“You’re right. I’m so sorry. From now on, it’s you and me. Wherever I go, you go, no matter what.” Tears streamed down my face as I opened my arms and she fell into them.

We held each other for a minute until finally Shea spoke. “We’re going to find him. Together.”

I nodded, wiping my tears. “Are you ready to do this?”

Being sold like a piece of property, it gave me the chills.

Shea nodded. “I’m ready. Let’s get Lincoln and go home.”

I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather go through this with, than my very best friend.

Chapter Twenty-Four

We stripped ourselves of any magical indications. Shea removed our fake death marks, keeping my Celestial tattoos covered. I still couldn’t believe Bernie had removed my devil mark like it was nothing. I hadn’t really gotten to properly thank him for that; I hoped he knew how much I appreciated it, and him.

Now that we were without marks, we appeared human. Noah said humans without powers were more sought after, because they couldn’t put up a fight.

After spending the day popping around to various bars and strip clubs, Noah was able to find out that there was a club nearby that opened later that night, and dealt with the sale of human beings. We agreed Luke would stay back at the motel and continue healing, while Chloe and Noah would go in as our salesmen.

We bid Luke a good night and set off for the nightclub. Noah and Chloe were holding hands, giving the appearance of them being a couple, while Shea and I walked beside them, with our hands bound by magical green handcuffs Shea had devised.

We kept our heads down, fearful looking. We had no idea how this worked. Were they brought in drugged, and bound? Or were they just scared and subservient? Because Noah was masquerading as a Dark Mage, he could say he put the cuffs on us. My hair spell had started to wear off that morning, so Shea had revived it; now it was a dark saturated red while hers was sleek black and straight.

As we neared the club, Noah grabbed me under the armpit and Chloe seized Shea while they led us to a side alley.

“Now, if shit goes south, use that skull keychain to create a portal. I’ll get Chloe and Luke out of here,” Noah advised Shea.

She nodded. “I’ll send you a mental message if that’s the case.”

He frowned. “You can do that? Freaky.”

My bestie grinned, then quickly wiped the look off her face as we neared a side door with a red light over the top of it.

“Showtime,” Chloe muttered under her breath. She walked over to the door, giving it a good hard bang.

It took a moment, but when the door opened an Abrus demon popped his head out. He had slicked black hair, with a streak of silver in the front.

Shit.

I looked toward the floor, not meeting the demon’s eyes. Abrus demons were arguably the smartest and most business savvy. They reminded me a lot of Lucifer. I didn’t know the extent of their skills, but I was hoping sniffing out a Celestial wasn’t one of them.

“What?” He glared at Noah, ignoring Chloe completely.

Noah cleared his throat. “Looking for some extra cash. Got these two ladies here for sale.” He gestured to Shea and me.

The Abrus demon rolled his eyes. “That’s not how it works, rookie. Get a broker and then come back.”

He went to shut the door when Chloe zipped forward with Nightblood speed, and held it open. “Our broker is hanging on a lamppost back there for being an angel lover. Have some compassion,” she purred.

The Abrus demon looked her up and down and grinned. “Compassion? Never heard of it.” He moved to close the door again when Noah spoke.

“Tray Fox,” Noah blurted out then.

The Abrus demon opened the door wide, one eyebrow raised. “Fox is your broker?”

Fox. He said it like he knew him.

My stomach dropped as adrenaline pumped through my system.

Noah shrugged. “Nah, we went with another guy, but seeing as though he’s dead, we’ll work with Tray now. I’ve used him once before.”

The Abrus demon sighed. “Then where’s your paperwork?”

Noah swallowed hard but Chloe stepped closer. “Give us a break, man. Our broker just died. Fox will handle our paperwork.”

The demon looked at Chloe’s lips seductively. “You know Fox personally?”

She ran a hand down the side of her hip. “We’ve been out a few times, if you know what I mean.”

Tipping his head back, the demon laughed loudly, making the hairs stand up on my arms. “That sick bastard likes the little kids. I didn’t think he’d go for you.”

What? Kids? I didn’t know what he meant, but he definitely wasn’t talking about my Lincoln.

“All right. I’ll book ’em and call Fox,” the Abrus demon told Chloe. She smiled, murmuring a thank you, and then he beckoned us forward.

My eyes met Noah’s and he gave me a slight nod.

This is it.

“Can we help you book them? I’ve never seen the inside of one of these places.” Chloe was totally using her ‘I want to have sex with you’ voice.

Work it, girl.

The demon shook his head. “Get a broker license and then we’ll talk.”

Shit. We were going in alone.

Shea and I clung to each other fearfully as he yanked us by the arms. It didn’t take much acting. Pulling us inside, the Abrus demon looked at Noah. “What’s your name, so Fox can pay you your finder’s fee?”

Noah paled, clearly not having thought that through yet. “Bernie Maximus,” he finally replied gruffly, and my heart swelled that he’d thought to use my guardian angel’s name and his dog. Hopefully if it was Lincoln, he would know it was us and come quickly.

Without another word, the Abrus demon slammed the door locking it, and Shea and I were plunged into darkness.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust before I realized we were in a small entryway that led to a staircase.

“I don’t want any trouble tonight, ladies.” He started to pat us down for weapons. He wasn’t gentle about it, but he didn’t linger in any private places, so I wasn’t going to have to kill him.

After he’d checked us, and thankfully hadn’t found the small keychain portal, he prodded me in the back with something sharp.

I sucked in my breath at the pain, and moved forward down the staircase.

Please God, no more tunnels.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I realized we were in an old underground subway platform. Along the sides were vendors who had set up tables and were selling various things. It wasn’t too busy, maybe a dozen or so buyers on the large platform.

As I looked closer at the tables, I noticed there were weird things like magical weapons… and what looked like jarred organs.

That’s when it hit me.

This is the black market. The demon black market.

Shea squeezed my hand and I squeezed back. It smelled like sulfur, dark magic, and something more sinister that I couldn’t put my finger on for some reason.

The Abrus demon walked us over to a large cage along the back wall, and bile crept up my throat as I saw people huddled inside. One of them was a small child.

No. No. No.

There was a Grimlock demon working the front door. When we neared, he did something mystical with his hands that opened the lock.

“Got two more for ya. Papers are coming. They’re Fox’s,” our demon said to the door guard.

The guard’s eyes immediately fell on me and he grinned. “I’m looking for a third wife. You know how I like redheads.”

My eyes widened.

“You’ll have to take that up with Fox,” our handler told him, then shoved us inside the cage.

The door slammed behind us while the men continued to argue.

“If they got no papers, maybe we can make a deal,” the guard offered.

The Abrus demon chuckled. “Take it up with Fox. I don’t want to piss that boy off. He brings in more money than all my other brokers combined.”

The Grimlock demon grumbled under his breath, as the Abrus walked away to call who I hoped was Lincoln. If not, it looked like I was about to be married off to this Grimlock demon, and become his third wife.

Shea and I stepped farther into the cage and saw there were mostly women there with us, in their early teens and twenties. There were also two little kids, a boy and a girl.

What. The. Hell. Is wrong with the world? People weren’t property. Had we not learned that lesson yet throughout history?

“Everyone okay?” Shea whispered.

The women fearfully looked over at the Grimlock, while my gaze moved over each one of them. Dirty, scraped, bruised.

They’d been here a few days, at least.

But one by one they nodded. The two kids were huddled up to the eldest-looking girl, maybe in her early thirties, and they were softly crying.

Emotion tightened in my throat as my eyes started to fill with tears. After all my time in Hell, I’d just wanted to come back to Earth, but now that I was here, I realized it was just like Hell in some parts. Shea looked at me with a fierceness in her eyes, and I knew we were 100 percent taking these people home with us.

“So what’s the deal with this place? How does it work?” I asked when Shea and I huddled in front of everyone. They looked weak and they smelled. They obviously weren’t getting showers. Were they even being fed?

The eldest, who was consoling the two children, looked at Shea and me with pity. “Your broker takes pictures of you, and then you rot in here until a buyer is found. They only feed us once a day, and give us a small glass of water three times a day.”

I had to restrain myself from letting my wings out as anger flared inside of me.

Shea peered behind her to see the Grimlock had walked a few feet away, talking to another merchant. When she turned back to face everyone, she leaned in closer. “Can you guys keep a secret?”

The women and children looked at her like she was crazy but nodded.

“We’re from the Fallen Army, and we’re going to get you out of here,” Shea whispered.