Jess Haines - Enslaved By the Others

Good to know wealth could buy blind eyes and silence about human trafficking to match the furniture.

Only when we reached a wide marble staircase leading upward did I think to shut my mouth. Judging by my stay thus far and all the carefully averted eyes, I didn’t think calling for help to any of the people working here was going to do me much good.

We passed a few closed doors before we reached the end of the hallway. The double doors swung open to reveal a room far more magnificent than the others. The place practically glowed with all the gilding. Intricate designs were inlaid into every surface and along the edges of the white lacquered furniture. The bed was the centerpiece; large enough for an army platoon, with gauzy white curtains that concealed the pillows and blankets that looked soft and fluffy enough to shame the clouds. Despite the color scheme, there was nothing feminine about it. The artwork was too dark, and the way everything came together was cold and somber; no amount of ornamentation could cover that up. Which made this Max’s bedroom, I presumed.

The vampire carried me past the bed, glancing down as a shudder passed through me. He soon turned his attention back to the task at hand, taking me to a small painting at the far end of the room. I vaguely recognized the piece of bathing and lounging women as something by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, though I didn’t know the name of the painting off the top of my head. I had seen a print of it somewhere before—maybe at one of those funky galleries Sara liked to drag me to.

Max swung it away from the wall to reveal a hidden panel, keyed in a code, then pressed his palm to a scanner; a more high-tech security device than the one used to keep the people downstairs locked away.

Great. My plans for never getting out of here were coming together swimmingly.

A whole section of the wall slid away to reveal a secret passage. I would never have guessed the damned thing was there if Max hadn’t revealed it. He lugged me inside, and I was not surprised to see a room similar to—but smaller than—his own on the other side. Instead of one giant bed, there were several smaller ones.

Unlike the rooms downstairs, this place opened up off a few others, including a large bathroom, a library, and—unbelievable— outside. Weak sunlight was visible through the far door, and I was bordering on desperate to break the chains of his will to make my way out there.

“Here, now,” he said, his voice low and soothing in a way far too reminiscent of Royce’s for my peace of mind, “perhaps you’ll do better here. If you behave, you may stay. If you don’t, back downstairs you go. Understand?”

All I could manage was a feeble nod. He smiled, the hint of fang in it sending my heart rate skyrocketing.

“Good. Go wash up and get some rest. I’ll check on you later. We’re going to have a talk tonight, you and I.”

He set me down on the edge of a sofa. It was even softer than it looked, and I sank down into the cushions, unable to rise immediately. Max left the room, and a low murmur of chatter started up.

Startled by the voices, I reflexively yanked a pillow over myself to cover my near nakedness.

No one approached me, and whoever was locked in here with me didn’t seem to think they needed to show themselves yet. After a moment, I tossed the pillow aside and struggled to get to my feet. Dizziness would’ve sent me to my knees if I hadn’t grabbed for the arm of the couch when I stood up. Rather than go to the bathroom to clean up, the first thing I did was make a beeline to the double doors that led outside.

I should’ve known better than to get my hopes up. Though this cage was prettier than the one downstairs, I was still trapped.

The courtyard sunroom was lovely and spacious, containing all the amenities you might find in a five-star hotel—including a pool with a cabana serving drinks, wonder of wonders—but it was completely enclosed by a series of iron latticework and thick glass. Probably bulletproof, from the looks of it.

That didn’t stop me from shuffling over, hoping to find some crack in the defenses, some hint of a means of escape. Of course there wasn’t any secret door waiting for me—but I was shocked to see that, beyond this lovely and obviously temperature-controlled prison, the ground a couple of floors below was covered in a blanket of snow. In the distance, a tall stone fence surrounded the property and, beyond that, thickets of pine trees dotted the snow-capped hills, with no sign of other buildings or roads that I could see.

Max had taken me far away from Los Angeles. It didn’t look anything like this in Southern California. Though it had been chilly enough for light jackets at night in LA, it certainly hadn’t been cold enough to herald snow before Fabian’s pet necromancer put me under. The type of greenery visible under the layer of snow on the distant hills spoke of something much farther north.

I sank down onto a poolside chair, pressing a hand to my forehead. I was far away from home, God knew where. Trapped. Even if I managed to make it outside by some miracle, I wouldn’t last long in that cold without more suitable clothing. Max probably had a long coat or something I could steal out of his wardrobe, but the idea of running barefoot through the snow and woods with nothing more than my undies and bra ... ouch. If I couldn’t find shelter, frostbite and exposure would kill me, assuming Max didn’t find me and snap my neck first.

A panic attack wouldn’t help anything, but it sure felt like a good time to give in to one.

“You should do as he told you,” said a clear, ringing voice from behind me. I glanced over, not particularly interested, but soon found myself unable to look away.

A gorgeous woman stood there, draped in diaphanous silks that did nothing to hide the perfection of skin that somehow managed to be paler than mine and yet appeared to glow in the sunlight. Hair like spun gold trailed nearly to her waist, and her eyes glittered with an unnatural greenish hue, brighter than emeralds and shining with some inner fae light. The only thing marring that perfect beauty was the slight discoloration of the skin around the edges of a golden collar locked around her throat.

“Please,” she said. “He makes it harder on all of us when one disobeys.”

I decided not to antagonize my new roommate. She looked fit and toned and, considering those glowing eyes and skin, was clearly Other. Likely she had the strength to snap me in two if I ticked her off.

“Sure,” I replied, resigned. “Give me a sec to get my wind back.”

She watched, curious and unblinking, as I slowly levered to my feet. My ribs still ached from Max’s unwanted bear hug. The dizziness passed after a moment, and I followed her back inside. Once in the bathroom, she stepped in when she saw I was having trouble peeling off my clothes. As much as it would have bothered me at any other time, by that point I was far too tired to care.

The shower helped wake me up, but the lady had left with my underthings while I was washing. A towel and a short satin robe had been left on the marble sink for me. After drying off, I wrapped the robe around myself and edged back into the room with the chaises and beds, a little afraid of what I might find waiting for me.

The woman with the green eyes beckoned me to one of the beds, where I settled in silent misery, curling up into a ball as she drew a blanket over me. I hated that this place was so opulent, that it felt so good to sink into the plush softness of that bed and find comfort in the heady lavender scent of a familiar fabric softener wafting up from the sheets. No matter how good it felt, this place wasn’t safe, and all the luxuries in the world wouldn’t change the fact that I was imprisoned against my will.