Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(65)
A ping sounded from the computer, and Christian rolled the chair out of the way to look at the screen. The private window activated with a blinking response.
Seller: I have a message for Christian.
Christian: I’m here.
Seller: I’m truly sorry things worked out the way they did.
“I bet you are, you little shitebag,” he muttered, putting his hands on the keyboard.
When one of the keys beneath his fingers popped off, Viktor captured his arm. “I’ll take over before you shatter the keyboard. Tell me what to type.”
Christian paced the room. “Where is she? I’ll pay my offer in full.”
“I don’t want your money,” Viktor said, reading the reply.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing. It’s what I want to give you.”
Christian snapped his gaze around and stared at the back of Viktor’s head. “What the feck’s he going on about?”
“I don’t know,” Viktor said before reading the response. “I’m a man of principle, and I couldn’t back out of this transaction once it was final. So I would like to give you something.”
“He can give me his head on a spike,” Christian retorted, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa. “Tell him to get to the point.”
After a few keystrokes, Viktor read his reply. “I denied your offer and took less for Raven. She wants to be part of Keystone, and your winning this auction would have ended her career with your illustrious organization.” Viktor looked over his shoulder at Christian. “What does he mean?”
Christian slid his jaw from side to side, avoiding the answer he already knew in his heart. Raven could never be with a man who’d paid for her. “Guilt,” he replied. “How would you feel in her shoes if you had to come back and look everyone in the eye after they spent a fortune on your return?”
Viktor nodded and continued reading. “We’ll see how much she matters to Keystone. The name of her buyer was Fletcher. I can’t give you more than that, but I wish you luck on your hunt. May the winds blow in your favor.”
Christian’s blood ran cold.
“What’s wrong?” Viktor asked, spinning his chair around to face Christian. “Is there something I should know?”
Christian dragged his eyes up. “Fletcher Black is the name of Raven’s Creator.”
It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Fletcher would have known his Learner had different-colored eyes—he would have recognized her description. Wyatt said Vampire auctions never went that high, so who else would have paid that much?
Christian stood up, and his lips peeled back. “Ask him why. Why would a man with principles give Raven back to her sadistic Creator?”
Viktor pecked the keys with his index fingers.
Her Creator would never let her go. Christian faced the wall and pressed his fists against it. Maybe there was something uniquely addicting about her light, or maybe Fletcher had a vendetta against anyone who got the better of him. Right now, Raven was enduring unimaginable horrors. Worst of all, Christian had no clue how much she knew about the transaction. Had she chosen her fate and begged her captor to deny Keystone’s offer? That sounded like something Raven would do, but it didn’t make sense that he’d give her that much control—not when it meant losing money. The alternative made his stomach sour. If Raven in fact knew nothing about the transaction, she would assume that Christian had given up.
This whole thing was a charade. The marketeer charmed her, found out about Keystone, and thought it would be hysterical to toy with them.
And now Raven would forever blame him for sending her into the arms of her abuser.
“He’s responding,” Viktor said.
Christian strode over behind Viktor’s chair and quietly read the message.
Seller: If it’s any consolation, had I known who the buyer was, I wouldn’t have agreed. She’s a remarkable woman, and I hope you find her. Best of luck.
Chapter 19
Before we left the Bricks, Houdini put earplugs in my ears and then led me out blindfolded. Stumbling around blindly made me appreciate Niko even more. Unexpected steps caused me to lose balance, and without being able to hear, I had to rely solely on Houdini’s grip leading me forward. At one point he picked me up in his arms, which hurt my shoulders since my hands were still cuffed behind my back. After what seemed like a long walk, he laid me down inside a tight space that smelled of rubber and oil. When the earplugs came out and the blindfold moved away, I blinked up at him hovering over me, his hair hanging loose.
Those hypnotic eyes…
Being charmed was like falling down a tunnel that led to an abyss, and the only sound was a singular voice that governed my thoughts, actions, and consciousness. Once caught in the spell, there was no fighting it.
After he spoke for a short period, I forgot every word of it and he placed the blindfold back on. I had a dreamlike awareness of him helping me out of the trunk and hearing the car drive away as I stood still, the icy wind blowing my hair back and snow soaking through my socks. It was as if I’d become stone and the world was happening all around me. My mind was empty, and the desire to think or even move was absent. Ice crunched against asphalt as the sound of a vehicle approached. When it stopped and the car door opened, I heard a familiar voice deep down in the caverns of my mind.