Auction

"Mattias and Elias were looking out," Silver says.

"So they either let that happen, or they died first."

"They wouldn't let it happen. They wouldn't let me be hurt!" I interrupt his speculation, growing increasingly upset at the very idea of Mattias or Elias betraying me. They might have worked for the sheriff, but they looked after me.

But, there's the other option. If they didn't betray the mercenaries, maybe they died first. I don't want to think of that being a possibility. I don't want to imagine any of this being true. I want to shut my eyes and discover that this was all some fucked-up fever dream.

"Try to get some rest," Silver says, coming over to sit next to me on the stretcher. "It's been a long day and it will be an even longer night."

"I don't want to rest. We should go back for the others."

"Absolutely not. Nobody leaves the rendezvous point until everyone is here or accounted for," Alexios says, his voice rough with command.

"Lie down," Silver soothes, putting a large hand on my shoulder and easing me back onto the bed.

"It's this dress," I mutter, my eyes filling with tears. "Dresses are cursed. I want it off!"

"Do we have a change?" Silver asks Alexios.

"Yeah. It will all be too big for her, but..."

"Grab a shirt, a sweater, some underwear, and some socks," Silver says. "She needs to be in something warmer than this anyway."

He helps me strip out of my clothing, and then helps me re-dress in an oversized white t-shirt, a big wooly sweater, and long socks that come up over my knees.

"Cute," he says, pressing a kiss to my nose, the tender touch sending a little blush of warmth through my body. "Now, you're going to lie down under this blanket, and you're going to curl up and get some sleep."

"But..."

He fixes me with that gaze, the one that makes it impossible to look away.

"How are you doing that?" I clap my hands over my eyes.

He chuckles and peels them away. "It's just something I know how to do to help people."

"Like you helped me get fucked in front of a million people?"

"Helped you enjoy it," he says, flickering a wink at me. "Not that you needed much help. Now lie down. Let me tell you a bedtime story."

Outside the rusty door, there is brutality taking place in the distance. I know that. I know death is being dealt. I know those I have already come to care about are in danger. I know I may have lost them forever.

Knowing all those things makes me eager to escape into Silver's story.

"There once was a boy named Seraph," he says.

"Sarah?"

"What?" I begin to settle down against the stretcher bed. It's not comfortable, but I could curl up to Silver's voice anywhere.

"He found new ways to beat them, until he could grow big enough and strong enough to physically..."

"Fucking destroy them," Alexios grunts from across the room.

"Yes, that," Silver agrees. "And the way he found, was that if he talked to them in a certain way, if he made sure to speak words they needed to hear, if he was calm while they raged with fury, and if he understood the mechanics of their minds, he could not only stop them from bullying him. He could influence them. Control them."

"You're talking about yourself, aren't you."

"Mhm," he says, brushing some hair from my forehead with a delicate touch. "I do what I do because it helped me survive. I use it to help others do the same now. The mind is a powerful thing. It decides if you feel pain or not. You can be wounded and not feel a thing, or you can have the smallest bruise and be in agony."

"Show me... make me sleep."

He drifts his fingers lightly over my face, closing my eyes.

"Take a deep breath, and remember what it feels like to have the sun on your face. The warmth on your scalp. A soft breeze playing across your skin. You can feel it tickling you a little when it gusts gently. And you're safe, so safe, in this place where you are protected."