Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“Ladies!” one of the ogres yells from the far side of the room. “This is your five-minute warning! Group one will be lining up in five minutes!”
A ripple of cheers, excitement, and a world-class heavy sigh from me fill the room with an increase in noise and pressure.
Hillary puts a hand to my shoulder and shakes, noticing how wigged out I’m getting. “Hey, it’s good to be early! That means you can go out there and get the hard part over with. I’m going to be sitting back here waiting for my turn and wondering if all the good vampires have already made their bid.”
I worry my lip but, at her clear need for something positive from me, do my best to rally. “Don’t think like that. I know they said the men only get one bid in this round, but that means they’ll be careful. Considerate. It’s why we had the mixer last night, so they’d have more than just us in lingerie to go on.”
I nearly laugh, the idea of me trying to calm a woman’s nerves about her upcoming sale is so fucking ridiculous.
But I need her on my side. I need her willing to listen to me, so that when I have to get her and everyone else to safety to the south like Cal said, she’ll go. I need her to help me convince the others, and I really, really just need a friend.
This is, without a doubt, the most intense thing I’ve ever been through in my life, and I’ve never had a girlfriend like Hillary to count on before now. Since my parents sheltered me so much, all the girls at school learned not to bother.
Spinning in my chair, I pull Hillary down into hers and grab her hands with mine, looking her deep in the eyes. “Anything that happens today, we’re going to get through it. We’re going to come out stronger and better on the other side, and no matter how I have to make it happen, I’m going to make sure we keep in touch. You’ve been a great confidante and friend to me here. I hope you feel the same about me.”
“Of course, I do,” she agrees easily. “We’ll be friends for life.”
I nod, considering what else I might be able to say to ready her for what’s about to come, but the moment is cut short expeditiously.
“Ladies! The time to line up is now! I need numbers one through ten immediately!”
“Give ’em hell,” Hillary says with a smile and one last squeeze of her hands.
I nod and stand, running to line up when the ogre’s impatience grows. “Come, come. Hurry, ladies!”
Abigail is two spots ahead of me, labeled with the number eight, and she bounces on her toes with excitement.
I take a deep breath as the door at the front of the line opens and they start escorting us in, closing my eyes and reaching out to Cal one last time.
Here goes nothing. I’m on my way in.
I’m waiting, my love. Be confident. Be ready. Remember what I told you earlier, and I’ll handle the rest, okay?
Okay, I agree. I love you, Cal.
And I, you, Romy. To the ends of the earth and back again.
Cal
Woman after woman in skimpy undergarments is brought through a door at the back of the room and helped up onto a raised platform in the center with white numbers in front of them like lots in an estate sale. Some smile and strut, while others do their best to maintain their composure under the bright, blinding lights and confusion.
I sit on the other side of a one-way mirror along with one hundred other vampires waiting to place a bid on the woman of their choosing via an iPad system intended to maintain both fairness and order among us.
My skin crawls with discomfort and disgust because this is what these men think is normal—but the real match strikes when she completes the line, stepping up to the left side of the platform and squinting into the light.
Auburn hair, black lingerie, and sweet cerulean eyes complete a look built with illicit intentions and blatant disregard for her fear, and a silent scream begs for freedom from my throat as I notice her tremble.
My uncle gets up with a wave and moves away, leaving his iPad behind in the seat he’s just vacated. I watch him retreat for a moment, but with my mate onstage, scared for her life while a room full of evil, dangerous men look on around me, I can’t prioritize him for long.
Romy squints into the glaring lights and fists her hands at her sides as her discomfort grows.
I scan the room and watch as men pick up their iPads, clicking through the screens to make their silent bids. Nathanial, the shit-stirrer, finds my eyes from his spot in front of me and winks.