I'm better than them

“What do I think?” Lysander muttered before glancing back at my cage, this time letting his gaze travel over my body. He started from my head, taking in every inch of me. The soft curl in my black hair, the subtle arch of my back, my barely covered breasts and pussy, down to my heels. His eyes missed nothing.

I was frozen, hypnotized by his gaze, so I couldn't do anything. Whatever he was using to hold my gaze captive was so powerful, and I was powerless. 

I only got a reprieve when his gaze tore away from mine once more. “Do you know what happens to disobedient dogs?” He demanded, his tone conveying more than his words did. 

The men, who were actively purchasing women, started stepping back, their intentions clear in their gazes. As if on cue, someone kicked the exit open, and armed men rushed into the warehouse. Most of them had their faces covered, while a few didn't bother with it. Seeing them brought up another feeling of confusion. I failed to understand why the script changed too much. Had my rebirth done that?

Screams came from the men as they pointed the guns at them. 

“Please don't!” The auctioneer begged, with his face to the ground. “I promise this will be the last one! If you like, you can take any of the women with you! I will give you as many as you wish!” 

Puzzlement overrode my fears as I watched the man, trying to know what was going on. This wasn't how it was fucking supposed to go! Lysander was with them, not against them. 

“It's too late.”

That was all he needed to say before gunshots rang in the air, and the auctioneer dropped dead on the floor, with a gaping wound on the back of his head, where blood zapped out. Whoever gave that shot had an excellent grasp and good precision. 

The room became a mess as girls wailed, and the old men tried to scamper their way out, but couldn't. The only exit was blocked.

While others screamed, I was too stunned to react. 

Lysander looked at the other girls. This time, he didn't turn to look at me. He watched them cry before he hooked a finger towards one in a cage away from me.

My eyes widened when he turned to the door and opened his mouth to speak. However, before he could, I rushed to the door of my cage. “Choose me,” I heard myself saying. “Please choose me.”

I didn't care how shameless and desperate I sounded. I had to. I couldn't let him pick someone else. This wasn't the way it was fucking supposed to be! God gave me a second chance to have my revenge on him. I can't let him change the future.

“Huh?” He looked taken aback by my request, and the gasps from the ladies were enough to tell me how reckless I had been. 

I inhaled and closed my eyes to recollect my thoughts before I opened them, looking straight at him. “Please pick me,” I repeated, drawing a step towards the door of my cage and ignoring his freezing stare. The other ladies shuffled back into their cages and watched us. The one he would have chosen had her hand over her chest, whimpering with a pleading look.

“Do you know what you are asking for?” His voice washed over me, cold, dark, and with a promise of something thrilling. Goosebumps broke out on my arms when his eyes fixed on mine. His aura changed. The darkness I'd felt around him grew bigger. This was one thing I failed to see back then. There were signs, but I ignored them. Reading too many romance novels was to blame.

“I…” I gulped, glancing back at the cowering ladies. “I do. Just take me out of this place,” I said to him, keeping my emotions out of my voice. I didn't just want him to know how afraid I was. 

He smiled, tilting his head to the side as his gaze took me in. Everywhere his gaze raked over, I felt cold chills, like the touch of a winter breeze. Gulping, I tried not to cower, even though my knees felt weak. 

“Why should I pick you?” This time, there was just a tinge of amusement in his voice, but his expression didn't change. 

“I…” I shook my head, gulped, and rubbed my palms on my arms. “I'm better than them,” I said at last, closing my eyes. “I can do whatever you want from me. I'm good with cleaning and —”

“Do I look like I want a maid?” He approached me, his steps deliberate and his lips slowly curved into a smile, one so sinister I couldn't help but draw a step back. This wasn't how he was before my rebirth. He didn't stalk me and didn't seem like he might snap my neck. He had just chosen me and had the men drag me out to his car. But now, it seemed like I was in a corner, about to be pounced on by a predator. 

Had it not been for my rebirth and thirst for vengeance, I would have joined the other ladies. I wouldn't be here, pleading for him to pick me. 

“Do I?” He pressed, his tone getting darker as he drew nearer. 

Of course you fucking do. In my first life, he almost worked me to death. I warmed his bed and made it without complaint, but not anymore. This time, if I get the opportunity, he will regret ever taking me in. 

Resisting the urge to glare at him, I drew a step back, looked around to be certain the only ones looking at us were the other ladies. Before I did something I wouldn't have dared if I wasn't desperate. I removed the only shreds of clothes on me and threw them on the floor. “I will do anything you want. Just name it,” I added, a hint of defiance in my face. 

He closed his eyes and gulped. For a long minute, he didn't say a word. He didn't even look at me when he opened his eyes. Instead, he said, “I like your boldness,” he said. “I'm picking you.” 

 I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face. I had done it. I had gotten him to take me, just like he did before my rebirth. For a second there, I had thought he wouldn't pick me.

With a resigned look on his face, he picked a key from the floor and turned towards me, unlocking the cage. The door swung open, and I glanced up at him. 

 “Here, put this on,” he said, his words penetrating deep into my chest as he passed a coat to me. 

“Thanks.” I snatched the coat from him and covered my body, grateful for it, even though I hated him. This was in no way getting into my good books.

Nodding, he stepped back, and motioning with his palm, he uttered one word. “Come.” The weight of it made it difficult for me to disobey.

I swallowed hard as the warehouse settled into a chilling silence, every eye in the place watching as I shakily stepped from my cage, the sound of my heels clicking against the concrete. I took one step and then another as my mind filled with more questions, ones I didn't have an answer to. 

Why were things going a different way? Why did he shoot the auctioneer? Who were those men with guns? Different questions went through my mind as I looked around, at the men frozen in shock, the armed ones waiting for an order from Lysander and the women, who were watching with rapt attention, confused, just like I was, about the unexpected development. 

His question tore through my thoughts. “What is your name?”

“Zephyrine Elowen Wellesley."

Ring a bell?

 

Psychos keep tabs on their victims. It's a flex for them.

“Zephyrine?” He nodded. "Follow me,” he said, his voice so low yet somehow heard throughout the warehouse.

I nod, the weight on my shoulders making me feel smaller than ever before. I trailed after him as gunshots reigned, taking with it the lives of the men who had been actively purchasing the ladies, with them. I should have felt bad, but I didn't. Instead, there was this satisfaction I felt, realising those men were no more.

Now, it was time to put everything in motion.