Chapter 15 · The Girl on the Auction List

The gold dot on the tracker screen is still burning into my retinas when Cole grabs my wrist.

His grip is tight. Too tight. His shoulder's bleeding through the jacket and I can smell copper mixing with the dust down here.

"We need to move," I whisper. "If they find us with this—"

He shakes his head. Points at the screen. Then at me.

I get it. The gold dot isn't just any target. It's special. It's expensive.

"You think I'm on that list," I say.

He nods once. His jaw is locked.

I want to tell him he's wrong. That Derek wouldn't be stupid enough to put me on an auction roster when he could just drag me back himself. But the tracker doesn't lie. Thirty-seven red dots scattered across the city like breadcrumbs. And one gold dot sitting right on top of an address I recognize.

The old port district. Where the exiles used to run black market med supplies before the alliance burned it down.

"They rebuilt it," I say. My voice sounds hollow. "They're using it as a depot."

Cole's already moving. He pockets the tracker and pulls me toward the door we came through.