Tristan shook his head, in awe that not only had this rebellion grown while he was tucked away in the colonies, but that it was his former best friend and lover who’d been leading it the entire time.
“How… How has all of this happened, Ione?”
A sly smile spread onto her face.
“Are you ready to meet your people, Prince?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Fingers poked into Xenia’s mouth, lifting her lips and examining her teeth.
She wanted to clamp down and bite them.
“Healthy gums,” the male said. His dark eyes were set deep into a pudgy face covered with a thick black beard. “A good sign. Not like the last few I’ve purchased from you, Rankin.”
The male removed his hands from her mouth, and Xenia dipped her head, twisting her wrists in her tight shackles.
She had no idea where on the continent she was.
After the trafficker, Rankin, had stolen her from Ohan Stolia’s headquarters, she’d woken up in a truck bed covered by a canvas canopy. She’d spent the entire jostling journey—what had felt like days—alone and afraid, debilitated by the worst headache she’d ever experienced.
Today, they’d arrived at an abandoned storefront in some ramshackle little town in the middle of nowhere. The air was dry and hot enough to be on the edge of the Desolation, maybe? If so, that would put her somewhere in either northwestern Akti or southeastern Brachos.
As soon as the truck had stopped, Rankin had ripped open the canopy and dragged her out into the blinding sun, her legs stiff and her back aching.
“Look alive, pretty pet,” he’d said. “This buyer hasdrachasto spend on a host gift. Asked for a pristine one.” He’d dragged his gaze down her matted curls and filthy blue dress. “Hopefully he’ll see the potential.”
The Fae male before her now, another Beastrunner, stepped back to examine her. Xenia wanted to claw the hungry grin off his face. Fuck these shackles.
Rankin slapped a hand onto the male’s shoulder. “Thoughts? I’ve got limited stock right now. Business is booming since Eamon Erabis took the throne. He’s even less interested in upholding the Accords than his father was. Although I will say, I’ve rarely come across one as deliciously tempting. I’ve tasted her fear already and it wasdivine. Feel free to sample her before you make your decision. What kind of humans does your friend typically go for?”
Xenia froze, clenching her jaw. Her eyes prickled, but she refused to cry. These assholes didn’t deserve her tears.
She wondered what Cael would say if he could see her now—in the exact scenario he’d warned her about. And the reason he’d wanted her to return to the colonies in the first place.
“Yes,” the bearded male said, ignoring Rankin’s question. “I think a sample is in order. But perhaps a different emotion would be a better test? Since you’ve already tasted her fear. I trust your palette.”
Her head shot up as he approached, and she flinched from his hands, which were covered knuckle to wrist in coarse, sable fur. That combined with his round face, barrel-like chest, and the paunch jutting over his belt had Xenia guessing he was a bear bi-form.
Her shaking hands jangled her shackles as the male brushed her hair back and brought his nose to her neck.
He was all rancid breath and stale sweat, as if he too had been traveling for days. Xenia fought to suppress her gag reflex.
He sucked in a deep breath and the thread of anger woven through Xenia’s fear, exhaustion, and anxiety blazed hot enough to scorch the desert outside.
Her wrists strained against her shackles and a throat-shredding roar tore past her lips. And though she knew her emotions were being manipulated, knew it was this disgusting specimen of a male heightening her anger, it feltfartoo good to deny.
Her chest heaved as she gnashed her teeth toward his ear, but he pulled away at the last second.
“Oh, you are a treat,” the male chuckled. “Pity I’m not keeping you for myself.”
The anger banked as abruptly as it had boiled, and an overwhelming wave of despair buckled her knees. She released a garbled sob.
Rankin backhanded her across the cheek.
The blow was a comfort, the pain far more real than whatever the other male had just pulled from her.
“Don’t you fucking cry in front of a buyer,” Rankin snarled. “If he wanted to feed on your sadness, he would.”
