All Chapters of THE DEVIL'S TOY CAME FOR REVENGE : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

HENDRIXThe spotlight burned against my skin like a brand, but I kept my face blank and empty. Terrified in the way a prey should look when cornered by predators wearing expensive suits.Don't flinch and don't let them see.Around me, the underground auction hall reeked of cigar smoke, aged whiskey and the particular cologne wealthy men wore when they wanted to smell like power. I stood on the raised platform in clothes deliberately chosen to make me look young, softer and more breakable than my twenty three years-white linen shirt unbuttoned just enough to suggest vulnerability, dark trousers that hung loose on my deliberately underfed frame.The auctioneer's voice droned through my value like I was a livestock. "Gentlemen, this one comes from the Kozlov acquisition. Low-level, informant, fluent in four languages, trained in data extraction, No visible scarring, compliant disposition."Compliant. The word tasted like ash in my mouth, but I let my shoulders curve inward, I'd practiced

HENDRIXThe Veyra estate rose from the clifftop like something carved from darkness itself.Black marble and steel, sharp angles and tinted glass-it looked less like a home and more like a monument to power. Floodlights illuminated manicured grounds surrounded by walls topped with cameras and what I suspected were motion sensors. Armed guards patrolled in pairs, their routes overlapping with military precision.The car passed through two security checkpoints before reaching the main entrance. Each time, guards verified our identities with retinal scanners and checked the vehicle's undercarriage with mirrors and detection equipment.Erdem watched me watching the security measures."Paranoia," he said, "Is just pattern recognition applied to survival.""You have a lot of enemies.""I have exclusively enemies but some just haven't realized it yet."The car stopped beneath a covered portico. Konstantin opened the door, and Erdem stepped out with fluid grace, blood-splattered shirt and al

Morning arrived with harsh fluorescent lights flooding the glass room. I woke to find a guard standing outside, watching me through the transparent wall. "Get dressed," his voice came through the speaker. "Mr. Veyra wants you in his office in twenty minutes." I dressed quickly, aware of the guard's eyes tracking my every movement. No privacy. No dignity. Everything was designed to remind me I was a property. When I was ready, the door unlocked with an electronic click. The guard gestured for me to follow. The executive wing was quieter than I'd expected, the kind of silence that came from money and paranoia, We passed several doors, all closed, all probably locked. The guard stopped at a heavy wooden door with biometric scanner. He pressed his palm to it, and the door opened. "Inside." Erdem's office was exactly what I expected: massive, dark, designed to intimidate. A desk that looked carved from a single piece of black wood, leather chairs, bookshelves filled with lega

HENDRIXThe air in Erdem's office felt thinner, colder, like all the oxygen had been replaced with threat.I sat on the chair across from his desk, hands folded in my lap, heart hammering against my ribs while my face remained carefully neutral.Erdem stood by the window, his back to me. The silence stretched, deliberate and suffocating.I didn't speak. Finally, he turned.He moved closer, perching on the edge of his desk, looking down at me."Tell me about your previous owners," He said. "The ones who had you before the auction."I exhaled inwardly, I was so scared he had found out about me.I'd prepared for this question, I had built an entire backstory with Liora's help years ago when she'd first taught me about deep cover operations."They were Eastern European," I said, keeping my voice soft and frightened. "I don't know exactly where they moved us around a lot. Different warehouses, different cities, they said it was safer that way, harder for authorities to track.""How long we

ERDEMThe council dinner was a monthly ritual, a gathering of my senior captains, lieutenants, and key operatives to discuss territory, resolve disputes, and remind everyone who held ultimate authority.It was theater, as much as business. A performance of power designed to reinforce hierarchy, display strength and identify weakness.Tonight I'd decided to add a new element to the performance."Hendrix will attend," I told Konstantin as we prepared. "He'll sit beside me during dinner."Konstantin's expression remained neutral, but I saw the concern in his eyes. "Sir, is that wise? The captains will see it as-""As exactly what I intend them to see. That I'm confident enough in my control to display my newest acquisition publicly. That I'm not hiding him or treating him as a threat." I adjusted my cufflinks. "And it will flush out anyone who thinks the boy represents an opportunity to challenge me.""You're using him as bait.""I'm using him as a statement." I met Konstantin's eyes. "M