Damein POV

The ride to the auction was quiet… too quiet.

Nina sat beside me in the backseat, scrolling through her phone with that absent smile she always wore.

We passed by the city, lights reflecting off the tinted windows, but my mind wasn't on that.

It was on just one thing, the talisman.

“Are you ever going to talk?” she asked after a while, breaking the silence.

“I’m talking now,” I muttered, my eyes still fixed on the road ahead.

“Don’t play that ...