Spence had been a slave for years; he was well aware of what the darkest Masters did to their property without witnesses. Things even other sadists would think monstrous and unspeakable.
He focused on the present, and settled the spiced hot chocolate onto the table in the sitting area before he sat behind the desk to bring up the program he’d need later.
Emmy stepped in as he worked at it, and he told her, “I’ll come around and join you in just a sec. Have a seat and pour us both some hot chocolate.”
He’d brought a huge thermal carafe and two mugs. Mid-summer in Anchorage isn’t cold, but it was a rainy day with more of a chill than usual, and he figured you can never go wrong with hot chocolate with Emmy. She might be a woman now, but he could still see that adorable four-year-old peeking out sometimes, and he enjoyed taking care of her.
But today he was talking to the woman, not the little girl.
“Thank you for waiting,” he told her when he had it set up and could come around the desk to sit with her.
“Not a hardship when you give me treats. The hot chocolate is exceptional. Even when I follow your recipe, it’s never as good as when you make it.”
Spence couldn’t help his smile. “You’re welcome.” He sat, took a sip, and told her, “We have a visiting vampire. He’s the Master of Noctimordvik, and he insists on the old name when referencing his title. Even though he’s technically only Master of eleven vampires, he handles more, finance-wise,than Masters of five times that many. He isn’t a huge powerhouse, but he’s important, and he’s interested in you.
“The rules for the extreme masochists at Mordnik are that vampires can’t hurt them beyond what can be healed in threechangesto their animal, back and forth.”
“So six actualchanges,” Emmy clarified.
Spence nodded, and Emmy shook her head. “I’ll never agree to that.”
Spence blew out a breath. “I’m acting as impartial mediator here. I have two offers for you, and if you don’t agree to either, I’ll put Roman’s assistant on a video call, and he’ll have more detailed offers, if you wish to negotiate specifics.”
Emmy gave a slow nod, and Spence said, “Thirty thousand dollars for three hours. No limits other than not to harm you more than you can heal in the aforementioned three changes.”
She waited a few seconds before responding, but she shook her head. “No. Not even for ten thousand dollars an hour.”
Smart girl, but there were rules he had to follow in this exchange, so he gave the next offer. “Ten thousand dollars for one hour, and he will not draw blood other than to drink from you. No broken bones. No knives, no claws or talons. Everything will heal with one change to dragon and back.”
She sat back and considered him a good two minutes. “Thirty thousand for a half-hour. No fire, electricity, or other heat source. No extreme cold either. Nothing at all to my hands, feet, or face. No breath play, no restriction of oxygenin any form. No drugs. No sensory dep beyond a blindfold. No broken bones or dislocated joints. No torn holes, but over-stretched is fine. No one in the room but the two of us and a trusted monitor, if either you or Zander feel one is necessary.”
“And that means it’s time for me to put you on the video call with Hector. While Lucien may agree to those limits, he isn’t going to pay out the ass for them. I wouldn’t expect more than a few thousand for a half-hour.”
Emmy shrugged. “Then he won’t get to play with me outside of my contract with Zander.”
“You’ll want to move to the white chair. I’ll put the video call on the wall screen.”
Spence moved back behind the desk, initiated the call, switched it to the wall, and stepped behind Emmy.
“Hector,” he said when the other man’s face came onto the screen. “This is Emmy. Her current offer is for a half hour with a number of hard limits. Emmy, this is Hector, who belongs to Roman and works as his personal assistant. Lucien has engaged him to negotiate on his behalf. My guess is that if Hector can’t reach a suitable agreement, he’ll be tortured instead of you.”
Hector tilted his head ever-so-slightly to the side, and Spence moved off camera so he could watch both Emmy and Hector.
Emmy rattled off her hard limits with a fifty-thousand-dollar amount for an hour.
Hector looked down, then back up. “Six thousand for an hour with those hard limits.”
“You’re joking, right? Give me an actual offer or I’m out of here.”
“What would you counter?”
“Let’s say thirty thousand for a half hour. If he’s short of funds, then maybe he just buys me for a shorter time.”
Spence doubted it would work, but he appreciated that she’d gone to another offer before returning to where she’d been before the call.
Hector shook his head, and Spence felt sorry for him, but not enough to intervene. There was nothing he or Zander could do about Roman’s slaves. Sometimes life bites. Zander had signed off that he’d leave Roman alone in order to take over the territory, and he wouldn’t go back on his word.
Emmy went back and forth another four times before standing to leave, at which point Hector said, “Ten thousand dollars for forty minutes, and I promise that’s as far as I can go.”
