Bound to the Vampire

The Auction

The carriage had been moving for nearly an hour.

Elena sat against the wooden wall, her hands clasped tightly together.

Beside her, Lydia was unusually quiet.

Neither of them knew what awaited them at the auction market.

They had escaped the slave establishment, but they hadn't escaped slavery.

They were still going to be sold.

Lydia leaned closer.

"What if we get a terrible buyer?"

Elena looked at her.

"Don't say that."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

Lydia lowered her voice.

"I've heard stories."

Elena swallowed.

"So have I."

They both knew what happened to slaves who were purchased by cruel masters.

Some were beaten.

Some were forced to work until they collapsed.

Some simply disappeared.

Lydia took Elena's hand.

"Let's pray we get someone kind."

Elena gave a bitter smile.

"Kind enough to let us leave?"

"Maybe."

Elena squeezed her hand.

"I just want to survive."

"We will."

Neither of them was completely convinced.

The carriage finally stopped.

Voices could be heard outside.

Hundreds of them.

The sound of merchants calling out.

Horses.

Music.

People laughing and bargaining.

Then the carriage door opened.

"Everyone out!"

Elena stepped down.

She froze.

The auction market was enormous.

People filled every corner of the streets. Expensive carriages stood beside ordinary wooden carts, while merchants shouted over one another.

But the center of the market belonged to the auctions.

Several large wooden platforms had been built beneath enormous canopies.

Slaves stood in lines nearby, waiting for their turn.

Elena's stomach twisted.

Lydia moved closer.

"Stay with me."

"I won't leave you."

They were taken toward a fenced holding area.

The guards began arranging the slaves.

"Stay here until you're called."

Elena sat beside Lydia.

They watched as the first group was taken onto the platform.

One by one, people raised their hands.

Sold.

Sold.

Sold.

Elena felt sick.

Lydia leaned toward her.

"Remember what we said."

Elena nodded.

"If we get separated, we find each other."

"Exactly."

They held hands tightly.

Neither knew that they would soon be separated.

Across the marketplace, a luxurious black carriage came to a stop.

The people nearby immediately stepped aside.

A young man stepped out.

He appeared to be around twenty-five.

Tall.

Elegant.

Dressed in a perfectly tailored black coat.

His dark hair was neatly styled, and his pale face carried an expression that seemed permanently cold.

But it was his eyes that made people lower their heads.

They were crimson red.

He was a vampire.

Everyone knew it.

Everyone knew who he was.

Adrian Moretti.

A wealthy vampire noble whose family name carried enough power to make most people nervous.

Another man stepped out of the carriage behind him.

He was equally handsome, but his expression was much more relaxed.

His dark brown hair was slightly tousled, and unlike Adrian, he wore an amused smile.

Lucien Blackwood.

Another wealthy vampire noble.

And Adrian's closest friend.

Lucien looked around the market.

"Remind me why you agreed to come here."

Adrian glanced at him.

"Because you insisted."

Lucien laughed.

"You make it sound like I dragged you here."

"You did."

"Perhaps."

Adrian started walking.

Lucien followed.

They weren't there specifically to buy slaves.

Lucien had simply wanted to attend the auction and look at some of the new arrivals.

Adrian couldn't have cared less.

Until he saw her.

He stopped.

Lucien nearly walked into him.

"What?"

Adrian didn't answer.

His crimson eyes were fixed on the holding area.

On one particular girl.

Brown hair.

Fair skin.

Green eyes.

She was sitting beside another girl, trying desperately to remain unnoticed.

Adrian's expression changed slightly.

Something was wrong.

Not with her appearance.

With her presence.

There was something around her.

Something he couldn't identify.

Something faint.

But strangely familiar.

His instincts were reacting to her.

Why?

She was human.

He could hear her heartbeat.

He could smell her blood.

Human.

Yet something about her felt... different.

"Who is she?" Adrian asked.

Lucien followed his gaze.

"The brunette?"

"Yes."

Lucien studied Elena.

"One of the new arrivals, I assume."

Adrian didn't answer.

Lucien looked at him.

Then back at Elena.

A slow grin appeared on his face.

"You're interested."

"I'm not."

"I didn't say you were."

Adrian gave him a cold look.

Lucien raised both hands.

"Fine."

The auctioneer stepped onto the platform.

"Our next group!"

The guards began bringing several slaves forward.

Elena's heart began pounding.

Lydia grabbed her hand.

"Stay calm."

"I'm trying."

They were pushed onto the platform.

The crowd immediately became louder.

The auctioneer looked them over.

"Two young women. Healthy, beautiful, and well-trained."

Elena's jaw tightened.

She hated every word.

The bidding began.

"Thirty silver!"

"Forty!"

"Fifty!"

Lydia's fingers tightened around Elena's.

Then a man near the front raised his hand.

"Sixty."

The auctioneer smiled.

"Sixty silver! Anyone higher?"

Nobody answered.

"Sold!"

The man stepped forward.

He was young, perhaps in his late twenties, and dressed in expensive clothing.

He looked toward Lydia.

"I'll take the girl with the black hair."

Lydia's face went pale.

Elena immediately looked at her.

Their hands separated.

The man walked toward Lydia.

"Wait."

The voice came from Adrian.

The entire platform became silent.

The auctioneer looked toward him.

"My lord?"

Adrian's crimson eyes remained fixed on Elena.

"I'll take the other one."

Elena's heart stopped.

She stared at him.

A vampire.

He was buying her.

The auctioneer hesitated.

"But, Lord Moretti, the girl has already—"

"I heard you."

Adrian's voice was calm.

But there was something dangerous underneath it.

"I'll pay more."

The auctioneer immediately nodded.

"Of course."

He announced a new price.

Adrian paid without hesitation.

Elena couldn't stop staring at him.

His red eyes frightened her.

She had grown up hearing stories about vampires.

They were powerful.

They were dangerous.

And they were not creatures humans should anger.

Yet this vampire had just chosen her.

She didn't understand why.

Adrian walked toward her.

Elena instinctively stepped backward.

He stopped.

Their eyes met again.

"You are afraid."

Elena swallowed.

"Anyone would be."

His expression barely changed.

"Yet you continue to stare at me."

She looked away.

"I was looking at your eyes."

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

"My eyes?"

"They're red."

For the first time, a faint hint of amusement appeared in his expression.

"And?"

"You're a vampire."

"I am."

Elena's heart pounded harder.

She knew exactly what he was.

And somehow, that made being bought by him even more terrifying.

A guard reached for her arm.

Elena flinched.

Adrian's eyes immediately moved toward the guard.

"Don't."

The guard released her.

Elena looked at him in surprise.

Adrian turned toward her.

"Come."

She didn't move.

"Where?"

"My estate."

Elena looked toward Lydia.

Lydia was already standing beside her new owner.

Lucien.

Their eyes met.

Lydia looked frightened.

Elena mouthed:

Are you okay?

Lydia nodded.

Then Lucien looked toward Elena.

"I suppose we'll be seeing each other often."

Adrian glanced at his friend.

"Apparently."

Lucien smiled.

Adrian turned back to Elena.

"Come."

Elena hesitated before following him.

She didn't know why he had bought her.

She didn't know what he wanted.

And she certainly didn't know why he seemed so interested in her.

But as she walked beside the vampire, Elena felt something she couldn't explain.

A strange warmth moved through her fingertips.

For a brief second, the silver pendant around Adrian's neck glowed faintly.

Neither of them noticed.

Neither of them knew what it meant.

But something had awakened.

Something that had been sleeping inside Elena for twenty years.

And Adrian Moretti had just brought it closer to the surface.