Priya's POV:

"Hello, lovely lady."

The voice came from behind me. It was warm like an autumn breeze. I turned around to find a pair of green eyes staring back at me, the color of spring clover.

'Green eyes are unique here,' I thought to myself.

He was tall and well-built, dressed in an olive green three-piece suit. Olive green would've sounded ridiculous as a suit's color but it did wonders to bring out his eyes. He, like the others, wore a masquerade mask that covered almost his entire face, but I could still see his sharp nose and chiseled jawline.

"I like how you can't take your eyes off me, honey. Don't worry you have the same effect on me," he said, bringing me back to reality. "How come you're standing alone? Don't tell me your date left you here. Then he'd be the dumbest person alive."

Before I could respond, I felt a possessive hand wrap around my waist. I didn't even have to turn around to see who it was. His scent was enough.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm not stupid enough to leave milady alone when jerks like you are looking for prey," Arjun said, emphasising 'milady' and pecking my cheeks.

Did he just kiss me?

He then turned to face me, flashing me one of his brightest smiles. My heart soared.

"May I have a dance with you?" Arjun asked, and before I could respond, he led me to the dance floor. We swayed rhythmically to the slow music. Arjun was surprisingly a pretty good dancer.

"Why did you kiss me?" I asked him, abandoning all other thoughts.

"You haven't kissed anyone before, have you?" he asked, his trademark smirk on his face.

"Of course yes, I've kissed a lot of people," I said almost immediately, before realising what nonsense I'd just uttered. "What I mean is..."

When I looked up Arjun was already staring at me. He leaned in and murmured, "That wasn't a kiss; it was just a peck. Kissing is entirely different. I will show it to you next time." I blushed profusely. Why did he have this effect on me? Couldn't it be someone else?

"Do that, and it will be your last kiss, trust me." I scoffed, eliciting a low, hearty laugh in return.

"I did that to keep that guy away from you. Otherwise, it would have affected our plan," he said softly. To tell the truth, I was disappointed by his response. I didn't know why it affected me so much. Did I want him to want to kiss me? Nope. No. Absolutely not.

'Wasn't that what you were hoping to hear?' my conscience queried.

'Whatever, but he could have not said anything at all,' I countered my conscience.

I shook my head to clear the unwanted thoughts and asked him if he had any idea where the auction would be held. He gave a negative response. I noticed something while we were dancing. Damn! Why hadn't it occurred to me sooner? I turned around to see Arjun staring at me, puzzled.

"I think I got it. Look over to our left at that server," I continued as Arjun looked at the server. "He's serving drinks, but as you can see, he's not serving everyone, which is unusual. He's only going to a few of them, and after they've all had their drinks, they're all leaving cautiously." Arjun gave me a nod.

"All right, then. Let's follow one of them."

We began following the last person to take the drink: a potbellied jerk with a slew of gold chains around his neck, keeping a safe distance. He walked to the back of the hall and opened a rusted door, entering a dimly lit hallway that had paintings decorated with spider webs and broken antiques. All of a sudden, he came to a halt and turned around.

We quickly hid behind one of the corridor's large pillars and waited. After a few minutes when we came out the hallway was empty.

"Where did he go?" I asked. There was no door or window ahead, and we were certain he hadn't gone back.

"I'm guessing there's some kind of secret door here. Let's check." Arjun began scouting locations, and I quickly followed suit. We looked around for fifteen minutes and found nothing, even after examining the ground and walls thoroughly.

"Don't you think this is out of place, Mehra?" Arjun asked, pointing to a massive painting.

"What's the problem with that? There are a lot of paintings," I stated.

"Stupid, isn't it too big for this place when compared to the others?" he said as he walked over to the painting and took it out.

He was right. He picked at a side of the painting and it suddenly swung open. There was a door behind it. We opened it and entered a crowded room. Most of the people were old, wealthy men with potbellies. The interior disgusted me. Strippers were roaming around, booze was being served to everyone and all of them appeared to be having a good time. How could they be? They were doing something heinous. I looked at Arjun, who shared my expression. We moved around so that my pendant could record all of their faces. It astounded me to see that even a few influential members of society were present.

We were startled when we heard a voice from the small stage in the middle of the vast room. A man with tattoos all over his body and various piercings was demanding our attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin the day's most anticipated event. But first, there are some rules you should be aware of," he spoke in a British accent. "All of the items that will be presented here are pure and of the highest quality available in this country. Our regular customers are well aware of our high standards. The starting price for all of the items is 75,000 rupees and the buyer will be able to take the item with them. There is no return policy; once purchased, it is yours. You are free to do whatever you want with it. That is all. We will now start with the auction. Enjoy, people." The bastard approached the stage's corner and said, "Item No. 1 please."

When I saw it, or better, when I saw her, my stomach sank. She was only about 5 or 6 years old. Scared, dressed in a small pink frock. She was abused. Someone had beaten her and left bruises on her arms and legs. She appeared frail and frightened. Her large doe eyes were filled with sadness. She was looking around the hall, seeking help. Suddenly, I felt compelled to wrap my arms around her and tell her, "It's okay. We'll save you."

"One lakh," someone shouted from somewhere, and people began bidding. I wanted to rip those monsters' limbs and tear open their stomachs. I looked at Arjun, whose lips had tightened into a thin line. I knew he was just as eager to deal with them and put an end to this as I was.

The men in front of us lacked soul, conscience, remorse, and even compassion for what they were doing.

"Ajay, where are you people?" I asked through my headset. My team was supposed to be here by now. We had also planned for a backup.

"We are almost there, Ma'am. Just two minutes," Ajay said in a rush.

"You must act quickly. I don't think I can stand here any longer without smashing a bullet in one of their heads," I grumbled.

I gazed at the terrified little girl standing on the stage. I resolved to protect her.

"Ma'am, we are here. We have handled all the guards outside," Ajay's voice said in my ear. That was all I needed to know. "Surround the area. Don't let anyone get away," I commanded. Now that my team had arrived, we could start the show.

"Enough! Stop this ridiculous auction right now unless you want a fucking bullet through your head," I yelled at the tattooed guy, who appeared stunned.

That was the end of it. The once cheerful bastard's face had turned pale and fearful. I took off my mask, pulled out my gun, and walked towards the tattooed guy, pointing directly at him. A few people gasped while few were too afraid to even react.

After all, their dirty little secret was going to be revealed today. Arjun had already pointed his gun at their chief guest's head- our minister. The bloody pervert.

I turned to face the little girl who was standing there, petrified after witnessing all of this. I felt bad for her. She had to go through all of this at such a young age. It enraged me. I pointed my gun at the tattooed guy's head, and then...

Bang Bang!

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