Page 121 of Sapphire Tears

Shadows cluster among the rafters of the arched ceiling overhead. A thick velvet curtain in dark purple saws the space in half.

In the corner are three other women, all dolled up just like me.

All lifeless in the eyes, just like me.

I look at them and then at the curtain. At the curtain, then at them. And as I glance back and forth, the curtain seems to take on this weird, mystical property. It’s the only thing keeping us from what comes next. When that curtain raises, we won’t be women anymore.

We will be ushered into a new nightmare.

We will be property.

I feel nauseous again, worse than ever, but I manage to keep my feet. Then I catch a whiff of metal and sweat. I don’t have to turn around to know who it is.

“You do clean up well, Junepenny,” Adrian says, placing his hand on the small of my back.

I jerk away from his hand and whirl around. “Don’t touch me.”

He raises his eyebrows. “You’d rather be touched by one of the men sitting out there, behind the curtains?” he asks. “Let me tell you what you can expect. Layard will touch you, but only after he whips you raw. The sight of blood turns him on. Slava is much gentler. But he does like to share, so be prepared to spread your legs for more than just him if he buys you. Radomir… ah, now, I saved the best for last. He wants to feel like he’s got his finger on the life or death button when he fucks.”

I steel my face to hide my fear. “You’re just trying to scare me.”

“I’m trying to prepare you,” he tuts. “That’s what you’re looking at if you go out on that stage.”

“What’s my alternative?” I demand. “Leaving with you?”

“You loved me once,” he says with a shrug. “You can learn to love me again. We can raise our baby together, like we always planned to.”

“While you sell women to beasts for money?” I demand. “Is that how you’ll provide for us?”

“It’s best not to think about that part, dear.”

A burst of hard laughter slips through my lips. “Yes, of course. ‘Look the other way. Pretend it’s not happening.’I can see why you’d think that was easy for me to do.”

“Suit yourself. The auction will start in…” He checks his watch. “Three minutes. You have until then to change your mind.”

“You realize that I’m carrying your baby, right?” I ask. “If one of those men buy me, they’re buying your baby, too.”

He laughs and reaches out to stroke my cheek, though I lunge out of his range before he can make contact. “Do you take me for a fool? I’ve already had contracts drawn up. Once you’ve carried the baby to term and delivered her, the baby will be removed from you and given to me.”

My eyes go wide. “W-what?”

A smile dances across his lips. He’s fucking enjoying this. “You didn’t think I would just abandon my child, did you? I intend to be a father, Junepenny. With or without you.”

I want to say something—to scream, if nothing else, for fuck’s sake—but my voice just won’t work. The air is frozen in my lungs.

“Now,” he says with finality, “which way will you go?”

I’m on the verge of giving him exactly what he wants. And then—I take one look at the smug smile on his face and I realize something.

It doesn’t matter who I go home with at the end of the night. Layard, Slava, Radomir, or him. They’re all the same. The same monster, just with different faces.

So fuck it. The devil wears his many disguises, right? But in the end, he’s still the same horned bastard.

And I still won’t give him what he wants.

53

KOLYA

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