“Go to room eight.Jewel is there,” Aubrey says so quietly, I almost don’t hear her.
I look toward her, and she slides a key card across the counter.I grab it and shove it inside my lace bra.
“Is she okay?”I ask, and Aubrey sprays her hair without looking my way.“How old are you?”I ask the one question that’s been on my mind since Tuesday, when I was here last.
“I’m fourteen,” she says, and I suck in a breath.“Does your mother know you’re here?”
Aubrey shrugs, studying her nails.“What mother?”
“Did she pass away?”I ask, softening my tone.
“She couldn’t wait to get rid of me.She left me on the streets, chose drugs over me, and the guys at the club took me in, gave me a home,” she says, and my heart breaks for her.
“I’m sorry,” I say earnestly.
“Don’t be.I’ve got it good because I’m loyal—unlike some of the others who don’t want to be here.They hate it.I feel sorry for the ones who want to get out ...and that’s the only reason I’m talking to you.”She places the bottle back down and turns to look at me, then grabs my wrist.“Don’t get caught by the enforcer.People who disobey him are never seen again.”
She turns back around, and tears spring into the backs of my eyes.She’s fourteen?And this is her only way off the streets?What the fuck?This isn’t right.None of this is right.I have to release them all.How many others are underage here?Do they know what they are doing?Do they have a choice?There’s so much I want to ask her, so much I want to know.
“He’s coming,” Aubrey says, and all the girls move, rushing around the room.Aubrey grabs my wrist and squeezes.“You have to go now in case he realizes you’re not one of us!”she says urgently, and I move quickly toward the door opposite the closet.
I grab the handle and turn back around.All the girls are kneeling on the carpet, eyes cast downward and hands resting on their knees.Anger builds up inside me, and I want to stay.To help.To find out what’s going on.What sort of sick person would make other human beings wait for him like that?As if he’s some kind of god?
Memories of Aubrey’s scar flash through my mind.
The kind of person who thinks he is above everyone else.
Aubrey catches my gaze and points toward the door, urging me to leave.
Fuck, I wish there was something I could do, but I have to get to Jewel first.She’s my priority.I leave through the door Aubrey pointed to and head into another dimly lit hallway.Each door I pass has a number on it.Five, six, seven.Eight—I stop outside of that one and press my ear to it.
Voices carry from inside the room.Groans too.My hands shake.I carefully open the door, and chaos erupts.
Jewel screams.She rolls off the bed, her wild red hair flying around, and covers her naked body.She doesn’t look like the vibrant young girl I remember.Her body is thin.Eyes hollow.Goddamn it.
“What the fuck?”an old guy grunts, sitting up on the bed.His erect cock is on full display.
“You need to leave now,” I say in a calm voice, in complete contrast to how I’m feeling inside.Angry.Confused.Worried.
“Fuck off, slut.I paid for this.Youget lost,” he says, and I take another step inside.
I pull off my wig, stepping closer as my dark hair falls down my back.“Do you know who I am?”
He frowns.It takes him a couple of seconds before his eyes widen and he rolls off the bed.He gathers up his clothes and runs from the room.
“Fuck.Sorry,” he says, before slamming the door shut behind him.
Jewel stays hidden beside the bed, and I move around and kneel in front of her naked form.Bruises line her arms and ring her throat.Shit.Her eyes lock with mine, and she bursts into tears, throwing her arms around my neck.
“Amirah,” she breathes.
I wrap my arms around her slim, naked back, holding her as trembles rack her body.Her tears soak my skin, and I hold her tighter.She needs me and I’m here for her.
She pulls back and watches the door closely, her brows drawing together.“You need to leave.The enforcer, he always does the rounds at midnight, and if anything’s out of place ...”She shudders and rubs the bruises on her arm.Whoever this enforcer is, he needs to die.The fear he puts in these girls kills me.
Jewel stands and grabs her clothes from the floor.She puts on her lacy nightgown, tying it around her waist.
“What’s the best way for us to get out of here?”I ask.
