Dance With Death

by Becca Vincenza

  “No need. I understand you may be very weak. It has been a couple days since you arrived here. Would you like some water?”

  “I’m sure the proper response would be No, I don’t want your water. I want my freedom, but as far as I can tell, that’s not an option. So, I’ll take the water.” His presence disturbed me.

  “You are much more agreeable than your previous owner led me to believe.”

  “I know how to weigh my options.”

  “Very smart, little duckie.” He stood and handed me a water bottle.

  I sipped greedily, regretting the decision as soon as I remembered what Willow said. He will drug you. And since he knew I was a necromancer, he would know what to use. Sage could be used to send ghosts away, but if ingested by necromancers, it weakened their powers. Pulling the water bottle away, I eyed it suspiciously.

  “Don’t fret. It has not been tampered with. I came to discuss your future with you.”

  “How generous,” I scoffed. “Are you here to give me options?”

  Euan laughed for a moment, the blue fire flaring in his eyes. “You are certainly more entertaining than most of the ones who come my way. But tell me, duckie, was it truly so bad with your old master? He seemed quite...protective of you.”

  “This is still a cage, even if it’s made of silk.”

  “I think you’ll discover the difference once you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the opposite,” Euan remarked dryly.

  I hid my reaction, even though it thrummed through me to tell him I knew the difference. Instead, I masked it by taking another long gulp of water. Most of it was gone now, but I still found myself wanting more.

  “What made you decide on this as a career choice? The rest of the booths at career day fill up too fast?” I taunted.

  He smirked at me. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you learn never to reveal your entire hand. Just give them enough of a peek to feel overconfident.”

  My head began to spin, and I reached out a hand to catch myself on the wall. Blinking hard, I stared at the bottle in my hand. Fucker. Why did I believe him when he said it was safe?

  “Not the water, duckie. You certainly are more agreeable when you’re asleep. Sage mingled with propofol has an interesting effect, don’t you think?”

  The more I tried to focus on his words, the harder it was. My mind was muddled, and my powers felt miles away. I touched my neck to find a small injection site.

  “We will head to the auction soon. You’ve caused quite a stir, more than I’ve seen interested in quite some time. I will return momentarily, and we will be off. It has been a pleasure, Rowan.”

  Fear escalated the effects of the drugs he gave me. How does he know my name? Did Willow tell him? Or does he know what we’re up to?

  Blue flames engulfed him as he disappeared. Well, at least now I knew how he got into the room without opening the door. My head spun, and I tried to remain upright. I needed to be conscious and aware for this to work. Stumbling toward the bed, I wondered if I could sleep it off before he got back. Purging my stomach wouldn’t work since the sedative had been injected. I wondered if I could burn it out of my system.

  Turning inwards, I tried to draw on my powers, but just like before my birthday when they sharpened and came to life, they felt distant and untouchable. No matter how I tried to use them, I couldn’t access the Lines. Feeling helpless, I stumbled my way to the bed. As I flopped down, the room twisted and spiraled. I saw blue flames erupt from the corner of my eye, and I rolled my neck to check on my new visitor.

  “Oh no, he beat me here,” Willow lamented as she stepped closer, her flames dying away. I tried to sit up, but my body felt heavy. “I can’t make the effects go away completely, but I can tamper the intensity, so you can at least access some of your powers. Anything more than that, and Euan would know the difference. He’s liable to do something stupid. But Ro, you need to be careful. He can sense your magic.”

  “If he can do all that, why does he use you?”

  “He can sense magic. All wisps can. But only female wisps can detect specific kinds of magic.” She glanced back toward the door anxiously. “I’m sorry. I don’t have time to explain everything right now. Here, drink this.” Willow handed me a cup filled with foul-smelling liquid.

  “Why does it always have to smell bad?” I moaned as I took the drink. Throwing it back, I swallowed as quickly as I could. The effect was almost instant. My powers surged forward again as if excited to be reunited.

  “Okay, Ro, focus. You cannot use your powers in an excessive amount. And do not, I repeat, do not tell my father you know who I am.”

  “Wasn’t planning on it,” I mumbled as I tried to breathe through the sudden cramps in my stomach. The noxious taste of the drink she provided made me nauseous. My head was still spinning, and exhaustion tugged at my limbs. Blinking heavily, I dug my nails into the palm of my hand. That’s when I felt it. The pinch of my onyx ring. It still sat on my thumb, a friendly reminder of Indigo’s dimpled smile, quickly followed by the promise I made to him.

  Jason came to mind, too. His dark brown hair with his sharp nose and strong jaw. He had the look of an Alpha, and I remembered the pain in his eyes when he realized how long he’d been gone. He feared how his pack would fare without him. He and his pack deserved the peace of knowing who killed him. Not to mention the mage and witch who both died. They deserved justice.

  “Do you believe I can actually do this?” I whispered, still feeling out of it, like I’d had seven shots of tequila, but without the warmth of it all.

  “If there’s anyone who can, it’s you,” Willow confessed before disappearing into flames just as her father had. Her father was behind this all, yet she was still trying to help me. She was a victim the same as me and needed saving as much as I did.

  I would get us out. I had to.

  ****

  I didn’t know how long it was before the door opened, revealing Euan in a far less dramatic entrance this time. He still wore the snazzy suit, but a glamour I couldn’t see through covered his face. His features were muddled and distorted with his normally sharp cheekbones rounded, and his aquiline nose shaped more Roman-like. The change was startling, because while I knew what he looked like, I couldn’t see it.

  “Come now, duckie. We have an appointment to get to.” Blue-flamed cuffs appeared on my wrists, and at his words, my wrists were pulled forward. Still semi-drugged, I couldn’t resist the pull of his magic. Before I even made it out the door, a scrap of fabric covered my eyes, leaving me in darkness.

  “You don’t expect me to walk blindfolded?” I slurred. It didn’t come out quite that clear, but the intent was there.

  “Don’t worry, duckie. Your job is to remain silent, complacent, and subservient.”

  As I opened my mouth to reply, a swirl of magic wrapped around my throat and cut off my words. He may be able to compel my silence, but he couldn’t force me to accept my fate willingly. I hated dealing with magic to which I didn’t know the limits. I raised my chin defiantly. Even if I couldn’t see, I still had my pride.

  I didn’t know how long we walked or even where. The air tasted sterile, everything around me stagnant, and it made me feel unbalanced with no indicators to orient myself. It was a strange experience, walking blindfolded in an unfamiliar terrain. The trust I was obliged to put into Euan was forced and uncomfortable but necessary.

  “Brace yourself,” Euan warned a second before my stomach dropped.

  My foot hit air and kept going, but he grabbed onto my elbow and caught me before I went flying forward. My heart jumped into my throat.

  Fuckity-fuck.

  Breathing deeply, I swallowed and tried to gain my footing again. It was a cheap trick, and much to his delight, it instilled uncertainty into me.

  “Almost there, duckie.”

  The nearness of his words made me flinch. He had moved so that he stood directly behind me, his breath tickling the top of my ear. Anxiety swarmed in my belly.


  “You will need to take a step down,” he added, humor lacing his words.

  I inched forward, scraping my foot across the floor to feel where the step ended. I found the edge and slowly made my way down three steps. Euan never rushed me or pushed me forward, which only added to my worry. What exactly was his plan here?

  Euan stepped around me, his hand trailing down my arm. He grasped my wrist and directed me further. Curiosity burned in me with the desire to know what sort of maze we’d just walked through. Was it a mansion? An elaborate trick of walking me around the same place over and over to throw off my sense of direction?

  A door swung open, and the sounds of the outdoors greeted me. Then I felt the brush of fresh air on my cheeks. The air was bitter cold, but it tasted like momentary freedom.

  Euan’s grip on my wrist tightened, and he tugged me forward. Now he seemed to be in more of a rush, and I realized we might be in a populated area. He wouldn’t want an audience. If I wanted to escape, now was the time to react, but I didn’t.

  “Don’t make a sound,” Euan whispered, sensing my indecision. New footsteps came from the opposite direction, and I turned my head. Rough hands lifted me in a cradle hold, and I squeaked, swiveling my head as I tried to see, even though I was still blindfolded. After the person placed me in a car and buckled me in, it roared to life, and we were on the move.

  We were barreling toward the auction for my life.

  Ironic, since this was what I’d been trying to avoid.

  Chapter 26

  As my lungs expanded in my chest, my breasts heaved and barely stayed contained in my ridiculous white slip. After wearing it almost a week, it smelled gnarly, but the black video screens surrounding me wouldn’t be able to smell it. The blindfold had remained on until Euan positioned me to his liking and took it off. As soon as I could see again, my heart slammed in my chest. No matter how much I wanted to pretend that fear hadn’t woven throughout my body and tightened like a snake slowly suffocating its victim, it had. So many things could still go wrong.

  The uneven concrete floor pressed into my feet, and I shifted my weight to relieve some of the pressure, the lacy bottom of the slip irritating my skin. The drive was long, and when we finally arrived, Euan helped me from the vehicle. Willow’s warning to not use my magic still pounded in my head. As much as I wanted to call for Jason, I worried that Euan would sense my magic.

  The moment my blindfold came off, I expected the very classic blinding moment of bright light in my eyes. That’s why I was sorely disappointed by the lack of spotlights. The room was darkly lit, and my eyes adjusted easily. The area around us was the brightest part, but with only oil lamps and flickering candles, it didn’t illuminate a wide perimeter.

  A video camera was directly in front of me, hooked to a laptop on a small stand. As I stood there half-naked and fidgeting, Euan tinkered with the laptop for what seemed like hours. Restlessness nipped on my nerves.

  “When do we start this shindig?” I asked.

  “Anxious to begin?” Euan asked as he checked more information on the computer.

  “Just want to get out of your hair,” I replied flippantly.

  “You’re rather lively for someone who is about to be sold into enslavement,” Euan said without looking away from the computer.

  “Well, Hades knows it won’t be much different from the situation I was already in,” I answered with a forced smile.

  “Do you think me a fool, child?” Euan didn’t look away from his work, but his tone and words had my stomach dropping faster than if I was on a roller coaster. He briefly glanced up from the screen.

  “Don’t know you well enough to judge you.”

  “Play coy if it makes you feel safer, but I’ve been doing this for centuries. You are but a child who has not had the pleasure of being truly owned. Careful with your biting tongue, duckie. You may dig yourself a deeper hole.” Euan finished up on the computer and called out for one of his goons.

  “Watch her while we bring in the buyers,” Euan said loud enough for me to hear.

  I ignored him. This was when I needed to make my move. Though the drugs that still lingered in my body made me feel weighed down and exhaustion kept tugging at me, my brain was wired and alive.

  My magic surged as I called on it. Breathing in deeply, I sighed with relief. I felt right again, my magic back to normal. Whatever medicine Willow gave me to counteract the drug was finally working. Jason appeared next to me, sizing me up with a cursory glance. With a nod, he took in the rest of the room.

  I had so many questions, but I couldn’t speak to him, not with Euan’s goon still in the room. He might not know what I was, but I couldn’t take that chance. Jason had told me before that he was kept blindfolded during his auction, but he said he would be able to tell the voices.

  The only hope we had was that I would be sold to his buyer, but we knew the chances of that were slim. It would have been more helpful if I could have gotten Cassidy here or even her angry mage husband. If, like me, they weren’t blindfolded and could see the room, they might have been able to give more information.

  “The others are worried about you. I’ve been checking up on them like you asked. That wolf of yours is going to lose his damned mind soon. The full moon is tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his wolf came searching for you,” Jason said.

  My heart jumped. Gods, I needed him to stay away. But it still did something funny to my insides knowing that Indigo, or at the very least his wolf, would do that for me.

  “Nod if you have been treated well or as well as can be expected,” he suggested.

  Letting my chin drop, I kept my eyes on the door.

  “Good. Don’t try to run. At this point, you’ve dug yourself in too deep. If you piss him off now, who knows what he’ll do...” Jason advised.

  He incorrectly assumed I wanted to run. Instead, I was waiting for Euan to show his face again.

  As if summoned by my thoughts, he stepped back in the room, followed by four other Mystics dressed similarly to the goon. They stayed behind the computer, and I noticed each held a disposable phone to their ears.

  “Live, sir,” one of the goons said.

  Euan stepped up next to me and leaned in close.

  “Now, to present you to your potential buyers,” Euan whispered before doing something I didn't expect. With a sharp tug, he tore away the front of the slip and exposed my breasts. In a blind fury, I attacked. Pulling away from him, I darted my leg out to kick him, but he caught my ankle. Blue flames erupted from his hands and shackled around my ankle. With another wave of his hand, he used his magic chains to yank my leg backwards. I fell to my knees but kept my arms wrapped over my chest.

  “Buyer Hop offers one.”

  “A fucking dollar?”

  Euan leaned down, his lips pressed against my ear. “No, duckie. One million.”

  “Buyer Tank offers seven.”

  “Buyer Whip offers fifteen.”

  Jason stiffened, but I didn’t think it was because of the rising prices, even though it had me bulging my eyes a little. I knew Mystics had money; a lot of us lived long, long lives, but the way the bids moved up so quickly, it felt more like they were offering thousands instead of millions. The numbers continued to climb between the four buyers.

  There was a twinge on my brand, and my muscles tightened as I prepared to flee. My flight instincts kicked up another notch as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. The bids were still climbing, not as quickly as they started, but enough that I tugged the ends of my slip closer to cover my exposed chest. Euan didn’t try anything funny after that, but he kept the blue-flamed chain around my ankle.

  Jason was keeping close but remained quiet, allowing us both to hear all the names.

  Tank, Hop, Whip, and Snap. Such odd code names. I expected something much more sinister.

  “Boss?” the fifth goon who was standing at the computer called out. Euan nodded next to me, and the bids stopped. The four on the pho
nes didn’t move or speak anymore. It was creepy, and the more I tried to look at them, the harder it was for me to focus on their faces. All of them had the same build, and from the dark lighting of the room, I couldn’t see their faces. But I knew Euan’s. I didn’t think I’d ever get the image of his face out of my head.

  “Snap has a private offer.”

  Euan flicked his wrist at me, and more shackles appeared on my other leg and both my arms. As he tightened the chains, I could no longer hold what remained of my slip together, and the cold air of the room brushed against my exposed breasts. Jason growled, holding the echo of an Alpha. He moved to stand in front of me to block their view, but only I could see him.

  My heart broke at the gesture. He would have been a fine Alpha, one who would have taken care of his pack. But instead of letting him live out his life, someone here purchased him, so they could kill him. Lifting my chin, I refused to give Euan the pleasure of seeing my shame. Exposing me to them, both physically and mentally. Not anymore.

  “It would seem, little duckie, that someone is determined to have you.” Euan typed on the computer quickly, and three of the men left. The last one remaining offered his phone to Euan. “We will discuss the details.” Then he hung up. He looked back at me with a spark in his eye. “You were a much better purchase than I would have hoped for, young necromancer. Lester, if you would.”

  The goon who had been standing behind the computer stepped toward me, pulling something from his pocket. As my eyes fixed on the capped syringe, I started to struggle in earnest. None of us counted on medical sedation, just magically induced. What was in it? Would it sedate me until I was exchanged? Was it the same drug he used to stifle my powers earlier?

  Standing on weak knees, I tried to pull away from him. As the goon Lester tugged off the cap, Euan continued to type on the computer, studiously ignoring my struggles. Lester stood in front of me, and still this close, I couldn’t pin down his features. I wanted to make sure everyone involved got their just desserts. Baring my teeth at Lester like an animal, I jerked away as he stuck the needle deep into the meaty part of my arm.