Chapter 22 · Sold as a Traitor

The gavel came down like a hammer on bone.

"Sold," the auctioneer barked. "Lot Seventeen to bidder forty-one."

Rin's legs went numb. The chains around her wrists bit deep enough to leave marks she'd carry into the next reset—if there was a next reset. She couldn't see her father anymore. The crowd had swallowed him up the second his paddle dropped. All she could see was the broad back of the man shoving through the aisle toward the platform, and the sick gleam of coin changing hands behind the auctioneer's podium.

Kael was three steps behind her, close enough that she could hear his breath. He hadn't said a word since her father's bid went through. That silence was worse than any lecture.

"Move," someone growled, and a hand clamped around her upper arm. Not Kael's hand. This one was meaty, damp, and it yanked her off balance hard enough that she stumbled into the edge of the platform. The chain between her wrists snapped taut. Pain flared white-hot across her shoulders.

"Easy," Kael said, and his voice had an edge she'd only heard once before—right before he'd put a blade through someone's throat.

The man didn't let go.