Immortals of Indriell- The Collection

by Melissa A. Craven

  “Will anyone sense us back here?” Allie asked.

  “Too many Immortals around. With the sensations coming from every angle it’s impossible to pinpoint the direction.”

  “No! Just give me a few more days and I’ll come up with the cash.” The guy who’d lost the bet on Aidan was desperately trying to talk his way out of a bad situation. The poor guy cowered with his back up against the wall as the two brutes towered over him.

  “You’ve fed us that same line of bullshit for the last month. If you could get your hands on that kind of cash, you would have paid by now. Now it’s time for a visit with Selena.”

  “No! Please, I—” But the man’s protests were cut off. He still talked and rambled, but no sound came from his throat.

  “Thank you, Linus. What a useful gift you have. You know how I hate to hear them beg.” The striking Spanish woman joined the two men restraining the third. “How much does he owe?” Selena asked.

  “About three hundred grand.”

  “So much? His gifts must be useful to accumulate so much credit for one so young.”

  “Just the one ability. It’s about all he has that’s worth anything.”

  Allie and Darius watched in horrified silence as the woman gripped the young man’s head between her palms and his mute screams tore from his mouth without a sound.

  Allie had never seen anyone lose a gift like this before. A vaporous glow floated around the unfortunate man and Allie had to look away. There was something revolting about the act. Seeing the man's gift laid bare like that was an abomination.

  She flinched when they left him crumpled in a heap on the storeroom floor.

  “You will learn from this, yes?” She nudged him with the toe of her shoe. “I don’t like doing this to people. Don’t make me do it again. Your debt is paid in full and it is within my power to give your gift to someone who can sustain it—and afford it. You would do well to seek another path for your fortune. Gambling obviously isn’t within your skill set. Now get him out of here.”

  The woman turned to cross the wide room. No one showed the slightest concern over what just happened.

  “Must be a common occurrence,” Darius muttered as the two men dragged the younger man from the club.

  “I don’t understand what just happened, Dare. Why would that guy risk his power on a bet?”

  “Why would a mortal risk his kneecaps on a bet? No one ever thinks it’s going to happen to them. Then you get in too deep and owe too much and there’s no way out.”

  “Such a risk for money?”

  “Living forever is expensive, Allie. And working a nine-to-five for a couple of hundred years with a week or two of vacation here and there, with no retirement in sight, living from paycheck to paycheck, struggling to pay the bills … it’s exhausting. We’re lucky we have family who are more established. Dad, Liam, Emma, George, they all lived through that same struggle over a thousand years ago. It was different then, but still a long road to get to the point where they no longer had to worry about money. But imagine a child born into a younger family without such wealth? Imagine how difficult and exhausting it would be to see your future stretched out before you with nothing but a long life of hard labor ahead of you? Now imagine a place like this where you can open a line of credit, putting your gift up for collateral. You make a few successful bets to set you up with enough money to invest and start earning a substantial passive income. The relief that kind of income could give a family would be an enormous weight off their shoulders. I can see the draw, but the price isn’t worth it if it goes badly.”

  “I can’t imagine risking it.” Allie shook her head.

  “Let’s get out of here before we get caught.” Darius grabbed her hand and they stood at a crouch, waiting for a chance to slip back into the VIP room unseen. Something tugged at Allie, though. Her peripheral vision was still green. They hadn’t seen the worst of it yet.

  She glanced back into the lobby where people were beginning to settle down. A familiar face drew Allie’s attention—a face she never wanted to see again. It frightened her to her wit’s end that she would see him again in a place like this.

  “What’s wrong, Allie? You’re white as a ghost.”

  “It’s Jon … and Ella.” She scrambled back, pulling Darius down with her until they were back on the floor.

  “Who?”

  “The assholes who kidnapped me.”

  “Why the hell is the Coalition here?” He rose up to peek over the crates into the open room beyond. “They’re just over there mingling with … damn.”

  Allie knelt beside him and watched as even more people spilled into the lobby, like a meeting was about to start. Some were just workers setting up for the party, but others were preparing to watch something on a large screen.

  “This is bad,” Darius said.

  “What is it?”

  “That is a group of Coalition and Senate members together.”

  “What? Why?”

  “No idea.”

  “So Amrita’s working both sides? They’re luring in the youngest generations on the pretense of a fun night out and a chance to show off in a safe environment—and they’re using it as an opportunity to collect information on us?”

  “Yeah, they’re looking for the ones to watch,” Darius said. “The best of our generation.”

  “But why?”

  “I think we’re about to find out.”

  Allie watched as the large screen came to life, flickering with a vague image of a logo for the company Graham had told them about: Soma. The indistinct image of a serpentine figure around a challis caught her attention. It was eerily like the brand she’d seen on Jim’s neck.

  The waiting audience fell silent as Ella approached a podium at the far end of the room. She looked different from the girl who had kidnapped Allie and Quinn just a few months ago. Her hair was still partially shaved on one side, but she was more polished and refined, like she’d suddenly come into an influx of cash. Apparently Ella had done well for herself after the fiasco the night of the ball.

  “Thank you for joining us this evening, ladies and gentlemen,” she began. “Please have a seat and the auction will begin soon. Bidding will begin at five million and will increase as the quality of the product increases. Once your payments have been wired, your purchases will be delivered when they are ready.”

  Murmurs of anticipation filled the room as the audience shifted anxiously.

  “I don’t like this, Allie. We need to get out of here before we’re caught.”

  “In a minute. We have to see what they’re up to.”

  “Sweetheart, this is a slave auction. We can’t be anywhere near this place.”

  “We have to see what’s on that screen, Dare.”

  “First up we have cadet number 00857.” Ella began her presentation of the “product” and the screen filled with the image of a beautiful young girl with a vacant expression on her face. “She will be fully trained and broken, but she is still very young, only thirteen. Already, this cadet will acclimate to any situation with little effort from her trainer. She will adjust to her new owners with ease since 00857 has trained with us nearly all of her life. She is extremely cooperative and will be quite gifted. Her training will be complete shortly after her Awakening. You can find further details in the dossiers you received last month. Bidding will begin at five million.”

  Allie watched in horrified silence as the girl was sold to a Senate governor for seven million dollars. Neither Darius nor Allie could break away as they watched dozens of faces fill the screen, each with the brand she’d seen earlier on Jim. Allie was horrified, but she couldn’t make herself stop watching and waiting to see the one face she hoped she wouldn’t see.

  “This is way bigger than anything going on in the VIP room,” Darius finally said. “That’s just a smokescreen to fool anyone snooping around.”

  “It’s him.” Allie’s voice shook. He looked older. Harder. Stronger.

  “C
adet 01015 is not fully trained yet,” Ella announced. “We will accept early bidding on this powerful young man. His training is expected to be complete sometime next year. Bidding will begin at twenty million.”

  “Let’s go, killer. We’ve got what we need. Dad will know what to do.”

  “Grab another three cases of champagne for the fountain; it needs refilling again.” The voice came from the bar behind them.

  “Shit, what do we do?” Allie hissed as the bar-back stepped through the curtain.

  “I’m so sorry about this, Allie,” Darius said and then he was kissing her. His arms snaked around her waist and she resisted before she realized what he was trying to do. She relaxed and kissed him back, putting on a good show for the guy who was about to catch them. But she felt ... nothing.

  “Damn kids, get out of here!”

  “What? Oh, sorry.” Darius grinned, reaching to pull Allie up. “We’ll … uh, get out of your way, sir.”

  “Sorry.” Allie giggled and followed Darius through the curtains and back into the VIP room. She did her best to act like a silly teenager, but she was reeling inside, fighting to keep control of the rage that swelled within her and the tears that threatened to flow.

  “It’s okay. He’ll be okay, Allie,” Darius assured her, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself.

  “It’s not okay. We have to get him out of there.”

  “We will. We still have time. They don’t plan to sell him for a year.”

  “And what do you think they’re going to do to him in that time?” Allie snapped.

  “Try to break him. But I know Quinn. He won’t make it easy for them.”

  “You’re right.” Allie heaved a big sigh. She had to calm down.

  “I’m so sorry about the … kiss.”

  She knew he didn’t have a choice and it was the best way to get them out of there and dismissed as nothing more than a couple of stupid kids, but she hadn’t been prepared for his kiss. It wasn’t at all what she would have expected. They had such a great connection that she’d expected it to be … hot. Maybe it was just the situation, but something was off. Like the chemistry just wasn’t there despite their obvious fascination with each other.

  “It’s okay. It was a good plan.”

  They made their way quietly back to the arena in an awkward silence.

  “I feel like a dirty old man,” Darius said.

  “You shouldn’t. I’ve been around you long enough to know you’re the least mature of us all.”

  “True.” He laughed. “But that is not something that needs to happen again. At least not till you’re in college.”

  “It’s fine.” She elbowed him playfully, hoping he would snap out of it. “It just caught me by surprise, that’s all. And the little passenger in my brain is probably not too happy with me right now for a number of reasons.”

  He didn’t have much of a choice, Lex. I’d have done the same thing. But you know I can feel what you feel. It was bad enough with Vince, but please don’t make a habit of kissing my brother. I’m nauseous right now.

  Actually, I'm a little nauseous too.

  Enough with the risk-taking tonight, please? You almost gave me a heart attack.

  We’ve got what we came for, Aidan. She wanted to let herself have a good freak out, but they couldn't risk letting the shock of what they just discovered overwhelm them. We’re going to get him out of there.

  Damn straight we are. Dad will know what to do. Hell, he’ll buy him if that’s the only way.

  “Knock it off, Allie,” Darius said. “You’re going all glassy-eyed again and it’s kinda obvious you aren’t talking to me.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Is he freaking?”

  “Not really, just trying to keep his lunch down.”

  “Come on, us making out is not that disgusting.”

  “He can feel what I’m feeling. So just then it was kinda like he was the one making out with you.”

  “No. No. No. Unsay it, Red. Please unsay it.”

  “Next time give me a little warning and I’ll block him.”

  “There is not going to be a next time, killer. That was weird.”

  “It was weird, wasn’t it? I thought it was just the situation.”

  “Maybe. But let’s leave it a mystery.”

  “Let’s.”

  Allie glanced down at the glowing hand-print on his shoulder. “Looks like you’re up next, Dare.”

  ~~~

  Darius fought well in the first round of his fight against a much smaller guy. But when his opponent trotted out his gift, landing every single punch with the strength of a man three times his size, Darius was quick to take a dive and bring an end to the fight. They had much more important things to focus their attention on anyway.

  Allie was eager to leave, but it would draw far too much attention if they attempted to slip out. She stayed close to her friends and prayed for a quick and painless end to the night.

  It’ll be over soon and then we can get to work on getting Quinn out of that place.

  But what do we really know now that we didn’t know before? Other than the slavery thing?

  We know for sure now that Amrita is connected with Soma and they are the ones taking kids like Quinn. We know they are affiliated with the Coalition and the Senate, but they seem to be working independently of either group. We know a lot more, Lex. We’re getting him back.

  Allie thought about Jim’s cryptic warning and wasn’t sure what to make of it. Clearly he was indicating something about her dreams, but she still wasn’t sure what she was seeing or how she should react to the visions that didn’t make any sense.

  Her gaze drifted around the arena. Everyone was having a good time and the atmosphere grew more celebratory the closer they came to the melee.

  Aidan groaned when the mark on Chloe’s shoulder lit up and it was her turn. “I don’t think I can watch this,” he said.

  “She’s a great fighter, Aidan. She kicked my ass for months. She’ll do fine.” She watched as Chloe took her place in the arena, looking so small, but fierce at the same time. Armed with her bo staff and her subtle gift, Chloe launched against her opponent, fading to the right at the last second when he attempted to strike her from the left.

  Remember, she can see the decisions he’s faced with so she knows what his best move is before he makes it.

  Right, her path of least resistance. Aidan grinned. She’s definitely making him work for it.

  Allie thought Chloe would run the poor guy till he fell from exhaustion, but eventually, she started giving him the upper hand. Inch by inch, she made small mistakes that allowed her opponent to land a strike.

  “She’s doing a better job at throwing her fight than the rest of us combined,” Sasha muttered.

  “She’s a lot stronger than we give her credit,” Allie agreed.

  “And she’s a hell of a lot smarter than we are,” Aidan said.

  “Speak for yourself.” Graham gave him a playful punch.

  “Are we all done with this part now?” Allie asked hopefully. “We’ve all fought and lost, right?” She had technically won her fight against Naomi, but they got such low marks for a sloppy fight, they didn’t qualify to move on.

  “Yup,” Graham said.

  “So none of us will be in the melee?”

  “Too bad. Any other time and I would have won this shit,” Aidan said wistfully.

  “Maybe next time you can beat the hell out of everyone.” Allie patted his arm in mock sympathy.

  “Let’s get seats. This could take a while,” Sasha said.

  Allie followed her friends to the benches set up around the arena. The last fights were wrapping up and the twelve best winners of the night were chosen to compete in the final. The last one standing would win.

  “What do they get?” Allie asked absently. “A trophy?”

  “Fifty thousand dollars,” Aidan said.

  “I’m glad I didn’t know that,” she said. She would
have been tempted to go for it. That was college tuition. Darius had really made her think about the future and the finances she didn’t have. Her parents would only be around for so long. After that, she was on her own forever.

  I’m pretty sure between your bio dad and your Viking brother there are probably already a couple of substantial trust funds sitting around earmarked for your future.

  I have issues taking money I haven’t earned.

  That’s an argument for another day, Lex. Aidan nodded at the center arena.

  The twelve best of the night stood ready for the final round and Allie wasn’t sure she wanted to watch. Within the first two minutes of the melee, she was positive she didn’t want to watch, but like a train wreck, she couldn’t look away.

  “It’s like Shark Week. They’re just tearing at each other.”

  “I’ll admit, I’m kinda glad I’m not down there,” Aidan said, wincing with the crowd as one guy with a gift for causing confusion among the others took out two at a time when they collided against each other with their weapons drawn.

  “It’s so bloody.” Allie cringed. “What happened to the ‘don’t put anyone in the hospital’ rule?”

  “They’re fine. It’s all superficial,” Darius said. “But that girl in the middle is going to win it.”

  “She seems so little.” Allie shook her head.

  “Size doesn’t matter here. She’s drawing strength from the fight. The more they fight, the stronger she gets.”

  Allie watched, mesmerized as the petite blond stayed in it until it was just her and the giant wall of Jeremy Lang that Aidan had faced.

  “She’s got him,” Aidan said. “He’s all about intimidation and size, but she’s quick and she’s got all of the strength of the other ten fighters pumping her up.”

  It was bizarre, seeing the barely five-foot teen bring down the huge brawn of her opponent, but he landed with a thud, his energy and stamina completely spent.

  “He passed out?” Aidan stood up, craning his neck to see.