Our first offering is Olivia.”
Olivia stepped to the front of the stage, turning slowly when she reached Lady Desiree. Silence fell over the room. “Is she pure?” A voice called out from the crowd.
“No.” The Lady’s answer was met with more silence. Olivia’s hands were still knotted behind her back, and she rocked back and forth on her bare feet. My heart broke for her. Would someone please bid? Lady Desiree placed her hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “Going once. Going twice.”
“Two hundred.” A voice called out. That’s it? All of this for two hundred dollars? If I had anywhere to run, I would have. Two hundred dollars wouldn’t last me three days in New York. Not to mention the rest of my life.
Two courtesans led Olivia away. She looked back to me before she left, her smile too big for her face. All that dinner I had eaten now roiled in my stomach.
“Next, we have Corynne.” No one told me what to do. My legs had gone numb, and I floated over to the Lady in a haze. “Tonight is her first time with us, and as you can see from her lovely marking, she’s pure.”
“A thousand,” a voice called from the crowd immediately.
“Two.” Another faceless offer. The bids spiraled upward in rapid speed. I concentrated on the numbers, focusing on the moment so I wouldn’t pass out. Lady Desiree’s hand on my back was all that kept me upright. At first, the bids came from many different voices, but as the numbers escalated straight into Holy Freakin’ Crap Land, only two remained.
“Twenty thousand dollars.” A gasp rose with the firm declaration.
“Sold, for auction limit,” Lady Desiree declared. Two cool hands grasped my upper arms.
The courtesans guided me away from the stage, murmuring congratulations and something about honor. I’d gone totally numb. It had to be some sort of mistake, or I’d been drugged and didn’t know the difference between fantasy and reality. How did someone like Olivia barely get a bite and I caused a bidding war?
And what would happen when this man realized I was damaged goods?
Chapter Four
CORYNNE
I’d been so freaking out of it I didn’t realize that it was Sabrina and Sierra that had come for me. Once I did, I was so relieved I hugged them.
Twenty thousand dollars. I wouldn’t get all of that, but a big percentage went to me. The bid changed my life.
Vampires were no secret, but as humans, we didn’t associate with them very much. I’d always thought they’d be as hard as they were cold, but the girls felt human.
I wondered what the bidder would feel like. If he was the one with the blue shirt.
“Holy crap, Corynne,” Sierra gushed when we got back to the dressing room. “The only other courtesan to ever go for auction limit was Lady Desiree.”
“She’s a courtesan?” Another thing to blow my mind tonight. I wondered what she thought about my bid—she hadn’t been sure about sending me to auction.
I’d been sold. Whoever spent that kind of money would have pretty high expectations. Lady Desiree made sure the whole room knew about the V on my chest. After tonight, there was a very good possibility it wouldn’t be there anymore. I gripped the wall to keep from passing out.
“She was. Her master was head of the council. When he met his true death, the Lady took his seat. She’s not the council head, that honor goes to the oldest vampire in the coven, but she’s got a lot of power,” Sabrina added. She slid the wall back, revealing a closet. She looked back at me, tapping her finger against her chin. “What size are you?”
“A twelve. Do you have anything?” Most of the other girls at the table looked more like Olivia than me.
“We don’t have just anything, we have the perfect thing. Something that says this is a courtesan that commanded top bid!” She laughed, and moved hangers as she considered the options. “You have no idea how exciting this is for us.”
My tongue was thick in my mouth. “What happens now? When do I meet him?”
“There’s a reception.” Sierra patted the chaise, and I sat beside her. “All the courtesans that received bids will be there. The bidders know they wanted you, but sometimes, they aren’t compatible with the courtesans.”
I immediately thought of Olivia. “What do they do to the girls they don’t want?”
“They can swap with another bidder, or send the courtesan away.” Sierra shook her head like she was trying to erase a bad memory. “Don’t worry, with a bid like that, he’ll be keeping you.”
That pulsing between my legs resumed, and I could swear someone touched me. I squirmed to make all the feelings go away. “Who is he?”
The girls looked at each other, and Sabrina shook her head. “We can’t say.”
“It ruins the magic,” Sierra added.
Their excitement lessened my fear. It didn’t go totally away. I’d known what I was getting myself into, in theory. But now that I was here, I was so in over my head.
Sabrina picked an orange dress. It tied behind my neck, and the slinky material glided against my body, flaring out at the waist, and hitting just above my knee. Sierra kneeled in front of me, tapping my leg so I’d offer it to her. She slid a nude thigh-high stocking up each one, and followed with nude heels that were almost as high as Lady Desiree’s.
I didn’t bother objecting to the outfit. I’d left my choices at the door, swapping them for a pretty dress, a puncture wound, and a paycheck.
The girls brought me back to the vanity, and I gasped. I never touched anything orange that wasn’t juice, but this dress was so pretty. Pretty didn’t begin to do it justice. It was like the sun lighting up the sky when it didn’t want to go to sleep for the night.
Sierra wiped my lipstick away and changed it to something that complemented my dress.
“What happens after tonight?” Just because no one wanted to answer my questions didn’t mean I’d stop asking them. “Is this a one shot deal? Or will he keep me for more than one night?”
“That’s up to the bidder.” Sabrina scratched my scalp as she fluffed my hair. I practically purred. “He’s in another room, negotiating with Lady Desiree.”
As the night went on, the girls had opened up. I’d lost all concept of time. All of this could’ve taken an hour, or it could be near sunrise. I was glamour drunk already. “How can he do that when he hasn’t met me?”
They laughed. “He’ll make sure he’s happy with the arrangement.” Sierra held her hand out to me, and I stood. The first steps were wobbly, but I hit my stride. As long as I had someone to hold on to, I wouldn’t fall flat on my face. “But remember, you have what he wants.”
I wish I understood what that meant.
THE RECEPTION TOOK place in the same room as the auction. This time, Sabrina led me to a small, round table in the middle of the floor. Candles provided hazy light. Olivia waved to me as she sat two tables over from me. Her dress was light green, lacy, and short. Thigh-high boots came almost up to the hem.
I had no idea if I’d see again her after tonight. Same went for Sabrina and Sierra.
I’d spent the last four years carefully planning my future, doing everything I could to get into Connecticut State. I hoped once I was away from the people who bullied me, the thoughts and bad things would stop. I planned for a normal life, more as a distraction than anything else. I knew it would never happen. Now everything was a complete unknown.
A courtesan filled my wine glass.
I jumped when someone moved my hair away from my shoulder. “Drink,” the deep, silky voice commanded. I closed my eyes, relishing the shivers the sound sent over me. He had an accent, but I couldn’t place it with one word. “You won’t be as nervous.”
British.
This was my guy. I almost didn’t want to look at him, so he could forever remain my fantasy. Especially with that sexy accent. I picked up the glass and winced at the first swallow of the spicy wine.
He laughed. “It’s an acquired taste. Like many things here. Turn around, Corynne. Let me really see you.”
Again, I did as he asked. The way his voice sounded I’d follow him straight into Hell, which was a very real possibility. Since the auction, he’d added a black jacket to his outfit. His Adam’s apple bobbed at his open collar.
He was nervous, too.
For once, I felt like I had some of that power Sabrina kept insisting I had. His gaze warmed me, surrounding me like an embrace. I was hungry for so much more, but I had to be careful. I finally dared to look at his face. Dark, shaggy hair framed pale skin that practically glowed in the candlelight. He had high cheekbones and full lips that I wanted to touch. But he wasn’t perfect. He’d struggled, too. I liked that, we had something in common. His nose wasn’t straight and he had a faint scar on his cheek.
I’d never been this close to a man before besides my dad, and that definitely wasn’t the same thing. The vampire didn’t look much older than me, ten years or so, but he had a gravity about him that made age meaningless. Like he could stop time from moving the same way he could stop a heart from beating. It was only him and me in the room, in the city, in the entire world.
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