Page 43 of Gilded Locks

Afterwards, she was always still. Not numb, but too overtaxed to truly feel the reality of life for a bit. Her tongue was too tired to move, and her eyes stayed unfocused for days. It was as if her spirit were forced outside of her body and her flesh only held bone to cage whatever remained of her mind.

She didn’t have the words to make them understand everything she’d survived. “It was hell on earth.”

“How did you escape?” At Ash’s quiet question, she straightened and blinked back to the present, forcing those horrific memories away and digging deep for courage.

“I was visiting family, home for the weekend.”

“I didn’t know hell sanctioned field trips.”

She glared at Hunter. He was right, of course, but that wasn’t the point. “Only for well-behaved patients.” Which she was not. “Jordan brought a friend home that weekend. A girl.” She couldn’t claim the girl was a woman. “She looked barely sixteen.”

Hunter hissed what could only be a swear word in Russian, as Stone turned away, rubbing the back of his neck. Ash was the only one not to break eye contact. He wanted the truth and intended to have all of it.

“I tried to help her,” she confessed truthfully. “You have to believe I’m not like him.”

“How did you try?”

“When Jordan was preoccupied, I told her to leave, but she had no interest in going anywhere. She wanted to be with him. Jordan caught me trying to force her out the door and lost it. He called my dad, then they contacted the facility. They were already looking for me.”

“Because you weren’t allowed to leave in the first place.”

“Correct. Jordan…” Those final moments had been her last familiar glimpse of her family. “He said that would be the last time I ever saw home. He promised to have me committed for the rest of my life.”

The walls were closing in on her. Just the thought of wasting away in that place for a lifetime left her claustrophobic and terrified. She still wasn’t safe. These men could turn her in, send her back to that waking hell, and sentence her to rot for the rest of her life.

She was suddenly very tired, as if she hadn’t slept in months.

“So you ran,” Stone said, with something approaching understanding in his voice.

“Wouldn’t you?” She met his emerald eyes without flinching, and he gave a subtle nod.

“Why did you come here, to Kassel?”

“I needed to go somewhere they wouldn’t think to look. I’d heard how exclusive the Isles of Kassel were, and when I found the invitation it seemed almost serendipitous. I’d once heard Jordan mention that he couldn’t go back, but I had no idea why. I just figured anywhere he wasn’t welcome was safe.”

Ash studied her, rubbing his chin. “Care to explain who Mary Langford is?”

“She’s the daughter of a member of Parliament.”

“I ran her name. She’s never been a guest here. Her invitation wasn’t issued by us. Who invited her?”

“I don’t know. I never met her face-to-face. There was a gala at the country club the night I ran. I went there, hoping Jordan wouldn’t make a scene if he followed me. I stole her coat and purse when I was looking for a disguise in the coat check?—”

“Clever little thief,” Ash said with a smirk.

“Yes, I can be. Anyone can be, if their circumstances are bad enough. I used her phone to arrange a flight with her documentation. No one ever questioned me. I didn’t see the invitation to Kassel until I was in the air on her family’s private jet.”

“So you stole a coat, a phone, her ID, and an aircraft. Impressive,” Stone chuckled.

“This isn’t fucking funny,” Hunter snarled. “Where did you get the boat?”

She hesitated, not wanting to get the only person who helped her in trouble.

“I asked you a fucking question!”

“A woman.” She jolted with panic, trying to recall the order of events. “It all happened so fast. Agents were waiting at the tarmac when we landed. I wouldn’t have escaped if not for her.”

“Who was she?”