Page 83 of Auctioned to the Convicts
“We can’t protect you if you’re hiding things from us, Hannah,” Vaughn said.
Hannah grabbed the empty water pitcher off the table to refill it. A hand caught her arm. Ky’Li.
“Sha’vi?” Ky’Li said, waiting for her to explain.
The room had fallen deathly quiet. Her eyes remained on Ky’Li’s hand around her arm. As he unfurled his fingers, she raised her eyes to look at Vaughn, not Ky’Li. If she looked at Ky’Li, knowing how protective he was, she’d lose it and cry. They’d find a way to keep her from returning to work and cover her quota indefinitely. It was too much for them, and she couldn’t hide in this house. There’d always be another Max. At the commissary. In West Side. At the port. . .
She wasn’t safe outside their fence—almost hadn’t been safe inside the fence. She had to return to work and find a way of dealing with Max.
“W-what you said earlier, about all the unsafe areas of the port. . .”
“I knew it,” Sersie jumped up from the table. “The railcar wasn’t the first time that asshole attacked you, was it?”
“No,” she squeaked, answering Sersie even as her eyes locked with Vaughn’s. He’d known all along. Somehow he’d known.
“I’ll see if I can get you reassigned,” Vaughn said.
“No!” She liked her job at the port. She wouldn’t let Max and others like him make her a prisoner inside Ren’s fence, which clearly wasn’t impenetrable.
“Where are the other women?” she asked. She hadn’t seen them since the day she was auctioned. General meetings were mandatory for anyone not currently on shift. “I never see them at the commissary or walking to and from the transport. There aren’t any at the port either. Where do they work?”
Ren, Vaughn, and Sersie exchanged looks.
“Where?” she insisted, focusing on Ren. He’d give her a straight answer, even if she didn’t like it.
“Their units cover their quotas,” Ren answered.
“And they keep them prisoner?”
“Hidden, not prisoners.” Sersie reached for her hand. His thumb idly stroked her fingers as he stared at the table. She didn’t want to be touched right now, but Sersie seemed to need it. “They’re doing what they can to protect them. We don’t know the details.”
“She stays here,” Ky’Li said, his words crushing her. She drew her eyes to him. He looked set, determined. “We fortify the defenses, but she stays here.”
“Don’t I get a say in this? It’s my job, my life.”
“She’s right,” said Ren.
Of all people to agree, she didn’t expect it would be Ren.
“You can’t make me a prisoner in this house,” she said, her voice not at all strong as it should be. She’d lose this battle because when it came down to it, Ky’Li was right. No place was safe.
“Why not?” Ky’Li asked.
She looked to Vaughn, pleading with him.
“Because hiding here, being afraid of every shadow and noise will destroy her,” Vaughn spoke up.
Vaughn, beneath that facade of not caring, or only wanting to use her for his own pleasure, understood her and he was taking her side.
“She needs a weapon,” Ren said. “Something that security won’t recognize as a weapon.”
“Like what?” she said, intrigued.
“I don’t know. But I’ll come up with something. Give me a day or two.”
“She’s going back tomorrow,” Ky’Li said.
“I can manage a few days,” Hannah said. “I’ve been practicing how to slip out of someone’s hold like you showed me.”
