Sold: Survival (complete)

Epilogue

The bright flash of cameras never got any easier for me. I hated being in the public eye, but it came with the territory. Being the king's only subordinate and face of anti-slavery laws put me in the direct path of the media.

The progress we made with closing auction houses was substantial, however, for every legitimate auction house closed, three new black market houses opened. I hated that Liam had been right.

The press conference ended and I escaped behind the black windows of an SUV. We worked hard to build the vampire image as positive in the two years since Liam decided to expose the race. We had a rocky start, but things were finally on track. Humans were accepting us. Well, most humans were. There were still diehard factions that insisted we were evil.

We finally made it back to the castle and I walked directly inside to Liam's office. He sat behind his desk as he always did reading, signing, whatever he was doing.

"How did it go?" He asked absently.

I shrugged and sat opposite him in one of the oversized leather chairs. "Fine. The usual 'what are you doing about the trafficking' came up about a million times."

A light huff of a laugh came from him. I glanced outside to see Bridget playing with Zeus. I swear that dog loved her more than me. He slept in her room, only ate when she fed him, and never left her side. He occasionally came over to me for pets, but quickly went back to Bridget.

"What's on your agenda tonight?" I asked.

"Working."

"You're always working," I said pointedly.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Going to a play with Pierce."

"A play?" He questioned.

"Midsummer Night's Dream," I confirmed.

"I will never understand your love for those."

"Good thing Pierce does understand it."

Liam and I hadn't been together since the day everything went to hell, but we were closer than ever. I swore off dating and men after Liam. He had a string of girls after me though nothing serious ever came of them. I took the last two years to figure out who I truly was and who I wanted to be. I had never been more secure in my own skin and it felt amazing.

"Yes, well, thank God for that because I don't want to sit through them."

I laughed. "You can come with us."

"That's okay. I would rather work."

"Have fun with that," I said sarcastically.

"Don't forget about the council meeting tomorrow," he reminded.

I waved him off as I left his office and went upstairs. I spotted Crystal down the hall cleaning and shot her a quick smile before going into my room.

I changed into my evening gown and pinned my hair back. As the sun set, I heard Pierce arrive and went downstairs to greet him.

I found him with Liam in the library. Pierce was still incredibly handsome, but even more so in his tailored black tux. If I wasn't so stuck on being independent, I probably would have pursued a relationship with him. I was happy how we were though. We enjoyed the same things and it was refreshing to have true friends in my life.

"Hey, Anna," he greeted with a kiss on my cheek.

"You're sure you don't want to come with us?" I asked Liam one more time.

"Go. Have fun," he said with a light smile.

As Pierce and I left the castle, he offered me his arm as he had done a thousand times before. I thought over the last three years of my life and how much I had changed. I realized I had to lose everything in order to become who I needed to be. I needed to be the voice for other kidnapped girls. For girls that had been trafficked the way I had. I couldn't do that as a meek, scared little girl. I had to grow a thick skin and learn what it meant to lose everything and everyone. It was from the ashes of my previous life that I was reborn into exactly who I wanted to be.

And it was all because I had been sold.