The pharmacy smelled of antiseptic and fluorescent lights.
Audie moved quickly down the aisle. She grabbed a bottle of multivitamins. Then, checking the mirrors, she grabbed a packet of birth control pills.
She slipped the blister pack inside the vitamin box.
She couldn't get pregnant. Not by him. That would be the end of everything.
She paid with the cash allowance Corine gave her. She walked out into the parking lot.
A black Chevy Suburban screeched to a halt in front of her. The windows were tinted so dark they looked like ink.
The back door popped open.
"Get in," Mercer said from the driver's seat.
Audie clutched the paper bag to her chest. She climbed in.
The air conditioning was blasting. Basil sat in the corner, a laptop open on his knees. He was watching a live feed of the stock market.
He didn't look up. He held out his hand.
"Give it to me."
Audie's heart stopped. He knew about the pills.
She handed him the bag, her hand shaking.
Basil looked inside. He pulled out the vitamin bottle. He shook it.
"Vitamins?" He scoffed. "You think these will fix you?"
He tossed the bottle onto the seat next to him. He didn't open it. He didn't see the contraceptive hidden inside.
Audie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
Basil reached into his pocket. He pulled out a velvet box. He tossed it into her lap.
Audie opened it.
Inside lay a heavy gold bangle. In the center sat a ruby the size of a quail's egg. It was gaudy. Ostentatious.
"Put it on," he ordered.
Audie looked at him, then at the bracelet, and slowly shook her head.
"Put. It. On."
Audie hesitated. Basil grabbed her wrist. He snapped the bracelet shut.
Click.
It was tight. Too tight.
Audie felt a cold metal node pressing against the pulse point on her wrist.
Basil turned his laptop screen toward her. A map of the city was open. A bright red dot pulsed in the center. Beside it, a number: 110 BPM. He tapped a key, and a second graph appeared, showing the spike in her heart rate from the moment he had demanded the bag. He knew she'd been lying, but he said nothing about it.
"It tracks location," Basil said, his voice devoid of emotion. "And biometrics. If you take it off, it alerts me. If your heart rate spikes, it alerts me. If you leave the estate perimeter without authorization..."
He let the sentence hang.
"You're tagging me," Audie whispered, the words escaping before she could stop them. "Like a dog."
"Like an investment," Basil corrected. "You're expensive, Audie. I need to protect my assets."
He leaned back, closing his eyes. "You won't be serving at the Gala tonight. You'll stay in your room."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want anyone else looking at what's mine."
The car pulled up to the side gate. Mercer unlocked the door.
"Get out."
Audie stumbled out onto the pavement. The Suburban sped away toward the main entrance.
A sleek silver sedan was pulling in. The window rolled down.
Corine Morrow sat in the back seat. She was wearing sunglasses, though the sun had set. She looked at Audie.
Her gaze dropped to Audie's wrist. To the ruby pulsing in the twilight.
Corine's lips curved into a smile that was all teeth.
Audie yanked her sleeve down. But it was too late. The hunter had seen the bait.
