And like Aleks, I was just another piece of property out there. The hired help. I had a role to play just like everyone else.
Since I didn’t have to worry about anyone ignoring the collar and trying to reach out and touch Aleks back here like I had in the front room, I had him walk behind me as I began figuring out the layout of the back part of the building. There was another exit, but it too was heavily guarded by armed men and I had to use my excuse about being lost to explain our presence.
“Okay, let’s head back,” I said to Aleks as we passed the bathroom we’d used.
We were just rounding the corner and heading for the main hallway when two men came out of a private room, along with a little boy who was crying. The boy couldn’t have been more than nine or so.
I forced myself to keep moving, but when I heard the man say, “Aleks?” in surprise, both Aleks and I came to a stuttering stop.
I’d put Aleks in front of me and he’d kept his eyes down when we’d passed the men, but when he saw the guy who’d called his name, he let out a gasp and then went frighteningly pale. He stepped back so fast that his back hit the wall behind him. He began shaking his head violently.
“No,” he breathed. “No.”
The word just kept falling from his lips.
The man who’d called to him actually smiled. “Take him backstage and get him cleaned up,” the man told the other one who had his fingers around the little boy’s thin arm. The man and boy went the way Aleks and I had come and I realized there was probably a door that led to the other side of the building where the stage was.
Which meant the little boy was one of the kids up for sale tonight.
“The little one had a bit of stage fright,” the fucker said to me as he motioned in the direction the man and boy had gone. “He needed a little refresher on his training,” he added before turning his eyes to Aleks. “This one never needed any refresher lessons,” he said with an obscene amount of pride.
I saw red in my vision and when the man reached a hand toward Aleks, I grabbed him by the wrist. The man gasped at my painful hold and pulled his hand free. He was a beefy guy, but not muscular… most of the weight was centered in his belly and chest. His suit, while expensive, couldn’t hide the extra flab, and all it did was make him look like he was trying too hard. He had closely cropped dark hair and a pudgy face, and he looked like your average guy; there was nothing standout about him. Except his eyes…
There was no mistaking the evil in those eyes.
“He’s taken,” I growled as I tried to stick to the role I was supposed to be playing. But I couldn’t have, even if I’d wanted to.
Because Aleks was still whispering the word “no” over and over again.
“Ah, yes,” the man said as he eyed the collar. “I heard about Mr.Black being lucky enough to stumble across our little Aleks here,” he said. “Though it looks like the time away from us has caused a few unacceptable habits,” he added distastefully at Aleks’s continued display of emotion. “What did I always tell you about being good, Aleks?” the man drawled in a voice that had shivers running upmyspine.
Aleks began to cry as he slid down the wall and dropped to his ass. I started to kneel down in front of him, but when the man tried to reach for Aleks again, I straightened and shoved him back.
“Hey,” the man snapped as he smoothed out his coat. He seemed to catch himself, like the outburst wasn’t the right reaction. He smiled and said, “Tell your boss that if he needs a hand in retraining this one” – he motioned to Aleks – “I’m happy to help. I prefer younger charges myself, but to each his own, right?” He let his eyes roam over Aleks. “I’m always up for new challenges,” he murmured, his tone positively sickening now. “Tell your boss to come see me after the auction if he wants to take me up on my offer or trade this one in for something a little less… used. A couple of my students are expected to sell for top dollar tonight, though I doubt they’ll go as high as little Aleks did.” He paused and then said, “Tell him to ask for Brian.”
Brian.
As in the Brian who’d been the first man to rape Aleks. Brian, who’d tortured Aleks by making him believe that if he didn’t behave, his brother wouldn’t come for him. Brian, who’d had an innocent woman brutalized and murdered in front of a little boy to teach him a lesson…
It wasn’t something I needed to think about any further. I hit Brian hard enough to knock him out cold. His head hit the wall behind him before he crashed onto the floor. I was on him despite the fact that he was unconscious. It was only Aleks calling my name that eventually got through my muddled brain, and I somehow managed to tell my fists to stop their downward trajectory.
“James, stop,” Aleks said as he frantically grabbed at my sleeve. My knuckles were covered in blood.
As was Brian’s face.
What was left of his face, anyway.
I saw his chest rising and falling, so I knew I hadn’t killed him.
I was glad for that because he wouldn’t have felt even a single one of my punches after the first one.
“James,” Aleks cried. All my faculties returned at once and I remembered where we were and what would happen if we were discovered. My eyes fell on a little piece of white paper on the floor next to Brian.
I snatched it up and breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the door code for the room he’d just been in.
The door right behind us.
