Elara’s POV
Vance’s mouth bubbled with bloody foam, cutting off whatever pathetic excuse he’d been trying to spit out.
I lifted my foot off him and crouched down, grabbing his chin between my fingers. "What happened? Suddenly quiet? Lost that big mouth of yours?"
"Sorry... I was wrong."
I burst out laughing—so hard it made Alistair jump while he was switching into 007 mode. When I finally caught my breath, I stared down at Vance. "You’re not sorry. You’re just scared shitless."
I walked to the corner and picked up the iron cage they’d brought to trap in.
Perfect fucking timing.
I stared at the dog crate, shaking my head. Thank god for sharp hearing, or I’d never have known these morons planned such a delightful surprise. Honestly, this cage might be fun with a certain mischievous lop-eared rabbit, but using it on Vance and Jasper? That was straight-up trafficking.
"007, drag them over here and stuff them in this thing."
Alistair nodded and got to work imdiately.
But... wasn’t this weird?
Sure, Vance and Jasper weren’t exactly elite Purifiers, but I’d dropped them in seconds. Alistair hadn’t even gotten a chance to play hero.
The big snake had mapped out this whole rescue scenario in his head, but... seriously? This was it?
Jasper was made of glass—one kick and he was down for the count. I glanced at him once and looked away in disgust. Pathetic. I’d only been training for a few days. How the hell did Beatrix tolerate this weakling?
Absolutely pathetic.
Such a lightweight.
That got thinking about Barrett. Now there was soone built right. Naturally gifted, you could say.
Not that way. I ant physically. His body.
Damn it, focus.
Alistair worked fast. Once he’d packed them up tight, he glided over to . "What’s the plan?"
I said, "There are roaming traders around here, right?"
Alistair nodded.
"Know how to reach them?"
Mid-afternoon
Right now, all I cared about was making bank. That wicked four-piece set... I needed it bad.
Even in 007’s chanical body, Alistair felt sothing cold crawl up his spine. Was she planning to sell her own beast husband?
She didn’t like him. Would she dump him on the market soday too?
Vance started yelling, "Elara, you bi—"
"Ahhh!"
Alistair hit him with an electric shock.
"Only speak when I say you can."
"007, you get perfectly."
I switched back to my sweet, innocent act. Batting my eyelashes, I put on the saddest face I could manage. "You have no clue how much these two scamd out of . They even used my money to spoil other won. See this cage? This was ant for . 007, my life has been hell."
The drama queen in ca out in full force. Even with just a robot for an audience, I couldn’t help but put on a show.
I threw my arms around 007 and sobbed like my world was ending.
With the sensory link running, Alistair went rigid for a second, then adapted. His fists clenched as he stared at those two like they were walking corpses.
The roaming trader showed up quick. Ten million credits hit my account.
Cash in hand, I called Thorne. He answered almost imdiately. "Ready to co crawling back to ?"
Another shaless bastard.
"Tsk."
One simple sound, but coming from , even through the phone, it dripped pure mockery.
Thorne’s voice turned nasty. "What the hell is that supposed to an?"
I said, "Nothing special. Just wondering how anyone gets that delusionally confident."
Thorne’s initial instinct was rage—how dare she use that tone with him? But then he rembered sending Vance and Jasper after her, and his chest puffed out.
"Finally seen what they brought for you? Getting scared? Let break it to you, Elara—too late to beg on your knees now."
"Thorne, do you have a brain tumor? Which ear heard begging? I’m calling to let you know your two dumbass brothers are my prisoners. Want them breathing? Get ten million credits ready right fucking now. Otherwise, I’ll put them down like rabid dogs."
"You wouldn’t dare!"
Thorne felt the world spin, convinced he’d misheard. Ten million credits? This worthless female had so serious balls. And where did she get the confidence to kidnap Vance and Jasper, then have the nerve to threaten him?
"Watch ."
My voice stayed ice-cold calm. I sent him the photo I’d just snapped of both idiots cramd in the dog crate and laughed. "I’m counting down. If those ten million credits aren’t in my account, I’ll finish them right here."
——
Thorne’s vision went spotty again. He studied the photo she’d sent, desperate to find proof it was fake.
No such luck.
She’d sent him a group shot. In the picture, Vance and Jasper looked like they’d been through a at grinder—bruised, bloody, twisted up like pretzels. anwhile, she was sitting pretty on top of the crate, steel pipe casually resting on her shoulder, grinning like she’d just won the lottery. His precious brothers were packed inside that cage tighter than sardines in a can.
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