Page 14 of The Echo of Forever

Hold.

I can do it.

Do as I said. Focus on today’s task. I’ll handle it.

She didn’t respond, and I flipped my phone over.

The first lot up for auction was a three-story brownstone on the west side in Collective territory, opened at twice the estimated value. Not because of the property, but what came with it.

Three stories.

Three fully initiated society girls over the age of twenty for sale. Buying their freedom wasn’t possible and would blow my cover sooner than I was ready for, but a few boxes across from mine lit up with bids.

I wished I could save them all, and maybe one day I’d find a way to do it, but for now, we had to move discreetly.

After the second lot came and went, another piece of real estate outside my territory, I sat up.

“This is our bid,” I said.

A five-thousand-square-foot warehouse on the outskirts of Everwood. Owned by a private company with no ties to the society.

Five underage girls were for sale. Too young to be initiated.

The number started just over five hundred thousand, and my helper hesitated before pressing the button, either afraid for the girls or herself. If I won, she came too.

The bidding escalated quickly, numbers leaping in hundred-thousand increments. On my cue, the girl pressed the call button once, then again, the panic from before gone. I watched the other boxes in view; two stayed in, while three had dropped out.

One belonged to the Carroway faction, society loyalists, and the last place those girls needed to be. The other, according to the skip-trace I’d run that morning, worked for a proxy broker,not Society-affiliated, but well funded enough to muddy the paper trail.

A bid flashed crimson on the panel, slightly illegal, but not enough to push whoever made it out. The auctioneer rang a warning bell, then improvised and singled for a sudden-death, winner-takes-all round.

“Go up five,” I ordered, knowing Solei and Oliver would purposely bid under.

The Carroways didn’t have the funds to compete.

My box lit up a solid blue, announcing me as the winner.

I stood as the curtain closed and pulled my hood back.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

She visibly weighed her options, her big innocent eyes bucking in my direction.

“Mercy,” she answered barely above a whisper. “D-Do I belong to you now?”

I waited until she found the courage to look at me.

“You don’t belong to anyone anymore,” I told her, pulling the cloak’s hood up again. “Follow me.”

Solei and Oliver would stay behind until another lot within our reach came about. Hopefully enough to save two more helpers tonight, but sometimes we weren’t that lucky.

I led Mercy down one of the side staircases, leading to a payment booth where I paid for the warehouse using an encryption key. The funds would bounce before landing where they belonged. Based on today’s date, it’d arrive in just enough time for my exchange with the O’Sullivans later next week.

My new real estate was in the perfect location to do business.

Here…” I handed Mercy a card with instructions on the back after we were cleared to leave. “Get into that black SUV over there and follow what’s on that card.”

She took a step back as if I were playing a trick on her, arms dead at her sides. I didn’t have time to be gentle.