Organ Grind: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lazarus Codex Book 2) by E.A. Copen

Author:E.A. Copen [Copen, E.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grim Cat Press LLC
Published: 2020-07-30T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The rest of the auction flew by. Not everything I’d seen out on the floor went up for sale, which was somehow comforting, but enough powerful artifacts were bought and sold with souls in an hour that I lost track. The casual air with which everyone went about it almost made me forget at times that’s what was on the line. Enough souls changed hands on a temporary basis that afternoon to make the bids I was planning seem insignificant. I hoped Osric was right when he guessed how useful ownership of my soul would be.

“And now for the next lot.” Fade gestured to the cart his baboon friend had just wheeled onto the stage.

A cardboard sign in the front of the cart announced this was lot forty-two, the lot containing Nyx’s box. If memory served, the lot also contained a couple of other boxes and some magic thread. Not much of interest to most people in the room. For the three of us in the back, it was everything.

“Who would like to start the bidding?” Fade asked, tapping his gavel in the palm of his hand.

Beth raised her card, and I closed my eyes as she announced, “Fourteen days.”

A toothy smile spread over Fade’s face, and he pointed the gavel at her. “Two weeks from the only human in the room. A low bid! Who can beat it? Come on, should be easy. What’s two weeks, am I right? Barely a morsel.”

A chuckle went through the crowd. Beth’s face turned beet red.

I was about to chime in with my bid when someone else called out, “Sixty seconds.”

My eyes popped open, and I scanned the crowd for the raised number. It belonged to someone in the front row, but I couldn’t see his face. He was wearing an expensive powder blue suit, though, and must’ve been someone really important if a minute of his time was worth more than two weeks of Beth’s.

Fade gestured to the new bidder with the gavel. “Sixty seconds. Do I hear more?”

I threw my bid paddle up. “Twenty-four hours.”

The pews in the room let out a collective creak as every head turned to look at me, every head, that was, except for the gentleman in the front row. The look people’s faces ranged from bewilderment to fear. Maybe I’d bid too low. It’d taken me a while to work out a hierarchy in the room based on what little I knew, and the souls I could see. Using that hierarchy, I worked out a rough equivalency in my head for whose time was worth what.

Except I didn’t know where I stood in the hierarchy. I assumed I was higher than most people who had no souls but not as high as the gods. Or maybe I was above them. I could rip out their souls if I wanted after all.

Fade’s eyes grew wide and sparkled. “My dear, I believe you’ve been outbid,” he said to Beth. “For an equivalent bid, you would have to offer much more substantial time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.