Chapter 23 · Buy Me Before Midnight

The lights come back on and Cain's still holding my wrist.

I yank it free. "Let go."

"You need to stay close." His voice is flat. "The exits are sealed. Manual override won't work. Someone hacked the system."

Around us the Undercroft lobby erupts. Students slam into the doors. Others pull out their phones and start shouting at whoever answers. A girl near the eastern exit tries to claw through the metal shutter and her nails snap off. She doesn't stop.

"I paid Marcus to get me off the list." I say it quiet. "I'm not prey anymore."

Cain looks at me like I just told him I believe in Santa. "You think that matters now?"

"It was a registered trade. Witnessed. Legal."

"Ivy." He steps closer. The fluorescent light catches the scar along his jaw. "Whoever started this early doesn't care about legal. You just made yourself the most expensive piece on the board."

My stomach drops.

He's right.

Marcus paid a fortune to pull me off the prey roster. Everyone saw. Everyone knows I'm worth something now.