Ensnared by Marian Tee Page A

thorough. He wanted to be sure that after this mission, he would be able to spot a soul seer even miles away, whether by sight, smell, or feel.
    The girl twitched ever so slightly, and Alexandru’s lips curved. He had known from the start she was pretending to be asleep, and he had allowed her to pretend, curious as to what she planned to do. The spark of interest inside him was a surprise, but one he also welcomed. It made him realize how completely detached from life he had become in the years he had spent roaming the world, killing without ever living.
    The girl on the bed was taking deep breaths now, as if bolstering her courage.
    Ah, little soul seer. What are you planning?
    ****
    Zari Baltimore’s greatest sin was her curiosity. She knew it, and she had always done her best to curb it. Her curiosity tended to get her in all sorts of scrapes, and she would have been the first one to laugh if someone had told her that curiosity would end up saving her life.
    But it had, several times in fact.  
    Curiosity had kept her sane in the past few days even though the things she had learned were beyond frightening. When she had woken up alone in the dark, her fingers encountering the steel around her wrist that kept her chained to the wall, curiosity had kept her from losing her mind. Curiosity had given her the courage not to cry and focus on one word.
    Why?
    Why was she here? Why was she chained? And most importantly, why were her parents not here with her?
    The last thing she remembered was being on the rubber boat with her parents, the three of them trying furiously to paddle their way back to safety and away from the roaring falls.
    And then nothing. No matter what she did, she just couldn’t remember.
    Another thing Zari learned by listening to the creatures talking outside the door was that captives like her were called “candidates”, and that they were being auctioned off, one by one, to become pets.
    While most candidates were sold in a day or two, Zari was being held in isolation because she was special . Even now, she couldn’t quite decide whether being special was a good thing or not. She was afraid that it would mean her future Master would be just as special, but in a terribly bad way.
    Every night, she was unable to sleep, fearing that the moment she closed her eyes, her faceless Master would come and do his worst. Sometimes, she found herself hoping that he would finally come. She wanted it over with—
    Zari stiffened on the bed when she realized that someone was opening the door.
    Would it be Troll A and B? Or maybe it would be one of the “organizers” of the auction? Those were even more terrifying than the trolls, with their eyes like toxic pools and their overpowering stench.  
    A shadow fell over her, and a jolt shot through Zari’s body when she realized that she was no longer alone.  
    Don’t show your fear, she told herself as she kept her body immobile, hoping it was enough to make it seem like she was sleeping. No matter what, don’t ever show you’re afraid. If she had to die right now, she would not die groveling in fear.
    The silence lengthened, tension thickening in the air. Frustration and fear butted heads inside her, making Zari’s body twitch involuntarily.
    Shit! Any moment now, she would be flipped on her back, devoured, and—
    Nothing.
    She swallowed, inhaled, and exhaled, repeatedly, and as silently as she could. Deep in her heart, she knew that this was the end. Everything would change right this moment, and her only choice was whether to face it quivering in fear or head on with courage.
    Never. Show. Fear.
    She repeated the words to herself like a mantra, counted one to three, and flipped to her back, her heart and mind prepared for—
    Her jaw dropped.
    What the heck was a GQ model doing in her prison?
    Despite his horrendous-looking cloak and mud-caked clothes, none of it was successful in making him less than perfectly gorgeous. His hair was the shade of ebony, his