Chapter Forty

I clutched my bag to my side as I stared at the stage full of people in chains. There were about twenty of them altogether, and they were each weighed down with thick prison-like chains that were attached to the wall behind them. The demons were all gagged, but that didn’t keep them from struggling to scream. On either side of the stage stood two men with machine guns in their hands. Warnings to the demons, I guess. Both men had a key ring hanging at their sides.

“Get out, Willow,” Fitz said again. “It’s not safe for you.”

“We can’t go. Not if they’re all here. Dawnie too.” I could see her in the middle. Her bright orange hair was sticking out in the crowd. Her face was covered in a million freckles that showed through on her white arms and legs. They had her in short shorts and a tank top. No shoes. Her pin straight hair hung long on her and it shook as she did with fear.

“Screw Dawnie,” Fitz snapped at me. “We can find your parents another way. I’m not losing you like this. I’m not losing you at all.”

“Not up to you, Fitz,” I told him. “I can’t leave these people here to be sold. They don’t deserve this.”

“I don’t give a damn about anyone in that room but you. They can rot for all I care, as long as you come back to me.”

I tried not to be frustrated. “Do you remember what I said last night? When I asked you to try for me. Do you remember what I said I’d do for you if you did?”

“Yes,” he said as if he lost a battle. “Just be safe for me please. I need you around.”

I couldn’t fight the little smile I got. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Ferris nudged me. “Show’s starting.”

We watched a man step onto stage. He looked like he was in his sixties, and he had a smile that made me nervous. He stood at a podium, and addressed the crowd. “Welcome ladies and gentleman. Thank you all for joining us this evening. I hope you’ve been having a wonderful time.

“If you’d all look to your left.” He gestured. “All those bidding this evening will need to pick up a paddle from our table. We’ll give you another few minutes. Happy bidding.” He stayed at his spot, and watched the people move.

“What do we do?” Ferris asked me quietly.

“I don’t know. We need to get the keys from the guards. Dammit. If Pepper were there, then she could get them in her head.”

“Hear that, Peps?” Ferris said. “Any way you can sneak in?”

She sighed. “There are guards all over the place. I don’t know if I can go unseen.”

“Fitz,” I said. “What do you see right now?”

“I can get an angle on the stage from behind. The demons aren’t chained to the walls. It just looks that way. They’re chained to the floor.”

“Is there something under the stage?”

“Yes,” Pepper said. “It’s the quick change. If the bolts are under it, then they can be removed if someone got under them.”

Ferris looked around the room, stopping at every entrance. “How dangerous would it be for you to get in?”

“I’ve broken out of an insane asylum. I can do this, but I need you to promise that you’ll get out, and you’ll make sure Willow is okay. If we get separated, then we can meet up somewhere. Once I go, I can’t talk to you anymore. I have to leave the mic behind. The mic is here. So I’ll go silent.”

I shook my head. “I don’t like this, Pepper.”

“You don’t need to.” I heard her line go dead, and it kicked my heart into overdrive.

Ferris grabbed my hand, and squeezed it as his eyes locked on the door. I heard the ice cream truck door open and close as Pepper left for the building.

The man tapped on his microphone, and leaned into it. “Everyone ready?”

The crowd gathered in the front of the room while Ferris and I stood off to the side by the food table. My eyes kept darting to the doors as if I would see Pepper walk in. If she managed to get in, then it would be somewhere hidden. She was too smart for anything else.

“Lot one, Damian Deetz,” the man said as he gestured to a demon. “The man is aged twenty-two years. His specialty is that he has visions of the future and the present. We’ll open the bid at five. Do I hear five…” He and the bidding went on and my heart kept pounding.

“Phin,” Fitz said to my brother. “I need you to get Juliet back to the hotel. She won’t wake up in time to help, and you’ll only die if this turns ugly. Drop her in the room, and strip the car of anything that can be tracked to us.”

“Got it,” Phin said.

“What are you doing?” I whispered to Fitz.

“I’m coming for you.”

“You can’t get in.”

“If Pepper can, so can I. Keep that knife close to you. I think this is gonna end in a lot of trouble.”

I felt my hands start to shake from fear for what might come. I didn’t want to lose anybody. “Please don’t get hurt,” I heard my voice crack, and Ferris held my hand tighter.

“Not when I have you waiting for me.” I heard Fitz’s line cut out and my stomach dropped.

“SOLD! To the man in yellow!” The man on stage pointed with his gavel. There was light clapping as the winner moved to the back of the room to fill out paperwork. Damian was left chained to the stage, and it was nothing more than a small relief.

The biding man kept listing demons like they were cattle, and people kept buying. Another two went, and there was still no sign of Pepper or Fitz.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the demons move. It was a girl on the very end of the line. She looked around like she was trying to see something. Then she looked down. I was too short to see what she was peering at, but she leaned down.

The man at the podium laughed. “Don’t mind Amy. She’s a bit… eccentric,” He looked at the girl who wasn’t paying attention to him. She was moving her lips, but I didn’t know why. “Amy, would you stand up? Amy!” The girl startled, and stood straight. Right until man started talking again.

Amy leaned next to the demon chained up beside her. She spoke into his ear, and I saw his eyes go wide as he said something. Amy nodded and the man went on to talk to the person beside him. It went on through the line of people.

“What’s going on?” Ferris whispered.

“No clue.” I looked around for Fitz again, and was more than disappointed when I didn’t see him.

“Will?” Phin said into my ear.

“Yeah?”

“I’m just about back with Jules. Are you okay?”

“We’re fine. Get her safe, and then you. We can handle this. What’s a few demons, and the evil people trying to buy them?” I tried to laugh.

“Is Fitz there yet?” he asked.

I had to speak past the shaky voice. “No. What if something happened to him? What if one of the guards outside killed him?”

Phin sighed. “Don’t ever let him know I said this, but he’s too smart for that. The guy’s dead set on finding you. Just have a little faith and trust, Wendy.”

I smiled. “No pixie dust?”

“Nah. You don’t need it.”

“Lot fourteen. Dawnie Queen,” the man said, and the woman stiffened. “Aged eighty-six years. Specialty is tracking. A few easy steps, and you can find whomever you wish. The bidding starts at twenty-five.”

The bidding went crazy, and I was hardly able to keep standing up. There was a murmur in the crowd that I wasn’t paying much attention to. I assumed it was about the demons.

“Willow,” Ferris said, but I wasn’t listening. Where was Fitz? Pepper must be hiding, but Fitz had no excuse. He was coming. He promised me he would. “Willow,” Ferris said again, more distressed than before.

“What’s wrong?” I said after I turned to him. I realized how tightly he was gripping my hand. Then I heard my name again, but not from Ferris. Within the crowd I heard a stranger say it as clear as day. Willow Warren.

“We need to go,” I said. “We need to find Pepper and get out of here.”

The voices got louder until someone in the crowd said exactly what they needed to say. Hybrid. Eyes fell to me as a woman pointed. I guess they got a hold of the file on me…

“Guards!” the woman shouted. “Grab her!”

Ferris and I started backing up. “How do we run with five hundred people chasing us?” I asked.

“We don’t.”

I stared at him as I heard someone scream, “NOW!”

The whole crowd looked at the stage in time to see two things happen simultaneously. Every single demon on the stage yanked their chained arms up. The bolts on the bottom broke off, and they were free from the floor. The chains were still on them, but it didn’t keep them from running.

The second thing to happen made me smile. The guards had their machine guns in their hands, and readied at the demons, then they vanished. Pepper was here.

Someone in the crowd screamed as the chaos started. The demons all ran off in different directions as the two guards started chasing them. I only had about thirty seconds of joy before it all ended.

The row of doors on the far side of the room opened. A group of guards dressed in riot gear walked out with clubs in their hands.

“Do you have a weapon, Ferris?” I asked as I watched them come further in and the people screamed.

“Nope,” he squeaked.

I bent down, and pulled my spike heels off, handing them to him. “Now you do.”

People started running, and some even stupidly started fighting. The guards must not have been told who was the one who started it all. The buyers started running to the doors, and most got through. Some were stopped violently.

“Ferris, you need to try and get out, okay?” I looked at the boy. “Don’t worry about me, find a safe way out. I’ll get Pepper.”

His eyebrows knit together. “I don’t wanna leave you.”

“Please go.” I dug in my purse for my knife, and pulled it out, dropping the empty bag on the floor.

“We’re in this together. I’m not going.” His voice was deeper and more aggressive than I’d ever heard before.

I nodded. “Stick close to me.” I took my knife, and cut a slit into the side of my dress. It was too tight to move in, and that would be a pitiful reason to die. This dress was so pretty…

Ferris and I stood side by side as the screaming crowd thinned. Unfortunately for me, everyone in the room heard that damn woman yell that I was the hybrid. Too many eyes were on me.

Ferris and I were pulled into the fight when the guards started coming for me. I heard an order not to kill me screamed from the man on stage before he ran for his life. So there was that.

One of the guards swung his club at me, but I dodged it. Thank you, Fitz. The man didn’t like that I was quicker than he thought I would be, so he came at me again. The club nearly connected with my shoulder, but I moved out of the way. The man was human, I could tell. I was far too strong for this fight to be fair. I smiled when I realized it. I kicked him in the ribs as hard as I could, and he doubled over before he fell to the ground.

I grabbed his club, and looked around for Ferris. I saw him just in time to catch him sink the heel of my shoe into someone’s eye. Didn’t picture their end being that, but… okay.

“Ferris!” I shouted.

He looked to me, and I tossed him a proper weapon. He caught it, and thanked me as more guards entered the room.

A club came around my throat, and the person holding it hauled me backward. My hands flew to the weapon, trying to pry it off. My feet weren’t touching the ground as the guard moved me backward. I flailed, but all it did was hurt me. My knife was still tight in my grasp, and I sent it backwards. I felt it go into something soft before I dropped to the ground. The guard who had me put his hand on his thigh as he stumbled backwards and to the floor.

Gunshots drew the attention of the fighting crowd. I looked to the stage to see Pepper. Tiny, sweet Pepper, holding a machine gun in either hand, and wearing a giant smile. That was the most terrifying image I’d ever seen in my whole life. “Who wants to play with me?” She hopped off of the stage, and landed on her feet.

Several people ran from the room when she shot at the ceiling. The glass above us shattered, and rained down on everyone under it. The three of us were safe, but it knocked half a dozen guards down. I caught Ferris watching Pepper with nothing less than pure adoration.

“You okay?” she asked me.

“I’m fine. Where’s Fitz?” I couldn’t feel him close to me, and it was only making me worry more.

Her face turned up in confusion. “What? He’s here?”

“He’s supposed to be,” I said weakly. If he wasn’t here by now…

More guards descended on us, and Pepper left my side, guns a blazin’. People dropped left and right, and I was alone to fight. Another man tried to capture me, but I fought him as best I could. He threw me into the side of the stage, and hit me in the stomach with his club. I wheezed, and struggled to breathe as I tried to keep fighting. He got a few more hits in before something smashed into the side of his head.

“You okay, Mama Bear?” Ferris asked, reaching for me.

“Fine,” I coughed. “Be careful.”

“You should talk.”

We split up again, and my ability to breathe came back. I took down another guard after I grabbed him by the hair, and slammed his head into a wall. He blinked, and fell to his back.

I was hauled back again, but there was no one there to catch me. I tumbled, and my knife fell to the ground, and slid out of my reach. The man above me had a knife of his own in one hand, and a club in the other. I sat up, and tried scooting backwards and away from him. My hand landed on my knife, and I held it out in front of me.

The man laughed. “The famous hybrid needs a knife to defend herself? I think a lot of people are going to be very disappointed in you.” He smiled. “Maybe I should save them the pain and kill you.”

I stood up, and he laughed again at my effort. He didn’t even try and stop me. Instead, he dropped his weapons. “I think I want to do this with my bare hands. I’d like to feel the life leaving your little body.” He launched forward, his hands went around my neck, and he squeezed. Air couldn’t come to me, and the pain in my neck brought me right back to the day I was murdered. I could feel it again. That knife dragging across my throat, and the blood pouring from me. I was weak then.

I shouldn’t be weak now.

I shoved my hands forward, and my knife slid into his chest. I pulled it out, and the man’s eyes went wide for half a second before glazing over. He dropped to the ground, dead as a doornail.

My breathing still didn’t come back as I stared at the man I murdered. I’d never done that before. Taken a life. I couldn’t… I didn’t…

Something grabbed me by the shoulders, and said my name. It took me a couple second before I realized it was Fitz. He was asking if I was all right. He was here. He was safe. It comforted me more than I was expecting, and I knew why.

“We have to go,” I said, shoving everything aside to deal with later.

He took my hand, and called out to Ferris and Pepper. “Come on!” The fights were still going strong as the guards attacked partygoers that were dumb enough to fight them in the first place—though I don’t really know who started that. The two of them looked to us, and Pepper took out the guard in front of her before she dropped her guns and started running.

The four of us met up at the door when Pepper stopped, and almost started screaming. She held her jacket open, and patted the inside pocket. Oh no…

“Where is he?” she cried. “He was here when I was on stage!” Tears ran down her face as she frantically looked around for her chipmunk.

“We have to go.” Fitz started trying to get us through the door. “We’re going to die if we don’t.”

“I can’t leave him. I can’t. I can’t.” She mumbled and screamed a hundred times, and with each word I felt my heart tear to pieces.

“Pepper,” I cried. “We have to go. I’m sorry.”

“NO! Please no.” She broke down, and Ferris caught her before she hit the ground. “Please…" she said the word over and over and over again. Ferris picked her up in his arms, as she sobbed like I’ve never heard a person sob before. She didn’t stop begging.

“Son of a bitch,” Fitz groaned. “Take her and go.”

“But—” I started.

“GO!” he shouted, and shoved at the three of us. I nodded and we ran out the door, leaving him there.

We got outside, and down the stairs as Pepper screamed violently, and struggled to get out of Ferris’s arms. We hid behind a brick wall, and Ferris set Pepper down. She held her head in her hands as she started crying so hard she wasn’t making noise anymore.

“I’m so sorry,” I cried to her as her little body shook uncontrollably.

Ferris wrapped his arms around her as tears from him fell onto her shoulder. She leaned into him, and he held her as she shattered into a million pieces.