Hours passed. I watched cracks of sunlight stream through the trunk and glint off the taillights and then disappear as night fell. I was hungry. No, starving was a better word. So much so that my stomach ached and spoke up loudly in protest. We all were if the growls from my trunk companions' stomachs were to be believed.

And my throat and mouth were full of sandpaper. The thirst I felt went deeper than the hunger. I once heard you could go seven days without food, but only three days without water. I'd barely gone a full day and I was ready to fight for a bottle of water. Anything to relieve this horrible thirst.

When the car began to slow, we all tensed. It came to a stop and we waited for them to pop the trunk. Only they didn't. Not right away.

Instead I heard voices.

I heard Bastien's voice.

If he was here, then Neely had to be close by. Maybe even in the trunk with me. I'd heard no other cars pull up next to us, so she had to be here. I refused to believe anything else. To believe she wasn't here meant I had to believe I might not ever see my best friend again.

And I wouldn't think like that.

Thinking like that would cause me to give up hope.

Hope kept you believing and fear kept you alive.

If you were afraid, it meant you could still feel, that you were breathing. And if you were breathing, there was still a chance.

All my dad's sayings kept repeating back at me on a loop. All that advice I'd scoffed at was giving me something to hold onto right now and I was so grateful to my daddy. When I saw him again, I'd tell him just how grateful I was for everything.

Please let me see my daddy again.

Footsteps came closer and then I heard the trunk latch pop. I blinked when it was raised and a light shined down upon us all. It hurt after being in total darkness for so long.

"De o'ders have been delivered, oui?"

"Yes," Bastien replied. "These are the last of them."

"De pick of de litter, eh?"

The guy sounded sleazier than most.

"They are the strongest of the lot, yes. It's why I'm here, Henry. Niko wants them cared for as they acclimate."

"We were tol' to expect you wit' dem."

More footsteps approached and then arms were reaching in, collecting girls out of the trunk. They struggled as best they could, but the way we were bound made it impossible to do much.

When I was lifted out, I saw Bastien standing next to another man who was just as handsome, only this one had orange red hair and piercing blue eyes. Bastien looked bored, but this one? His gaze was sleezy as it roved over all of us. Shuddering, I glanced away and tried to find Neely.

None of the girls I saw were her, but several were ahead of us and I couldn't see them clearly. I only hoped she hadn't ended up in another car with a different destination.

I strained to see the area around me, but the way I was held made that impossible. I could only see what was right in front of me. Two very large guards stood outside the front entrance. The wide double doors were open into a large foyer of sorts. A staircase was directly in front of me with closed doors on either side of the foyer. Nothing decorated the area. It was plain jane.

Possibly to deter any of us from thinking we could find something to help us escape.

We were taken to a door behind the stairs that led down another set of stairs into a darkened area I assumed was the basement. I could see clearly even though it was dark. We ended up in one wide room with about a dozen tiny cells the lined the wall opposite me. Not rooms with doors. No, this was set up more like a prison cell block with iron bars for walls and a jail cell door. It was here we were taken. Each of us got our own. A sink, a toilet, and a bed occupied each tiny space.

I was dumped on the cold floor and then an iron shackle was clipped around my ankle so tightly it hurt. There would be no wiggling out of this even if I broke my ankle to get out of it. Not that I would. I had to be able to run and a broken ankle deterred that option.

The bindings around my wrists and legs were cut free and blood rushed back into my hands and feet. The burn was worse than the pain that accompanied it. I rubbed at my wrists trying to take the sting out of them and watched as more girls were carried down. None of us had our gags removed and I wondered what would happen if I tried to take mine out.

The big burly man standing next to me quashed my curiosity. I had no desire to get hit and I was pretty sure he'd do that without a second thought.

Another woman came out of the side door pushing a cart in front of her. When she stopped outside my cell, she handed a paper plate and a bottle of water to the man standing beside me. He put it down on the bed and then walked out of the cell, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Ladies."

Bastien's smooth voice filled the silence and my head swiveled toward him. Anger burned deep in my belly. I hoped to God he came near me. I'd...I didn't know what I'd do, but whatever it was, I'd do my best to maim him in some way. Anger trumped the feelings I was still experiencing for him and I was so glad. I could deal with anger better than the attraction I knew I should have. I embraced it.

"First, I'd like to apologize for the cramped travel arrangements."

He wasn't serious?

"I know you must all be tired, hungry, but more frightened than anything."

Duh.

"You'll find food and water left for you on your bunks. As long as you do as you're told and don't try to escape, I can guarantee your safety. If you try to run, then you will become the problem of Henry. He's the head of security for Dominic, the man who owns this house. I suggest you don't do anything to land yourself in his care."

Another shudder rolled through me thinking of the way he'd undressed me with his eyes. Creeper.

"I will return in a few hours to explain what is happening so in the interim, I suggest you eat and try to get some rest. We have a very long few days ahead of us."

That didn't sound at all promising.

I reached up and removed my gag, pulling in a deep breath of musty air. It was better than whatever I kept tasting on that rag shoved in my mouth. My hands shook as I gripped the water bottle and unscrewed the cap, spilling a little of the precious water. I knew better than to gulp it down after having gone so long without water. Girl scouts taught this girl tons. I heard retching around me and shook my head.

Sipping on my water, I leaned my head against the cold stone wall behind me, relishing the freedom of movement. My stomach grumbled a bit, but I ignored it for the minute. Best to see if the water was going to stay down before I thought about the food.

Food.

Eyeballing it warily, I wondered if they drugged it. The water I knew they didn't since the lid was still intact. But the food? I watched that Ashely Judd and Morgan Freeman movie, Kiss The Girls. This girl was no fool.

I considered myself a movie junkie so I'd seen almost everything, including documentaries. Human trafficking victims were almost always hooked on some kind of drug to keep them docile. I was in a no-win situation. If I didn't eat and the food was drugged, they'd just shoot me up with a needle in the arm. We're probably worth more with no track marks, though. There were only two choices that I could see. I could eat and get loopy or get my veins flooded with junk and still end up loopy.

Or I was just being paranoid.

Keeping us healthy for buyers was just as important. Right?

I drank a little more water.

The burning thirst continued. It ripped up my throat and tore through my hunger pains. I doubled over from the sheer shock of it, never mind the pain. What was wrong with me? Was I having a delayed reaction to whatever they drugged me with to begin with?

My lungs seized and I coughed.

"I'm dying."

The whispered words from my neighbor reached my ears and I shook my head.

"Are you thirsty?" I asked, hating how gravelly my voice sounded.

"Yessss."

All around us more groans could be heard. Maybe it wasn't just me and the girl next door?

"Whatever they drugged us with must be having some kind of delayed reaction." I reached blindly for the food. Maybe eating would help. I ripped open the plastic wrap and bit a large chunk out of the sandwich, swallowing quickly. It caught in my throat and I guzzled water, feeling it sink down my esophagus and land in my stomach.

Where it sat, heavy and unpleasant.

Nausea struck and I barely made it to the toilet before everything I'd just managed to get down came right back up. Violently. I gagged as it ripped up my throat, torturing it.

The thirst got worse.

All around me, I heard them all vomiting.

I curled up next to the toilet and prayed for sleep to escape the pain I suddenly found myself in.

What did they do to us?