"Do it," I said, the words lashing from me. "Now. Please."

"No."

"Please."

"Where is the fun in that? I came all this way, wasted money and two warriors, and I expect a show guaranteed to amuse me."

I bit my tongue until blood seeped down my throat.

"Welcome," EenLi said, hushing our conversation. "Welcome, everyone. A.I.R. thought they could close us down, but here we are."

Cheers erupted.

After a sufficient length of time, EenLi waved again for silence. "I am honored to have everyone here, especially such honored guests as the king of Morevv and the king of Targon." His gaze paused on Devyn. "I see you brought your new slave, Devyn."

The Targon nodded regally, his fingers stroking my hair. "That I did, but one can never have enough servants."

"I hadn't expected you to tame this one so quickly."

"Who said she was tame?" Devyn winked.

The crowd laughed. I glared up at EenLi, not even trying to dampen the disgust and loathing in my eyes. His skin glowed a bright shade of blue and pink-he was enjoying himself.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, returning his attention to the crowd. "You have a wide variety to choose from today. Are you ready to begin?"

Another round of cheers.

"Then so we shall." EenLi stepped to the side as one of his new Targon guards brought forth the first victim, a young, pretty girl of no more than fifteen. Her body trembled, causing locks of her carmine hair to spill forward. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she bit back a sob when EenLi parted her robe, revealing her still-developing nakedness to the onlookers. She didn't fight. I doubted any of them would. They'd probably been threatened by unimaginable horrors if they so much as uttered a single protest.

"A virgin to tempt any man," EenLi boasted.

And so the bidding began.

One by one, men and women were sold to the highest bidder. I wanted Devyn to buy them all, but he only bought the virgin, as well as the women who had been locked inside the cell with me. Perhaps because I'd squeezed his thigh until he'd hissed out a price.

Then, finally, Lucius's turn arrived. He still slept peacefully.

"Look at this prime piece," EenLi said. "He will be good for manual labor, as well as bedroom labor."

"Buy him for me," I whispered up to Devyn.

"I believe I've done quite enough for you," he said, prim now.

"I'll give you two nights instead of one, plus the two kisses I owe you."

The king's eyes swirled vivid amber, and he immediately placed his first bid. Someone else, a white-headed Arcadian female, countered. On and on they bickered. EenLi's gaze remained narrowed on Devyn, as if he couldn't quite figure out what was going on.

In the end, Devyn won the battle. He put the Arcadian to sleep, effectively ending her bidding. And so, the auction was over.

"Thank you for coming," EenLi told everyone. "If you didn't win or didn't find what you were looking for, please contact me. I usually hold private auctions, but because of a recent upheaval we had to do things a little differently this time around."

The people around me stood. "If you put everyone to sleep, I'll give you three nights," I said, desperate to keep anyone from leaving. I didn't want a single "slave" to be dragged out that door. I would set them free-or die trying.

"I might be tired of you after two nights." Devyn uttered a breezy yawn. "The heat in here is stifling. Should we collect your humans and leave?"

"You vowed to take me to my enemy."

"And so I have. You see him, do you not?"

"What is it you want from me?" I asked, more desperate now than before.

"The same devotion you give your human. Your vow to eagerly accept me when I take you."

"Done," I said, though we both knew I lied.

His gaze darted to the warehouse's only door. "No one seems to be leaving yet. They're lingering."

"So? Put them to sleep before they decide tostop lingering."

"First I want to thank our host for a wonderful evening."

Yes, I thought darkly. Let's thank him properly, shall we? I should have protested, should have insisted Devyn do my bidding, yet the thought of finally, at long last, coming face-to-face with EenLi proved too intoxicating.

Devyn rose. When he moved past me, I followed behind him like a good little slave. We climbed the steps, me on my knees. My gaze lingered on Lucius's sleeping form until I rammed into a large piece of splintered wood.

EenLi was in deep conversation with another Mec. When he noticed Devyn, he waved the Mec away. "I made quite a profit from you this evening," he said with a grin.

"That you did," Devyn responded.

I reached behind my back to slide my knife from the waist of my pants...only to realize my knife was gone. My blood ran like ice in my veins. How Devyn had removed it, I didn't know. b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He knew I'd been planning to kill EenLi, here and now. Why had he stopped me? Did he mean to betray me? No, I thought. Devyn wanted his nights with me; he wanted me willing. He'd given me his vow.

That meant...what?

"Eden, rest your head on my leg like a good little girl."

I did so without hesitation, and he sifted his fingers through my hair.

"How did you train her so quickly?" EenLi's white gaze raked over me, lingering on my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, between my legs. "She's a delectable little morsel, isn't she? Perhaps I should have kept her for myself. I just didn't expect her to be so docile so quickly."

"I have the most...persuasive training techniques."

The two men shared a hearty laugh.

"Thank you for the warriors." EenLi said, all business now. "They are proving to be very useful already."

"Excellent." He paused. "There's something I need to speak with you about. In private."

"Now is not the time, I'm afraid."

"Make the time." Devyn's tone was hard, promising retribution if his request wasn't met.

EenLi's skin glowed a light red, meaning he was only mildly perturbed. His white eyes narrowed. "Very well. Shall we adjourn to my office?"

"That won't be necessary." One by one, the people inside the warehouse began dropping to the dirt. Snores soon abounded. I jumped up, unable to hold myself back a moment longer.

This ended now. Knife or no knife.

"What's going on?" EenLi demanded, a look of confusion flittering over his face. His red skin turned to a dark, molten yellow.

"I believe you have unfinished business with my slave," the Targon answered and stepped back.

"Not a slave," I said, moving forward. "a.s.sa.s.sin. You see, I plan to do to you what I did to your partner, Mris-ste."

The Mec's color changed again, once again glowing that deep, dark red. "So it was you. I suspected Michael, not his daughter." He backed a step away from me, one of his hands slowly slipping inside his pockets.

"Give me the knife," I demanded of Devyn without ever turning my attention.

"No," was his reply.

I stomped my foot.

"I'm doing you another favor, Eden. I once had an enemy I despised with the same intensity you have for EenLi. I know that if you kill him too quickly, you will always regret it. Fight him. Beat him. Make him pay."

In the next instant, EenLi whipped out a gun. Devyntsked under his tongue and mentally swept the weapon across the room. It hit the floor with a thump. EenLi gasped, and I slowly stalked toward him. With every step I tried to center my energy, but that proved impossible. Too many hot emotions clamored for release.

"Targon," he said, casting the king a nervous glance. "Help me, and I will-"

"This is between you and the Raka," Devyn said. He grinned. "Enjoy, both of you. I know I will. Is there any popcorn? I love Earth popcorn." He continued to mutter about the popcorn as he hopped off the stage and sat in a chair.

I sprang. EenLi leapt to the side, but I managed to kick his shoulder. As he stumbled, he growled low in his throat. We circled each other. His white eyes continually darted toward the door, and I knew he planned to run.

Realizing he could go nowhere without me following, he tried another tactic. "Do you think I knew nothing about you, Eden?" There was an evilness to his tone, a darkness that made me shudder. "I know more than you think."

I didn't respond. I just edged closer.

"I took great pleasure in enslaving you," he gloated. "You, a trained a.s.sa.s.sin. You, Michael Black's beloved daughter.

Closer.Closer. Like a tiger moving in for the kill, I circled him.

"I'd hoped the Targon could control you," he said. "And I liked that Michael would never see you again, that he would always wonder what happened to you."

I went low and kicked his ankles. Contact. He fell with a whoosh, but sprang up quickly. He pulsed with the barest hint of blue. "Why do you want to kill me so desperately, hmm?"

"For the pleasure of it."

"You should want to destroy the one who killed your parents. Why do you think Michael took you in? He'd been a.s.signed to kill your father. But your mother got in the way, so he killed her, too."

Fury boiled inside me, hotter, hotter. I sprinted toward him and jumped, spinning midair, crunching the heel of my boot into his nose. It snapped, and black-hued blood sprayed across the platform. "Liar," I lashed out.

EenLi stumbled to his feet, blood and spittle trickling down his face, onto his lips. He struggled for air as his skin turned a mottled hue of purple. "I used to work for him. Did he tell you that?"

I knew what EenLi was doing. Offering a truth to make his lie appear believable. "I don't believe trash like you, EenLi, so save your breath." I hopped from foot to foot, and I moved toward him. No more playing.

He ran to one of the sleeping guards and grabbed a weapon. His eyes gleamed with victory as he aimed the pyre-gun, but I was already on him. I kicked the gun from his hand, and it flew across the room.

I punted him in the chest. He swung at me as he tumbled down. His fist connected with my jaw, and my head whipped to the side.

He was up and on me before I could blink, pushing me down and trying to choke me. I rocked back and wound my legs around his neck. With one hard jerk, he was sailing backward. I used the momentum to gain my footing and leapt to an upright position. I lunged for him as he, too, jolted to his feet. My head b.u.t.ted into his stomach, causing him to double over as his breath whooshed from his mouth.

Straightening, I beat my fists into his face like I was a machine, over and over, again and again. He fell onto the wood. I fell with him, never pausing. Blood flung left and right with every blow.

Devyn called from below, "Here." His words reached my haze of destruction. "I'm getting bored. Finish it," and he tossed me a knife.

I caught the hilt midair. EenLi gurgled something, perhaps, "No, please," and tried to crawl away. I grabbed his head and positioned my knife. Then I slit his throat the way I'd wanted to from the beginning.

When his eyes glazed, I dropped his head with a thud. It wasn't enough, though. Devyn had been right. It wasn't enough. I wanted EenLi to suffer longer. I wanted him to suffer for eternity.

"Nicely done," the Targon said.

"Give me your phone," I commanded, wiping the Mec's black blood onto my pants.

He did so without another comment. As I strode to Lucius's slumped, sleeping form, I dialed Michael. When he answered, I told him where I was.

"I know where you are," he barked. "I tracked you with the isotope. You'll notice I trusted you enough not to send my men in."

"Bring a van and medical supplies."

A pause.A hiss of breath. "Are you hurt? What's-"

"I'm fine, Lucius isn't. Hurry." I hung up on him. I'd never done that before, but I didn't know what else to say to him right now.

I tossed the phone back to Devyn and knelt beside the only man who had ever made me feel complete. I caressed my hands over his heartbeat. My shoulders slumped with relief when I felt a steady, even thumping. He would live.

EenLi was dead, the slaves were free. We had won.

So why did I feel so lost? A lone tear slithered its way down my cheek.

Chapter.

29.

Ididn't allow Devyn to awaken Lucius.