Page 39 of Gilded Locks

Sins of Blood

The temperature plummeted. Stone’s protective hold transformed to iron restraint, his muscles coiling beneath sweat-slicked skin with barely leashed violence. Marigold tried to back away, but he jerked her to his side. The tender man who seduced her moments ago was effectively gone.

“Just fucking say it,” Stone’s voice was deadly quiet, each word carved from Arctic ice. “Who is she?”

Hunter’s smile brimmed with malice. “Marigold Elena Calder. Twenty-four years old. Daughter of the late Evangeline Calder and that bastard Harrison Calder. Half-sister to?—”

“Jordan Calder.” The name spat from Stone’s lips like a curse as he shoved her away.

Marigold’s blood crystallized to ice as she stumbled into the wall. “I can explain?—”

“We don’t want more of your lies!”

She drew back at the barely contained violence in Hunter’s voice. When she looked to Stone for help, he looked away in disgust, only to glare at her with dark accusation. “Is Jordan your fucking brother?”

“Half-brother.” But why did they hate him? Knowing Jordan, he could have done anything. “We’re no?—”

“No more lies!” Hunter snapped, his expression shifting from cruel to something far more dangerous. “There’s been a change of plans.”

* * *

It was clear they harbored hatred for her half-brother, and she knew all about that. What wasn’t clear was what this now meant for her. So she ran.

“No!” she yelled as Hunter snatched her off her feet, too fast for her to get away. His fingers dug into her ribs like talons.

“Hunter, wait!”

But he ignored Stone’s warning, dragging her into the hall. She kicked and fought, but he was too powerful.

“Your brother’s about to get exactly what he deserves, little liar.” Hunter’s voice was gravel and broken glass.

“Stone, help me! Please!”

But Stone only watched as Hunter dragged her off.

The way he called her a liar made her stomach lurch with dread. This wasn’t the teasing endearment Ash had used or the possessive claim Stone favored. This was an accusation. A condemnation. A declaration of war.

“Hunter, please,” she whispered, desperately trying to reason with him.

He covered her mouth with his enormous hand, blocking her nostrils and making it hard to breathe through her panic. Her muffled scream didn’t make him loosen his hold any more than her clawing. So she bit him.

“Fucking bitch!” He turned into a random bedroom and threw her onto the bed. She sprang to her feet, bolting to the far side of the room where several pieces of furniture separated them. He slammed the door, locking them in what might as well be a tomb. “A little over a year ago, your dear brother attended one of our events. Uninvited. Unwelcome.”

Just like her, she thought, wondering if the irony would be her death sentence.

“I didn’t know that.” She mirrored his steps, desperately trying to keep her distance as he closed in.

“We never allow uninvited guests pass the front door, but he had friends who vouched for him, so we... accommodated his presence.”

She jerked as Stone pounded on the door. “Hunter! Open the fucking door!”

Hunter’s breathing had gone shallow and harsh, each exhale carrying the weight of barely contained fury. Stone continued to pound on the door.

Marigold searched the walls for a camera and found one above the bed. “Do something!”

Rage radiated off Hunter in waves, a hatred so deep and cold it made her bones ache with sympathetic pain. She didn’t know what Jordan had done, but she always thought the worst where her half-brother was concerned.

“He was only supposed to observe,” Hunter continued, his accent thickening with every step as he rounded the bed. “Our rules are crystal clear. First-time guests observe. They learn. They earn the privilege of participation through respect and understanding.”