PROLOGUE
L.O.R.D.
ALord takes his oath seriously. Only blood will solidify their commitment to serve those who demand their complete devotion.
He is aLeader, believes inOrder, knows when toRule, and is aDeity.
A Lord must be initiated in order to become a member but can be removed at any time for any reason. If he makes it past the three trials of initiation, he will forever know power and wealth. But not all Lords are built the same. Some are stronger, smarter, hungrier than others.
They are challenged just to see how far theirloyaltywill go.
They are pushed to their limits in order to prove theirdevotion.
They are willing to show theircommitment.
Nothing except their life will suffice.
Limits will be tested, and morals forgotten.
A Lord can be a judge, jury, and executioner. He holds power that is unmatched by anyone other than his brother.
Chosen one:
A Lord must remain celibate during his first three years at Barrington University. Once he is initiated into the Lords, he is gifted a chosen for his senior year.
A Lady:
After they graduate from Barrington, they are to marry a Lady—a wife to serve him. If he shall die before her, she is then gifted to another Lord to ensure the secrets are kept within the secret society.
A Spade brother:
A Lord is placed strategically out into the world. But no Lord is safe from their own if they break their oath. If you don’t believe in hell, the Spade brothers will change your mind. They are a special kind of Lord. They will sit on their thrones and watch you burn to death for eternity with the fire theystarted. They give no fucks and have no limits. They collect the names they are given, and erase you from the world as if you never existed, and make you wish that was the truth.
Founder:
A founder is special to the Lords. Above the rest. A woman within the Lords’ world who is a founder is sentenced to a life as a breeder if she fails her assignment for initiation.
ONE
KASHTON
INITIATION
Loyalty
Freshman year at Barrington University
Isit in the corner of the cell, legs bent and forehead resting on my knees. I’m trying to stay present. Not live in the past.
It’s the silence that gets me. The cold chill in my bones and the ghost that haunts this hell.
“Sometimes you have to hurt the one you love.”
She speaks to me all the time. In my dreams, throughout the day. There’s no escape.
Days I’ve been locked in here. Hours and hours of being left with my mind. My father wants me to be disoriented, second-guessing myself.
Weak and vulnerable.
