Page 10 of Selling Innocence

My stomach rolled, and I swallowed to keep everything down. I wasn’t Nem, I wasn’t tough, but I only had to hold on a little longer. There was nothing Nem and the Quad couldn’t do if they were motivated, and they’d be motivated to find me.

Just keep your head down and your mouth shut.

I had to bide my time—that was all.

Doors opened and the car shifted as bodies left. The person to my side got out of the car, then a hand wrapped around my arm and guided me out. They didn’t yank me, didn’t make me trip and fall. Don’t want to bruise the merchandise.

No one spoke, which put me on higher alert. If they’d laughed and joked, I might have been able to relax more. Instead, I had faceless, nameless bodies around me, people guiding me but seeing no reason to actually acknowledge me, to speak to me like a person.

“Watch the step,” the man holding my arm said, but even with the warning, I caught the ledge and almost toppled forward. The man’s grasp on my arm kept me from landing on the ground, but it also jerked my arms, the cuffs biting into my skin.

I hissed but said nothing, even when wetness dripped down my fingers, telling me the cuffs had cut me.

A knocking happened, then a long, silent moment. Finally, new voices. They felt familiar, but I couldn’t place them. Maybe I’d just heard too many voices lately, was too on edge and looking for anything I could identify?

“Thanks,” the voice said.

“Sign here, please, to authorize the official transfer of goods,” another man said. A familiar scratching of pencil against paper happened, then a hand pressed against my back to force me a few steps forward.

“Nice doing business with you,” the man who spoke said, then took my arm and guided me farther in that same direction.

I jumped when the door closed, when it slammed and startled me.

A tremble started through me, one I couldn’t control. Everything suddenly felt real, as if it had been some bad nightmare but now I couldn’t wake up.

I’d been sold to a stranger. People didn’t buy humans for anything good. No one bought a person because they wanted to shower them with affection and love.

The shaking worsened, even as I forced myself to walk, to not pull at the hand that guided me, to not make any problems.

Be a good girl. Do what you’re supposed to.

The rules I’d lived my life by echoed in my head.

If I just focused on doing what I was supposed to, the rest would take care of itself, right?

Still, I shook so hard that my teeth chattered. This energy raced through me, filling me, as if it might vibrate me apart until I shattered into a million pieces.

“You got her?” another voice asked, another man.

“Yeah. Handover was easy.”

“She hurt?”

“Doesn’t seem to be. Shaking like a leaf, though.”

“Not a shock there.”

Hands touched my face, making me flinch away. If I’d been thinking, I wouldn’t have done that, but I couldn’t help it. My entire body remained strung tight, on alert, just waiting to react to danger.

Someone grabbed my chin, the grip tight. I squeezed my eyes closed, tensing, ready to get hit. Instead, they pulled the blindfold away.

I didn’t open my eyes right away, fear keeping them shut. I felt like a kid who was afraid, hiding under the bed, thinking that if I didn’t see the threat, it couldn’t hurt me.

I knew better than that, but finding the bravery to open my eyes seemed impossible.

A soft snort to my left, a sound that came out like mocking, finally made me risk opening my eyes.

And when I did, I froze. I’d thought the voices were familiar, but I sure had never expected this.

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