The Scumbags Guide to Enslaving Demon's

The Mirror Market had no walls.

It started where the silver fog let up: a broad plaza beneath a ceiling of black glass. The plaza was full of stalls made of polished metal and bright, angled mirrors. Every mirror held a different customer reflected inside it. Some held demons haggling over weapon prices. Some held frightened adult humans perched on small platforms, their names printed on placards above their heads. Some were empty until someone looked closely enough.

The expedition crossed under assumed names.

Nahlia had acquired the papers during their train ride. Austin Veyron was a caravan broker from the southern rail. Elena and Sarielle became his assistants. Rin and the Cinder Gate scouts were guards. Veyra wore a coat with a high collar hiding her commander’st mantle. Tessa carried Nahlia’st copied ledgers within a merchant case. Seven brought them as a freight construct, his white eye dim behind a brass lens.

Every name was assumed willingly.

Nahlia had offered them the choice three separate times before reaching the train station.

"If you want to back out, say so. I’ll burn the papers, and we’ll go back." She’d said.

No one requested her to repeat herself.

Now that they were in the market, Austin Veyron understood why.

A mirror stall presented seven adult demon women dressed in elegant robes and silver masks. A broker shuffled between them, explaining their talents like they were trade goods.

"Court interpreter, literacy in five imperial scripts." The broker announced. "Signature already secured."

Austin Veyron’s jaw clenched.

The claim seed beneath his wrist wrap twitched at each unwilling signature in the plaza. It wanted to mark every line of connection. It wanted to catalogue the market. It wanted to give Austin Veyron authority over every contract simultaneously.

He shoved his hand deeper into his coat pocket.

"Do not watch them," Veyra hissed. "Mirrors see hunger."

"I am not hungry." Austin Veyron growled back.

"That is not how they will read you."

They passed stalls until Nahlia paused before a black ledger board covered in auction slips.

Her expression shifted.

At the bottom of the list, beneath sell orders for weapons and route rights, a single new entry glowed red.

LOT 117 — MAELIS OF GRAND MERIDIAN. EMBER-WARD CUSTODIAN. SIGNATURE PRODUCTION PENDING.

Elena snatched the board away from the stall.

"Maelis got back." She whispered. "The network isn’t supposed to know she’s alive."

"It has her route claim." Nahlia said. "Not her person. They’re auctioning off a future signature. Once someone wins the auction, Maelis will be forced to attempt a contract transfer at Grand Meridian."

Austin Veyron felt the claim seed surge like a live wire.

The auction would begin in sixty minutes.

Rin scanned their surroundings. "We can steal the board, destroy the broker, and leave before then."

"And every mirror out there will write us as criminals." Nahlia replied. "Then the auction takes place somewhere else we cannot track."

Tessa opened her merchant case. "What if we bid?"

Elena jerked her head up to look.

"We aren’t buying Maelis," Tessa explained. "We’re taking part in the auction to get access inside the ledger record. We need to identify who made the sale possible."

Austin Veyron despised it. Words felt cheap in his mouth. The entire plan felt designed to coerce people into continuing business with monsters just to dismantle it.

The market was counting on them not taking that option.

Another broker emerged from the crowd. He was human-sized demon with reflective skin and a smile that seemed to show up behind everything.

"Ah, new patrons." The broker beamed. "Welcome to the Mirror Market. Looking to acquire labor, skill, or contract?"

"No." Austin Veyron replied flatly.

"Everyone is acquiring something." The broker insisted.

"We’re here for a contract." Nahlia said as she stepped forward. "Lot 117."

The broker tilted his head to examine her pen. His eyes narrowed with recognition.

"A book-marker." He breathed quietly. "I didn’t think you’d ever leave the Ledger."

"I wantioned." She responded levelly.

His lips twisted into another laugh. "That is merely a suggestion the Ledger will overlook."

Austin Veyron took two steps closer to the broker.

His eyes met Austin Veyron’s. Then his gaze traveled to the claim seed underneath Austin Veyron’s wrist wrap. The broker’s skin dimmed with ink clouds.

"I see." He said simply. "Well that is very interesting."

People turned to stare at Austin Veyron.

Every mirror showed a different version of him: with a golden crown on his head, with silver chains around his wrists and ankles, bald and human, his skin draped over Maelis’ naked shoulders.

The broker inclined his head.

"This auction." He said. "Lot 117 is private access to the auction floor. Come prepared with a legitimate offer and an unstained signature. Otherwise, leave now before the mirrors set your value."

He pushed a small black token into Tessa’s palm.

It was warm and ink ran beneath its surface.

One side read the auction number.

The other side offered a warning.

**PURCHASERS CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THE AUCTION UNTIL THE HAMMER FALLS**

The broker walked away.

Elena clutched the token tight. "We are not going to let a hammer fall."

"No." Austin Veyron agreed. "We are going to find who is holding it."

The bell tolled once more over the Mirror Market.

Mirrors unfolded from the black ceiling, converging together into a circular arena at the center of the plaza. People began shuffling inside. The auction was opening up early.

Tessa eyed the token’s edge. "This links to an active buyer ledger. If we enter as bidders, the system will anticipate a signature."

"I will not sign."

"You don’t have to." Nahlia replied. "The market accepts refusal so long as you can appear to afford to refuse. That’s why it loves powerful buyers."

Veyra nodded toward the mirrored enclosure forming around them. "And if it doesn’t love us?"

Nahlia frowned. "Then it will write us into the auction."

Austin Veyron stared at the auction listings: the humans on display, the masks worn by every seller, the placards describing people by prices and utility.

He felt the old hunger rise within him, screaming to destroy every surface in the market. The claim seed offered a subtler solution: claim the buyer ledger, command the mirrors to bend around his will, become its new authority figure.

He visualized it, ugly and relentless, for a heartbeat.

Then he looked at Elena and Tessa. He looked at Rin and Seven holding the edges of the crowd at bay.

"We go in." Austin Veyron said. "We reveal the signatures. We track Maelis’ claim out of the network. And we walk away without purchasing a single person."

Rin grinned without humor. "Now that just might be difficult enough to work."

The mirrored gates slid open.

Seven stepped forward first, leading the expedition into the auction ring.

Floor panels clicked shut behind them. The sound echoed like a closing book.

Buyers were seated around the circular room, tucked inside mirrored booths. Some wore masks to hide their faces. Others sat upon thrones. Many obscured themselves behind sheaths of contract paper. Each booth held a blank white placard where their name would appear once bidding started on the first lot.

Nahlia nudged Austin Veyron’s shoulder. "The auction floor has a master page hidden beneath the auctioneer’s podium. If we can access it before Lot 117 goes final, we can expose the hidden coercion burns."

"How will we reach it?" Elena asked.

"We trick them." Rin supplied.

Veyra surveyed the arena. Six chain wardens and two mirror hounds patrolled beneath the auctioneers podium. Buyers were forbidden from taking action before the hammer fell, but they could summon security in the case of suspected fraud.

Austin Veyron felt the auction room watching him.

The claim seed pulsed once underneath his wrist wrap, coaxing him into taking control.

He swallowed down the voice in his head.

"Rin and Sarielle," Austin Veyron began. "You cause a distraction at the bid boards. Nahlia and Tessa attempt to reach the master page. Elena guards the ledger case. Seven keeps watch on the mirrors. Veyra and I contain the security team if things get chaotic."

"Remember," Elena said as she clasped her wrist wrap tight. "No one signs anything by themselves."

"No one will sign anything at all." Austin Veyron agreed.

The auctioneer’s bell rang.

A masked woman strode out onto the podium, silver hammer in hand.

"Welcome travelers." She called out to the room. "Freedom has many costs this evening."

Austin Veyron curled his fingers around the black token hidden in his palm.

Its first cost had already been decided.

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