Page 30 of Claiming Sarah

Sarah’s brows rose. “He gives people away as gifts?”

Yeah, that sounds like him.

“Rarely and only to honored residents of Halla,” Leda said.

“Why is he giving me a gift?”

“Because you ended the scourge of the conduits by killing Mother Portend.”

Shit. People know she’s here and what she is. This is not good.

“Well, I appreciate the thought,” Sarah said kindly, “but I don’t need any help with anything, so you can run back to your boss and tell him—”

Leda quickly shook her head. “I cannot return.”

“Why not?”

“It is not permitted. I have been gifted to you. You own me now.”

Sarah cringed. “The fuck? You mean, you’re not like, here to apply for a job to work for me or something?”

Leda shook her head again and shifted on her feet. “No, Contra. I am yours.”

“Okay, that’s crazy,” my consort said, clearly repelled by the notion. “I don’townanyone. I’m not a slave-owner—”

“Yes, you are,” Leda said brightly. “You ownme.”

“Oh absolutely-the-fuck-not!”

Leda’s cheerful expression fell. “I do not understand. I am here for whatever you need, Contra. I can clean and cook, and I know many ways to please a woman, and I’m sure I can learn to please a human woman—”

“Oh god, no, stop!” Sarah objected, looking horrified. “Just stop. What the hell?”

I moved closer to Sarah. “Rex is repugnant scum, Sarah,” I said, needing to make sure she understood what she was dealing with. “You don’t want anything to do with him.”

“Seconded,” Deacon added, flanking her other side.

“Repugnant or not, we have to deal with what’s in front of us, or in this case,whois in front of us,” Sarah said, studying the slave girl. “If I were to set you free, what would you do?”

“Anything I could to find you, Contra.”

Sarah exhaled an impatient breath. “Right, and if I took you to Orhon—”

“Please don’t,” Leda blurted before she slapped her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry—I should not express my desires so openly. You may do whatever you wish with me.”

“God, that’s creepy,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “If I take you to Orhon and back to your family, then what would you do?”

“I have no family, so I would do whatever it took to find you again.”

Sarah smacked her own forehead, clearly at her wit’s end. “This is a freaking nightmare.”

“I am yours, Contra,” the girl insisted yet again. “Do with me as you like.”

“Why do you not wish to go back to Orhon?” Deacon asked.

Leda’s tail froze upwards, like she was scared of the thought. “I have nothing and no one on Orhon. I was raised here on Halla, a plaything for ghosts, until Rex Terian bought me. He marked me.” She showed her tattoo once more. “And now the ghosts cannot possess me—rather, they are too afraid to. Here, I am safe.”

“Here, you are given away like you are nothing,” Sarah said angrily.

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