Sanctum: Saving Setora (Book Two) (Dark Dystopian Reverse Harem MC Romance)

by Raven Dark

  “Well, she’ll be gone in the morning anyway, don’t worry about her. And I still think you’re jealous.”

  “Girls?” Gretle rapped on the wall at the entrance to the dressing room and we both looked at her.

  I rose from the stool, nervousness eating at me, knowing what she was about to say.

  “Gore’s here.”

  Cherry gave my lips a final brush up with pink lip gloss, then set the tube down. “All right. Let’s get you out there.”

  I blew out a long, slow, calming breath and followed her down the tunnel to where Gore waited. Gretle disappeared down the hall to the slave’s common room, and I turned to Cherry.

  Why was I so nervous? It wasn’t like the woman could do anything to me with my masters there the whole time. Even so, something close to panic rose in me at the thought of going into that dinner tonight.

  The club house was set up with a more formal dining feel than usual. Not as much as Damien’s house parties were, but nice enough to showcase Sheriff’s standing as the leader of the Dark Legion.

  A long table was set up with a white linen tablecloth, candles set in glass lanterns, and sparkling glasses and silverware. Crash and his staff had outdone themselves.

  Immediately, I felt the Violet’s presence, but I didn’t bother looking for her. Pretty Boy stood up from his seat and walked over to greet me.

  “You look stunning, Princess,” he whispered in my ear. “Dinner hasn’t started yet, and I’m tempted to take you to the back of the room and fuck you hard. But I’ll behave.” Wetness pooled between my thighs at his words. Maker, would I always respond to my masters this way?

  “Thank you, Master.” I cleared my throat and schooled my features. Now wasn’t the time to not be vigilant. The feeling of urgency was still there in the back of my head, growing stronger. Added to the fact that I was exhausted from no sleep, I needed to be alert. I just wanted these guests to leave.

  “Sweetheart, there you are. Come sit.” Sheriff nodded to the chair next to him. Sitting directly across was Grizzle and his men. And of course, Madi’san.

  Pretty Boy led the way. We passed Hawk and Steel, the former avoiding my gaze and drinking his wine. He was dressed in that Yantu warrior garment again. I never did ask anyone what that signified, but I assumed Sheriff saw it as a perfect threat to his enemies.

  After sitting between Pretty Boy and Sheriff, I glanced around the table, noticing the more prominent members of the Dark Legion, including Crash whose role of kitchen master faded to the background when at more serious meetings.

  Talk of zone politics and latest gossip filled the hour. Seafood, meats with creamy sauces, and an array of appetizers were served at intervals throughout dinner. I barely ate anything, only picked at my food. The haughty looks from the Violet across for me ruined any appetite I may have had.

  “Speaking of festivals.” Grizzle spoke up after talk of interesting events in Zone 2. “I’ve heard that Damien Vale is preparing another one of those high-class auction of his. I will need to acquire an invite. What would be the best way to go about that, Sheriff? I’ve heard the rumors of your piracy adventures, I’m sure you’d know where to look.” He cut into his steak, not looking up. But once he realized that the room had gone silent, he raised his head, looking confused.

  I tensed at hearing my former master’s name. Coupled with the mention of auctions, and I was ready to leave the room. This dinner couldn’t end fast enough.

  “We don’t deal with Vale, Grizzle. And we don’t mess around with auctions. Not our thing, you see.” Sheriff sounded at ease—almost too much so—his words a lazy drawl.

  “Oh?” Grizzle’s eyebrows reached high enough to touch his curly black hair. Looking at me briefly, then back at Sheriff, he asked, “But your slave here was an auctioned piece, right? Where’d you buy her?”

  Pretty Boy cursed under his breath, and I placed my hand on his thigh underneath the table. The tension in the room was too thick for my comfort. My masters needed to tread carefully.

  “My men wanted her and took her.” Sheriff shrugged like it was natural for his men to take what they wanted. In a way, it was. I couldn’t help the small grin.

  The Violet’s eyes zeroed in on it immediately.

  “I’ve heard of Setora. She was quite the conversation piece in higher circles. A true Violet, secluded and raised by the great Damien Vale,” she said, her icy demeaner frosting each word.

  As she spoke, a cold fist of awareness entered my mind, almost making me gasp. I tried to shut her out. Sweat started to form on my brow, my tired muscles tensing with the effort not to flee the room. The icy sense of awareness dissipated as quickly as it had come. I sighed in relief.

  “Huh. Madi’san here came from one of Vale’s associates. She was traded off to me in a deal for coal product back in…oh what was it…six years ago or something like that?” Grizzle’s hand went under the table, probably to remind himself of his good fortune. I felt sick.

  Madi’san, meanwhile, smirked at me, as if any reservations she’d had in interacting with me had disappeared. Her mind radiated smugness, like she’d gained a point on me.

  “That reminds me, Grizzle, tell me about that rumor of you and Commander Drafi. You know the one,” Steel said. I tuned out the conversation, feeling too ill to listen.

  As if sensing my discomfort, Sheriff stood up, “Excuse me, gentlemen. I’m going to check the status on something special I have planned for later this evening. Woman, come.” Sheriff held out his hand to me.

  Pretending to know what he was referring to, I stood and took his hand.

  He led me toward the back of the club, the open area that led to the green. I turned around to face him. His warm hand lifted my chin, while his deep blue eyes held concern. “What the hell is going on with you? Are you ill?”

  “No…er…yes, Master.”

  “Which is it, yes or no?” His eyes bore into mine. “You looked tired when you came to dinner, but now you look like you’re on your death bed.” His gaze traced my features, taking in my no doubt pale face.

  I decided to just tell him. I needed to trust him sooner or later whether he believed me or not. If anything, it would help me feel more at ease.

  “It’s that Violet, Master. She’s…something’s off with her.”

  “She’s a fucking Violet, of course something’s off with her.” He shook his head, not understanding.

  “Well, so am I, Master.”

  His lips twitched. “You may look like one, but you aren’t one of those creatures. I don’t know what you are, but you’re not like them, little spy.”

  Warmth spread through me at his words. It seemed that we were finally on the verge of forgetting the chaos that defined our relationship since that first day we’d met. It felt like a weight had dropped off my shoulders.

  “Thank you, Master. There’s something you need to know. And it may sound ridiculous. Maker, even I think it’s crazy.” I took a deep breath and steadied my resolve.

  “Go on, what is it?”

  “When Madi’san is in the room, or near me, I can feel her. And I believe she can touch my mind.” Quickly, I went on before he could dismiss my words as pure nonsense. “I know, it sounds crazy, but I experienced the same thing at the bazaar with my other masters. There was a feeling, a buzzing in my head, and I knew I was in the presence of something strange. When I looked around me, I saw a woman. A Violet. A true one, if I read it right.”

  A strange look briefly crossed his features, one I hoped meant that he was taking what I said seriously. “Okay.” He ran his palm down his face. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know, Master. But I don’t like that Madi’san. I don’t like the way she looks at you, like a predator.”

  Sheriff laughed, and I blushed, realizing that my words came across as being petty and jealous, when it actually meant that I picked up on a legitimate threat to Sheriff himself.

  He pulled me close to him and smelled my hair, kissing th
e top of my head. “Sweetheart, you have no need to worry about that. She has absolutely nothing to tempt me. She’s a wolf, scenting out the alpha in a room. She smells opportunity. That’s how she’s been raised, like most of your kind.”

  “No, Master, it’s not that. I’m just worried about you and your men. The disruption. Grizzle…all of it… Maker, I don’t know what I’m trying to say,” I said, frustrated and feeling cross.

  “I appreciate that, little spy. My men and I know exactly what we’re doing. Grizzle is slime, his woman is a bitch. As soon as this business is concluded, they won’t ever be back. Now that other, the…sensing, I have no idea what that is. Maybe ask Doc tomorrow. But I think you need some sleep.” He patted my hip and took my hand again, leading us back to the table.

  “I’m afraid it’s time for business. Manny, clear the table. Go with the other slaves, woman. I’ll call on you later.” He pulled me to him and crushed my mouth with his. The kiss bruised, strong and possessive, hungry and burning. A much different kiss than ones we’d had before. Was this one real or for show? When he pulled away, his eyes were wild. He nodded me toward the entrance.

  “Yes, Master.”

  Finally, I was leaving that dreadful room.

  “How was dinner?” Cherry asked me later.

  We were in the main area of the slave quarters. A few of the older women were with us, sitting at a table playing cards.

  When I’d come in after being escorted out of the clubhouse, Cherry took one look at me and brought me a hot cup of tea. Since then, I had started to feel a little better, definitely more so now that I was away from Madi’san.

  “It was awkward,” I answered, sipping another cup of the hot brew.

  “I’m sure. And the Violet Bitch Queen?”

  “Haughty. Light of the Maker, no wonder you all hated me when I first got here. Everyone keeps telling me that Madi’san acts just like all the other Violets they’ve encountered.”

  Gretl and another woman laughed.

  “Yep, when we heard that Pretty Boy and his giant counterpart brought a Violet here to the Grotto, we all about died,” Gretl said, amusement making her older eyes shine.

  “Well, Violet, you’re one of us now, even if you’re still stuffy and strange.” Cherry winked at me.

  “I appreciate that, Cherry,” I said dryly.

  After the laughter settled again, the older women began sharing stories of their past encounters with Violets. Some were funny, others were terrifying. I noticed Cherry didn’t have a tale to share—in fact, she remained oddly silent. It made me curious, but I knew enough about her now to know that Cherry would only let you in if she invited you first, so I left it alone.

  “Was your mother a Violet, Setora?” Gretl asked.

  “She was, yes. I think my aunt was, as well, but I don’t remember. I was only six when my mother died.” I didn’t bother explaining that she’d been taken; it would only confuse them. Plus, I didn’t feel up to revisiting that day.

  “I’m sorry. That must have been when Damien took you in.” Gretle gave me a gentle look, the only time she’d ever shown such empathy toward me. It warmed my heart.

  “I can’t imagine being so young and going through that,” the other woman said. “We’ve been part of the Dark Legion long before it even formed. Before the mountain erupted.”

  “And Sheriff would never purchase a slave, especially from Damien,” Gretle said. Both women nodded as they dealt out a new hand.

  The statement about Damien peaked my curiosity. I’d always wanted to know what had caused the bad blood between Sheriff and my former master.

  “Did you live far from here, Setora? Where were you born, anyway?” Cherry asked.

  “I lived in Tarson, born in Zone 5. We moved around a lot before settling there.”

  “You lived in Tarson”? Cherry asked in a funny voice.

  I looked at her closely. “Yes. Are you familiar with it?”

  Her pale complexion lost even more color, and she fiddled with the needle and thread that sat on the table. “Nope. Just knew someone from there, is all.”

  I decided to give them a little about my past. It was nice being able to talk with people who didn’t expect anything of me. “We were just getting ready to move again. Because my mother was a Violet, she was always being pursued. As far as I know, she’d always lived as a free woman, and she tried to maintain that freedom, and keep me and my brother safe.” My chest tightened at the memory. “It was too late, though. The poachers looking for girls to sell had arrived in Tarson.”

  “Assholes,” Gretle said. “They work for the high bidders.”

  I didn’t bother to correct her. The men who took me and were responsible for kidnapping my mother and killing my brother were road warriors, not poachers working for high bidders like Momma’s crew in Hell’s Burning.

  “So they captured you and your mother?” Cherry asked softly.

  “No, thankfully that night my mother wasn’t in town. No, it was just me and another little girl.” I laughed out loud, then explained my reaction. “There was a girl across from us I was determined to rescue. You know how I get.”

  Cherry didn’t laugh, but the other women chuckled and nodded in understanding.

  “Well, there I was, six years old, crawling into that girl’s window, ready to save her from the man she lived with. I took her out of there, and we ran far into the night. I didn’t even think about what we would do when once we got far enough away.” I laughed again, sadly.

  “But you went back, didn’t you?” Cherry whispered.

  I frowned. “Yes, we did. But when we returned—”

  “You were both captured.”

  “How…” I started to say, not understanding what was happening. But I never got to finish. Cherry’s chair scraped against the floor before she ran from the room. I watched her leave and went to follow her, but Gore stood at the entrance and she ran past him.

  “Sheriff wants you, Setora. Time to go.”

  I followed Gore to Sheriff’s quarters, my mind spinning as I tried to make sense of the mounting unease I felt. When we arrived at the double doors that led into Sheriff’s rooms, my mouth fell open.

  A guard stood to each side of the doors, each one with a gapa standing at his side. The large dog-like creatures, with their coats of armor for skin and huge teeth, didn’t manage to look any less menacing, standing well-behaved and statue-like.

  Some of the tension left me. Those gapas were alarming to look at, but if they were there, I wasn’t the only one on my guard.

  Gore knocked on the doors.

  “Enter.” Sheriff’s voice drifted from inside.

  Once inside his quarters, I could tell the evening was already well under way. The huge, white-tiled front room had been laid out with a circular table that fit four and was covered in silver platters of after-dinner pastries and sweets. Bottles of liquors and fine wines lined a bar along the wall behind Sheriff who sat at the head of the table. Grizzle sat at the other end with his back to the door. The men had obviously had their fill of dinner earlier, both looking satisfied as they talked and sipped wine from glittering glass goblets.

  “Ah, the desert course,” Sheriff said, reaching out his hand for me when I approached the table.

  A door on the side of the room opened, and Madi’san glided in, graceful and swan-like. She’d entered on cue as if someone had summoned her, not that I had to look at her or even hear her to know she was there.

  As soon as she entered, awareness of her stabbed at my thoughts, her mind once more a too-bright light in my eyes so that I didn’t know how I kept from wincing.

  The woman went straight for her master, but her eyes flickered over to me first. The color didn’t leave her face this time, but I saw her throat work before that mask of haughty superiority slipped into place.

  Focusing on Sheriff, I went to the head of the table and slipped my hand in his, letting him pull me close. His hand released mine and slid around my waist to c
up my backside.

  “Good food should always end with a good fuck, isn’t that right, sweetheart?” Sheriff said, toying with the gold chains dangling from the front of my pants.

  There was something in the way he was looking at me, something more calculated than lustful that unsettled me. I watched him carefully. “Yes, Master.”

  “And then a good fuck makes you hungry again.” Grizzle pushed his chair out from the table to reach for a platter. Sheriff laughed, but there was no amusement in his eyes.

  Grizzle put a small chocolate square in his mouth, then patted his knee, and Madi’san climbed smoothly onto his lap, facing us. Sheriff pulled me into his lap, as well, so that I was facing Grizzle and Madi’san. He pinned me to his chest, his fingers cupping my chin in a firm grip. His mouth played with my ear.

  “Keep an eye on him,” he rasped low enough so that only I heard. “Squeeze my hand if he twitches wrong, understand?” he finished in a growl as if he’d been saying something naughty to me.

  “Yes, Master,” I said in what I hoped was a needy purr, grinding my backside into him.

  “I always prefer to do business with a woman in my lap, Grizzle,” he added in a normal voice. “But there is a matter that needs discussing before our slaves distract us too much.”

  Grizzle looked behind him at the door as if Sheriff hadn’t spoken. “Where is your Yantu, General?”

  “Hawk is busy with other things.” He slowly ran his nose along the side of my neck, inhaling deep. Then he looked at his guest. “If you’re going to serve as the new middle man to the Dark Legion’s gem market, you’ll need to pass a few tests.”

  Grizzle had pushed his hand inside the gossamer top his slave wore, cupping her breast from behind, but when Sheriff had spoken, his hand stopped.

  “I gathered as much. Whatever it is I have to do, I’m ready, willing and able for this kind of payoff.”

  “I bet you are.” Sheriff turned his head and nipped at my ear. His knees pushed mine apart, and he shifted forward in his seat, grinding me into him slowly.