Page 3 of Lycan King's Captives
“What?” Toby and I say at the same time.
Mal shrugs, “He placed her down to cover it, so I will drop her home to collect what belongings she needs. We will need to stop at my home first to collect the trade papers. I only have the buyout contract on me.”
I jump to my feet. “Trade papers?” I shriek, and he turns to me with a sly smile.
“Yes, love, you belong to me now,” Mal states, and my gaze snaps to Toby, who is staring at me in horror.
“Wait, Mal. She’s barely nineteen,”
“She’ll fetch a higher price then!” he shrugs, clearly uncaring. My heart beats like a drum in my chest, and my breathing becomes harsher. My uncle placed me down as collateral! He sold me!
Toby steps forward and shouts, “This is wrong! She’s not a slave!”
Mal turns to him, his face twisted in anger. “She is now. I have the contract. You can do nothing about it, Toby. I don’t know why you’re getting so upset over this human. She is easily replaceable.” Mal pulls out a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket.
Toby snatches the paper and then glances down at it for a moment before he crumples it up in his fist and tosses it to the ground. “No! I won’t let this happen! You can’t do this, Mal!” His voice is strong and filled with conviction as he steps forward and places himself between Mal and me.
Mal’s eyes widen, and his mouth forms an ‘o’ of surprise. Then he regains his composure. He laughs loudly, a cruel sound that echoes in the small room. “You think you can stop me? I have all the power here. I think you forget how much you owe me too, Toby. The girl is mine now. If you have problems with that, you can shake her uncle down for what he owes; however, she is leaving with me.”
Toby stands tall and meets Mal’s gaze without flinching. “I will not let her be sold and turned into a fucking bloodwhore, or prostitute!”
Mal tilts his head to the side and clicks his tongue in annoyance. “You like her,” Mal accuses. Toby quickly shakes his head while I chew my lip nervously, my heart racing.
“No, she is an employee,” Toby quickly defends.
Mal laughs sinisterly. “So you keep saying, yet you’re willing to cut all deals off with me and start a war; I would say otherwise,” Mal chuckles. His dark, eerie eyes flick to me.
“If you can pay the debt she owes me, you can have her back. Until then, she is mine,” Mal snarls, stalking over to me and ripping me off the sofa by my arm.
I cry out in pain, and Toby moves toward me, but Mal shoves him away.
“Remember your place, Toby. Fight me on this, and it will be your last fight,” Mal reminds him before he pulls me out of the door.
My heart races as I’m dragged to the corridor, and I glance back to see Toby watching from the doorway, with an indecipherable expression on his face before he turns and slams his office. Mal hauls me outside into the street before shoving me toward one of his men, who seizes my arm and leads me across the road to another club. He pushes me through the blacked-out doors and into the club.
I scan the smoke-filled room, my heart racing. The place is dimly lit, and the air is filled with the sickly scent of blood. I have never been to this club before, although I heard the stories. It’s a blood bar where the vamps come to feast on their prey. Glancing around, eyes watch me. People are dancing on the dancefloor under the strobing lights, and girls with chains around their ankles dance on poles attached to tables. At the same time, vamps look up at them as if they’re the tastiest treat they’ve come across, and the half-naked girls are covered in bite marks, their eyes vacant as they sway their hips to the beat, their skin pale and clammy.
Suddenly, a hand grabs my arm and drags me forward into the main club area. I wince as the cold grip tightens around my arm, and I stumble forward as I am led out the back of the club to an office before being pushed hard onto a chair at a table in the center of the room.
Mal talks with one of his men about organizing his driver to wait at the side alley to pick us up while I stare vacantly at the wall, shocked at what has become of me. Only mere hours ago, I was excited because I was finally escaping the city, and now I’ve been sold off to cover my uncle’s debt.
“What about Prince Xandros? He’s been waiting in the VIP section for you. He doesn’t look happy.”
“He was supposed to stop by tomorrow, not tonight,” Mal states, and the man who dragged me into the room shrugs.
“I guess he must have plans. I can tell him you’re not here.”
“No, it’s fine. Grab the money from the safe and tell Sally to send him down to my office. I’ll deal with the prince first and then deal with this mess,” Mal tells the vampire man, whose gaze goes to me before he smirks.
“Very well,” he states, striding out and leaving me with Mal, who exhales loudly as he turns to me.
“You better make me my money back, or your uncle is a dead man,” he tells me.
“Can I trade him for me?” I ask.
Mal chuckles. “I’d have to pay someone to feed off that piece of garbage, so no!” He laughs when the door opens.
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