I just need to bide my time. I have endless amounts of patience.
Three large betas come into the room and pin me down, their hard gazes full of interest as they stare at my tits and pussy.
Focusing hard, I manage to push out a single word, “Why?”
Avery flinches, eyes wide since she hasn’t injected me with anything yet.
“Huh. Can you move anything?” she asks, her eyes moving over my body. “Weird. Guess maybe the rumors are true and Rosalia Domino is a devil. As for the why, you pissed your father off, and he decided it was time to teach you a lesson. He sold you to me a week before that stupid charity event. Unfortunately, he didn’t know where you were staying so I could get you earlier. Bruno was there when your sale was processed, and he managed to escape your cute little massacre. When your father died, his guard became my contact.
“I used the lawyer guy’s phone number because Bruno mentioned your daddy was pissed off that he was helping you. It was child’s play in the end to get you out of your safe little hole. Your daddy has been nice to me. I secretly made him medicine and let him pass it off as his own.”
Oh fuck. Is this what my father was feeding me while I was home? The doctor thought he created it, but he didn’t. Avery looks young, which means she’s responsible for the alpha bark medication. As she flips her long hair over her shoulder, I can tell she’s an omega by her scent, and I find myself disgusted.
There are some people who are so evil, they deserve to die.
“My father was a bastard. Since yours was so nice to me and now he’s dead, I’ll make sure to treat you really special,” Avery says excitedly. Somehow, I don’t believe I’m going to like whatever she has planned for me. “I saw all the men who came running out when I took you, including the lawyer man. He did a really good job hiding you. I was hoping you’d come out when ‘he’ texted, and you certainly did.
“You’re locked up tight, and they won’t be able to find you. I tried to take your rings off, but the sedative must have made your fingers swell like little sausages. I’ll cut your finger off once you’re dead to pawn your rings. I deserve it since you killed Bruno. All signals are blocked around here as well, which is lovely and keeps me safe. It’s a quiet little vacation from technology.
“Now that’s enough talk. Let’s see if you have a pretty scream or not.”
Her fingers drag down my arm during her little monologue, and her voice lilts like a song before she finds a place to inject the medication. Pushing in the syringe, she grins as she pushes down the plunger.
Fire.Is it possible to push liquid fire into someone’s veins? I don’t even realize I’m screaming until my ears feel like they pop and the sound of it rushes in.
“Very pretty,” the beta holding my wrists chuckles as he holds me tightly. The bones grind against each other, but that pain is nothing compared to every nerve ending awakening in my system as I writhe.
“It is, but it’s going to give me a headache. Go cool her off, please,” Avery sighs. “She needs to understand that I mean business.”
The men lift me even as I twist and pull between them, and walk me to a large tank of water. I still can’t figure out the layout of this warehouse, and I can’t find it in me to care. I want the fire to stop.
God, this hurts so much!
Water pushes away from my body as I displace it, and I can feel it go up my nose as I accidentally inhale it. Strong hands hold me underneath the surface as I struggle against them, my nails tearing at their skin without care. I turn into the kitty Ciro and Dario enjoy calling Vero when we spar, my feet searching for the bottom so I can push myself up.
Unfortunately, the bottom is further down than I thought it was, and all I can do is writhe under the water, drowning, until the world begins to darken around me. Every time I beg the universe for oxygen, my greedy lungs inhale water instead. It’s a cruel cycle, yet the body will continue in its desperation until I expire. I don’t want to pass out.
In my mind, there’s still hope that my pack will find me, as I’ve only been gone for a few hours. Hope is the most dangerous emotion there is, but here I am, holding onto it despite how many times it has disappointed me. I have remembered freedom, love, and the whispered promise of a future to hold onto. I don’t want to let go of that, not yet.
So I pretend and stop fighting completely in an effort to be able to fight later. There are no more panicked air bubbles, or scratching, or struggling. It all simply stops.
The fire is at least banked, roiling under my skin where it still hurts but it’s manageable. It connects me to the world and I hold onto it for dear life to keep from truly passing out.
I’m pulled out of the water and laid out on the floor as my eyes close and I cough and gasp while I shudder. I can faintly hear an air conditioner running in the background, which explains why it’s so goddamned cold in this building. Compressions on my chest expels the water I swallowed while screaming, and my toes dig into the cold floor as I struggle to breathe actual air instead of cursed water. Still, I pretend to be unconscious because my body will still fight to stay alive in this condition.
I don’t actually need to join the land of the living by opening my eyes quite yet, leaving instinct to lead me.
“I hoped she’d put up more of a fight. Maybe she’ll be a good girl for me and let me play my games. I hate when my toys shatter too quickly,” Avery mutters unhappily. “Clean up the vomit and water, guys. Move her to a cleaner area and watch her.”
I grunt as they toss me as she technically told them to, my skin adding more bruises.
“Damn. That’s not what I meant. Tie her up. Just because she doesn’t seem to be dangerous, doesn’t mean she’s not. I need to start lining up buyers. An auction doesn’t seem like a smart option right now,” she muses.
“What about a buy-in listing on the black market, Miss?” a timid voice asks. I can’t place the person’s voice, and I force myself to remain limp and silent as my body continues to pull oxygen into my lungs.
Avery’s men still haven’t reached for my arms and legs to tie me up. Hopefully if I lay still enough, they’ll forget. A girl can dream.
“Hmm. This could work, Tina. Can you do something like that?” Avery asks.
