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“I don’t give a shit about my reputation. It could have cost you your life. Mine, too. You were a spectator, a guest in that meeting. My guest. I'm not on equal footing with any of those people, Hellena. Making any one of them an enemy during the Sinner’s Ball would be a death sentence. The only reason the Matron allowed it was because of your performance and your relationship to me.”
“I’m sorry. My whole world just got turned upside down.”
“Don’t apologize. You didn’t know. I’m sorry about your mom…”
We’re huddled together behind a growing mass of onlookers, some seated, others clustering together. Every guest holds a paddle, a number painted on the front.
“Hellena, there's something I need to tell you?—”
Applause drowns out his words, the Matron and an auctioneer taking the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the most anticipated event of the night, at least for many of you.”
“What is this auction about?” I shout over the clamoring voices, the announcer charming the crowd.
Evan looks annoyed, worried. “I–It's the coup de gras of the Sinner’s Ball. People offer items for sale to bid on. It's how we make a lot of the money here every year to pay for this. Businesses and individuals trade everything from property, to goods, to agreements. It's a good faith gesture.”
Several beautiful men and women strut the stage, all of them wearing numbers.
“Do any of these goodwill gestures involve selling people?” The volume settles, allowing us to talk more freely.
“In a way. It's a common trend to offer up a…”
“Willing sacrifice?” I laugh, disgusted. “For sex?”
“For whatever the volunteer is willing to do. It’s like what I told you before, give and give in return. They bid on anything and everything. A cruise with a beautiful woman, a night with a world-class masseuse, a private island home, literally anything. No one knows what’s for sale until it’s announced.”
“And the bidding begins, just like that?”
“Most of these people have more money than you could dream of, Hellena.” His eyes flit around the room, looking for something. “That's why I wanted to talk to you first, warn you?—”
“Warn me about what?”
“First up on the docket… let’s see, ah! Thank you, Matron.” The masked teller takes a card from the golden woman, scanning it. “I see! Normally, this sort of buy would wait until the end, but I think it will set things off with a bang! Are you ready?”
Unlike a normal auction, the crowd goes insane, screaming, drunk, and ravenous.
“The first item, the very star of the show you witnessed earlier!”
Evan’s neck strains, his teeth grinding.
My stomach sinks. No.
They’re going to auction Evan off. Panic wells up in my throat.
“Evan, they can’t do this.” My voice is barely audible above the roar of the crowd. “They can’t make you do anything.”
Especially what I know the buyer will want from him.
The look he gives me breaks my heart.
Thoughts scatter through my head, how we might escape, but I know he won’t run away from his duty.
“Sinners! Welcome the grand prize of the night, the beautiful, sensational Demoness herself, Hellena!”
My knees nearly give out at the proclamation.
I look at Evan, bewildered. The look he gives me in return is filled with hurt, pain, regret.
“Evan?”
