Of Thorn and Thread (Daughters of Eville #4) - Chanda Hahn Page 0,42

closed and my head fell forward.

“Let’s start the bidding at thirty gold pieces.”

“Forty.”

“Fifty.”

Numbers . . . numbers. It could have been colors for all I cared. Nothing mattered except the nothingness I felt.

“Five hundred gold pieces,” a voice called out.

The room fell silent, and I turned to face the shadowy voice. I didn’t recognize him, but he came forward and pulled a bag of money from under his cloak. His hair was dark and unruly, his eyes cunning.

“For that price, you could have multiple girls,” Esme replied.

“I only want her.” He came and held out the bag to Esme.

She was hesitant to take the gold. “You know, it’s just for one night. She’s way too valuable to me to just give her up.”

“One night with her is all I need to fulfill enough fantasies for a lifetime,” the stranger added.

“Right you are.” Esme snatched the bag from the rich bidder and pointed toward a hallway.

Guards grabbed me under the arms and lifted me up to follow Esme to a back room. The stranger followed behind and they unceremoniously dumped me onto an enormous bed covered with pillows and blankets. They pushed the stranger inside after me. The door slammed behind him, and a deadbolt slid into the lock.

He cursed under his breath. “I wasn’t expecting that. Now we’re really stuck here.”

I whimpered as he came and sat on the bed next to me. He reached out to help me sit up, placing a stack of pillows behind my neck. His eyes sparkled and looked like giant, jet-black jewels. No, it wasn’t his eyes. It was the drugs that made his eyes sparkle.

“You really are beautiful. Stunning, really. I really thought you would be more aware. This really hampers my plans. But wait, you’re supposed to do anything I tell you to.”

It was coming. My heart thudded loudly in my chest. The moment I had been dreading.

The stranger leaned forward, his lips inches from mine, his breath warm on my skin. He ran a finger down the side of my face. “I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss you.”

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, and he pulled back. “No, sorry, that wasn’t a command. Your beauty momentarily distracted me. That was just my wishful thinking. I’m sorry I worded that wrong. I’m an idiot.”

I shouldn’t have been able to cry. They commanded me not to, but I did. A single tear slid down my cheek.

“Oh, Aura, don’t cry.” He leaned close and wiped the tear away.

Aura. This man called me Aura when Esme had me billed as Aurora. An icy chill ran through my body. Who was this man? How did he know me?

“I’m really sorry about stealing that kiss from you. It wasn’t my intent. I’m not here to harm you.”

I blinked in confusion.

He flashed me a debonair smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself and explain earlier. I’m Devin Hapsturn, and I’m here to kidnap you.”

I inhaled and leaned back.

“No, wait. I mean, kidnap you from the kidnappers. This is a rescue attempt, although we probably need rescuing ourselves now.”

My hands trembled and Devin clasped them between his and rubbed them as if to bring feeling back to the tips of my fingers.

He rubbed them, and they tingled. “Can you feel that?”

I nodded.

“I’m friends with Liam. Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here.”

My heart thudded at hearing Liam’s name. I wanted to ask a million questions. Was he here? Where was he? But I could not get my thoughts to form into words.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome, but don’t thank me until I figure out how to get out of a locked room.”

Heavy footfalls came near, and they slowed just outside our door. We waited with bated breath. They continued on down the hall, and I released a sigh.

Devin leaned nearer. “That was close. They’re expecting us to spend the night together, so I’m going to douse the lights to keep the guards from spying on us while I think of something.”

He got up and moved around the room, snuffing out each candle and dousing the lanterns until nothing remained lit except for a light in the hall that shone under the door. Devin came back and sat on the bed next to me.

“Is this okay, am I too close? I just want to be near enough if they come to check on us, we can pretend.”

I nodded as more tears fell from my eyes. I couldn’t believe it. It