Page 10 of Act of Command

“Fuck you,” said Brad, growling again.

“Down, doggie,” said the man.

As she took a deep breath, she caught the scent of something different about him. Something off. Two more men entered, each one armed to the teeth. The long-haired man eyed her. “Tell me why the buyers are willing to pay so much for you.”

She just stood there, unable to answer because she didn’t know what he was talking about. He snorted.

The man to his right, who had a buzz cut and was wearing a muscle shirt, offered a warm look from behind the other man’s back. “The collector who brought her in said a bounty had gone out on her head, but he figured he’d get more for her if he brought her to auction. His finder’s fee is steep, but from the look of the bids coming in online, she’s worth it.”

“What is she?” asked the one with long hair who was clearly in charge.

The man with a buzz cut shrugged. “Not totally sure. The lab results came in and they’re inconclusive. Looks like she has Fae in her and a hell of a lot of different strands of shifter. Small amounts of vampire too. There are notes here about only letting the mated males near her when guarding. Don’t know what that is about but I’ve been sure to only let guys who are mated near her so far. More information just arrived on her. Seems one of our buyers actually supplied it, for a fee, of course.”

“How can she have so many strands of supernatural in her?” asked the man in charge, his gaze moving over her. “The hybrid tests haven’t yielded anything as beautiful as her. Well, and Brad. Brad is breathtaking is he not?”

Brad growled again.

“The collector said she wasn’t part of any hybrid testing. Said she was from some other tests—ones done on babies still in their mothers. We’ve another female at our other location that is a big mix up of DNA as well. From the same testing we think. Guess the babies from those tests have been tracked down, or are being tracked down as we speak. And from what we’re getting feedback-wise, the biggest bidders want her and the other for breeding. That’s why we got the big upfront bonus. If we can get either with child, we’ll get even more money.”

“Excellent.” The man with the eyeliner took a step towards her, and when he smiled she caught sight of fangs. The smell of him hit her hard, and she backed against the wall, unsure what it was at first before realizing he smelled of death. Of rotting decay.

She wanted to scream at him to get away from her, but she was afraid to speak. Afraid her nerves would leave her singing or humming and the already terrifying man before her would be even more so.

“You look like a scared little animal in a trap,” he said, black filling his brown eyes. Mae wasn’t new to the supernatural community, so she didn’t scream, although she wanted to. It wasn’t as if she was totally versed in the world either. She knew enough to know scary things were real, and she knew she’d only just scratched the surface.

“Get away from her!” shouted Brad, only making the guy in charge laugh in response.

“He wishes to protect you,” said the man. “Alpha males are always so easy to manipulate. Threaten a woman and they fold. It really is their greatest weakness. History is full of incidents of great men bending and giving up all for a woman. Pathetic. Beat him until he shuts up.”

“No!” she said quickly. “Don’t hurt him. Please.”

“It speaks,” the man said, a sinister smile tugging at his lips. “If it were up to me a fuck and a suck would be perfect.” He neared her more. He was close enough to touch her if he wanted to. She didn’t want to. Everything about his presence set her on edge.

Brad went nuts in his room, slamming against the glass. He snarled and then began to growl, his expression murderous.

The man before her licked his fangs. “Tell me, woman, have you known the pleasure of a bite before?”

“Get the fuck away from her!” shouted Brad.

Mae pressed her palms to the wall behind her, wanting to push herself through it and disappear. She was the animal in the trap, as he’d so aptly put it.

Reaching out, he nearly touched her, but drew his hand back, his gaze narrowing. “If I mark your skin with a bite, I might get less, and it really is all about the money. And you will fetch a great price. Caesar,” he said, snapping his fingers at the man with the buzz cut. “See to it she’s cleaned and find her a white gown. Something sheer. Get new photographs of her up on the web. We want the buyers to get a good view of what they’ll be getting. We’ll proceed with the breeding tomorrow. Top dollar is our goal.”

The head man and one other turned and left, taking with them the smell of rotting flesh. Caesar remained, his gaze softening somewhat. He put his weapon in his waistband and lifted his hands, looking first to Brad. “Calm down. I won’t hurt her.”

Brad stopped hitting the glass, his nostrils flaring. Skepticism filled his expression.

Caesar focused on Mae. “Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. You seem like a nice girl and I’m sorry it has to be this way. I promise it’s just for a bit longer. Okay?”

She said nothing. What was there to say? The guy was part of what was going on. Therefore, he was part of the problem.

He eyed her tray of food. “Eat. You’ve barely touched the food you’ve been given since you got here two weeks ago.”

She’d been there two weeks? The reality that help wasn’t coming hit her hard. How could Alice not know she was missing?

“There is something in the food,” she found herself blurting to him, tears threatening to fall. Hopelessness settled over her, and she nearly gave up.

He paused a moment and then bent near the tray. He lifted it and sniffed it. When his chocolate gaze flickered to amber she understood what he was—a shifter. He snarled, the sound low and deep. “Drugs they use to increase fertility and a sedative. They won’t hurt you. I promise. If I bring you something, will you eat? I know you have no reason to trust me, but I won’t drug you.”

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