I entered the bar alone, my whole body on fire.

I could feel their eyes on me. The bar was full of men, not a single woman in sight. I stood out like a sore thumb, and I knew someone was going to approach me and ask what the fuck I thought I was doing.

I didn’t have to wait for long.

A tall, muscular man tore himself from the shadows and approached me slowly. He didn’t come up to me directly, instead choosing to circle me in smaller and smaller steps until he was right next to me. He was handsome, with dark hair and dark eyes that promised trouble. There wasn’t any sign of gold teeth on him, and he looked like he came from a different time than Sandro.

“Pretty little slut,” he said to me, his voice heavily accented with what I assumed was Georgian. It was perfect as he spoke, but the accent was definitely still there. “What are you doing here? This is a dangerous place for a young girl like you. You know what’s going to happen here tonight?”

“I do,” I nodded quietly, looking away as if I was too shy to look into his eyes. My heart was pounding, but I was doing my best not to reveal why. “I’m trying to find a man called Grigori.”

“Grigori?” The stranger raised his eyebrows and chuckled against his fist. “You won’t find him here tonight, sweetheart. Grigori got in trouble with the big boys upstairs. He doesn’t have time for parties like this one anymore.”

“Oh,” I responded lamely, and my whole face fell. I didn’t even try to hide it. The one clue I had, and now it was useless.

“Don’t worry, pretty thing,” he said, and his fingers were on me in the next second.

He took my chin in his hand, gently but firmly. He turned me this way and that like I was some kind of prize animal. He was judging what he was looking at, and he grinned to himself as he watched my eyes flit around the room nervously. I didn’t want him touching me, or looking at me the way he was. But I wasn’t sure if they’d just let me leave, anyway. I needed to get another clue. At least a hint about my sister’s whereabouts.

“I need money,” I muttered, and his grip tightened on my chin.

“What?” he asked. “I can’t hear you, slut.”

“I need to borrow some money,” I said again, louder this time and with a blush coloring my cheeks. “Please. I was told Grigori could help me with that.”

I wondered if this was what my sister felt like when she had to find someone to borrow money from. If she was submitted to the same amount of objectification, if she was treated like a whore just because she needed money. My heart swelled with hurt for her and I wondered if she’d ever forgive me. Maybe she couldn’t accept the fact that I was such a selfish little brat. Maybe she would never understand why I’d always been jealous of her.

“I can get you some money,” the man replied with a wicked smile. “I could get you enough cash for anything your pretty little ass wanted. What you need money for anyway, little bitch?”

I was about to speak up when he slapped my face. Just lightly, but enough to knock the answer right out of me.

“I don’t actually give a shit,” he said. “I’ll give you money. But it’ll cost you, pretty whore. Are you willing to pay?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

“Yes,” I said simply. “I’ll pay. Whatever you want. Just give me the money.”

My eyes scoured the room, but there was no sign of Beau anywhere. After he dropped me off a block away from the bar so as not to arouse any suspicion, he promised he would keep an eye on me. But he was nowhere to be seen, and my anxiety was at an all-time high. I was nervous. Scared. But I still followed the tall Georgian as he led me towards the door, everyone’s eyes on me.

Someone smiled a big, toothy smile at me as I followed the man, and I reached for his shoulder.

“Hey, what’s your name?” I asked with a shaky voice, but the moment my fingers connected with his shirt, he turned around in a rush, grabbed my hand and twisted it painfully behind my back. I cried out like a wounded animal, and he pressed a knee to my back, forcing me to a submissive position in front of everyone in that room. My eyes burned with unshed tears, and my cheeks flamed with shame.

“Don’t you speak to me without being spoken to,” he barked at me. “And you don’t fucking touch me without being told to do so, little bitch. Ever.”

I nodded, biting back my tears and trying to apologize with my eyes because my mouth wasn’t working. He stared at me for a long time before letting go of me roughly and giving me another brilliant smile.

“You’ll do well to remember that,” he said, and I merely nodded. “My name is Silovan. But you won’t be calling me that, so you didn’t need to know.”

He motioned for me to follow him. I pushed back to my feet and fell into step behind him meekly. I knew better than to argue anymore. But I couldn’t help wondering what had happened to Beau. Why wasn’t he watching my back? That guy could have hurt me, and Beau hadn’t done a thing to stop it. I didn’t want to, but I resented him for it. I wanted him to protect me like he’d promised he would.

The man, Silovan, didn’t stop talking until we came out into a side alley. He walked a few steps forward, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag on it. He turned around to stare at me and my skin prickled beneath his gaze. He looked at me weirdly, like I was a piece of meat he was going to enjoy for dinner.

“Come closer,” he said in a voice I didn’t really care for. I knew this was going to be trouble, the trembling of my legs told me as much.

“You don’t look like the kind of girl that usually comes to these things,” he said in his heavily accented, but otherwise perfect English. “Why are you in debt, whore?”

“I… I have to take care of my sister,” I lied, hoping it sounded convincing. “She’s spent her whole life taking care of me and I’m just trying to return the favor.”

Was this how Charli felt when she had to give Grigori a reason? It fucking felt terrible.

“I see,” Silovan replied. “I can get you money. You’ll have to work for it first.”

He threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out with the heel of his shoe.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, my voice shaky. Where the hell was Beau?

“I want you to take off that nice designer top,” he said in a syrupy sweet voice. “Show me your tits so I can decide if you’re worth helping.”

I didn’t want to, but scanning the area around us, I realized I didn’t exactly have a choice. Slowly, I lowered my fingers to the hem of my top and raised it until my bra was exposed.

“Not good enough,” Silovan said with a wicked grin. “Nipples. I want to see your nipples. Want to see if they’re the same shade as your lips.”

I reached up with one hand while the other held my top up. Slowly, I let my breasts fall from the cups of my bra, and my nipples hardened at the bite of the cool night air.

“Pretty,” he told me, his eyes fixed on my tits. “Will look prettier bruised.”

I let my top down and looked away, blushing. Beau should’ve stopped this. Now I felt used and horrible, and I could barely hold back the tears anymore. I didn’t feel like a strong, badass girl at all. I felt like a failure. Like I was letting everyone down, mostly my sister, who was stuck God knows where with a man she barely knew.

“Now, don’t be sad,” Silovan growled, approaching me slowly. Suddenly his fingers were in my hair and he pulled my head back roughly. “Pretty girls like you shouldn’t be sad. We’re going to put a smile on that face.”

“Okay,” I whispered, and he offered me a grin.

“You’re young,” he said thoughtfully. “How old are you? Are you under eighteen?”

I shook my head no. “I just turned eighteen a few weeks ago.”

“What a shame,” he replied, and I gave him a surprised glance. “See, I could get a much better price for you if you were younger. Sweet and young little sluts get the best price.”

My stomach turned and I was thankful I didn’t retch in front of him.

“Girls?” I asked him. “How old are the ones tonight? The ones being sold?”

“Between twelve and nineteen,” he said, and this time, I did retch.

This made Silovan laugh out loud.

“I’m sorry,” I said shakily. “I guess I’m just not feeling too well. I think I’ll just…”

I made a move to get away, but his fingers wrapped firmly around my wrist.

“You’ll just what?” he asked me gently, pulling me against him. There was something hard against my thigh, and it wasn’t his cock. It was metal, sharp and I knew it was a knife.

“N-nothing,” I whispered. “Nothing, I’ll do whatever you want…”

The knife in his hand grazed my thigh. It was so sharp I felt it cutting into me, leaving nicks all along my skin. I could only whimper, terrified out of my mind. This wasn’t going according to plan at fucking all.

“Why are you really here, little whore?” Silovan asked me roughly. “Tell the truth or I’ll leave you in a puddle of your own sweet blood.”

“M-my sister,” I choked out, hating myself for submitting so easily. For giving up, and putting myself in even more danger. “She borrowed some money from a man name Grigori. I was told he might be here today. That I could speak to him, about where she is.”

“I already told you he’s not here,” the man replied pointedly. “But I am. And I’m thinking you’ll make a really nice fucking decoration for a man who likes his dick sucked by a pretty bitch like you. Bit old, but you’ll do.”

“Don’t,” I whispered, on the edge of hysteria, as his knife cut into the leather of my skirt.

“Don’t what?” he laughed at me. “I could fuck you with the handle of this knife and no one would bat a fucking eyelid. Or maybe…”

His knife slipped between my legs, toying with my panties. I gasped out loud and begged with my eyes.

“Maybe I should make things more interesting,” he said with a grin, and I closed my eyes tightly and wished it wasn’t true. “Cut up your pussy like it’s a piece of fucking meat. Would you like that, slut?”

“Tell me where my sister is,” I bit out, trying to hold my tongue. He laughed at me.

“What’s her name?” he asked.

“Charli. Charlotte Rousseau,” I said.

And as soon as my sister’s name was out, his vision darkened. He grabbed me by my throat, his knife momentarily forgotten as he choked the breath right out of me.

“What do you know about her?” he barked at me. “The company she worked for.”

“E-Empire Sin?” I managed to get out, and he nodded.

“Tell me everything you know,” he said. “And maybe, if I’m feeling extra fucking nice, I might even spare you.”

“I don’t know,” I stuttered. “She worked for them for a short while, and then she disappeared.”

“Whoring?” he asked.

I blushed deeply before I replied.

“It was… consensual,” I finally admitted. “Not like what you do here.”

He laughed at me again.

“Same fucking difference, whore,” he spat. “You don’t need to concern yourself with your sister. But you’ll be a fine fucking asset for us. You walked right into this set-up, little whore. And you’re going to do everything I say right now, starting by turning around, putting your hands on the wall and showing me your filthy cunt.”

He turned me around and I gasped as he did the work for me. My ass was in the air and I felt miserably exposed.

And then he cut into my panties with his knife.

I tried to scream, but he placed his strong palm firmly over my mouth so I couldn’t make a damn sound.

“No one to help you,” he said in my ear. “No one to come and save you, whore. All mine now.”

His knife was cutting into the silky fabric of my panties and I shivered under his touch. I didn’t dare bite down on his palm. Where the fuck was Beau?

“You want help?” He laughed. “I doubt it. You walked into this one, slut. Now you’ll have to take your punishment.”

He ripped the rest of my panties off and I screamed against his palm.

A feeling came over me then, and I realized we weren’t alone in the alley anymore.

He must’ve realized it too, as his palm went slack against my mouth, and I bit down on it as fiercely as I could. He cursed and as he let go and his blade dropped to the ground I darted for the shadows. But the second I did, I bumped into a smaller body, and I looked down to find a girl of about thirteen.

She paid no attention to me. Her eyes were focused on the man who had tried to hurt me.

She muttered something in a language I didn’t understand, and I stared, mesmerized, as she pounced on Silovan.

He screamed his head off as her teeth dug into his skin. The girl bit him savagely, her teeth digging into flesh. He tried to kick her off but she was sly and fast. And it was then that I realized we were still not alone.

There were over a dozen girls in the alley, of varying ages, but mostly younger than me. None of them paid me any mind. Their gazes were focused solely on Silovan and the girl he was struggling to pull off himself. And the second his fist hit her face as he punched her, they descended upon him like wild dogs.

I’d never seen anything like it. A crowd of girls devouring this man with their mouths, fists and legs. They kicked him. They scratched. They were tearing at his flesh with everything they had and I started screaming as they did it. Screaming my fucking head off at the sight of the savage children delivering justice to the man who held them captive.

And then a pair of well-known arms wrapped around me, and someone placed a finger on my lips. I heard sirens in the distance and I sank into Beau’s body with my whole weight.

“They’re going to kill him,” I whispered as Beau held me. “We have to help.”

“We have to walk away, babydoll,” Beau told me as the sirens neared us. “I found where they were holding them. A fucking truck, the back loaded with half-starved girls. They were all stuffed in there, practically out of air. I gave one of them my information. Told them we can help.”

The girls looked feral as they attacked Silovan. I was grateful that I couldn’t see anything apart from them descending on his body. The sirens drew nearer and the girls raised their heads like wild animals expecting to be attacked. The faces and their hands were streaked with blood.

Justice had been served.

The girl I saw first, the young one, muttered something to the rest of them in Georgian. In seconds, they scattered around the alley, hiding, running, until I couldn’t point out even one of them for the life of me.

They were gone, just like that. And suddenly, we were alone in the alley with a fucking dead body. Because there was no doubt about – the unmoving heap of flesh and bones on the ground that used to be Silovan was no longer.

I stifled a scream as Beau dragged me from the alley. And I struggled to stay conscious as we disappeared, just like the group of murderous, half-starved girls. On our way to the car, I saw one of them, just her eyes glinting in the darkness as she hid in the shadows.

She smiled at me, and I hoped to God I never got on those girls’ bad side.