Page 16 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

That was how long it had been? It didn’t seem like that much time had passed since she left for college at sixteen. The nerd graduated before everyone else and bounced her ass out the door to college like there was no tomorrow.

Had she been sold, or was she a willing participant?

Why?

What did Elias think he had to gain?

“Do you know who she was sold to?”

“It’s a place called the Dollhouse.” Mark switched the screen again. The image that appeared was of a stunning woman in her late forties or early fifties with pinched red lips and a sharp face. Her gray hair was swept back in a bun that rested at the nape of her neck, and in her hand was a cane.

A cane with a silver cross.

“A covert underground training facility that no one has ever been able to find. That was all I was told until I found these documents that listed the name of the woman buying up her unwilling recruits. Madam Therese.”

That was a name I did know.

“I know her.” All eyes turned back to me. “I mean,” I hesitated. “I’ve never seen her until now, but Bailey said her name. She said that before she was ushered on the stage, they let that woman backstage to pick from the lineup before they were sold. The only reason she didn’t pick Bailey was because she’d already been sold. Her entire bid was a farce.”

Nikolai leaned forward, his powerful jaw clenching tightly. “What else did she say about what happened?” If there was anyone who hated those who forced others into killing and fighting for a living, it was Nikolai. Matthias once told me that he met Nikolai in an underground fight ring in Moscow. He was a willing participant in the fights. Nikolai was not. If he ended it too quickly and didn’t give a show, he would starve. Drag it out too long? He would be punished. Lose? Losing wasn’t an option. Each fight was to the death.

“Uh,” I thought back to what Bailey told me, “her accent was different. A soft European, but not Russian. Same with the men she was with. She said they sounded almost German, but softer, like they hadn’t been there in a long time and their accents had started to fade.”

“What else?” he prodded.

“Two of her assets went rogue, which was why she was getting the new women from a sex auction,” I recalled. Then it hit me. “And that Ward provided the best assets.”

I was going to be sick.

Elias had sold his daughter into being an assassin, and Christian was taking up that mantle to provide capable women. That meant he wasn’t just grabbing up homeless women and prostitutes like he did for the sex auctions. No, he was grabbing up women from their everyday lives. Elias had sold Kenzi because she was of no use to him. Without the ability to bear children, he couldn’t make an alliance. Which meant that Christian was searching for and taking women just like Kenzi. Barren. Unable to conceive.

Shit.

Then there was Madam Therese’s cane. It was a replica of the cane my grandfather had with him at the gala. I might have chalked it up to being a coincidence—here were plenty of silver cross canes out there in the world to buy—except for one small detail. The tiny emblem that was carved into the wood of the cane just below the knob at the top.

That crest had been on Seamus McDonough’s cane as well. It had also been stamped on the paperwork that listed my mother as being sold. Elias never ran the trafficking rings.

Seamus McDonough did.

My own grandfather possibly had my mother kidnapped and sold.

And he had help because there was one other place I had seen that emblem, and if I was right—I might never be forgiven.

CHAPTER FIVE

The day had faded into a shady night. The cold breeze wrapped around me, seeping into the wool of my coat and the thick hide of my boots. I needed a break from the confines of the bunker. The walls were closing in on me, each new layer of information pushing them that much closer.

I had suspected on numerous occasions since Libby’s funeral, but it wasn’t until Mark had shown me undeniable proof that it sank in.

How could she keep such a thing a secret?

Fuck.

It drove me bat shit crazy thinking of my sister feeling that she needed to keep such an important thing to herself. The revelation would have shattered her world. I know because when I learned of my true parentage, it had done the same to me.

Libby was there for me when I learned the truth.

She was alone when she discovered hers.

---