Page 24

Marcel curls his lips.

“It would be such a shame to waste you on a Bullfrog.”

His words are slow and confident – which is the opposite of the effect they have on me.

A Bullfrog?

I shiver. Just the thought of being subjected to that fate makes bile rise in my throat. Toads are revolting enough, but Bullfrogs are even fouler – not just for their bulbous, gangly bodies and slimy, repellent skin. It’s their cruelty which disgusts me – beyond even that of a regular Toad.

The seriousness of my situation begins to solidify inside my mind. We’re going to be auctioned – put up for sale to the highest bidder.

From Marcel’s words, there’s a chance he’ll make a bid for me – if he’s serious about preventing me being ‘wasted’ on a Bullfrog.

The thought of being sold, like livestock, fills me with disgust – but what choice do I have? And out of all the grim fates I face, the idea of being bought by this triad of warriors is most certainly not the worst.

I gulp, thinking of the alternative. If this Aurelian doesn’t choose me, one of the other buyers at this Bullfrog auction will – and unless I’m miraculously lucky, I’m going to end up in a Bullfrog aquarium, pinned down against the wet ground by a ton of warty, thick flesh as it fucks the very life out of me.

Oh, Gods…

I’m at the mercy of this sinful devil. Only Marcel and his triad can spare me from that fate.

I shiver, and look back into Marcel’s slate-grey gaze. What choice do I have?

None.

I need to win him over, if I am to have any kind of tolerable future ahead of me. I’m at his mercy.

Reluctantly, I nod at his words – shamed at my submissive response to him. Yet, I don’t want to anger this towering warrior. I saw how powerfully he snatched that electro-rod out of the Toad’s slimy hands. He endured thousands of volts, crackling through him like a stream of lightning, and then shook off the pain the moment he spat blood into the water.

Marcel had endured that fearsome voltage for long, lingering seconds – whereas an instant of it had nearly brought me to my knees and sucked all the fight right out of me.

I tremble as I look up into Marcel’s impassive, marble-white face. I wish I was stronger – like the old me. She’d have had the strength to work this situation – to manipulate circumstances to her favor, just as Ling taught me.

The old me would have had the strength to bat my eyelids at Marcel, or smile flirtatiously at him. She’d have eagerly lied with her eyes – given the towering alien anything to show him that I’d be his; as long as he spared me from being sold to a Bullfrog.

The old me would have done that – and not even felt bad about it. It would have been a chess move in a longer game; one that ultimately resulted in escape, or vengeance.

But I am not the old me. I’m alone, frightened, and desperate.

So, I crumple. I don’t care how weak it makes me appear if I beg. I’d choose this beautiful, evil man over the alternative fate in an instant.

But I’m too weak to even attempt to seduce him.

Yet, maybe my weakness intrigues this towering, dominant man.

“Garroona! See noon!”

Sudden grunts and gurgles emerge from one of the subordinate Toads – the one who ripped my shirt off, and received a crackling jolt of electro-shock as punishment.

Marcel hears the words and slowly turns his head. The two subordinate Toads are seething with jealousy. They wantedme. They wanted every woman here, but I was the first one they’d approached – the first one marked with the glistening slime from their cruel, inquisitive fingers on my breasts.

Toads are notoriously craven, cowardly creatures – and yet these two were willing to risk punishment just to get a taste of me before the auction.

Now, they see an Aurelian touching me like he already owns me – even though the auction lies ahead. I canseethe fury in their bulbous, unblinking eyes.

“Well, well,” Marcel responds to the Toad who groped me. “Late, you say?”

His voice is impassive – mocking – and he never takes his eyes from mine as he speaks.