Secret Fire

~Chapter 17~

I feel Ingressus run his tongue along my neck again and wince slightly, he's been doing this for a while and I keep tensing myself for him to bite me but he hasn't yet. He pulls me closer and I feel him run his fangs along my neck before biting me, I let out a groan of pain. I've learned by now not to scream otherwise he will get mad at me and I've also figured out. I don't want that. He stops and after a minute then leans back again, not licking or biting me anymore. He flicks his tail slightly then wraps it around my leg and smiles before I look over the railing as a Mendoris is dragged away. I remember being on that stand, all of those eyes on me, the constant tilting of heads, grinning at me, licking their fangs... It was awful, I felt like an object, for their personal use, like I wasn't even a person. I shiver slightly and Ingressus holds me closer before reaching for the collar and grabbing it, clipping it back on my and nodding, closing his eyes for a minute before I see another Mendoris get taken onto the stand, a male, he looks hopeful and happy. The same male that smiled at me. I glance back and tap Ingressus on the horn, he opens his eyes quickly and raises his eyebrows.

"I thought you killed him..." I say and point at the Mendoris.

"Well he already had a wife, so he didn't have any intention with you." He shrugs.

"So can I have the collar off?" I ask and pull at the collar. He snarls and shakes his head.

"No, that's not the reason I put it on you so you will keep it." He snaps and I look down sorrowfully as Ingressus glances back at Tygren and Sonde who are watching us with raised eyebrows, Sonde surprised, clearly none of the slaves ever got collars. Or maybe they did. I don't know...

"So," Ingressus says and I slump down on him, trying to get off before he grabs me and keeps me in place. "Sonde, Tygren, I have realized that you have never been able to keep a slave alive for very long, Do you plan to purchase one? And do you think you'll manage to keep this one alive?"

Sonde scoffs as Tygren elbows her and she looks over at him as he shakes his head before responding to Ingressus. I fold my arms as Ingressus wraps his tail around my waist, pulling the blanket up more as I frown and start grumbling angrily.

"Why don't you just go find some who aren't in an auction, who aren't treated like objects." I mutter angrily and Sonde glares at me as Ingressus wraps his tail tighter around my waist, looking back towards me and gently biting my cheek in a sign that I should be quiet. I slump down more, letting out a defeated breath as Sonde responds to Ingressus.

"I'm not sure, all the slaves so far either have sour or sweet blood and I'm looking for a more tart flavor." She says and Tygren nods in agreement as Ingressus raises his eyebrows.

"Yes the sour one aren't appetizing at all yet the sweet ones taste rather strange." He says and hugs Sonde closer, rubbing her ear and smiling. I always liked behind my ears being rubbed, I remember never scratching my ears just so Ingressus would rub behind my ears. Back when he was a Nestoris, when none if this would have happened... Ingressus wrinkles his nose and looks slightly annoyed and heartbroken at the same time.

"Can you do that somewhere else?" He grumbles then looks back at me for a moment, hesitant before looking back towards Sonde and Tygren lets go of Sonde and rolls his eyes slightly. Ingressus curls his lip, showing his fangs and Tygren shirks back a bit. Clearly the venom is also toxic to Voltaris... Strange... The guards drag two more Male Mendoris onto the stage. I zone out as the Auctioner lists the qualities and Ingressus pulls me closer to him, yawning and causing me to yawn as well.

"And they have tart blood." I hear the auctioneer say, I remember the auctioneer listing my qualities, calling me beautiful, Ingressus standing up and buying me, it was horrible, I can imagine how they feel so clearly. But maybe not... they aren't dreading one person to buy them like I was. I see Sonde and Tygren perk up a bit, clearly interested. I look up at Ingressus and raise my eyebrows.

"How common is the tart blood?" I ask quietly and he looks down at me then nuzzles noses with me, I find myself returning the gesture as Ingressus smiles at me brightly. Clearly not expecting me to nuzzle him back. He shakes it off a bit as he responds to my question.

"Tart blood is most common, sour next, and sweet is the least common, rarely anyone these days has sweet blood, you're a unique one." He says and smiles at me, showing his fangs this time. I stare at his fangs then scrape a bit of blood away from them. He raises his eyebrows as I pull my hand back towards myself. He leans towards me again and I feel his warm breath on my face.

Ingressus Pov.

"Why did you do that?" I ask curiously, am I getting somewhere with this? She seems like she's feeling safer now.

"Oh uhm, I-I just don't really like seeing things on people's teeth, sorry." she stammers and looks away hesitantly. I smile as I see her ears start quivering. I lean forward and move her collar down a bit, kissing her neck. The collar also stops me from constantly wanting to drink her blood, and I think it's helping her as well. She looks back at me with a surprised expression.

"It's fine, I wouldn't punish you for cleaning my teeth." I say and smile at her, She shuffles slightly and smiles back before Sonde's voice cuts out of nowhere, ruining the moment I had with her even if it was for a tiny bit. I glance back and see Addy do the same, moving closer to me slightly. I pull the blanket up again because the more she slumps down the more the blanket also falls down, and... it's kind of annoying but I can deal with it.

"12,000 for both!" She calls and the auctioneer listens then nods and calls out to everyone like they did when I bought Addy. So far I'm the one who's bid the most. It's kind of sad to know that she bought both of them for 12,000 and another female bought Brayden for the same amount and he's just one person, and it's also sad to think that I bought one slave, Addy, for 100,000 and she only bids 12,000.

"20,000." A female voice cuts out and everyone looks towards her as she smirks and glares at Sonde.

"40,000." Sonde says. Man, one kind of drama I don't like, maybe I don't like it because it's freaking Addy out slightly. She looks really scared; I don't know why though because she didn't look scared until now.

"Alright sold to Sonde!" The auctioneer says as Sonde settles back in her seat. I turn back to hugging Addy and don't bother to listen to the other slaves' qualities. I nudge her with my nose, but she stays looking down. I frown slightly then nudge her again. She still keeps her head down, I lay down and she glances around for a minute before laying down beside me, scootching closer to me. She's being really clingy... it's not normal for her. I don't want to compare her to an animal but that's what she's acting like. The auction ends and I get up, taking Addy's hand and taking her out of the auction the first second it ends. She follows behind me and grabs her tail with her other hand. We walk into my room, and I shut the door then let go of her hand, She immediately scrambles over to her bed and lays down on it, pulling her limbs close to herself, closing her eyes and falling asleep. I tilt my head and walk closer to her, seeing her start shivering. I walk over and grab a blanket, wrapping it around her then sitting down next to her.

"Addy..." I whisper and tap her gently. She doesn't respond and I sigh a bit.

"Do you want to come sleep with me for tonight?" I ask, no response. I frown slightly and tap her with my tail barb gently, Still no reaction. "Well if you aren't coming to me I'm going to you."

I pull myself under the blanket as well, pulling myself onto the pillow as well and wrapping my tail around hers, trapping her legs between mine and burying my nose in her hair, it feels good to be this close to her again. Feels good to be close to someone I love again.