Page 69 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 1

Taylor's phone dinged with an incoming message.

“Grab my laptop, this is it,” she said.

Grant jumped into action to do as she asked.

“We have a location,” she cheered once she checked her email. “And it's this afternoon. We're moving fast.”

I pulled out my already encrypted phone and sent a text to everyone with the information.

It was showtime.

*****

I felt stupid in the monkey suit they made me wear, but with sense of superiority, no one batted an eye my way. I looked the part of someone who belonged. It was disgusting.

While I'd seen footage of these auctions, I'd never attended one myself. I knew the last was an outdoor version.This time they had taken care to set-up inside a giant warehouse. There would be no fly away escapes like Lindsey had pulled off. From what Taylor had prepped me for, the security was also amped up.

Archie had come through for us though, and my background check cleared with flying colors.

Inside there were rows and rows of cages all containing people.

I wanted to throw up as we wound through the aisles as if we were shopping for a new toy.

“Relax,” Grant warned me in a whisper too low for human ears.

They even had children being held like prisoners.

My blood was boiling and I wanted to slaughter every last one of them. My dingo was seeing red. It would be so easy to rid ourselves of these disgusting vermin.

Some people, like us, were out in the open dressed without hiding ourselves. Then there were others disguised in the classic Collector garb—all in black: black cape, black pants, black work boots, black shirt, black mask, and a black hat obscuring their faces.

It gave me the creeps.

A man stopped by to say hello to Taylor, or rather Tayla.

“How are you, love?”

“I'm holding up okay. It's been difficult.”

“I'm sure. Perhaps a new addition to your Collection will help.”

She batted her eyes and smiled appropriately. “Perhaps. That is if I see something that catches my eye.”

“Of course.”

“Have you met my brother? This is Graham, and our dear friend Logan, who is interested in starting his own Collection. Boys, this is Bartholomew.”

“It's nice to make your acquaintance,” I managed in my best British accent.

“Yours as well,”

In truth I just wanted to punch his face in. As I listened to them chat before he moved on, I was struck by how disturbing it all was. They spoke of these poor prisoners as if they were things to be displayed and looked at.

Each cage was listed with a skill and a number.

“What do the numbers mean?” I asked.

“That's the level of obscurity. And over in that tent at the end of this row are a few number ones. I could hardly believe it. There are even a few rare animal shifters as they are quite extinct, you know? I don't normally dabble in shifters myself, but for a rare one on the cusp of extinction? Yes, please. You must take a peek.”

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