THE KING’S VESTIGE

Chapter 5

They called her a product, but Lyric knew she was bait.

The room where they kept them was underground with no windows. It smelled like bleach trying to cover something worse. Twelve other girls were there with her. None of them would look at her. Looking meant acknowledging what was about to happen.

A woman in a gray suit came in every few hours to check on them and make sure they stayed presentable. The first time Lyric tried to speak, the woman slapped her hard enough that her ear rang for twenty minutes.

"Don't talk." The woman walked around Lyric in a slow circle. "Don't cry. Don't resist. Buyers want perfect merchandise. If you're damaged, your price drops. If your price drops, we have to get creative about making up the difference."

Lyric didn't ask what creative meant. She already knew from the way the other girls flinched when the woman said it.

They gave them white dresses that were too thin and too short. Lyric put hers on because refusing would make things worse. She had learned a long time ago that surviving meant choosing which battles to fight.

The girl next to her was maybe sixteen and kept whispering prayers under her breath. Lyric wanted to tell her that praying wouldn't help. If God was watching, he would have stopped this already. She didn't say anything. Maybe prayer was the only thing keeping the girl sane.

"How long have you been here?" Lyric asked quietly.

The girl stopped praying and looked at her with eyes too old for her face. "Three days. They took me from a bus stop. Said they were hiring dancers for a club." She laughed, but it sounded broken. "I believed them."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." The girl went back to her prayers. "Be smart. That's the only way you get through this."

The door opened on the far side of the room. The woman in the gray suit came back with two men in black uniforms. They had tasers on their belts and batons in their hands.

"Lot seventeen." The woman pointed at Lyric. "Come with us."

Lyric stood up. Her legs felt weak, but she forced them to work. She followed the men out of the room and down a hallway that had cameras every ten feet, watching everything.

They brought her to another room with a chair, a mirror, and makeup laid out on a counter. The woman in gray pointed at the chair.

"Sit."

Lyric sat. The woman started doing her makeup while Lyric watched her in the mirror, trying to memorize her face. Kade always said remembering details could save your life.

"You're going to be very popular tonight." The woman brushed something on Lyric's cheeks. "Thorne certified means you're special. Worth more than the others."

"Why?" Lyric said.

The woman stopped and looked at her through the mirror. "Because Celessa Thorne wants someone to know what happens when they run from her. She wants them to see exactly what their choices cost." She went back to the makeup. "You're not merchandise. You're a message."

Lyric's hands started shaking. She gripped the edge of the chair to make them stop. Showing fear here would just make them enjoy it more.

They took her to a waiting area where other girls stood in a line. They could hear voices on the other side of the wall. Lyric realized they were right behind the stage where the auction was happening.

A masked man stood near the stage entrance and called out numbers. Girls walked through the door. Lyric heard bidding, prices, and the sound of people being sold like they were nothing.

"Lot seventeen."

Lyric walked forward. Handlers grabbed her arms and led her onto the stage. The lights were so bright she couldn't see the audience at first. Then her eyes adjusted and she saw maybe thirty people sitting in rows, watching her like she was something they could own.

The masked man started talking about her age and condition. She stopped listening. If she listened, she would start screaming. If she started screaming, they would hurt her.

Someone bid five hundred thousand. She heard the number echo in her head and tried to understand how a human life could have a price tag.

Then someone bid one million. The room went quiet. Lyric looked out at the crowd, trying to see who would pay that much.

The bidding kept going higher. She felt sick. Every number meant someone wanted to buy her and use her. She would never be free again.

Five million.

The words hung in the air. Nobody else bid. The masked man said sold, and handlers pulled her off stage. She wanted to fight, but there were too many of them. Fighting would just make things worse.

They brought her to a small room and told her to wait. She sat in a metal chair and stared at the wall, trying to remember Kade's face. If she was going to die or worse, she wanted to remember something good first.

The door opened. Someone walked in. She didn't look up because she didn't want to see the face of the person who bought her.

Then she heard a voice she had been waiting ten years to hear again.

"Lyric?"

She looked up so fast her neck hurt. Kade was standing in the doorway. He looked older and harder, with scars on his hands that weren't there before. But it was him. He was real. He was here.

"Kade?" She couldn't breathe. "How did you..."

"I bought you."

She ran across the room, and he caught her. She held onto him while she cried into his shoulder. Ten years of running came out all at once.

"I knew you'd come." Her voice was muffled against his chest. "I knew you wouldn't leave me here."

"Getting you out of the city tonight." He pulled back and looked at her face, seeing the bruises on her wrists where they had tied her too tight. "There's a car waiting three blocks from here. My people will take you somewhere safe. Somewhere Celessa can't reach."

"What about you?"

"I'm staying."

"Kade, no." She grabbed his arm. "If you stay here, she'll kill you. You have to come with me."

"I can't." He took her hands and squeezed them gently. "Not yet. There's something I need to finish first."