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“Bidding closes at fifty thousand credits!”
“I have to leave now!” Dante hissed in Bran’s ear.
Bran didn’t need any second telling. He was already getting to his feet.
They had just reached the door when the commentator’s voice stopped them in their tracks. “And finally. The jewel in the crown!” he called. “A true Lorr princess!”
Dante’s blood ran cold, and his feet turned to stone where he stood. It couldn’t be. Could it? Could his sister really have ended up here? Being sold as a sex slave?
He turned slowly, and the sight of her made his blood boil.
There was his sister, virtually naked, with a crown on her head. He couldn’t even hear the commentator drawling on. Only Bran’s restraining arm prevented him from marching straight up onto the stage to claim her.
Bran calmly led him back to their bidding spot and sat him down. “Dante,” he hissed. “Dante, listen to me!” The urgency of the whispered command filtered through to his angry, fizzing brain.
He turned and looked at Bran. “I’m going to kill them all.” He growled.
“And I’ll be there at your side when it happens. But right now, we’ve got to get Maraliza and Tinsley out alive.”
Dante forced himself to calm down.
The bidding had already started. He badly wanted to hit one hundred thousand and get the hell out of there. But Bran was right. He couldn’t blow their cover.
He bid steadily until all the others dropped out one by one. It was going to be difficult to line the pockets of these despicable people with his money, but a silent cold resolve had crept over him.
Once the bidding was finished, he stood mechanically and left the room. He was led by an attendant back to the reception area, where Tinsley and Maraliza were waiting for him. They each had a flashing metal control collar around their necks.
He felt like he was in a dream as he paid his credits and took the control pad for their collars. He couldn’t even bear to look at them, half-naked and vulnerable as they were. Maraliza gasped. Tinsley pretended her tears were out of fear and rage, not out of relief. Tinsley took Maraliza’s hand, giving her a look telling her to play along. If the auction house had known it was a rescue mission, they might have voided the sale
Every step to the waiting pod was an eternity. He took Tinsley by the arm, and Bran took Maraliza. Dante whispered to both of them as quietly as possible to look miserable, fearing the possibility that someone would follow them and take them back.
“I’ll look as miserable as I am happy,” Tinsley said. But finally, after a long walk, the pod door shut behind them and Dante heard the engines start up. They all let out their breath after what felt like days of holding it.
They were safe.
Chapter 35
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you!” Maraliza exclaimed, finally able to hug her brother now that they were back in the safety of the ship and she had a bit more covering her.
Tinsley’s heart was full as she watched the reunion of siblings. Her heart ached at not having been able to have her own such happy reunion with her sister. At least this one ended with a happy outcome. That’s all she could have asked for.
The two Lorr finally separated. The smiles on their faces said it all.
Tinsley felt a peace about Dante she hadn’t felt before. It was contagious. He looked almost younger, as if the years had ebbed by finally getting his sister back.
She couldn’t help but beam at the two.
“I’m just glad we got you in time. I was worried the worst had happened after so many close calls.”
A sad smile showed on Maraliza’s face. “I’m just happy we don’t have to worry about that now.”
Tinsley could tell that she was trying to be brave, even now in the safety of her brother. But at one point, Maraliza had obviously felt the same hopelessness that had started to consume Dante toward the end.
“Can I get you anything?” Tinsley offered after a moment of silence between the siblings.
Maraliza looked over at her with sparkling eyes. “The only thing I really want more than anything is a hot bath and a real bed.”
“We can do that, no problem,” Dante stated. “Are you sure you don’t want or need anything else?”
