Page 63 of The Night Movers: Season One

Ridley felt the man’s eyes roaming over him like a touch, could feel the greedy way he drank them in. Vesper’s teeth caught his bottom lip as he looked his fill, a slow smile pulling it free again.

He crooked his finger towards Ridley and Rain. “Come here, my pretties. ”

Who talked like that? Vesper was the pied piper calling forth the town’s enthralled children. They stumbled forward almost as if he’d compelled them to do so, stopping just far enough from the stage that they wouldn’t have to crane their necks to look up at him.

Vesper snapped his head up to glower at Ridley’s alphas. “Take those masks off. I find them distracting. Sit down.”

To Ridley’s surprise, the alphas did so without question, finding seats in the golden chairs that surrounded the small circular black tables that lined the stage.

Who was this man? This…elite omega supplier? Ridley inhaled deeply, attempting to calm his nerves. Instead, he caught the scent of ripe pears, honey, and… His gaze snapped to Vesper, who was grinning at him like a marionette. No fucking way.

“You’re…an omega?” Ridley managed, words strangled.

Vesper wiggled the fingers on both hands, held high beside his face. “Surprise!” he cried, clearly delighted by Ridley’s flummoxed reaction. “Bet you did not see that coming.”

Ridley swallowed the sudden lump of sand in his throat, his lungs seizing, like he’d had the breath punched from him.

“Why?” Ridley whispered. “How can you…buy and sell your own kind?”

“It gets easier with time,” Vesper said airily. “Especially once you remember three key truths. Business is business. Money is money. Power is power. And I have all three.”

Ridley just stood there, reeling. What kind of monster would do this to his own kind? Auctioning off omegas to private collectors? That was what Rain had said, right? Vesper did what Titus did, but he catered to the elites.

“Oh, I can practically taste your disdain,” Vesper said, the last word dripping from his tongue, like he was savoring it. “As if you have any room to talk.”

Ridley flinched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Did you not demand that your alpha kill another alpha just so you could keep the omega beside you as a pet?” Vesper asked innocently.

How did he know that?

“Oh, I have spies everywhere, darling,” he said, as if reading Ridley’s mind. “I heard all about you the day Titus brought you to the night market. Linus is quite enamored with you. But I decided to give it a minute. I wanted to see just how much power these alphas had given you.”

“I don’t have any power,” Ridley muttered.

“You collared your mate,” Vesper chided. “If that’s not a show of force, I don’t know what is.”

“That…wasn’t my idea,” Ridley fumbled.

“No?” Vesper asked, sitting forward. “Do tell.”

Ridley’s gaze dropped to the ground. He didn’t know how to answer.

“Riddle me this, Ridley Christianson—” Ridley gasped loudly. “Where’s. Your. Chip?”

“My what?” Ridley asked stupidly. “How do you know my full name?”

Once more, a slow grin spread across his face. “Oh, good catch.” He crossed his legs with a flourish. “How do I know you? Let me think. You tell me.”

Ridley’s heart was beating hummingbird fast, and no amount of alpha pheromones would slow it down now. “I don’t know,” he said softly, shaking his head.

“Tell me, did you use your little magic trick”—he wiggled his fingers—“to convince a whole alpha pack to claim you?” he asked.

Ridley blinked at him stupidly. “My what?”

Vesper rolled his eyes. “I get that you’re scared, darling, but I do so hate repeating myself.”

“I…don’t…understand,” Ridley said, bewildered.

Had his alphas betrayed him? One look at Titus told him that wasn’t the case. He was pale beneath his tan; his confusion etched on his face. Had Linus said something? But how would he have known? Ridley hadn’t told him what he could do. He never told anyone outside of his pack .

The others looked spooked.

“Do you know what I do?” Vesper asked Ridley in a sing-song voice that sent a chill up his spine.

“You—You’re a b-broker?” he managed faintly.

“Ew, that’s such a cheap, trashy word,” he said, lip curling in disgust. “I’m a curator. Do you know what curating means?”

Ridley’s stomach churned at his condescension. “You collect art?”

“I seek out only the finest pieces, the most sought after treasures. I help discerning buyers add to their collections.”

Ridley might actually throw up. “Pieces? You mean omegas?”

Once more, Vesper rolled his eyes like Ridley’s indignation annoyed him. “That is my primary resource, yes.”

“So, you’re a trafficker. No better than them,” Ridley spit, pointing at his own alphas.

“No. You’re worse. They can blame biology.

They can try to cling to some ridiculous ideology about an omega’s place being ordained by some higher power.

But you…you’re selling out your own fucking kind. For what? Money?”

“Careful, careful,” Vesper said, gold eyes flashing with anger. “I consider myself to be a tolerant soul, but don’t push it.”

“Or what?” Ridley shot back. “You’ll sell me?”

“Ridley!”

The sound of his given name on Titus’s tongue had him snapping his head around to glower at him. His anger died the minute he saw the pleading look in Titus’s gaze and the barely-there shake of his head.

Fuck that. These alphas might be afraid of this fucking asshole, but he wasn’t going to cower to someone like this. He refused. He returned his attention to a now smirking Vesper. “What is it about you that has my alphas so worried?”

“What is it about you that you can openly defy them and they reward you with a pet?” Vesper countered, glancing at Rain. “He is pretty, though. Come here. ”

Rain stumbled forward before Ridley could stop him. Vesper dropped to one knee at the edge of the stage, cupping Rain’s cheek like one might a puppy. Rain immediately leaned into it, so painfully touch-starved he’d accepted his new life as a pet eagerly.

“So obedient,” Vesper mused, gazing at Rain fondly as he stroked his thumb over his cheek.

“How have you escaped my notice, hmm? Your last owners must have kept you well hidden. Sometimes, the alphas underground forget their place and think they can keep things from me. Hide the best prizes away for themselves. They get greedy and need to be reminded about the hierarchy.”

“And you rank higher on the scale than my alphas?” Ridley asked.

“Much higher,” Vesper countered. “Why do you think they look so frightened right now? Go on, look at them. Better yet, have a sniff. They reek of it.”

Ridley was loath to take his eyes off Rain for even a moment, but he did as Vesper asked. He was right. The sour stench of their fear was sharp at the back of his throat like smoke. They looked miserable, worried. Impotent with rage.

Ridley hated seeing them like that, but he couldn’t worry about them right now.

He needed to figure out what Vesper’s end game was.

He turned back to the other omega, his rage overtaking his fear.

“What do you want with me? Are you planning on snatching me up for one of your collectors? I’m bonded.

Mated. Claimed. Any collector you find would have to be okay watching me wither and die without my alpha, without my pack. Seems like a waste of their money.”

Vesper giggled, high and maniacal. “The irony of that statement is so delicious. It’s a shame you’ll never appreciate it. While there’s a market for everything, dearie, I’m not here to collect you.”

“So, why am I here?”

Vesper looked at Titus even as he spoke to Ridley.

“If I was the spiteful type, I’d take you as punishment, shove you in a cage, and force your pack to pay me to watch you suffer.

” He flicked his gaze at the others. “Then I’d make an example out of these…

alphas.” He said the last word like it disgusted him.

“But that’s not why I brought you here.”

“No?” Ridley asked, some of the tension slipping from his shoulders, but not by much.

“No,” Vesper said, returning to his chair, this time flopping back into it and kicking a leg over the side like some bored royal. “Honestly, I just wanted to confirm if my suspicions were true.”

“What suspicions?” Ridley asked.

“That you really are her brother.”

The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. “What did you say?”

Vesper laughed again. “Oh, look at you. Your hackles are up.”

“Where’s my sister?” Ridley asked, bile creeping up his throat.

Vesper leaned in close. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he asked in that same creepy sing-song voice.

Ridley snarled, surging forward only for Titus and Sugar to converge on him, dragging him back before Vesper’s guards could intercede. “Where is she? What did you do with her?” he screamed.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Vesper simpered, his smile cruel. “She was…delicious. A rare find.” He grimaced. “Even with her foul mouth.”

“Where is she?” he shouted again, fighting against the alphas keeping him restrained. “Where’s my sister?”

“Oh, knock it off,” Vesper said. “Your shouting is giving me a migraine. I’ll make you a deal. You answer my questions and I’ll answer yours. It’s just that easy.” To Rain, he said, “Go sit down, pet. The grown ups are talking.”

Rain blinked at him, as if attempting to process the order, then turned, eyes seeking Jensen, giving the alpha a questioning look.

When he gave him a single nod, the omega went to him, then sank to the floor, cheek landing on his thigh.

Jensen’s fingers threaded through his hair, petting him soothingly .

Ridley thrashed between Titus and Sugar, growling, “Let me go!”

“Are you going to behave?” Vesper chided, talking to Ridley like he was an errant toddler.

“Are you going to tell me where my sister is?” Ridley fired back.

“Not with that attitude, I’m not,” Vesper said, wagging a finger at him.

Ridley stopped fighting, letting his alpha’s pheromones soothe him enough to continue playing this game with the other omega.