Page 2 of Master A-0011

That day, I destroyed them with an act that felt natural. For the first time, I felt at home. But I wasn’t prepared for what it would mean. Neither were the leaders of our circle when they stepped forward to cover up my secret when parts of their bodies were…missing. That was years ago. That’s when Elec took me in. That’s when he started teaching me how one of our statusshouldbe. With more than a decade of his help, I found my blood wasn’t as forgiving. The darkness lured me in, and the more I gave myself to it, the more it had to show me.

“I said stay out of my way, Melissa. I know what I’m doing.I’m fine.”

Red shoulder-length hair swayed as the Mistress glanced my way but turned back to the Main Master. Her face was as hard as his, but where Elec projected barely any emotion, the anger she held was evident. And I knew her, personally and from her role here. She was an elite and one of the Garden’s therapists. I often saw her on my way to see my own doctor.

“That remains to be seen. Your appointment is in the morning. You’ve rescheduled enough. Iwillsee you, then.”

“I haven’t forgotten. Nine o’clock, sharp.”

The dismissal was immediate as he turned from her, heading for me.

“Master Eleven.”

It was a greeting, but he wasn’t stopping as he swept by.

“Main Master, I was actually headed to see you.”

“Of course you were. Fuck, I told you I’d call. I forgot.” He slowed, turning back to me. “What is it you need?”

Hard blue eyes bore into me suddenly making my needs feel not so important. He was busy running this shitshow. I knew that. The thing was, I couldn’t go through this again. Not for the third time.

“I need a d?i. A housekeeper, cook, the works. I looked through all of them last time. Is there any…not so attractive?”

“Attractive? That’s right.”

My teeth bit into each other at his look of understanding. “You know I have routines. It helps the anger.” I paused, reigning in the swirl of rage already building. I couldn’t stand talking about my feelings.My issues.“I need someone I’m not going to kill.”

“Of course. I take it men are out of the picture.”

“They’ll be dead faster than the women.”

“I thought so.” The Main Master pulled out his phone, pushing buttons and scanning through. “You’ve looked at all the d’s available?”

“Every single one, multiple times. I was worried about this last time. I just…I need structure. Dr. Almer, my therapist, says it’s important for me. I just can’t find the right person, and you know how I feel about blank slates.”

“Yes.” He paused as he scanned. “The first auction you bought oneband ad. The second you bought twob’sand ad. And…I see they were all picked up within days.”

Nodding, I studied his face as he continued to go through the information on his phone.

“What about acrow?ii? Not a criminal but…” His finger swiped countless times, and a few minutes passed. He immediately went rigid but smiled. “Wait a minute. I think…Yes. I might have someone for you.” He got quiet, pulling something up and nodding. “Exactly what I thought. Good scores. According to testing, her temperament is…excellent. Shewould have made a perfect candidate for thedprogram except, well, given the circumstances, was impossible.”

Elec turned the phone to face me, and my lips parted. For long moments, I couldn’t speak past taking in the deep scars that were visible over her skin. A thick line ran just over her temple to below her left eye. It was light pink and jagged reaching to the middle of her cheek. Another marred her lower neck, disappearing into the gown towards her chest. That one was thicker and a darker shade with one closely below. It was…intriguing. Mysterious. It had my stare jumping back to her face. Not a beautiful face, but not unattractive either. More…classic beauty, and I liked it.

“What happened to her?”

“Does it matter? You want her to clean and cook for you. Do you need her life story for that?”

“No.”

“Great. I’m going to enter her information into your cart. When you’re finished, let the guards downstairs know and they’ll retrieve her. You can take a look in person and?—”

“No.” I swallowed back the odd edge in my tone. It was interest and intrigue. Doom and deception. “She’ll work just fine. Charge me whatever you want. If you could have her delivered while I finish up, that would be great.”

More movements of his finger. “Done. This won’t happen again, Master. And you better believe this favor comes at a price far more than money. Next time, you’ll know a different outlet if you kill her too.”

No favoritism. We were friends, but not concerning the auction. He was all Main Master, and not the man who saved my life in more ways than I could think about.

“Thank you.”

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