Page 104 of Cloak of the Vampire
How could there be when the man I wanted with every fiber of my being, the man I thought might feel, against all odds, the same way about me, tossed me aside like I did my practice canvases?
I went to the wall of the small waiting room and slid down to the floor, putting my head in my hands. What was it about me that made people want to leave me?
You know,an awful voice whispered in my head.You know why they all leave you.
I raised my head and stared at Isora and the other girl. I realized they were smiling, their bodies slumped with relief. Probably happy to be out of Renaldi’s League.
Hopelessness weighed down on my shoulders, and I brought my knees to my chest, wrapped my arms around them, and wished that instead of time stopping, it had rewound, to before the Auction even started, when it was just Ragnor and me in that cupboard room.
Before he broke my soul to pieces.
Atalon had purchased a total of five vampires. Isora and the other girl from Renaldi’s League, a man from the Daugherty League, another man from the Kalama League, and me.
Lord Atalon himself came to the waiting room, accompanied by the twins who were his Lieutenants. He looked as immaculately put together as before, and his penetrating black eyes stared at us with a gleam of satisfaction. “Good evening, my new vampires,” he said formally. “Now that the Auction is over, it’s time we leave.”
One of the twins stepped forward. “Follow me, please.”
Along with the other four, I rose to my feet. Numbness filled the place where my heart used to be, and I felt like I was on autopilot. When I attempted to join the other four following the twin, Atalon’s hand wrapped around my arm, and he said, “A word, Aileen.”
I paused and turned to him, gazing at his face apathetically. “Yes?”
He smiled. “I’m happy to have acquired you,” he informed me, causing a sudden pain to split my gut into two. “And I want to assure you that I will treat you well. The Atalon League is a good place. That I can promise.”
He was right. I remembered visiting his League during the field trip, and itwaspretty nice there. If I had to be bought by anyone who wasn’t Ragnor, then Atalon was definitely the best League to be bought into.
But Lord Atalon himself was a problem. His eyes were far too cunning.
And also, he wasn’t Ragnor.
“Thank you,” I said, meaning it despite the pain of betrayal cutting through my chest. Then I realized I hadn’t addressed him properly and forced myself to say, “My Lord.”
He chuckled. “Please, call me Atalon.”
I smiled humorlessly. In my head, I could see Ragnor’s eye twitching at my insolence and how much he hated that I didn’t address him properly. And how he wouldn’t care so much about that when we ...
My thoughts came to a screeching halt. Enough. Just ... enough.
Ragnor Rayne had thrown me away without a second thought. He didn’t care about me. He didn’t even take responsibility for bringing me into this whole new world against my will.
Yet despite it all, I’d let him inside me in more than one way, and he stomped on that as if I was trash.
But I was through with feeling sorry for myself.
I was through with Ragnor fucking Rayne.
Silently, I followed Atalon as he took me to the entrance hall of the Rayne League. Near the elevator stood Margarita, but I didn’t even spare her a glance as she activated the elevator with her handprint.
We entered the elevator leading up to the warehouse where it all began, and once we were out and I followed Atalon out to the open air and beautiful dark sky, steel crawled into my chest—cold, hard, and biting.
Ragnor Rayne would regret this day for as long as he existed.
I would make sure of it.
EPILOGUE
ELIZA WAINS
The Auction hall was silent by the time Eliza went in. She had sat in the back, watching the Auction quietly, and seen everything that happened with a very specific vampire, and now, she was returning after observing said vampire leaving the Rayne League with her hand holding another vampire Lord’s arm.
