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He only shakes his head. “It’ll be alright. I promise.”
“NO!” I shrug off the hands that try to grab me. “Did you–did you know?”
Impossibly strong arms wrestle me away, toward the stage.
“How could you, Evan? How could you?” I’m screaming at him, fighting against their hands as they drag me to hell.
And he looks away. Ashamed.
Leering faces swarm my vision, all laughing, joyful. They think this is part of the show. Just another performance by the demoness.
I’m held up for all to see, leaning against my captors for support under the spotlights. One of the guards tears the mask from my face, and the cheering only increases.
It’s madness. A nightmare.
“You've seen what she can do, ladies and gentlemen. You can have a night of dancing, or perhaps more, starting the bid at?—”
Paddles jerk into the air before he can say the number. My focus blurs, my ears blocking out the bids, the frantic rush to win me. Instead, I look through the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face, anyone I know.
Anyone who can help end this insanity.
For a second, I see them, emerald eyes in the front row. Tell is looking up at me, raw horror splayed across his features.
I open my mouth to call for him, beg him to save me. But he runs, off into the darkness.
He’s gone. Evan sold me out.
Gavin's far away. And I’m held tight by two guards, my hands behind my back. My brain pulls me back, latching on to a number. The bidding is slowing, reaching outrageous sums, weeding out most of the attendees.
“Eight hundred thousand dollars!”
There’s a pause.
Then a single voice above the rest, that awful deadpan I know too well. “Five million dollars.”
Dead silence follows. I’m going to be sick.
“Five million dollars, to bidder 6175… going once?”
My throat closes off. I can’t breathe.
“Going twice?”
My legs give out.
“Sold! What a start! We’ve got so much more to come…” The crowd cheers, but I don’t hear any of it. I’m shoved along, down the steps backstage.
Directly toward Marco.
Of course, he’d want to single me out. Of course, he'd want to speak to me after he bought me.
“Oh, Hellena, it is you! I was so worried for so long. And I finally found you.”
“Y–you bought me.” I spit in his face.
“I would pay any price to have you back. And now I have you, you’re mine again. Back where you should be.” Every slimy word is a lash across my back, a slap in my face.
Coiling anger overcomes my shock, boiling my blood. “Is she really dead?”
