Page 18 of Saved by Him

He nodded. “My employers are convinced that you’ll fetch a high price. Perhaps our highest. I don’t agree.”

I didn’t bother to attempt a response, and I doubted he expected one. He assumed I was going to try to escape again, and I would do my best to not disappoint him, but not now. He’d helped me with that comment. If I hadn’t known that only he could unlock the doors, I might’ve wasted time planning to get out and run before we got to wherever we were going. Now, I focused my energy on something else.

* * *

I resistedthe urge to scrub my palms on my thighs like I would have if I’d been wearing jeans. I couldn’t give anything away. Serge and the scrawny guy flanked me as we walked, making no illusions about which of the…properties was the most valuable. There were others behind me, other girls I could hear whispering in frightened breaths of sound. I hadn’t seen how many when Yerik had unloaded them from the van that had pulled into the parking garage behind us, but the sheer fact that it was more than just me told me that whatever was going on here was a hell of a lot bigger than I’d originally anticipated.

Once I got out, I’d get ahold of Clay, and he would send men in to rescue the rest. Jenna would help him find every one of these sons of bitches who hid behind the two-way mirrors and in the shadows.

“A word of warning,” Serge said as he grabbed my arm. “Don’t. Be. Stupid.”

I ignored him. I was going to be stupid very shortly, and his warning wouldn’t change that.

We made another turn, and I finally caught a glimpse of what I’d been looking for from the moment we stepped inside.

Red light.

Exit.

The people involved here might be heartless bastards who had no problems with buying and selling human beings for all sorts of depravities, but they weren’t stupid enough to put themselves into a building without fire exits.

The moment Serge’s grip loosened, I yanked away…hard. As I’d hoped, it made my stumble into the scrawny man look unintentional. A move that threw him off balance and gave me my one chance.

I ran out of the flats, cursing the way the dress hindered my movements, but not daring to hesitate. It was going to be cold, and it wouldn’t feel pleasant on my feet, but I’d take ice over this any day. I expected shouts behind me, a flurry of activity, but the only sounds I heard over the racing of my pulse were the exclamations of the other women and fists against flesh to turn those cries into ones of pain.

My hands hit the bar on the fire door, and the gust of cold nearly took my breath away. I hadn’t realized how overheated I’d gotten until a full breath pierced my lungs like icicles. My feet slapped the wet blacktop, and I ran blindly, searching for something familiar, for someone, anyone, who would take me to the police.

An open door. Warmth. Strength. Safety. I’d be at a hospital soon, getting my system flushed, wounds tended. I’d be home by tomorrow. Or better yet, I’d be in bed with Jalen, sleeping in his arms.

Except none of that happened.

Oh, I tried to run, and I made it to the fire exit. But when I hit the bar, I bounced back, my feet tangling together. Strong arms caught me, but they weren’t the ones I wanted. These were hard steel, confining, bruising. They pulled me against a granite chest.

“I told you not to do anything stupid,” Serge said in my ear.

I screamed, kicking my feet up and throwing myself back against him. He squeezed me harder, muttering curses as he fought to hold me still. I didn’t stop, twisting and using as much of my body weight as I could, anything that could get me out of his grip and through that damn door. Except I couldn’t breathe, and screaming had emptied my lungs until spots exploded in front of my eyes.

And then I felt it. The all-too-familiar sting of the needle, then the rush of drugs making my head spin.

My body went slack, and I forgot what I was doing. Forgot why it hurt so much to breathe. Two blows to the stomach had me retching, but the pain was muddled as the colors came flooding back, dancing around as someone pulled me to my feet and ordered me to walk again.

Time slipped and swirled, and then I was standing on a stage, staring stupidly into a blinding light as I tried to remember why I should care about being here like this. Men’s voices came from behind the lights, but their voices blended together, making it impossible for me to understand what anyone was saying.

Someone listed numbers that kept growing higher and higher until, finally, I made out a single word.

Sold.

I’d been sold.

I swayed, trying to remember why those words sent a shiver of fear down my spine, but it was all I could do to stay on my own two feet.

Iron fingers dug into my arm, and I heard a bark of displeasure. The grip lessened, and I frowned but didn’t pull away. My muscles felt rubbery, weak, and I could barely feel my feet. I saw another girl shuffle past as I was pushed out of the way, and I felt a dull throb of helpless anger that I couldn’t do anything to change her fate any more than I could my own.

“Just keep walking.” A man’s voice came from next to me. “Just keep walking.”

I nodded and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

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