She's My Prey Episode 6

Chapter 1

SADIE

Going to the marketplace feels like a win in my books. Renem has truly shown himself to be nothing like Indor, despite their obvious differences.

Strange how one is a bloodthirsty monster and the other is a waira…

Renem wants to travel quickly to the city so I acquiesce to his request for speed and allow him to carry me on his back. He travels at inhuman speeds already, but with his wings, especially now that it’s healed, we get there in all but the blink of an eye.

Once we arrive, we start looking around. Or rather, I look while Renem watches me. It’s fascinating seeing the different ways his heart changes color. I’m starting to pick up on some of the color changes now. Yellow definitely means he’s proud and blue is when he’s sleepy or relaxed. I wonder what other colors he might glow.

I’ll pick up a few of my favorite books from the bookstall and see how he reacts to them when I read them to him. It will be like an experiment. I think he likes understanding emotions more than he realizes. Maybe he spent centuries being lonely without realizing it.

But before I do that, I have specific items I’m here to get. Like the quilt that I spend a half hour haggling over.

I feel victorious when the quilt stall merchant agrees to my price for the lovely green quilt. It will go well with the wildflowers I gathered yesterday and put in a vase in the bedroom. I want the house to feel homey and beautiful.

I glance backwards, excited to share my victory with Renem. I fought for this and I want to see his reaction.

He’s not standing where he was when I last saw him though. Where did he go? Maybe he got a hankering for some of those delicious smelling thistle kebabs a few stalls down? I wander over, inhaling the delicious scent. He’s not there but I’m tempted to buy a couple for us for when he comes back.

Maybe he’s off buying something to surprise me? It’s possible he noticed how I admired the pretty necklaces at the metalsmith stall a few rows back. I smile at the thought of owning something so pretty.

But he doesn’t come back. He’s not returning and now I’m starting to worry. Anxiety gnaws at my belly. Did he leave me? I can’t see him anywhere, and he’s kind of hard to miss.

He wouldn’t, right? He’s all but obsessed with me! He’s said it himself. My blood calls to him, he said.

Still. I don’t like being surrounded by so many people without him nearby. I’ve come to rely on his protection to feel secure. His presence has made me feel less anxious than I have in my entire life at the Bordello.

The crowd around me suddenly feels too big, too suffocating. I feel as though there are too many bodies. It was never this crowded at the Bordello. I don’t like it. I need to get out of here. I can’t breathe.

Pressing a hand to my chest, I try to ground myself—I can’t panic, I need to stay calm. The noise seems to grow louder, roaring in my ears. My heart pounds in my chest and I feel dizzy. The world is spinning around me.

I feel lost in a sea of bodies, anchored to the spot as I try to calm myself to no avail. Where is Renem? My body feels numb. I move as though walking in a dream, pushing through the throng until I find a spot to sit down nearby, on a large crate.

Gathering myself, I breathe in and out in a repetitive manner, trying to stop myself from panicking too much. I need to think this through logically. Renem wouldn’t have left me. So something must have happened. He mentioned that he sensed danger lurking in the background before we left. Maybe something came up and he went to investigate?

I’ve just managed to calm myself down when I sense a presence nearby.

“It’s dangerous to be all alone, especially for a little thing like you. Are you lost?” someone asks from somewhere above me. I glance up and see it’s a dark elf wearing a black vest and a bowler hat.

“No, I’m fine. Just waiting for a friend,” I say, waving my hands to dismiss him.

“Are you sure? I can help you find your master,” he says, stepping closer. Uneasiness stirs inside of me. I feel like something is wrong with this situation. I can’t pinpoint it but my heart is hammering in my chest.

Every instinct inside of me screams danger so I ignore him, deciding to leave. He gets closer still, making me jump up from the crate. However, as I’m distracted, another dark elf grabs me from behind and blows a cloud of some kind of dust into my face. As I breathe it in, I cough, trying to expel it but I suddenly lose all strength from my body.

I don’t fall unconscious but I can no longer move. Anxiety is filling my veins as panic constricts the breath in my chest. I can’t move! I can’t move. I can’t call for help and I’m trapped and where is Renem?

The dark elves carry me away, speaking in low voices that I can’t make out. Everything inside of me is screaming to draw attention to myself, to kick and yell and call out for help but I can’t move.

My heart lurches as I realize we’re leaving the marketplace. Where are we going? Where are they taking me? It can’t be anywhere good. I’ve heard horror stories about girls who try to leave the Bordello and end up in much seedier places.

They carry me off, past the rows of stalls. Someone has to know what’s happening. Why isn’t anyone doing something? Isn’t it obvious I’m being kidnapped? Why doesn’t anyone care?

I can’t tell what the dark elves are saying but I listen anyway, trying to get a clue as to where they might be taking me. It’s hard to hear but I finally catch the tail end of a sentence.

“…just sell her to Club Pimente...”

My heart freezes. I can’t breathe. I can’t move. They’re selling me to a sex club? Why? Why is it always like this? Why is it that I’m always being taken advantage of by the dark elves?

Everything inside me wants to fight, to kill these men for touching me. I want Renem to tear them apart. I want to watch them lose their lives for daring to lay hands on me. Do they know about my affiliation with the Bordello?

No, they can’t possibly know. If they knew, I’d be returned there, or to the Rianorlos manor. They wouldn’t be taking me to a sex club. It’s because they thought they had an easy target with me, someone they could steal and no one would notice.

Where is Renem though? He’d protect me if he was here, so where did he go? Did they distract him so they could kidnap me?

Everything feels so hazy as they load me into a cage on the back of a wagon, throwing me inside unceremoniously.

“She’s so pretty, look at her,” one of the dark elves remarks, reaching out a hand to brush my hair from my eyes. “Gods, I can’t wait to see her in the club. Maybe I’ll visit it myself a few nights a week, eh?” he says to the other.

“Most definitely,” the other says, reaching into the cage. He gropes my breasts roughly, fondling them without care or regard. When he squeezes, I manage to moan out in pain, hating the sensation of his hands on me. It hurts and I want to smack his hands away but I can’t move.

“Stop that,” the first dark elf says. “Don’t you dare damage the goods. The boss will have your head for it if you do.”

“I don’t give a damn about the boss,” the creep scoffs. “Get in the front. We need to leave before someone notices or the dust wears off and she calls for help.”

The two of them leave me locked in the cage and head to the front of the wagon, urging the hoqin to take off at a brisk pace, leaving me rolling around weakly in the cage with every bump in the road.

I watch the marketplace get smaller and smaller as we get further away and only one thing plays on my mind over and over.

Where are you Renem?

I can’t call out though. I can barely move. The only reason I was able to moan was because of how forcefully the man groped me, it was enough of a shock to temporarily overcome whatever magical dust they gave me.

The cart bumps along, leaving me trapped and getting farther away from Renem. Tears slip down my cheeks as we continue onward. My body starts to regain a bit of feeling and I manage to press my hands against the bar of the cage. How long until the dust wears off?

Do I have enough time to escape if I can force my limbs to move? Would they come after me?

Almost certainly they would come after me as soon as the cage door is opened.

Plus, the two of them were clever enough to stalk me and get me when I was alone at the marketplace. No question that they would be smart enough to track me wherever I went.

I whimper at the thought that I will never be able to get away from men like this. Men who want to take advantage, to put me under their thumb, to use me as they see fit.

“Where are you Renem?” I call out weakly. Will I ever see him again? I never even got the chance to say goodbye!

“Renem,” I repeat his name once more, reaching a hand out through the bars. I know I can’t touch him from where I’m locked away but there’s a part of me that thinks if I try hard enough, I can summon him.

He’ll come for me. Right?