Page 33 of Skin Trade

“This is how it is.”

“No. It doesn’t have to be. You can leave.”

A laugh, deep and dark and void of all hope. “Yeah? How? Walk out the door? Tell Creven it is over. Did that work for you too? Did you manage to get out of there when he was doing …” She trailed off what she was going to say. “No one gets out of there. Not by choice and not alive. Now please, leave me alone.” Her words might have been harsh, defensive, but her expression betrayed her. Tears rested on the rims of bloodshot eyes. Her voice cracked when she spoke.

“I promise. When I find my father—”

“Your father?” Josie shook her head. “Tally was right with what she said about you. Spoilt little rich girl. Never accepted any of this. Thought you were better than us all. If you had a way out, you’d be out now. Not here. You can’t help me anymore than you can help yourself.”

“Josie …”

“No. When will you accept it. This is how it is for us? For me, for you. We’re at the bottom of the heap. Deal with it and stop acting like you matter.”

“You know that isn’t true. I would never …” her words cut off. Josie’s words cut deeper than she wanted them to. “I want to help you,” she said. “It shouldn’t be this way.”

“You want to save me?”

“I want to try.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be saved. Did you ever think about that? Maybe I like it here, with Creven.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way. What he is doing is wrong.”

Josie ground her jaw enough that the pulse in her temple throbbed. “Leave me alone, okay?” She pushed past Payton to get to the door. When she opened it, she yelped and jumped.

Creven was there.

Chapter Twenty-One

It wasn’t just Creven at the door, it was Seth too, and Aamon, and a whole bunch of other vampires Payton didn’t know and, in that moment, didn’t care to know. Seth shot Payton with such a look, she stepped back into the bathroom. She needed to disappear, right now. Anywhere that wasn’t here.

“What do you think you are doing?” Creven asked. He stepped into the bathroom and filled the entire doorway.

“I … I was just talking.”

“There is no talking,” he said. His eyes blazed with fury, all of it directed at Payton. Seth’s promise that Creven couldn’t take her played on her mind. Maybe in normal circumstances he couldn’t take her, but that hadn’t included moments when she shoved herself right into the path of the monster about to rip her apart.

When Creven moved, Seth slipped into the ladies’ room and positioned himself near to Payton. She wanted to reach for him. To rest her hand on his arm like she had before. Maybe it would offer some kind of protection.

“It was just talk. Nothing else.”

Creven stepped too close. Seth put his hand up. “Watch yourself. She is mine now. You do not have my permission to touch her.”

Creven breathed hard. Vampires didn’t need to breathe, but sometimes they did it for show, or maybe old memories resurfacing. It made them seem more human, except the look in Creven’s eyes was anything but human and everything to show his true nature.

“You are not permitted to speak to her.” He grabbed Josie by one scrawny arm and thrust her in front of him. Josie yelped as Creven’s strong fingers dug into her arm. She tried to buck against him, tried to get herself free, but he held on tighter, making her skin go white and bulge around his grasp—a helpless ragdoll about to be torn in two.

“Stop it,” Payton said.

“Stop? You do not have permission to tell me to stop.”

Seth pulled Payton back. She was vaguely aware of him holding her tight, protecting her. When she tried to shake him off, he wrapped long fingers around her arm and made it, so she had no chance of getting away. But he couldn’t stop her from speaking. “You treat your humans worse than you treat animals.”

Creven sneered at her. “That is because they are no better than animals.” He raised his gaze to Seth. “It would do you well to take control of your pet. She seems to have forgotten her lessons.”

“It would do you well not to tell me how to run my house.” Seth purposely gazed at Josie. “Especially when your house is in such a state of perversion.”

“You dare to judge me?”

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