Page 40 of Property of Mako
Crypt Keeper’s gaze swept the table. “Whoever sold us out at the bread factory and at the plantation… they’re still breathing our air. Could be someone in this room.”
Spook’s eyes narrowed. “Careful with your accusations.”
“I’m just saying,” Crypt growled, “we start looking hard. Now.”
I cut them both off with a sharp motion. “We don’t have the time to wait on the council, and we don’t have the luxury of trusting every son of a bitch with a cut in this club right now.”
Two days.
That was it.
“We go in ourselves,” I said. “We hit Thane before the auction. Before the buyers show. And we don’t stop until every girl’s out and Thane’s head’s on the ground—and his heart is in my fist.”
Lyra had been standing over by the doorway the whole time, quiet.
When I met her eyes, there was no hesitation there.
“Then we move,” she insisted.
And I knew aside from tying her up, there’d be no stopping her from coming.
Chapter 17
The Day Before
Lily
The day before the auction, the atmosphere in the plantation felt heavier. Supposedly, the auction would be tomorrow night at midnight. I’d heard whispers of the “blood moon.”
Like the house itself knew something was coming. Without fear of escaping his veiled home, they’d given us free rein in our wing.
Servants I’d never seen before that day moved through the halls with trays of crystal goblets filled with thick, dark liquid that wasn’t wine. The other girls kept their eyes down, but I’d learned quickly that watching—really watching—was the only way to survive.
That’s how I saw him coming.
Thane.
He filled the doorway like he owned the room, the house, and maybe the entire world. Black suit. Gold eyes that didn’t blink. That smile—the one that was too perfect to be real.
“Miss Callahan,” he said smoothly, and it took me a beat to remember he meant me. “Walk with me.”
Every instinct screamed to refuse, but my legs moved anyway. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was the subtle push in his voice that slid under my skin and told me yes.
We walked the long hall toward the staircase, and as we went, the house shifted around us. The glamour shimmered at the edges—faded wallpaper blooming back into hand-painted murals, dull brass bursting into molten gold. It was like walking through the bones of a corpse and watching the flesh knit back together in real time.
“You’ve been wondering why you’re here,” Thane said, as though reading my mind. I also knew he wasn’t specifically referring to here at the house.
“No,” I said before I could stop myself. “I know why I’m here. You’re going to sell me.”
He laughed softly. “That’s… partially correct. But you are not just any auction lot, Lily. You, my precious child, have legacy blood.”
I frowned. “Legacy blood?”
He glanced at me like it was adorable I didn’t know. “Your lineage is ancient. Rare. Your blood is an amplifier—it heightens the power of whatever supernatural creature consumes it. Permanently after enough time. And your offspring….”
With difficulty, I swallowed the knot lodged in my throat. “Offspring?”
His smile turned colder. “…will be stronger than their sire. Infinitely so.”
