Chapter 3
He mutters something under his breath and opens the door. “Mal, you’re early,” Toby tells him, motioning for him to enter. I look up, taking in Mal. He’s scarily handsome, his cheekbones are high, and would have any model jealous of them. The light beard shadowing his face does little to take away from how clean-cut he looks in his immaculately tailored suit. His dark hair curls softly around the collar of his shirt as he drags his fingers through the strands. Immediately, he sniffs the air, and his dark eyes move to me, widening just a fraction as he takes me in.
“New toy, Toby?” he questions.
“Employee, I was about to send her home.” Toby tells him.
“You won’t find no taxi this late that won’t dine on her; I can take her if you want I recognize her scent. She is Sven’s niece. I need to speak with him about settling his debt anyway, and I was about to head over there to pick her up.” Mal shrugs, and my heart rate picks up.
“How much does he owe this time?” Toby asks while Mal wanders around his office, looking at the pictures on the wall.
“About eight hundred,” Mal states like it’s no big deal.
“Eight hundred? That’s it. I’ll cover it then, and I can drop her home.” Toby tells him.
“Thousand!” Mal says, and Toby stops, and so does my heart. 800 thousand, how is it even possible for him to run a debt so large?
“What?” Toby and I say at the same time.
Mal shrugs, “He placed her down to cover it, so I will drop her home to collect what belongings she needs. We’ll just have to swing by my place first so that I can pick up the trade papers. I
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only have the buyout contract on me.”
I jump to my feet. “Trade papers?” I shriek, and he turns to face me with a sly smile.
“Yes, Love, you belong to me now,” Mal states, and my eyes go to Toby, who is looking at me horrified.
“Wait, Mal. She’s barely nineteen,” Toby argues in my defense.
“She’ll fetch a higher price then!” he shrugs, clearly uncaring. My heart beats like a drum in my chest, and my breathing becomes harsher. My uncle placed me down as collateral! He sold me!
Toby steps forward and shouts at Mal, clearly outraged at what he’ s hearing. “This is wrong! She’s not a s l ave!”
Mal turns to him, his face twisting in anger. “She is now. I have the contract. You can do nothing about it, Toby. I don’t know why you’re getting so upset over this human. She is easily replaceable.” Mal reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wrinkled piece of
paper.
Toby sn atc hes the paper and then glances down at it for a moment before he crumples it up in his fist and tosses it to the ground. “No! I won’t let this happen! You can’t do this, Mal!” His voice is strong and filled with conviction as he steps forward and places himself between Mal and me.
Mal’s eyes widen, and his mouth forms an ‘o’ of surprise. Then he regains his composure. He laughs loudly, a cruel sound that echoes in the small room. “You think you can stop me? I have all the power here. I think you forget how much you owe me too, Toby. The girl is mine now. If you have an issue with that, go shake her uncle down for what he owes me, but she is leaving with me.” He points a finger at me and sneers.
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Chapter 3
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Toby stands tall and meets Mal’s gaze without flinching. “I will not let her be sold and turned into a f uc king bloodwhore, or prostitute!”
Mal tilts his head to the side and clicks his tongue in annoyance. “You like her,” Mal accuses. Toby quickly shakes his head while I chew my lip nervously, my heart beating even harder in my chest.
“No, she is an employee,” Toby quickly defends.
Mal laughs sinisterly. “So you keep saying yet you’re willing to cut all deals off with me and start a war; I would say otherwise,” Mal chuckles. His dark, eerie eyes flick at me.
“If you can pay the debt she owes me, you can have her back. Until then, she is mine,” Mal snarls, stalking over to me and ripping me off the sofa by my arm.
I cry out in pain when his nails cut through my flesh from his tight grip, and Toby moves toward me, but Mal shoves him away.
“Remember your place, Toby. Fight me on this, and it will be your last fight,” Mal reminds him before he drags me out of the door.
My heart races as I’m dragged into the corridor, and I glance back to see Toby watching from the doorway, with an indecipherable expression on his face before he turns and slams his office door. Mal drags me outside into the street before shoving me toward one of his men, who seizes my arm and leads me across the road to another club. He pushes me through the blacked-out doors and inside.
My eyes scan the smoke-filled room, and I can feel my heart racing with fear. The place is dimly lit, and the air is filled with the sickly scent of blood. I have never been to this club before, yet I heard the stories. It’s a blood bar where the vamps come to feast on their prey. Peering around, eyes watch me. People are dancing on
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the dancefloor under the strobing lights, and girls with chains around their ankles dance on poles attached to tables. At the same time, Vamps look up at them as if they’re the tastiest treat they’ve come across, and the half-naked girls are covered in bite marks, their eyes vacant as they sway their hips to the beat, their skin pale and clammy.
Suddenly, a hand grabs my arm and drags me forward into the main club area. I wince as the cold grip tightens around my arm, and I stumble forward as I am led out the back of the club to an office before being pushed hard onto a chair at a table in the center of the room.
Mal talks with one of his men about organizing his driver to wait at the side alley to pick us up while I stare vacantly at the wall, shocked at what has become of me. Only mere hours ago, I was excited because I was finally escaping the city, and now I’d been sold off to cover my uncle’s debt.
“What about Prince Xandros? He’s been waiting in the VIP section for you. He doesn’t look happy.” the man who dragged me in here asks Mal.
“He was supposed to stop by tomorrow, not tonight,” Mal states, and the man who dragged me into the room just shrugs.
“I guess he must have plans. I can tell him you’re not here?”
“No, it’s fine. Grab the money from the safe and tell Sally to send him down to my office. I’ll deal with the Prince first and then deal with this mess.” Mal tells the vampire man while motioning toward me; the vampire man’s gaze goes to me before he smirks.
“Very well,” he states, walking out and leaving me with Mal, who exhales loudly as he turns to face me.
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“You better make me my money back, or your uncle is a deadman,” he tells me.
“Can I trade him for me?” I ask, and Mal chuckles.
“I’d have to pay someone to feed off that piece of garbage, so no!” He laughs when the door opens.
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