Page 75 of Darkness

“Eva!” I yell, rushing for her before she gets to him, but it’s too late. Andrés turns, grabbing Eva as she tries to throw a fist at his face, but he simply ducks out of the way. She drops to the side with the force of the miss, and he grabs her waist, pulling her back to him in a tight grip, aiming his gun at her head while Ivy and the club girls cower in the corner. With the barrel of the gun against her temple, Eva raises her hands in defeat. The glare Ivy sends him makes me concerned she’ll try to take him on next. I shake my head subtly, warning her to back down as I slow my approach and raise my hands.

“Let her go, Andrés,” I call out, taking slow, purposeful steps into the room.

“Did that once before. You think I’m gonna do it again so easily?”

“You and your lackeys are outnumbered. There’s no way you’re making it out of here with her.”

“Then I’m not making it out of here at all. It’s with the sisters, or I die trying.”

Andrés edges forward, and I step into his path, stopping him. “Get your fucking hands off her.”

He moves his gun from Eva’s temple to wave it around like a madman while keeping a firm grip on her with his other hand, his focus solely on me. “You think I won’t shoot you in front of them all? Then what? How will you save your precious cargo then, Nycto?”

“You don’t have to do this, Andrés. You can walk away… pretend you never saw them.”

“But I did. I did see them, and I know their worth. Do you? Do you understand how rare they are?” My brow furrows. “You knew the price for them was more than double normal. You didn’t question it at all? Surely, you’re smarter than that.”

I glance over at Eva, a shudder running over my body. Shit. I knew Andrés’s girls normally sold for around fifty thousand. Why hadn’t I considered that maybe there was a good reason, and it wasn’t just some asshole tax for losing the packages in the first place?

“What’s he talking about, Nycto?” Eva murmurs.

“It’s eating at you now, isn’t it?” Andrés goads. “Crawling under your skin, clawing at you to find out.”

I grit my teeth. “Shut up, Andrés.”

“Tell me,” Ivy calls out.

Fuck.

Andrés cackles. I have no idea what the reason is, but knowing it could be worse for them. Sometimes shit is better off unknown.

“You’re sisters. You’re special for the same reason… but also slightly different.”

Ivy figures it out before I do. “Genetics?”

“Exactly.”

“How could our genetics possibly be of use to you? Medical research? Unless… you want our blood.”

That sounds like some real bullshit right there.

“Golden blood,” Andrés whispers.

“Ivy? We may need someone to explain,” Eva adds.

Ivy steps toward her sister. “You and I have Rhnull phenotype. Our blood is incredibly rare and effectively makes us universal donors.”

Eva’s gaze snaps to Ivy as does everyone else’s in the room. Andrés sighs in contentment.

“So smart. So pure. Ivy, this is why you’re worth more than your sister. You’d make excellent breeding stock for the right buyer. You wouldn’t believe what some people will pay for a virgin.”

Ivy’s face turns bright red as she wraps her arms around herself. Ivy was the higher-priced one? Not Eva?

“That’s none of your damn business,” Eva yells, her fists clenching at her sides. She jerks away from Andrés, but he merely tightens his hold on her. “My sister’s sex life is nothing to you, you pervertido repugnante!”

Andrés cackles from deep in his belly—he finds Eva amusing. He pulls Eva against his body, and that movement makes me see red. It takes everything in me not to launch at him and punch his cock into the middle of his fucking torso. “That’s literally my job… to know everything about the women I sell. And that little car accident you had left your medical records wide open. We know Ivy’s the full package. Brains, beauty, and ready to bed.”

“Christ,” I murmur under my breath.

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