Page 58 of Evelyn's Enforcer
But then as I scanned the crowd, scowling at each one of these despicable people, I saw a certain face in the crowd and gasped. It was one it seemed I would never be rid of, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes, shake my head, and mutter,
“Oh shit.” It was a reaction heard by the girl next to me, and she quickly tried to offer me comfort, not knowing that I was once again being haunted by my past. Because there he fucking was, smirking at me from within the vile crowd.
“It’s okay, we will be okay,” she said, making me nod quickly, holding onto her words and letting them soothe me.
“Let’s make this more interesting, should we, Randel? If you please,” the voice boomed once more on the microphone somewhere out of sight. It was an order that made me tense as I looked back to my tormentor to find him there, winking at me once more before flipping a different lever up this time. The second I heard the gush of water I knew that they were only filling up mine this time, making me instantly panic.
“No! Stop… stop this!” the girl shouted on my behalf, seeing now that I was not dealing with this terrifying situation easily. It was as if she recognized the fear in my eyes as being her own. I banged my bruised fists on the side of the tank in vain, knowing it would do nothing but allow everyone to get a good kick off my terror. I scrambled up the rock as the water continued to rise, forcing me to soon get to my feet. Trying to balance on the highest bit. But even then, it wasn’t high enough for me to escape because I couldn’t reach the top.
“I can’t fucking swim!” I tried begging for my life, hoping they would want me alive, but the auction just continued as if I had welcomed them all to witness the end of my life!
“This particular Siren is brought to you by our esteemed vendor, Gastin, one of the King’s own Enforcers. Should we start the bidding at one million?” I gasped, my mouth dropping in utter shock, before I whispered,
“No way.”
But then as the water started to reach over my knees, my protests continued, making me bang harder than ever before. This ended in me slipping and screaming as I was forced to scramble back up the rock and to standing.
“Someone, save her, for fuck sake!” the other woman screamed in my defense, but it was useless as the bidding continued. As if my drowning was nothing to them but daytime TV. But then just as the water level rose to my neck, I saw a dark figure rise from the back, as if he had just snuck in, now scanning the stage we were on. I couldn’t see his features, but it was enough to make me scream for him, whoever he was.
“HELP ME!” This seemed to work as the man suddenly bellowed,
“One hundred million!” Making the crowd gasp at the amount. Something I would have done too had the water not suddenly covered the top of my head, just as I heard the auctioneer shout,
“SOLD!” After this, I held my breath, watching through a watery gaze as the man stormed down the center of the aisle before getting close enough to act. He quickly leapt up onto the top of the tank, in an unhuman way, making my gaze go up. I would have cried out in utter joy at the face I now saw above me, but I also knew that doing so would have likely meant my death.
I then watched as he barehandedly ripped off the latch above and tossed it back, hitting into the assholes that had been the ones to taunt me. They flew back like pins in a bowling alley, and I would have smiled had I not been fighting for my life at the time.
After this, he quickly reached down and grabbed me, pulling me up just as I was about to run out of air. He then gathered me up in his arms, and I shivered against his hard chest, one I could feel breathing heavily, as if he was trying to control himself.
He then jumped down as if this was as easy as walking, jarring me only a little as his grip on me was certainly tight enough not to let me fall. But then, when I looked up, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching up to his face, whispering the name of my savior,
“Ryker… you came… you came for me.”
He tensed around me, holding me tight as if he feared I would get snatched off him. Then he told me,
“I will always come for you, my little Siren.” Then as he started to walk from the room, I remembered my friend, hearing now the auctioneer introducing her. So, I quickly told him,
“No, we have to go back, we have to save the other girl!” At which he paused and gave me a tender look before telling me,
“Don’t worry, she has her own Enforcer who has come to save her.” It was a statement that made me ask,
“What’s an Enforcer?”
Of course, the second I heard a loud and ear thundering roar from back in the hall, he grinned down at me and said,
“I am.”
24
GREEDY MONSTERS
Once I was assured that the other girl had definitely been rescued, I started to relax enough to realize that I too had been saved. And just in time too apparently, because Ryker’s men had only managed to surround the building once the auction had started to take place. This was alongside another man’s small army, a man Ryker told me was a friend called Wrath.
Someone I only got a brief look at and if I was honest, he was a man that would have utterly terrified me. That was, had he not had the curly blonde girl bundled in his arms like she was the most precious thing to him in the entire world. Just the same as I appeared to be in Ryker’s, as I too was still held in his arms.
And for such a beast of a man, to see how he was clearly besotted with her made for a startling contrast. He fussed over her like he feared as if she would shatter any minute.
Again, this was very similar to Ryker and how he was with me, and it was a sight that tugged on my heart. I would have liked to ask her name or even ask if I could hug her. But in all honesty, I hadn’t yet been ready to leave Ryker’s arms, and he certainly didn’t seem ready to let me. In fact, I had never felt so vulnerable in all my life and couldn’t seem to uncurl my bruised fist from his tactical vest. He looked very similar to how he looked the first night we met and I had to admit, the sight was doing strange, needy things to my body.