Page 10 of Vicious Impulses (The Capo and Ballerina)
Some say Dresden’s flesh trade is inhumane. Mostly people from other cities where the industry’s still frowned upon. But city officials argue that since it’s become legal, it’s being properly regulated and monitored—something that works in the favor of those participating.
My parents would agree. It’s what they hammered into my head from a young age.
I’mluckyto be protected by the company, and by extension, the Vorones. Others have fared much worse in our deteriorating city. At least they’ve ensured my contract was a good one.
I believed them, but now…
I don’t know what to think. My contract’s been bought out and I’m being handed over to another man regardless of what I want or what was written in those twenty thousand words.
He’s a predator that seems neither kind nor comforting but instead, cruel and violent. The Vorones have never been angels, but they’re the devil we’re familiar with. We’ve been able to survive under their thumb.
Caelian Ziccardi.
He must belong to the Ziccardi family. Which means he’s a gangster. His family isn’t as all-encompassing as the Vorones, but clearly he has enough pull if he’s able to buy me out of my contract completely. Are the Vorones aware? Do they normally let dancers be sold to rival families?
So many questions spin around in my head.
I grope around for my phone and manage to place a call to Mom. She answers in her usual honey-sweet tone. My speechlessness fades, allowing me to launch into a fast, panicked explanation of what’s happened.
Her reaction isn’t what I hoped for.
“Oh, sweetie,” Mom sighs. “That’s terrible. You haven’t even had the introductory dinner yet? Your suitor is supposed to take you to dinner. It’s a way for the two of you to get to know each other.”
“He said it’s happening today! There isn’t going to be any dinner.”
“Ask for the sit down. Sometimes if it’s not a good fit, they’ll change their mind. You remember our old neighbor and his daughter? She was selected, and then the man had second thoughts.”
“But I don’t want a dinner! I don’t want anything to do with him!”
“Are you sure he’s a bad man? The Ziccardi family has fallen from grace… but he’s clearly wealthy.”
I close my eyes and breathe through my nose. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“Sweetie, you know that’s not an option. You know it’s how we’ve survived. We’veallsuffered and done our part. Your father is depending on you. Don’t you ever forget that. His survival rests on you.”
We hang up with my feelings of dread and disbelief stronger than ever.
Mom isn’t any help; she’s locked into the same system I’m trapped in. The difference being she sees it as a necessary evil.
More breaths sputter from my lungs as I stare around my dorm and feel the walls closing in.
Life has always felt like a box to be contained in, but it was bearable. Dancing and belonging to the company gave me peace and sanity. Both are being taken away at the same time I’m being given up.
I always knew there would come a day an offer was made and I was sold. But I always hoped it’d be under favorable conditions. A businessman who would at least be decent and kind.
It seems that was wishing for too much.
My hands come up and wipe away the tears rolling down my cheeks. There’s no other way around it. There’s no other option I have left but to do something I’ve never done in my life.
It’s time to rebel.
* * *
Ignazio shows up outside my door at three p.m. on the dot. He bangs his fist and demands I open up.
I’ve packed my modest-sized suitcase and a bookbag I’ve filled with my most prized possessions—important items like my laptop and personal documents and more sentimental things like the ballerina snow globe Dad gifted me years ago.
I sigh and resign myself to my fate.