Chapter 16
Together, Gavin and Marigold stepped out into the private hallway that connected the penthouse to the rest of the building.
The magical ward on the entire building thrummed faintly in the back of his senses.
It was a strong feeling. A protective one that was steady and, Goddess-willing, impenetrable.
If there was anywhere safe to have this conversation, it was here.
The elevator opened on the executive level, where another apartment had been converted into a secure meeting suite.
Two lions in human form flanked the door, both nodding slightly as Gavin approached.
Their eyes flicked to Marigold, sharp with curiosity.
He gave them a small shake of his head, silently warning them off from staring too long. She didn’t need that right now.
Inside, the air was thick with tension. Sam Kinkaid stood at the head of the table, every inch the Alpha.
He was broad-shouldered and commanding, as usual, his blond hair shining gold under the overhead lights.
Beside him were two of his lieutenants, grim-faced, and Claudia sat at the far end of the table, her expression tight, her fingers drumming against the tabletop in clear agitation.
Sam’s gaze landed on Marigold first, assessing, weighing. Then he looked to Gavin. “Good. You’re here.”
Gavin guided Marigold to a seat before he claimed his own beside her, his hand brushing hers under the table in silent reassurance. “Fill me in.”
Sam’s jaw tightened. “An hour ago, one of our juvenile females was taken while walking with her mother in the mall. The girl was snatched before anyone could react, though the mother fought like hell.”
“Who was it? Who was taken?” Gavin asked, his voice gruff with anger.
“Katrina,” Sam answered.
“Shit. Is Emmy okay?” Gavin asked, wanting to know if the girl’s mother was all right.
“They knocked her unconscious with some kind of magical wave after she clawed a couple of them, but Claudia looked her over and said she’ll be all right,” Sam reported, waving toward where Claudia sat at the other end of the table, looking more than a little angry.
Claudia nodded. “She’ll be okay. She just needs rest to recover.”
Gavin felt a rush of relief. Emmy was one of his many cousins.
“There’s more,” Sam said, recapturing everyone’s attention. “I received a phone call on my office line an hour later. It was your Aunt Petunia,” he said, turning his gaze on Marigold. “She wants us to trade you for the child.”
Marigold went utterly still at Gavin’s side. He felt a shiver run through her before she masked it. His lion rumbled low in his chest, barely leashed.
Sam continued, his voice low and lethal. “Katrina is alive, for now, but Petunia Rollins made it clear to me that she’ll start sending pieces of little Katy to my office if we don’t comply.”
Marigold’s breath caught as she whispered in a broken tone. “Aunt Petty.”
Gavin’s hand reached for hers. “We’re not handing you over,” he said, his voice a growl. “Not now. Not ever.”
Sam inclined his head once, solemn agreement in his eyes.
“No one here is suggesting we give them what they want. But we have to act fast, before they hurt Katrina. Which means, Marigold…” He leaned forward, his gaze sharp as steel.
“We need everything you can give us on how Petunia operates, and where she’s most likely keeping her hostage. ”
Marigold’s hand trembled beneath Gavin’s. He felt her gather herself, spine straightening as she looked from Sam to Claudia, then back to him.
“I should go.” Her voice was quiet but steady, full of conviction that made him want to roar in protest. “If trading me will save the girl, then that’s what has to happen. She doesn’t deserve to suffer because of me.”
“Absolutely not,” Gavin snapped before anyone else could speak. The words ripped out of him, sharper than intended, but he didn’t regret them. “You hand yourself over to Petunia, and you won’t come out of it alive. They’ll use you up and still kill the girl. That’s how your family operates.”
Sam’s expression hardened. “Gavin’s right. Trading one prisoner for another never ends well. Especially not with your kin.”
Claudia leaned forward, her voice calm but cutting. “And it’s unnecessary. Because I already know where Katy is.”
All eyes turned to her. She unfastened the leather satchel at her side, withdrawing a small crystal. It glimmered faintly with an inner light.
“I gave Katrina a gift when I got here,” Claudia continued, her gaze flicking briefly to Sam.
“Something told me to do it, and I’m super glad I followed my instincts.
I gave Katy a pair of earrings I made. Little gold studs with protective runes.
Thankfully, she was wearing them when she was taken.
My magic signature clings to them, and I used that to scry.
She’s alive, and she’s in Petunia Rollins’s house. ”
Marigold gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. Her eyes shone with a mix of hope and horror. “She’s keeping the girl at her house?”
“Which means we don’t need to even think about trading anybody,” Gavin said firmly, locking eyes with Marigold. “What we need is for you to tell us everything you can about Petunia’s house. Layout. Wards. Hidden rooms. Where she’d keep a prisoner.”
Marigold swallowed hard, and he reached for her hand again, squeezing until she met his gaze.
“You’re not a bargaining chip, Goldie,” he said, voice low but unyielding. “You’re our ally. And right now, you’re the only one who can help us get Katy back.”
Her lips parted, trembling, and for a moment, Gavin thought she might argue again. But then she nodded, resolve flickering in her haunted eyes.
“There’s a basement,” she whispered, her voice uneven.
“Always locked, with wards layered over the doors. That’s where she kept me when I was her…
uh…guest. There’s at least one suite of rooms down there, where I was always put.
There’s also a magical work room adjacent, and a little sort of dungeon area where they’d put me while she used my power. ”
“Sweet Mother,” Gavin whispered, picturing them torturing her to make her power available for their use. The bastards.
“Tell us everything you remember. Can you draw us a floorplan? The more we know, the faster we get her out,” Sam said encouragingly.
Marigold drew in a deep breath and began to speak, her words spilling over as Claudia pulled a few things from her satchel. She slid a pad and pen in front of Marigold and kept another set for herself, taking notes while Marigold spoke.
Marigold picked up the pen and started sketching slowly while she talked, answering questions when they were put to her. After a few minutes, she had drawn a reasonable facsimile of each floor of the house that she’d seen and a sketch of the parts of the grounds she remembered.
She explained as she drew, Gavin at her side while everyone else gathered round and watched closely. Gavin’s wanted to hunt Petunia Rollins and anyone who’d helped her abduct Katrina, but he was torn. He also wanted to stay by Marigold’s side and protect her from everyone and everything.
Her hand shook a bit as she drew, but she didn’t falter. Her lines were careful, her voice steady, though Gavin could feel the tension radiating off her. He stayed close, his arm brushing hers when he leaned in, grounding her with his presence.
“This set of stairs,” she said, tapping the paper where she’d drawn a staircase descending from the back hall, “leads down to the basement. That door is always locked, and there were at least two wards laid over it whenever I was there. Both were keyed to Aunt Petty’s personal signature.”
Claudia’s pen moved in swift strokes. “That means they’ll collapse once she’s neutralized.”
Marigold swallowed and continued, her voice dipping lower.
“The suite of rooms is here. Bedroom. Bath. Comfortable enough if you don’t know you’re a prisoner.
But there are also actual cells are along this wall.
” She traced a line across the page, her shoulders hunching.
“She threatened me with those, sometimes. And this area, just beyond the cells and closest to the work area is where she put me when she used my power.”
Gavin’s lion clawed at him from the inside, demanding blood.
He knew that was where they had tortured her in order to make her magic rise to the surface, where they could siphon it off for their own use.
He curled his fists, forcing himself to stay calm.
Later, he promised the beast. Later, he’d make Aunt Petunia and all her retainers pay for what they’d done to Marigold.
Sam leaned forward, studying the sketch. “What about other entrances?”
“There’s a servants’ door on the west side,” Marigold said.
“I think it leads to a storage pantry, but it also runs through to the kitchen. They took me out that way once, when Aunt Petty was having a dinner party and didn’t want anybody to see me.
Aunt Petty always said that route was an ‘emergency exit’, though I think she mostly used it to sneak people and things in and out without anyone seeing. ”
Claudia snorted softly. “That could be your breach point. She won’t expect anyone to infiltrate from there. She thinks of it as an escape route, not an entry point.”
Sam nodded once, decisively. “Good point. We could use two teams. One to hit the servants’ entrance and go for the basement directly, another to draw attention at the front.”
Marigold flinched beside him. “What about me?”
Gavin turned sharply to her, cupping her hand against the table. “You stay here, behind the wards. Where it’s safe.”
Her lips parted, protest rising, but Sam’s firm voice cut across the room. “Gavin’s right. We need your knowledge. The safest place for you, right now, is inside this building.”