I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed being clean until I stepped under the warm spray and felt the dirt slough off. I didn’t even want to consider what that ‘dirt’ was made up of. Fortunately, Serge had made good on his promise and gave me another shot, so anything I didn’t want to think about too hard, I just let slip away.

The shampoo smelled good. Clean, but without any of the extra stuff like fake-cherries. The soap was the same, and I vaguely wondered if it had been bought in bulk. I’d thought before about whether I was the only woman who’d been kept here, and the generic nature of the soap made me think that others could have gone through the same thing.

The world was still fuzzy, but when I stepped out of the shower, I felt more human than I had in days. I took my time drying off, in part because it just felt good to be clean again, but also because I needed the time alone to think. Really think. Thanks to the drugs still making their way through my system, my mind was far from as fast as I was accustomed to, but it was much better than it had been since I arrived. Even better than when I’d made my ill-fated escape attempt.

The next one wouldn’t be an attempt.

Suddenly, I remembered what Serge said last night. If, indeed, it had been last night. I still didn’t know what day it was. I could only hope that my friends hadn’t given up on me. Because I had friends, and the realization startled me. It wasn’t only Clay and Jalen who would’ve missed me by now. I had Jenna and Rylan too. Because Jenna wasn’t only a client, she was a friend as well. And if I really thought about it, Jenna was as likely to find me as anyone. Maybe more because she didn’t always feel the need to follow the law.

It wasn’t until the guard knocked on the door that I remembered there was a reason for me cleaning up, and I’d gotten distracted. Serge had told me that his employers had a plan for me. If only I could remember what that was. The memory hovered at the back of my mind, just out of reach.

“Let’s go.”

Shit. It was Yerik. I hadn’t seen him since I’d almost escaped. I hadn’t thought about him since then either but considering all the shit I’d had pumped into me, that wasn’t a surprise. Now, however, I realized how shocking it was that he was still alive. I wondered if perhaps he had a connection to Serge or one of the employers, but a part of me hoped it was because Serge figured it was better to punish for a failure and give someone the chance to improve rather than kill them. I didn’t want Yerik’s blood on my hands, especially not when there was always a chance he could be rehabilitated.

“You’ve got, ten seconds before I come in there, naked or not.”

Right. Focus.

I reached for the clothes on the counter without really seeing them. They were clean, and that was all I cared about…until I pulled up the panties and realized that they were basically a sheer lace thong. And I hadn’t been given a bra.

What the fuck?

I picked up the dress, and that was when all the pieces came together, though I wished to hell that they hadn’t.

Auction.

That was what Serge had said.

I was being taken to an auction.

Based on the low cut, high hem, and clingy material, it was easy to figure out exactly why people would be bidding on me. I hated the idea of going along with it even for one second, but I pulled the dress over my head. It was a deep, rich blue. The sort of dress that didn’t require a bra, not that I’d been given one. My nipples pebbled as the soft material slid over my body, and if I’d been wearing it for Jalen, I would’ve enjoyed every sensual moment.

The door didn’t have a lock and opened easily. Yerik looked pissed, but he didn’t glare at me. He didn’t even look at me. From the bruises on his face, it wasn’t hard to understand why.

“Let’s go.” He held out a hand, but I knew it wasn’t for me to take. No matter how I looked in this dress, he didn’t want to touch me.

Maybe it made me a bad person, but I didn’t feel guilty about it at all. He was alive and not in the hospital. Even if he’d never been involved in one of these situations before, he wasn’t stupid. He knew what was going to be done to me tonight if I didn’t get away.

I could’ve used his unwillingness to touch me, but it was too risky. I’d humiliated him. Right now, he was either going the shame route, or he was keeping a leash on his anger because he knew he’d get in even more trouble if he marked me before the auction. If I pushed him too far, he might forget about self-preservation and lash out.

That would be bad for both of us.

I stepped out of the bathroom and saw a pair of flats off to the side. I was a bit surprised. A dress like this really went with heels. Then I realized that they probably thought that heels could be a weapon.

They were right.

I put on the shoes and followed Yerik meekly as he led me down a corridor. The motion after so much lack of motion spun my mind too fast for me to keep up, but I didn’t bother trying to memorize it all. I didn’t plan on coming back here.

The cold burst of air registered before I even understood that I was outside. I caught the sharp smell of snow, then felt it on my face, but only for a few seconds before I was nudged into the back of a car and a door shut behind me.

The windows were heavily tinted, to the point where I couldn’t really see out, but I supposed that was the point. Still, I strained to find something familiar, some landmark that would tell me where I was.

“Don’t bother,” Serge said easily. “You can’t get out of the car unless I unlock the doors, and I won’t be doing that until we reach our destination.”

“The auction,” I said.

He nodded. “My employers are convinced that you’ll fetch a high price. Perhaps our highest. I don’t agree.”

I didn’t bother to attempt a response, and I doubted he expected one. He assumed I was going to try to escape again, and I would do my best to not disappoint him, but not now. He’d helped me with that comment. If I hadn’t known that only he could unlock the doors, I might’ve wasted time planning to get out and run before we got to wherever we were going. Now, I focused my energy on something else.

I resisted the urge to scrub my palms on my thighs like I would have if I’d been wearing jeans. I couldn’t give anything away. Serge and the scrawny guy flanked me as we walked, making no illusions about which of the…properties was the most valuable. There were others behind me, other girls I could hear whispering in frightened breaths of sound. I hadn’t seen how many when Yerik had unloaded them from the van that had pulled into the parking garage behind us, but the sheer fact that it was more than just me told me that whatever was going on here was a hell of a lot bigger than I’d originally anticipated.

Once I got out, I’d get ahold of Clay, and he would send men in to rescue the rest. Jenna would help him find every one of these sons of bitches who hid behind the two-way mirrors and in the shadows.

“A word of warning,” Serge said as he grabbed my arm. “Don’t. Be. Stupid.”

I ignored him. I was going to be stupid very shortly, and his warning wouldn’t change that.

We made another turn, and I finally caught a glimpse of what I’d been looking for from the moment we stepped inside.

Red light.

Exit.

The people involved here might be heartless bastards who had no problems with buying and selling human beings for all sorts of depravities, but they weren’t stupid enough to put themselves into a building without fire exits.

The moment Serge’s grip loosened, I yanked away…hard. As I’d hoped, it made my stumble into the scrawny man look unintentional. A move that threw him off balance and gave me my one chance.

I ran out of the flats, cursing the way the dress hindered my movements, but not daring to hesitate. It was going to be cold, and it wouldn’t feel pleasant on my feet, but I’d take ice over this any day. I expected shouts behind me, a flurry of activity, but the only sounds I heard over the racing of my pulse were the exclamations of the other women and fists against flesh to turn those cries into ones of pain.

My hands hit the bar on the fire door, and the gust of cold nearly took my breath away. I hadn’t realized how overheated I’d gotten until a full breath pierced my lungs like icicles. My feet slapped the wet blacktop, and I ran blindly, searching for something familiar, for someone, anyone, who would take me to the police.

An open door. Warmth. Strength. Safety. I’d be at a hospital soon, getting my system flushed, wounds tended. I’d be home by tomorrow. Or better yet, I’d be in bed with Jalen, sleeping in his arms.

Except none of that happened.

Oh, I tried to run, and I made it to the fire exit. But when I hit the bar, I bounced back, my feet tangling together. Strong arms caught me, but they weren’t the ones I wanted. These were hard steel, confining, bruising. They pulled me against a granite chest.

“I told you not to do anything stupid,” Serge said in my ear.

I screamed, kicking my feet up and throwing myself back against him. He squeezed me harder, muttering curses as he fought to hold me still. I didn’t stop, twisting and using as much of my body weight as I could, anything that could get me out of his grip and through that damn door. Except I couldn’t breathe, and screaming had emptied my lungs until spots exploded in front of my eyes.

And then I felt it. The all-too-familiar sting of the needle, then the rush of drugs making my head spin.

My body went slack, and I forgot what I was doing. Forgot why it hurt so much to breathe. Two blows to the stomach had me retching, but the pain was muddled as the colors came flooding back, dancing around as someone pulled me to my feet and ordered me to walk again.

Time slipped and swirled, and then I was standing on a stage, staring stupidly into a blinding light as I tried to remember why I should care about being here like this. Men’s voices came from behind the lights, but their voices blended together, making it impossible for me to understand what anyone was saying.

Someone listed numbers that kept growing higher and higher until, finally, I made out a single word.

Sold.

I’d been sold.

I swayed, trying to remember why those words sent a shiver of fear down my spine, but it was all I could do to stay on my own two feet.

Iron fingers dug into my arm, and I heard a bark of displeasure. The grip lessened, and I frowned but didn’t pull away. My muscles felt rubbery, weak, and I could barely feel my feet. I saw another girl shuffle past as I was pushed out of the way, and I felt a dull throb of helpless anger that I couldn’t do anything to change her fate any more than I could my own.

“Just keep walking.” A man’s voice came from next to me. “Just keep walking.”

I nodded and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.