Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

“Throw her in with the dog,” one of the men said as Indie found herself really hoping that they weren’t talking about her when the man carrying her suddenly stopped in front of one of the metal doors that lined the long hallway that she’d been hoping would lead to an exit.

Within seconds, she heard the heavy metal door open and found herself carried into a small, white room and-

“I-I think he wanted you to put me in another cell,” Indie mumbled weakly as she found herself dropped on a cot across from a man who really didn’t look happy to see her.

Not. At. All.

“Stay on the cot and you’ll be fine,” the man that had carried her around like a sack of potatoes said, chuckling when her new cellmate released a warning growl that had Indie quickly pressing her back against the wall.

Swallowing hard, Indie took in the man sitting in the corner, noting the heavy chain around his ankle, the jeans that looked like they’d seen better days, a golden torso lined with muscle, bruises, cuts, and burns, and found herself looking at the incredibly handsome face of the man that looked angrier than anyone she’d ever seen before and that was saying a lot.

“I’m Indie,” she said with a hopeful smile that quickly died when he released another growl. Deciding that it would probably be in her best interest to focus her attention elsewhere, Indie shifted a few more inches away from the incredibly pissed off man and turned her head only to feel her stomach drop when she spotted what could only be described as a frat boy standing in the doorway.

With a wave of his hand, he had the guard watching over them step aside. With a long-suffering sigh, he leaned back against the door. “Over two hundred shifters, demons, and vampires and not one single bid, dog,” he said, making Indie frown only to feel her stomach drop when she realized that they were auctioning them off, letting her know that this really wasn’t going to end well for her.

“I was hoping to make a little money off you, Lucan, but I guess I’m stuck with you,” Frat Boy, as she now thought of him, said, making Indie frown as she glanced back at her cellmate to find him glaring down at the floor in a move that she knew all too well. He knew better than to make eye contact, something that she’d learned before she could walk.

“I’ve earned my freedom,” Lucan bit out, keeping his eyes locked on the floor.

“You think so?” Frat Boy murmured, sounding thoughtful as she watched him pull a folded piece of cloth out of his pocket.

“Yes,” Lucan said firmly.

“I tell you what,” Frat Boy said, carefully pulling the folds back, revealing a small tube filled with what she was guessing was holy water. “If you ask me nicely, I might consider releasing you.”

When Lucan continued glaring down at the floor, Frat Boy chuckled as he pushed away from the door. “But you won’t do that, will you, dog?”

Indie’s stomach turned as she watched Lucan’s jaw clench as he glared down at the floor as Frat Boy moved closer, toying with the small vial of holy water in his hand as he went. “I wonder how long it will take you to grow your arm back without blood this time?”

“Leave him alone,” Indie said, keeping her eyes locked on Frat Boy, refusing to look away as he cocked his head to the side as he considered her.

“Are you really talking to me?” Frat Boy asked, looking amused.

“Yes,” Indie said firmly, clenching her hands tightly into fists as she waited for the blow that she knew was coming.

Nodding, Frat Boy absently turned the vial over in his hand as he asked, “Do you really have a death wish, human?”

“I have a feeling that we’re about to find out,” Indie said, already knowing that she wasn’t leaving here alive.

She’d betrayed the Pack that kidnapped her when she was a baby and there was no coming back from that. It didn’t matter that she was human, hadn’t been marked by the Pack, or that the Pack had broken shifter rules by keeping her, the only thing that they cared about was the fact that one of their own had been killed thanks to her. When they got their hands on her…

“Yes, we are,” Frat Boy murmured, considering her before taking her by surprise by asking, “How much money do you have on you, human?”

Frowning, Indie reached into her pocket and pulled out the dollar that she’d been carrying around, hoping to entice Jessica to use the potty. There was a heavy sigh and then, the dollar was plucked out of her hand and was replaced with the small vial of holy water.

“He’s all yours,” Frat Boy said, further confusing her and, by the looks of it, really pissing off Lucan, who was now glaring at her. “Congratulations on your new dog.”

“Ummm,” was really the only response that Indie could come up with at that moment as she looked from the small vial in her hand to the vampire glaring at her and-

“Enjoy,” Frat Boy said with a satisfied sigh that seemed to piss Lucan off even more as he turned around and left, leaving them alone once again.

“I have no idea what just happened,” Indie found herself admitting with a nod for some reason as Lucan continued to glare.

“Put that away,” Lucan bit out with a pointed look at the small vial in her hand.

Not really sure that was a good idea, especially since he looked like he wanted to tear her throat out, Indie found herself doing as she was told and shoved the vial in her pocket. When she was done, she went for another hopeful smile and-

“You’re a fucking minion,” Lucan said in disgust, not really sounding all that pleased with the discovery.

“No, I’m not,” Indie bit out.

“That mark on your neck says otherwise,” Lucan said evenly, his silver-eyed glare never leaving her as he sat back against the wall.

“The mark says that I’m an idiot, nothing more,” Indie said, absolutely refusing to discuss this with a man that seemed to love glaring more than the jerk that she was no longer speaking with.

She-

“This one’s ours,” came the announcement that she was really hoping wasn’t about her. Releasing a shaky breath, Indie turned her head and felt her stomach drop when she spotted several large men standing in the doorway.

“Do you know why we’re here?” the largest man asked as his gray eyes turned silver when they locked on her.

“I have a pretty good idea,” Indie mumbled hollowly.

“Then you know what’s about to happen,” he said, gesturing for the guard to open their cell.

“Unfortunately,” she whispered weakly when they reached for her.

“Bring the dog with you. She just bought him off the Master,” their guard said, sounding amused.

Before she could correct him, Indie found herself grabbed by the back of her neck and shoved towards the door. Clenching her hands into fists, she slowly exhaled as she forced her feet to move, refusing to beg or say anything that would make this worse, and she already knew that it was going to be worse than anything that Mary’s Pack had put her through.

When they gestured for her to head back towards the large double doors at the end of the long hallway that she’d been dragged through only minutes earlier, Indie swallowed hard and moved to do what she was told when she saw them grab Lucan. His glare never left her as they chained his hands together. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was sorry only to reluctantly close it, knowing that he would be punished if she said anything.

Telling herself that this would be over soon, Indie followed the large shifter through the doors. Any doubt that this was an auction quickly died when she heard one of the men tell Frat Boy that the bid on Ashley was now at sixty million dollars.

“They want the option to buy her baby for ten million, Master,” one of the men said as he approached Frat Boy.

Indie watched Frat Boy purse his lips up thoughtfully before she shifted her attention to the man standing next to him and felt the air rush out of her lungs. Telling herself that she was wrong, she ran her eyes over the handsome man standing next to Frat Boy, taking in his perfectly combed dark blonde hair, his laughing green eyes and thought back to the picture of Ephraim and his children that she walked past every day on the way to the kitchen and-

“Joshua,” Indie whispered, swallowing hard as she stared at the large man that everyone in the Williams family had been searching for and found him watching her, looking amused as he shot her a wink.

This really wasn’t going to end well, Indie realized as she was forced to keep moving past them. When she moved to glance over her shoulder to make sure that she hadn’t been imagining things, the grip on her right arm tightened, sending the unspoken command to keep her eyes forward. As she forced herself to look ahead, she couldn’t help but wonder how much they’d paid for her.

For a moment, Indie considered offering them the money that the Council had given her, but she knew that wouldn’t help. They wanted revenge and nothing she said or did would stop this, Indie told herself as the large shifter in front of her suddenly turned right and she felt her stomach drop when she saw that the tub waiting for them in the middle of the large room right around the time that her legs stopped working. She stumbled back only to find herself suddenly grabbed and dragged over to the tub as terror had her legs giving out again when she saw the chunks of ice floating on top of the water.

“Do you know what we’re going to do with you?” the large shifter asked, sounding bored as they dragged Lucan over to join them.

“Yes,” Indie whispered weakly.

“Then you know that you have a choice. You can take your punishment or let the leech take it for you.”

Swallowing hard, Indie looked up and met the silver glare of the man that looked resigned to what was coming and she’d be lying if she said that she wasn’t tempted to let him take the punishment for her. He was a vampire and she…

Couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t let someone else take her punishment, no matter how terrified she was and right now, she was probably more terrified than she’d ever been before. She’d told herself that she would never have to worry about being punished again, but in the back of her mind she always knew that she was lying to herself.

“I’ll do it,” Indie said, barely getting the words out before they picked her up. Her body began trembling before her sneakers broke through the ice and once she was in the tub, she forgot how to breathe.

“This is only the beginning,” came the warning as she was shoved beneath the ice-cold water.