“He’s gonna auction us off. Like fucking eBay.”
Ven gently stroked the young girl’s head, and the eagle shifter’s pale and clammy skin pinked up a bit. “Auctionwhooff?”
“Shifters and other magic folks in various states of enthrallment. They’re going to sell us like cattle to the highest bidder.”
I swallowed hard as I thought back to the first time we’d encountered the enthralled harem of our kidnapped people, and the idea of more victims like that being sold to anyone with a fat wallet made me physically ill. Once more, I exchanged a heavy look with Ven.
It was time to start planning again.
30
VANESSA
Idabbed at my forehead, commanding myself to calm down before I drew attention.
After two weeks and two days of planning, I’d thought I would be a bit more assured in our plan. I’d learned a lot since I first looked up Chadwicke on the internet to see how I could help Leo, but I was still very much a novice.
Even though I wasn’t a spy, I kind of felt like one. We’d reached out to America, who hooked me up with a mindwalker who helped magical people running from bad situations get somewhere safe.
Mindwalker was basically a catch-all term for anyone who had magical abilities that manipulated the mind or came from the mind. So, telepaths, telekinetics, mesmers, oracles, mediums, psychics… all that stuff. It was crazy to me that on top of shifters there was an entirely different class of magical people who were basically akin to the omega-level mutants fromX-Men. Considering how powerful they were, I didn’t understand why they weren’t ruling the world.
I’d waited until we were in private before asking Leo that very same thing, and he’d explained there were far too few ofthem. Apparently, magic users like witches, warlocks, wizards, and the like were very adamant about holding the majority of what little social power there was amongst different sects.
I really didn’t understand the world I had stumbled into. Maybe I was naïve, but shouldn’t all magical folk want to be a united front against the ever-present encroachment of humans and our technology?
“Hey, Glenda. You mind grabbing that box of glasses and hauling them back to the kitchen?” My team lead’s voice jerked me out of my contemplation. I hastily tucked my hanky back into the pocket of my server uniform.
“Not at all. I’ll get right on that.”
I was, once again, employed by the enemy for our shenanigans. Naturally, Leo had been against it. He was worried we were risking my life for no reason, and while I wasn’t ignorant of the danger, there was something I had that no one else in our network did.
I was human.
The same thing that put me at such incredible risk also gave me the ability to fly under the radar. The brothers hadn’t hired a fancy shifter-only catering business for their little gala event—the cover for the auction. I didn’t quite understand why what should have been a secret event amongst only magical folk needed such a cover until America’s brother, Alejandro, had explained that there wouldn’t only be magic users at this event.
Apparently, some humans also had knowledge of the magical underbelly of the world and profited from it. Alejandro had chuckled at my look of shock and horror, gently patting my shoulder before telling me it was just as bad as I was thinking.
Gross. So gross. Humans were bad for Leo and everyone like him—we were really bad for the environment—but I’d been relieved that we weren’t the main bad guys for once. Now thatI knew at least a handful of humans were involved in shifter trafficking? Well, it was like a punch to the gut.
That had motivated me to swallow down any fear and agree to be in for pretty much the rest of the plan. I got hired by the catering company and put on the team thanks to the mindwalker who set up the fake identity. She’d sat outside the hiring office while I was interviewed and worked her magic. We didn’t know her name, which I guessed was on purpose. She was powerful and in the business of helping people in trouble. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had a lot of equally powerful enemies.
Still, I’d have liked to get to know her and for her to feel safe enough to join our rapidly growing ramshackle community.
“You said the kitchen, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, right by the pile of other boxes.”
“Got it.”
Although I didn’t have the ability to sense magic, it was hard not to feel as if the very walls of the place were leaking evil. I tried not to think of what horrific things went on underneath all the finery.
The estate we were on was even grander than Chadwicke’s, except it had more of an old Hollywood charm. Everything was glamour, prestige, and opulence. The grounds were all English gardens and sprawling in nature, but meticulously maintained in a way that a layperson wouldn’t recognize. The valet area was behind the mansion and yet it was more decorated than some quinceañeras were, with beautiful floating lights leading the way in. When I’d first arrived, I’d tried to figure out what kind of gadget would allow them to do that before I remembered that we were entering the territory of warlocks and witches. I was sure floating lights weren’t exactly all that demanding for their magical ability.
As usual, I made mental notes of any useful information: the position of the guards, points of interest, possible areas to hide. Itried to make sure I didn’t forget anything, because if something slipped my mind and got one of our friends killed, I would never forgive myself.
So, yeah, no pressure.
It wasn’t like I had a lot of time, either. We’d tried to get the mindwalker to help us with actual plan, but she told us that was a step too far and it could endanger her entire network of contacts. I was intrigued at some underground magical brotherhood, but the woman had gone tightlipped after that. Although it was frustrating, I had to appreciate how much she valued the safety of the people who relied on her. Maybe with several years of consistent contact, we would be able to win her trust. If only that could have happened before the auction.
