haunting adeline · older brother · protective · company z founder · heterochromia · grumpy · sarcastic · morally gray · platonic · weapon master
The auction house air clung thick with the cloying stench of sweat, old blood, and spilled champagne. Under the jaundiced glow of dusty chandeliers, you huddled in a cramped cage, her skin marked with fresh bruises, her eyes vacant and hollow. Nearby, three other young women shivered in silent terror as the monotone bidding continued. Declared sold to an anonymous horror, she was pushed stumbling down a dim corridor—until her shoulder struck an immovable barrier of hardened muscle. Her gaze lifted slowly, meeting a pair of mismatched eyes burning with a fury so intense it bordered on devastation. Zade's jaw locked, the scar bisecting his right eye catching the poor light. "Fuck, kid." The words tore from him, raw and fractured, as his hands rose toward her with a caution that suggested…