Soul Bound

by Ella M. Lee

  “Trixie,” the guard said to an annoyed female vampire holding a tablet.

  “Number three.” She handed me a lanyard with a plastic marker at the end bearing the legend 3. “Put this on.”

  I fiddled with the 3 marker nervously. Now I wasn’t even someone with a fake name. I was just a number. Less human by the second. I looped it around my neck as the guard shoved me into the line of humans, behind a blond woman in her mid-twenties and a dark-haired girl who looked younger than me with tears streaking down her face. Numbers one and two.

  A younger me would’ve comforted the crying girl, but I didn’t have any comfort to offer. She was likely about to end up in a pretty sucky situation, with someone like Jenna or Franklin or Ren. She needed to get over the tears more than she needed to be coddled through them.

  Or at least, that was what I’d told myself early on in my own captivity. What else was I supposed to do? Yes, I was jaded. So what?

  I kept my eyes on the floor for the next twenty minutes, ignoring the desperate pleas, and the wailing, and the sniffling girl in front of me.

  When the door opened and the guard called for the first auction lot, I looked up. The blonde went willingly, although her eyes were glassy now, too, about to spill over with tears. The guard didn’t close the door behind her, so I could hear the auctioneer announce the woman’s height, weight, origin country, and blood type. Vials of blood were being passed around among the patrons for them to get a better idea of her scent and appeal. The auctioneer announced her starting bid—low—and bids came in from the crowd. She went fast. It only took a minute or two to settle the deal before number two was called.

  The dark-haired girl didn’t go willingly. She backed away from the guard, whimpering, “No, no, no…”

  My jaw clenched. This girl reminded me of my first time seeing an auction, and I felt a cloying streak of annoyance that she was breaking through my defenses.

  The guard finally dragged her out, and she sobbed on stage. I cringed. She’d be an easy target for one of the mean vampires, the ones who just wanted broken girls to abuse because they wouldn’t be any trouble. Maybe she’d get lucky and find one of those masters who liked heroin, who kept his or her humans on it to flavor the blood. Maybe she’d suffer less because of it.

  Her bidding took longer, getting down to a war between two vampires, but finally it ended. The number was higher than I would’ve expected.

  “Three,” the guard said firmly.

  I took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

  The lights were blinding, hot, and pointed right at me. I shielded my eyes, but I could barely see the auction participants seated at tables spread across the dimly lit ballroom.

  “Number three, Trixie.” The auctioneer was a tall vampire, standing behind a lectern to my left.

  I locked my hands in front of myself and looked down. Vacant. Uncaring.

  Even if I wanted every vampire in front of me dead.

  “Five-foot-five inches, one hundred and ten pounds, from the United States, with lovely O Positive blood… Take a look, ladies and gentlemen!” He made an open-armed gesture. “Opening at twenty-two thousand five hundred! Let me hear it, lords and ladies!”

  “Twenty-two thousand five hundred,” a light voice said from the left of the stage.

  I swung my head in that direction and squinted. Female, blond curls, hard eyes.

  I pressed my palms together to keep from shaking. Now that I was up here, it was harder to feel composed. My eyes strained, looking for Franklin, but I didn’t see him at all. Perhaps he’d left. Perhaps he didn’t want to know. The money would be wired to him regardless, even if no one bid on me. I was now the property of Origin. I’d be theirs if I wasn’t selected by a patron here.

  “Twenty-three thousand five hundred,” another voice called. Male this time, low and gruff. I cast my eyes over briefly in that direction, but I couldn’t see the owner of the voice.

  Those two went back and forth until they got to thirty-five thousand.

  Then—

  “Forty-five thousand.”

  My heart sank at the sound of that seductive purr.

  Ren.

  He sat at a table in the center of the room, alone. He was leaning back, his hands laced in front of himself, his smile brilliant and with the slightest hint of fangs at the edges.

  The gruff vampire forged ahead. “Forty-six thousand.”

  Ren sighed exaggeratedly. “Forty-six thousand five hundred.”

  There was a brief hesitation before the other male said, “Fifty thousand.”

  Ren stood swiftly. Everyone in the room drew a sharp breath, myself included. I couldn’t see very well past the lights, but I caught a sliver of Ren’s deadly expression, his head angled toward the other vampire. One of his hands was held up in a silent question. Or maybe he was about to attack the male.

  I’d seen fights break out at auctions before, but they were usually headed off quickly by the staff. This time, though, the staff hadn’t as much as stepped forward.

  “Give your highest bid right now,” Ren said, his voice devastatingly soft. “I’m in a hurry.”

  The gruff vampire hesitated. “You can have her.”

  “Excellent,” Ren crooned. “Anyone else? Anyone higher than fifty thousand?”

  Dead silence filled the room. No one wanted to mess with him.

  “Even better,” he said. “Fifty thousand five hundred, auctioneer. I think we’re done here.”

  The auctioneer cleared his throat. “Once.” Pause. “Twice.” Pause. “Sold for fifty thousand five hundred.”

  I closed my eyes and barely felt the hands of the guard who led me off the stage.

  Chapter 6

  The guard deposited me in some sort of blank conference room, large and devoid of furniture. An empty rectangle. No chairs. No tables. No windows. Right now, the room was guarded by two vampires near the door. Sitting against one wall was the first woman auctioned, the blonde. Ten feet away from her was the second girl, the dark-haired one, still crying into her hands.

  The guard forced me down against the wall five feet or so away from the dark-haired girl. He withdrew a metal bar with two shackles and roughly cuffed one around each of my ankles. They were now bound so tightly together—only a few inches between them—that I would hardly be able to stand, let alone escape.

  When the guard left, the room was silent aside from the second girl’s quiet sobbing.

  “Shut up,” the male vampire guard yelled across the room.

  She looked up, her throat locking for a few moments before she collapsed back into tears again, louder than before.

  I took a deep breath. The guard’s expression was growing darker by the second. I could see him working himself up to doing something about her noise. Hastily, I threw myself across the distance between us, dragging my useless, bound ankles after me, seating myself next to her.

  I leaned in close to her ear. “You have to stop. They’ll hurt you.”

  She didn’t seem to hear me.

  “Really,” I said urgently. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guard twitching. “Please st—”

  The guard was in front of us instantaneously.

  I put my arms around the girl’s shoulders protectively. He towered over us, about to reach for the girl.

  “She’s scared!” I pleaded. “I can—”

  His hand came down, whipping across my cheek so hard that my head snapped to the side and my brain reverberated in my skull. I gasped, dizzy, my skin stinging. The girl stopped crying, stunned.

  “Keep her quiet,” the guard spat at me.

  I touched my cheek, my eyes tearing up.

  Why are you such a bleeding-heart moron? the tiny voice asked me, and I couldn’t help but agree with it this time.

  “Do not start crying again,” I whispered in the girl’s ear. “It doesn’t help. You just have to remind yourself to be strong. Be impassive. Don’t let it get to you. That’s all you can do.”
/>   She didn’t respond. Whatever.

  I closed my eyes, still dizzy. My head ached. What an excellent way to end the night.

  Each time the door opened, I cracked my eyelids, only to find another auctioned human joining us here. I’d never been in an auction before. I had no idea why we were being held here or when I’d be released to my new master.

  And I didn’t care.

  Every moment I sat here was a moment a vampire wasn’t drinking my blood or putting its hands on me or treating me like garbage. Disposable. Replaceable. Not something with my own mind and life.

  I didn’t know what to expect from Ren. I recalled those clear green eyes. He hadn’t hurt me earlier in the bathroom.

  Of course he didn’t, the tiny voice said. He wasn’t allowed to. He just didn’t want to break the rules.

  But he’d also seemed displeased by what Jenna had done to me. He’d broken her arm for it.

  Or he broke her arm because he likes breaking people’s bones, the voice nagged. Don’t get your hopes up.

  But I couldn’t help it. Maybe he wouldn’t drink from me. Maybe he was that rare type that just wanted a pretty pet to look at—not something to feed on or torture or rape.

  You aren’t pretty enough for that, the voice reminded me, and I sighed.

  I bent my knees and straightened them over and over. My legs were sore and cramping thanks to the shackles. At least my cheek stung less. The deadly quiet in the room was unnerving now that it was so filled with humans, but I guess all of us knew it was useless to cry.

  The next time the door opened, anxiety shot through me.

  The person stepping over the threshold was Ren. He scanned the room quickly and stopped when he found me. I looked down.

  The two vampire guards seemed unhappy to see him. I couldn’t quite hear from this far away, but they argued with him in low undertones. He seemed to be refuting each statement, his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.

  After another minute of low murmuring, Ren seemed to have had enough. He made a cutting gesture, an indication that he was done talking, then pointed at me.

  My heart raced as the guard who’d hit me approached. Roughly, he unlocked my ankle shackles.

  “What—” I’d barely gotten the word out when the guard reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet so hard that I gasped.

  The tiniest breath of wind ruffled my hair, and I stumbled back. Ren had appeared at my side. With an elegant sweep of his hand, he shoved the guard back. “Do not touch her again.”

  I braced myself for the guard to attack Ren, but he just stood there, his eyes downcast.

  Cold fear crept up my spine. Who the hell was Ren, and why didn’t anyone want to mess with him?

  Ren studied me, frowning. “Why are you bleeding?” His eyes were on my cheek.

  I looked away.

  Ren spun back to the cowed guard. “Did one of you do this to her?” His tone was quiet. Deadly.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guard glance up at Ren.

  “Well?” Ren said. “I doubt she hurt herself.”

  “She was making noise and talking back to me.” The guard’s voice shook.

  “So you hit her?” Ren asked. “You thought it would be a good idea to put your hands on my property?”

  The guard took a step back, but Ren advanced on him. With a crack so loud it could’ve been a gunshot, the back of Ren’s hand connected with the guard’s face, and he clattered to the ground. The guard’s cheekbone and nose looked crushed, and he gurgled through bloody lips. His arm and leg were shattered where they’d hit the floor. The floor itself—hard wood—was splintered.

  I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

  Vampires weren’t easy to hurt. Even when they fought each other, it rarely resulted in injuries. Ren’s effortless swipe had just crunched this vampire’s bones.

  What the hell?

  Ren lifted his chin, his eyes furious and dark as night. “Be grateful I didn’t kill you.”

  The injured guard didn’t even look up at him. The other guard—the female by the door—didn’t move. Every set of eyes in the room was on Ren, but he didn’t seem to care.

  He just turned and gave me a slight smile.

  My heart sank. Exactly what sort of deep shit was I in now?

  Chapter 7

  Ren offered me his hand. I stared at it.

  Take it! the tiny voice urged me. Do you want him to beat you right here? Do you want your face caved in like that vampire?

  But I couldn’t move.

  Ren looked me over again. “I just smashed a vampire into pieces for you. Wouldn’t you rather be with me than with them?”

  I swallowed. No. No, I definitely did not want to leave with the even scarier monster. But I also didn’t want to be a bloody smear on the floor.

  For now, I was making a choice to live. I would deal with the rest later. I took his hand, which was oddly soft.

  Ren set a quick pace out of the room and down the hall. No one stopped him. No one seemed to want to punish him or even mention what he’d done.

  When we got to the lobby, the female vampire behind the desk near the elevators seemed flummoxed.

  “My lord,” she said tightly, and there was that strange title again. “You are supposed to make payment the following day and receive your merchandise after the holding period.”

  “Yes, I’m aware,” he said, “but I already paid. You can check.”

  She swallowed. “There’s still a holding period…” she started weakly.

  Ren sighed. “I don’t trust her with your organization. Did you know that she was attacked tonight on these premises? Ask Jenna Topaz why her arm is broken in four places. And one of your guards just hit her. She is mine, and he put his hands on her.”

  The female’s whole body went rigid, her expression aghast.

  “My lord,” she said again. “I am deeply sorry for that. It shouldn’t have happened. Origin is committed to its high standards. If there’s anything we can do to make it up to you…”

  His withering look caused her to trail off, and she tensed.

  “Unmark her,” he said, “or you’ll have more problems from me than it’s worth.”

  A shadow of real fear passed over the female’s eyes, and she impatiently gestured for my hands. She took a bottle of special solution from under the desk and rubbed some between her palms before swiping her fingers over the marks above my knuckles.

  The magic and the bloody mark disappeared.

  Ren took my hands, and I jumped. He held them close to his eyes and inspected them while I stared at the ground.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Always a pleasure with you people.”

  He shook his head in disgust. He let go of one hand of my hands and tugged me toward the elevator with the other.

  My feet moved under me although I hadn’t directed them. Some part of me was still locked away, the part that might tremble or scream or cry or try to run. The part of me that wondered what would happen next.

  He let go of my hand, but I followed him into the elevator when it arrived regardless. Pretty much every vampire I’d ever met had the same rules for their humans. Don’t speak unless spoken to. Don’t look them in the eye. Don’t stand too far away. Don’t make sudden movements.

  Ren would do whatever he wanted to me, and I didn’t get a say in that. It was easier to turn off, to ignore it. To follow the rules like the hollow, blood-filled shell I was.

  I folded my hands in front of myself, the picture of good behavior.

  He sighed. “Vampires,” he muttered, hitting the button for the basement garage floor. “What an annoyance, right?”

  Don’t you dare answer that, the tiny voice told me.

  Ren took his handkerchief out of his pocket—the same one from earlier—and reached for me. I froze, my breathing going tight and shallow as he wiped my face. There was a shocking amount of stark-red blood on the light fabric. I looked away from it, locking my eyes on the
ground.

  “How old are you?” he asked.

  “As of a few minutes ago, nineteen,” I said.

  “Ah, your birthday. Birthdays are important to humans, right?” he asked. His weirdly innocent and detached tone sounded mocking.

  Fuck you.

  The brightly lit garage was empty. Ren walked swiftly, and I followed at his heels. He reached into his pocket and unlocked a black BMW SUV. Its windows were tinted to near black.

  “In,” he said, but I hesitated, not sure what door he wanted me to use. “Passenger seat,” he added, as though I were stupid.

  I clambered in as he settled calmly into the driver’s seat. I wrapped my arms around myself, cold and hungry and scared, despite trying to push all those feelings aside. They were nags, never giving me a moment’s rest.

  Ren gave me a quick glance before cranking up the heat. He also touched a couple of buttons that, upon further inspection, were the seat warmer controls.

  Did he want me to be comfortable?

  I huddled into the dark leather and studied the dim center console lights.

  Ren didn’t say anything as he pulled us out of the garage and onto the city streets. He hadn’t turned on music or the radio, and the interior of the car was awkwardly quiet.

  He was silent until we got onto the highway, heading south.

  “There’s a bag on the floor behind you,” he said finally. “It has food in it.”

  I inhaled sharply. Food.

  Ren glanced at me. “Go ahead.”

  I didn’t move. Was this some sort of trick? Was he expecting something in return? Would I regret taking anything he offered me?

  He sighed. “Do I have to threaten you or something?”

  I reached behind my seat and groped around, my hand connecting with a leather messenger bag. I hauled it into my lap. Under the flap, I found bottles of water, apples, string cheese, grapes, and herb-flavored butter crackers.

  I glanced at Ren. Had he bought this food for me, the human he was going to purchase tonight? Did this mean he wasn’t going to kill me immediately? Did he…did he care?