Tainted: Book Three - Enslaved

7. I'll Kill Him Slow

Kerry

Once I got to the pens, it didn't take long to find who I was looking for. A man with long gray hair and longer, whiter beard stepped out of the gloom.

"Harker? Is that you? I thought you were dead."

"Yeah, it's me. Good to see you, Kas."

"You look sehr gut!"

"I got a better offer and upgraded." I shook my head, hardly believing I was here and doing this again. "I need some party favors for this weekend. What do you got?"

"It's a day after the full moon! But you're in luck. The Jungen brought in two nephs just tonight."

Oh, thank everything Holy they weren't sold before I got here.

"One is as lovely as a rose," he said, "and the other is both pretty and a fighter. She'll be entertaining."

"Good!" I grinned because I knew he expected me to. "Wait. They ain't spoiled, are they?"

"Don't insult me. You know what happened to the last man who violated the merchandise."

"Yeah, he's still looking for his nuts." I didn't have to fake my grin this time.

Like I told the guys on the way here, Kasparian had some honor. He may have been a neph who paid others to kidnap living beings that he then trafficked, but he was dead serious about the condition of 'the merchandise' while it was in his keeping. If you damaged the goods, he made you pay, and his prices were steep.

Needless to say, there weren't many repeat offenders.

He led me downstairs to the pens, which were rough wooden rooms with cots, a faucet in the wall over a drain in the floor, and a toilet. The female pen held my two friends, who wore yellow hoods over their heads. Gigi huddled in a corner, her hands and feet bound in iron clamps and chained together. Mira was nearby, hogtied with duct tape and rope. Their clothing was dirty, but not torn, and neither one was bleeding.

"The fierce one." Kasparian pointed to Mira. "She tore through the chains like they were tissue paper."

"Nice." Both girls froze at my voice and I prayed they'd play along. This was the only sticky part of the plan. "You ain't got nothing else?"

"Nein. Only these two."

"Too bad. Well, I'll take them. Let's see. Hundred for the smaller one and one fifty for the fighter?"

Kasparian pretended to think it over, but it was a fair offer and we both knew it. And neither of us were the type to haggle over a few grand. He agreed and asked how I wanted to pay. I dangled the black velvet bag in front of him.

"Diamonds? My favorite! They're gut ones?"

"Of course. You know me. And my new boss ain't the kind to cheat someone he wants to do business with in the future." I wanted the act to be convincing in case I ever had to do this again.

After I passed over the ice, he asked if I needed to buy restraints.

"Got my own." I shook my head. "Came prepared as usual."

I took out the stack of slave bracelets and removed two from the twist tie before putting it back in my pocket. Leaning down, I slid one on Gigi's wrist and activated it, then turned to Boots. The duct tape around her wrists was so tight, her fingers were purple.

This is gonna hurt.

I manifested a pocket knife and cut away the duct tape and rope. She groaned in pain, but started to get to her feet. Quickly, I dropped the knife, took one cold, swollen hand, and forced it through the second bracelet. I powered it up, took off her hood, and grimaced a little at her black eye and bruised cheek.