Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(55)

“You can’t just auction me off like cattle. They’ll find you.”

“No one finds me.”

I leaned back on the chair legs. “With that hair, half of Cognito could find you.”

When he smiled, deep lines etched in his face. “I’m the great Houdini. I can get out of any tight squeeze. Is there anything distinct about my face? No, it’s average and forgettable. I’ve changed my hair and style a number of times, and no one ever remembers me.”

“All this work to live in a shithole in the Bricks.”

“The smaller space makes it easier to keep an eye on you.” He scratched the side of his face. “Admit it. When you came to the Bricks, you could see yourself living here. It has a certain… je ne sais quoi.”

“I’ll give you the key.”

“I’ll get it. Eventually.”

I noticed the way my reflection in the glass overlapped his. “You wrote those letters to Viktor. You said: I want what’s mine. So now you don’t want it?”

He rested his arms on the table. “Yes, I want the key. But the key isn’t mine. I wasn’t asking for the key.”

“You talk in riddles. If Viktor turns that key over to the higher authority, you’ll be going away for a long time.”

“The key is safely hidden inside the box, and only you know what it means. Anyhow, you don’t even know what the key opens, so it’s useless to you. The higher authority has more pressing matters than researching a key.”

“So then it’s money.” I glanced down at my necklace. Was I willing to part with something so precious?

After a few keystrokes, he sipped his drink again. “Let’s just hope your partner outbids the other guy. He’s already countered his offer twice in the past ten minutes. They have twenty-four hours to war before the auction closes. In the final hours, increments can only increase by no less than ten large, so no bumping it up a penny.” Houdini laughed, but not maniacally. It almost annoyed me how affable he was. “I should tell you about what happened during my first auction.”

“I feel sick.”

He looked up, eyes brimming with concern. “Would you like more tea to settle your stomach?”

“Why would you do this to me again? What if the other guy wins?”

He joined the fingertips of each hand so they looked like a mirror image. “Aren’t you curious to see what could happen? You never know, Raven. This could change your life in ways you never imagined.”

“I could be tortured again.”

He lowered his arms. “Again?”

I scooted my chair back. “You should have tried harder to find me. And who the hell sends their youngling off to a morgue? Do you really think some Creator put his spark in me and taught me all the mysteries of life? If you hadn’t done this to me, I’d be on a couch somewhere, watching reruns of Seinfeld. I’d have a real job and a normal life.”

“You chose to be a Vampire,” he said matter-of-factly. “And now you’re saving lives. Isn’t that more worthy than working in retail?” He took another bite of his beignet and licked his fingers. “I don’t know what happened to you, but it changed you for the better. You became fearless and full of everything I admire.”

“The things he did to me would make anyone a killer.”

Houdini winced as if the truth actually spiked him in the heart. “I would never wish you harm.”

“You’re selling me at auction,” I said through clenched teeth.

His eyes twinkled. “You’re a different woman now. Not the weak girl I first made. No matter how this turns out, it’ll change you. Change fascinates me.”

“Am I just your experiment? Because one day this experiment is going to put a stake in your heart and set you on fire.”

He leaned back in his chair and put his foot on the table, showing me the soles of his feet. “Now that’s not very nice, killing your father.”

“You’re not my father.”

“Who’s your daddy?” He rocked with laughter. “Come on, Raven. You’re fighting it. Deep down, you like me. We’ve always gotten along. That’s why I chose you to begin with. I’ve never chosen anyone for myself.”

I stood up. “Says the man who’s auctioning me away.”

“I’m sure your Vampy boyfriend will rise to the challenge. I specified that the funds come from him alone. I’ll know if anyone else contributed to the bidding.” Houdini plugged up one of the airholes with his big toe and watched me get up from the table.

I entered the bathroom and pinned the fabric to cover the doorway. I needed privacy, because I was about to completely lose it. I slid to the floor, my back pressed against the cold edge of the bathtub. I wanted to sob and rage, but that was what animals caught in a trap did.

Houdini was my enemy, but something prevented me from hating him completely. Was it his blood coursing inside me?

On each encounter, we’d had pleasant conversations. Even before he turned me, I’d liked the guy. Trusted him. Considered him one of the most honest people I’d met. His misguided beliefs created a source of constant entertainment for an apathetic man who viewed the world as a social experiment.

I didn’t sense that he meant me harm in a direct way, but his obsession with chaos unnerved me. He felt no responsibility or remorse for his actions and didn’t see them as wrong.