Page 19 of A Sacrifice in the Smoke

Cindy barks out an order, and the next thing I know, I’m on my feet.

“You’ve been sold,” she informs me in a casual tone. “The Madoc family has paid a good price for you considering you’re onlypartvampire.”

I stop hearing her after she utters that name. The Madoc family. They’re a prominent family in New Ve. One highly respected by the Vampire King.

They also run the slave auctions.

“Sold,” I echo in a low voice. There’s a loud buzzing in my ears. “But he can’t. I’m not his to sell.”

“You’renothing,” Cindy says, fussing with her hair. “You’re lucky he decided on this instead of hanging your sad, pathetic corpse on the wall next to your whore of a mother.”

When she says that, when she utters those cruel words, I drift inside myself and approach my monster’s cage. As I lift the latch, I whisper through the bars.Kick her ass. Don’t hold back.

With a shriek of elation, the monster rips free and runs at Cindy, using every drop of strength Deacon lent me. My aunt has the sense to look shocked. As we slam against the far window, the monster closes her fingers around Cindy’s neck and squeezes as hard as she can, then throws her head back, about to go in for the kill.

But then, before we can bury our face in Cindy’s flesh, we’re pulled off her. A sharp stab in my neck makes the world tilt, and no one is there to catch me as I collapse to the floor.

As the room around me starts to go out of focus, I barely make out Cindy’s stiff form turning and walking away.

You’re nothing.

The words rake through my head, ripping me to shreds as I fall into oblivion, nothing more than ribbons on the wind.

Chapter Six

Iwake on a small cot with crisp white sheets, surrounded by titanium walls.

The zip tie around my wrists reeks of fresh milk thistle. It seems a ridiculous precaution, considering I’m in a cell. There’s a single light panel in the ceiling, but with no windows, it’s impossible to tell what time it is or how long I’ve been here.

Despite the instinct to leap up and pound on the door—a door with no knob, I note—I know there’s nothing to do but wait.

Just a few minutes after I open my eyes, though, the door slides up. The sound echoes in the stillness of the room. My heart quickens as I shift into a sitting position, pressing my back against the wall.

A male walks in, wearing the same dark armor as the ones who ambushed me at Alexander’s—maybe he was one of them. He has flaxen eyes, copper hair, and a trimmed beard. There’s also a shimmer of reptilian scales covering part of his throat.

I flinch when the door slams down. Now we’re both stuck in here, though only one of us has the choice to leave.

“Charlotte Travesty,” the shapeshifter says. I notice he’s holding a glass bottle of blood in one hand and a container of salad in the other. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person. Honestly, that’s the only reason I came down here.”

I narrow my eyes at him, pretending not to care about the blood, despite how my mouth waters. “And you are?”

He smiles, revealing a dimple in his right cheek. “Apologies. My name is Dorian Madoc. I believe our fathers are… acquaintances.”

“Perhaps you haven’t heard,” I tell him coldly. “Alexander isn’t my father, and I’m not actually a Travesty.”

Dorian’s friendly expression doesn’t change. He sets the blood and salad on the far end of the bed, then shoves his hands in his pockets and moves to lean against the wall across from me. “Fair enough. That doesn’t meanwecan’t be friends, though.”

A bitter laugh escapes me. I raise my bound hands. “Maybe not, but I think you keeping me prisoner makes that unlikely.”

“This isn’t forever, Charlotte,” the shapeshifter says, as if that will make me feel better about being locked up like an animal.

“No, just until the next auction, right?”

“You know, you’re right—there’s no sense in you suffering.” Moving with preternatural speed, Dorian reaches for his utility belt, unsheathing a hunting knife, and makes quick work of freeing my hands. I briefly consider attacking him, holding him hostage as a means of escape, but the moment passes before I can decide.

“I don’t understand why I’m here,” I say as the zip tie falls away. I watch my burns intently, but they’re not healing, which probably means Deacon’s blood is out of my system. “I was working for Alexander, doing what he wanted, and now he thinks he can just sell me to the highest bidder?”

Dorian raises his copper-colored brows. “Alexander said he would release you from working in the sewer sector, right?”

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