Page 1 of Reluctant Rebel

1

SIX YEARS AGO

Jinx ignored the sounds around her. The grunts, groans, moans, and cries were as familiar to her as her own reflection.

She stared dully at the carpet beneath her knees. It was stained and rough, chaffing her already reddened flesh wherever it touched. Given she was completely naked, there was no respite to be found from the discomfort.

She raised her hand to adjust the collar around her neck. There was just enough space to fit two fingers between the metal and her tender skin. It was magicked and impossible to remove, even with the strength of a tigress. She sighed, tempted to call the beast she shared a soul with, if only for a moment. But that would be selfish.

Her tiger counterpart was currently sleeping—a deep, oblivious sleep that Jinx envied. But her relief overrode that most of the time. Commanding the animal to sleep had been challenging but also necessary. Being collared, being caged, would have been a slow death for her tiger. They both knew it. Still, her tigress was both stubborn and fierce and fought hard to stay aware. It was the only time they hadn’t been in sync in Jinx'slife. Ultimately, she convinced the tiger to sleep to preserve the life—and the sanity—of her shifted form.

“Help you?”

Jinx startled, dropping her hand and glancing at the vampire holding her leash. Cronos had been tasked with watching her for the evening while her Master was otherwise occupied. He had yet to touch or sell her today, but she knew it was coming. Cronos was a filthy piece of blood-sucking shit, and she wanted to tear his throat out as much as she wanted her freedom.

“I asked if I could help you,” Cronos repeated, crossing his beefy arms and glaring at a patron.

Jinx looked up, finding a tall, lean woman with close-cropped hair and intriguing mauve eyes. Hairs rose immediately on the back of her arms, her instincts telling her to pay attention.

“I’m looking for Weka,” the woman finally said, her expression neutral as she eyed the room beyond.

Cronos leered, his eyes raking over the lean woman in leather. “Are you one of the new toys?”

The woman’s head snapped around to Cronos, her pretty eyes narrowing dangerously. “Do I look like a toy?”

Jinx ducked her head, hiding her smirk. She recognised the undercurrent in the tone: danger. She hoped the stranger would follow through, but chances were slim. Only horrible people entered the tent of the lust demon, Asmodeus.

“In all that skin-tight leather?” Cronos replied with a grin before licking his fangs. “Yes.”

Jinx held her breath, risking another look up. The air felt charged, not that her vampire captor noticed. He was too busy staring at the woman’s jugular.

“You got me,” the woman drawled. “But I’m not a new toy. I’m a new Dom.”

Cronos shook his head. “Impossible. Weka doesn’t play with Doms.”

The woman shrugged, looking unconcerned. “He’ll play with me.”

“Doubt it,” Cronos replied. He grabbed his crotch right next to Jinx’s face. “But I will.”

The woman ran her eyes over Cronos’s form from head to toe before snorting derisively. “Cupcake, I would snap you like a twig,” she stated. “Now, where is Weka?”

“Bitch! I ain’t telling you shit,” Cronos growled, his hand flexing and tugging on the leash.

Jinx gagged a little when her collar choked her, and she was forced to place a steadying hand on the filthy floor to stop from toppling over. Her fingers flexed over a particularly nasty stain, and she stared at it with unblinking eyes.This is my life, she thought to herself.

Feeling the woman’s regard, Jinx peeled her gaze from the floor. Their eyes met, her stomach lurched, and her breath stalled in her throat. She wanted to look away, to hide, but something in the woman’s intense stare made her feel brave.

Jinx licked her dry, cracked lips. “He’s over there,” she said, pointing a shaky finger toward the heavy, black curtains in the back.

The woman remained motionless. “Who are you?”

Jinx shook her head minutely. “I’m nobody.”

One dark eyebrow rose in response. “I’ve never met a nobody before.”

“Now you have,” Cronos grumbled. “She’s a nobody. And a nobodydoesn’t talk,” he added, snarling down at Jinx and tugging on her chain again.

Jinx ducked her head, hunched her shoulders, and prepared herself for a blow. But it never came. After a few tense heartbeats, she tentatively looked up. Cronos’s hand was caught in the woman’s grip. It didn’t look comfortable. In fact, if thetears in the vamp’s eyes were anything to go by, it looked downright painful.

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