Chapter 42

Elara

The first thing I felt was cold.

It felt like someone had dumped ice water all over me, the cold seeping into my bones. My joints

ached, my head throbbed, and my throat felt cracked and dry. For a moment, I almost wondered

if I had somehow been hit by a bus.

But then my eyelids slowly fluttered open, and I found myself in a dark, unfamiliar room. The air

was frigid and smelled strongly of perfume and cigar smoke.

Where… where was I?

The question barely formed in my mind before I tried to move. My arms didn’t cooperate,

though, like my body was full of lead. I blinked harder, finally wrenching my eyes open, and

when I glanced down, my heart seized in my chest.

My wrists were tied.

Silk was wrapped around them, soft against my skin but secured tightly enough that I couldn’t

slip free. Panic lanced through me hard and fast, adrenaline cutting through the thick fog that

clung to my mind.

Gasping, I jerked against the restraints, twisting my hands, but it was useless. I couldn’t get

myself free.

What happened? How did I get here?

I tried to breathe through my fear, forcing myself instead to take in my surroundings. The room

was small, dimly lit by the soft glow of a chandelier overhead. Velvet curtains hung from the

walls, and there was a single wooden door that I could only assume was locked. I was laying on

a black leather couch.

And to make matters worse, there were bins and racks of all kinds of things against the far wall:

lingerie, toys, whips and chains.

Suddenly, it hit me.

I looked down at myself, my breath hitching as I realized I wasn’t wearing my dress anymore.

Instead of the elegant gown I’d been so proud of earlier that night, I was dressed in something

unfamiliar—and far too intimate. Lace, more silk, fishnet stockings, and… a pink leather collar

around my neck.

“No.”

The word reverberated through me as I shook my head. My chest tightened, and bile rose in my

throat. I pulled harder at the ties on my wrists until my skin burned, my breath coming faster and

faster, but I still couldn’t free myself.

Think, Elara. Think.

“Prepare yourselves for our next beauty…”

A muffled voice echoed through the door, making my heart leap into my throat.

A microphone—an announcer? My pulse skipped violently as the sound of distant, scattered

voices followed—low murmurs, laughter, and applause. It was close, too close, somewhere just

beyond these walls.

Suddenly, before I could make sense of what was happening, the door swung open.

I froze, my blood turning to ice, as a man stepped into the room. A mask covered his face,

smooth and expressionless except for the shadow of his eyes, which were staring at me like I

was an object.

Without a word, he strode toward me and clipped a chain to my collar. A leash.

“Wait—” My voice cracked as I tried to push myself up, my body trembling from the effort. The

chain rattled, the metal cold against my skin. “Where am I? What—what’s happening?”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he crouched down beside me, the glint of something in his hand catching my eye. I

shrank back instinctively, my shoulders pressing hard against the sofa as I tried to pull away.

“Stop,” I gasped. “Don’t—get away from me!”

He ignored me. Before I could thrash or scream again, his hand shot out, grabbing my arm. I

choked on a cry, flinching as I felt the sharp sting of something piercing my skin—a needle, the

syringe filled with red liquid.

The man said nothing as he pushed down the plunger, ignoring the panic in my voice as I

whimpered, “Please, stop…”

The injection burned through my veins, spreading like wildfire. My muscles weakened almost

immediately, the fight draining from me like water slipping through cracks in my fingers.

I slumped back against the cushions, dazed and shaking.

“Why are you doing this?” I whispered, barely able to form the words.

He said nothing—not a single word—and instead grabbed my leash with one hand, his other

closing around my upper arm. I tried to resist, but my limbs refused to listen. My heart raced,

pounding so loudly in my ears that I barely registered the sound of the door opening again as he

began to drag me forward.

I wanted to fight, to scream, to claw my way free. But the drug—or whatever it was—that he had

just injected me with left me feeling like a prisoner in my own body. My head lolled to the side as

the masked man pulled me into the hallway, the distant voices growing louder now.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he pushed me through a doorway that led into a crowded

room.

I now found myself standing on a stage.

I blinked in confusion as the bright overhead lights blinded me. Voices rose around me, and I

looked up to see a crowd seated below. Their faces were hidden behind masks. I then turned

and saw another man in a tuxedo standing behind a podium, his face also covered.

Slowly, it began to hit me. Before the drug addled my mind completely, I realized what this was:

an auction. But not the kind of auction that Alaric, the girls, and I were supposed to attend.

This one was far darker.

“Our next offering, ladies and gentlemen,” the auctioneer boomed, gesturing to me as the other

man shoved me forward. “A premium slave. Highly obedient. Highly recommended by… a

powerful figure.”

A laugh rippled through the crowd at that word.

Slave.

The word shattered something inside of me. My knees gave out, and I hit the stage floor hard,

my palms slapping the cold wood. I tried to push myself back up, but the drug was taking its

effect now and I felt too heavy to move. My skin started to heat, and a strange warmth began to

spread through me.

Suddenly, music began to play as the auctioneer began to speak. Whatever he was saying was

lost beneath the sound of the music and the blood rushing through my ears, but if the raised

hands in the crowd were any indication, the bidding had begun.

“Dance for them,” a voice growled in my ear. I looked up through a haze to see the masked man

standing over me, tugging on my leash. “Dance.”

“No,” I whispered hoarsely, shaking my head. “No, I won’t—I can’t—”

Pain lanced through my arm as he gripped my leash tightly, yanking me upright until I was

standing on shaky legs. The audience laughed again—laughed at my humiliation. Tears welled

up in my eyes, and I just stood there, trembling.

“Move,” he ordered.

And I did.

The drug had started to twist something inside of me, warm and hazy. It blurred the edges of my

thoughts, dulled the terror, and when I began to sway my hips, the crowd erupted into cheers.

“Look at that,” the auctioneer purred. “Isn’t she lovely? All she takes is a little training, but her

Omega status lends her to a very submissive disposition.”

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My body moved like a puppet on strings as the bidding

continued. I heard the numbers rising, climbing higher and higher until they were little more than

meaningless noise.

“Sold!” the auctioneer finally called out, his gavel striking the podium. “To the gentleman in the

black mask.”

The crowd applauded one final time.

I barely felt the hands that grabbed me, lifting me off the stage as though I weighed nothing at

all. My head lolled against a man’s sturdy shoulder as the music faded, the drug pulling me

deeper and deeper into the haze.

I thought I heard more laughter as the auctioneer called after me.

“Take your time enjoying that one!”