Pawn

Whatever the catch was, it was worth thirty thousand gold pieces and a VII. I was stupid for hesitating.

“Five,” he said, counting down. “Four, three, two—”

“Yes.” I couldn’t get the word out fast enough. I pictured Benjy’s face when he found out we could stay together, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning.

A VII. A real VII.

Daxton’s lips twisted into a strange hybrid of a smirk and a smile. “I cannot tell you how pleased I am to hear that. There is a car waiting. Shall we?”

He offered me his hand, and his skin was smooth and cool against my damp palm. When we stepped out of the room, half a dozen guards surrounded us, and all of them eyed me. I hunched my shoulders in an attempt to make myself as small as possible.

“What’s the catch?” I said again.

“Why on earth do you assume there’s a catch?” said Daxton, and I didn’t answer. Of course there was a catch. No one changed ranks, ever.

I rushed to keep up with his long strides, and the guards were so close behind us that I couldn’t stop and take a breath. Daxton ushered me down a narrow flight of stairs and through a series of dank hallways, and finally I spotted the exit into the alleyway. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. How was I supposed to let Benjy know I was safe? Daxton had to let me send word. Or did he expect me to cut all ties with my old life completely?

No. I wasn’t going to abandon Benjy, no matter what he offered me.

To my left a door opened. Tabs poked her head out in time to see the prime minister walking beside me, and her mouth dropped open. “Kitty?”

Relief rushed through me. “Let Benjy know I’m okay,” I said. “Go tonight if you can and tell him—”

“Nothing to see here,” said a guard behind us. He stepped in front of Tabs, blocking her view, and Daxton marched me past her.

“Let me— Tabs! Tell him!” I called, but she didn’t respond.

“Come on,” said Daxton, and he pushed me into the alleyway. I shivered. The temperature had dropped several degrees, and my flimsy white dress didn’t provide much protection from the cold. Daxton removed his overcoat, still warm from his body, and draped it over my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I said. How many times had he done this before? How many mistresses had he bought and enticed with a VII? The thought of sleeping with him made me sick to my stomach, but there was nothing I wouldn’t have done to change my III. Benjy would hate it, but he had to understand. This way, I wouldn’t be putting him in danger. This way, he wouldn’t have to spend his life hiding me. This way, I wouldn’t be forcing him to risk his life just so we could be together.

We turned into another alleyway, where a sleek black car waited for us. It stretched the length of three normal-sized cars, and I had to fight to keep my mouth from dropping open. I’d never seen such a big one up close before. Only Vs and above were allowed to own a car, and one this big must have been made especially for the Harts.

Daxton noticed me staring, and he chuckled. I pulled myself together and stood as straight as I could. I might never have been in a car before, but that didn’t give him the right to laugh at me.

A guard opened the door, and Daxton gestured for me to go first. I was halfway inside when I heard it.

Bang.

My heart leaped into my throat. “What was that?”

“Nothing to worry your pretty little head about,” said Daxton, and another pair of hands pushed me into the seat. I struggled to see, but Daxton slid in next to me, blocking my view, and the car door slammed shut. “It’s a long trip to our destination, so I hope you don’t mind that I’ve taken the liberty of making arrangements to ensure that your stomach doesn’t get the best of you.” He winked. “Leather seats. You understand.”

I didn’t understand, since Somerset couldn’t have been more than twenty miles away, but I didn’t care, either. I craned my neck so I could see around him and into the alleyway.

Through the weak light, I made out two men leaving the club, dragging the body of a girl behind them. We were too far away for me to see her face, but her long dark hair was unmistakable.

“Tabs?” I choked. “What—”

“Shh,” murmured Daxton, brushing my hair aside. Before I could push him away, a needle pricked my neck, and everything went black.

III

Celia

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I groaned. It couldn’t be morning already. The need to sleep weighed me down, and my head pounded. Maybe Nina would let me stay home from school today.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I tried to turn over, but something held me in place. With monumental effort, I opened my eyes. As my vision swam into focus, I made out a small crystal chandelier hanging above me, casting rainbows across the white walls.

This wasn’t the group home.

Everything that had happened the night before slammed into my consciousness. The auction. Daxton. The VII.

Tabs.

I struggled to move, but I couldn’t so much as wiggle my fingers. I searched the unfamiliar room for anything that might help, squinting against the bright overhead lights. No visible windows. One door. Lots of open space. If anyone came in, I’d be trapped.

The beeping caught my attention again. It wasn’t an alarm clock; a machine sat beside my bed, measuring my pulse with a green flashing light. Someone had stuck a plastic tube in my arm, and it was connected to a bag of clear fluid.

A hospital room, maybe? If it was, it was the strangest hospital I’d ever seen. If anything, it looked like a bedroom. A very large bedroom with a fireplace in the corner and white everything with gold trim, but still a bedroom.

“Ah, I see you’re finally awake.”

My heart pounded, and the frequency of the beeping increased. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Daxton sitting on a white sofa, holding a drink in his hand. I gritted my teeth. Whatever they were giving me through that tube, it clouded my mind and made my vision blurry, but no amount of medication could make me forget what I’d seen driving away from the club.

“You killed Tabs.” It was hard to speak. My voice sounded deeper and hoarse, and I tried to clear my throat without success.

“No, I didn’t,” said Daxton, walking around the bed until I could see him without straining. “My guards did.”

Again I told my body to move, but I was stuck. If something held me down, I couldn’t feel it, and horror spread through me. Was I paralyzed?

I swallowed. Panicking wouldn’t help. “Why?”

“Because she stuck her nose where it didn’t belong.” He took a sip from his cup. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. She was nobody.”

“She was my friend.” He was lucky I couldn’t move, else my hands would have been wrapped around his throat, treason or not. “And she was a IV.”

“She was a prostitute,” said Daxton, but that was a load of bull. Prostitutes on the streets, desperate to make their family a little extra money, were sent Elsewhere when they were caught. But in the clubs, especially clubs frequented by government officials and the ministers themselves—

“Would you like to see your new mark?”

I didn’t answer. This was my fault. Tabs had been killed because she’d seen me with Daxton. There was no other explanation.

Pulling something from his pocket, Daxton held a small screen a foot away from my face, and with his other hand he slid something cold between the pillow and my skin. It must have been a camera, because the back of my neck appeared on the screen, and I could clearly see the new letters.