Black Ice-Completed

It was the night of the slave auction. Lily had earlier snuck into the mansion to get a basic layout. They knew the book wouldn’t be above stairs. Instead it would be in or around the auction black below.

“We’ll come in separate,” Avia said as they looked at the blueprints Lily had made. Avia had made the auction black blueprints, but instead of one there was three, “All the Kars have one design or another, depending on which one it is, we’ll have to move differently.”

The main goal was to get the book but also to disrupt the sale as much as possible.

….

Nyota stared at the furniture in disgust. Everything was clean, far too clean for her taste. She preferred the dirt of the forest, the fresh scent of the breeze, here, all that could be seen was multiple bodies, each with a different scent that made her head spin.

It had been easy to sneak in. All she did was hide in a big group of people and she was never even noticed. Nyota only hoped that the other two women had just as easy of a time.

Giving a soft sneeze as the scents continued to bombard her, she turned to try to find a space that was less smelly and ran right into a wall.

As she began to lose her balance, the wall grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back into their chest. As the scent permeated her brain Nyota felt a growl build up and bubble out.

Nyota heard an answering growl before she heard a purr, “Well what do we have here? Laoba,” the man said curtly.

Nyota snarled softly as she stepped away and her eyes connected with flashing silver, “Graoto,” she snapped back, feeling her hackles rise. He was a very handsome man for a cat shifter. He was more built then Syn, his biceps all but bulging at the seams of his formal jacket. His hair was pitch black except for a small amount of silver on either side of his temple.

“I didn’t know we had any Karmia wolves here tonight. Most stay in the wilds with barely any taste of finery,” the cat said with a smirk.

Glaring at the cat, Nyota was all but cutting him with her emerald gaze but all he did was smile. So instead of losing her temper, she simply put on an air of boredom as she looked at her nails, “I recently procured a massive amount of money and I need specialized slaves. The slave traders have said that I would have better luck in finding them at an auction then at the market.”

Nyota watched the man’s eyes and knew that he knew she was lying. She had always been a terrible liar. But instead of calling her out, his eyes warmed slightly. Bending down, he retrieved her hand and kissed it softly, “we shall see a’lisonia. I’ll be keeping my eyes on you tonight,” he purred before turning away into the crowd.

The first thing Nyota wanted to do was go find Lily and Avia, to warn them about the cat, but she shut that urge down. If he was true to his word, he’d be watching her and if she went to her friends, their cover would be at stake.

Instead, Nyota grabbed a glass of wine from a passing servant and took a big gulp to steady her nerves. She would just have to play to her story. She was a wolf shifter who had recently come into some big money and needed special slaves.

As she moved about the room she mingled with the other Kars and Karmias, she used the confidence of being an Alpha to blend with the people. Arrogance and confidence went hand in hand so she had no problem with anyone else. The panther seemed to be a special case.

Nyota had never come upon any cat shifters in Skatodi forest. There had been plenty of bears, foxes, and sometimes the rare lynx or wildcat but never a panther. They were said to reside in the jungle of Axun, splitting territory with the Amazons. This one though was certainly magnetic and dangerous.