Page 31 of Original Sins (Dark Odyssey 6)

All beautiful, all perfect, all a fantasy.

The last girl, however, is something else. Georgiou and I see her at the same time, and I can just bet the same thing that enticed me hooked him too.

She was the only one to look at the wall, and she looked nervous while the others had a spark of excitement about them.

The women who enter this auction do so because they most often need the money.

There’s no shame in that.

That’s why we’re all here. We have the money, and they need it.

But there are those who are desperate and those who do it for the thrill and the fun.

She looks like the first type, but I like the nervousness I sense in her. That and the fact that she’s fucking beautiful with the kind of body made to fuck.

“Georgiou,” I say, motioning to the girl.

“Yes, I see her.”

“You all in?”

“Fuck yeah.”

That means nobody will outbid us, and we’ll play the game so no one will even try.

I must look like a mad man as I smile.

9

Evie

I’m here.

I’m actually here in the building, at the Renoir Hotel, and I’m about to auction my body for money. I’m actually going to do it.

As the virgins taking part in the auctions make their procession to the backstage area, I walk in line and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

I look like I’m functional, but my God, I’m so nervous I could faint and throw up at the same time.

The nerves assaulted my body the instant I left Cordelia. She’s here, but she’s not allowed in the auction. I’ll see her at the end after I’ve been sold and met my buyer.

My buyer.

That sounds so wrong.

Buyer, as in someone who purchases property.

That’s what I am—property—like a thing.

I don’t know how the other girls walking in front of me are holding it together so well. As if they’ve done this before. But they couldn’t have because they’re just like me.

So it’s just me who’s nervous as fuck.

And to make matters worse, I can feel several eyes on me, although I can’t see who’s watching.

This wall is designed for that.

Gina, the woman in charge of the auction, gave us the details of what would happen tonight. She reminded me a little of Effie Trinket, the announcer in the Hunger games with the crazy makeup and hair. Gina looked near enough the same.

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