I was worried, very, very worried. Nobody had been able to reach Hannah for two days and Rev looked like a walking corpse. We had tracked down her friend Michelle, who hadn’t heard from her in a month and she confirmed that Hannah had no plans to come and visit her. Hannah had lied to us and Rev swore that nothing had happened between them that would make Hannah leave. I believed him.“Where would she go?” I asked Rev as he sat on the couch looking like death.“I don’t know Lucas,” he said to me honestly.“She looked fine when I talked to her and she told me to my face she was going to visit Michelle,” I said to him.“Same here, she was herself,” he said to me.“We found her car!” Preston yelled as he barged into the office and Rev and I both jumped up.“Where?” Rev asked.“In lower Aurora,” he said.“The fuck,” Rev said.“Why would she go there?” I asked feeling confused.“Lucas! Lucas!” I heard Timothy yelling.“Timothy?” I asked as he also barged into my office looking like he’d se
Baz walked outside and separated from me as we neared the open area at the back of the house. He took a deep breath and blew it into my face. My eyes closed instantly and I was transported to the dragon realm.“Typhon,” I said as I saw the black tail flicking across the floor and bowed my head.“Sire Lucas host of Bazzoit,” he said in his deep voice.“My liege,” Bazzoit said and bowed his head.“Bazzoit, descendant of mine,” Typhon said.“We are but humble servants in your presence seeking permission to speak with you,” Baz said.“Permission granted,” Typhon breathed and he peered at me as his head moved out of the shadows.“We seek to trace a familial bond. Sire Lucas’s sister has been taken by degenerates and we need to find her,” Baz said.“Yes,” his voice hissed for a moment.“We request to use the magic of this realm to find her,” Baz requested.“Granted my child,” Typhon said.“Thank you,” I said with my head still bowed.“You are an intriguing one Sire Lucas, you fear your Elde
The next few days passed in a blur as Timothy practically moved into the house and helped with all the women next door. A few of them were severely traumatized and Stella worked closely with them as did Nadia. She shared her own ordeal with them and through her they started trusting us enough to share information and write statements.A few of the women had no lairs or families and they were integrated into our lair and Hannah found jobs for them in Aurora. The ones that were more traumatized were sent for counseling and Timothy worked closely with them. For some reason, the women really trusted him and we spent a lot of time piecing together the McIntyre network.Baz had made Carson’s dragon submit much to his irritation and we still held him in the basement. I would deal with him later. We had over twenty statements and video footage of the women testifying about the things that were done to them.They all knew Carson’s face and name and they mentioned several other names of men now
“Dragonkin of my lair, thank you for gathering with me tonight at such short notice,” I said as I stood in the front of the ballroom watching my people.My family stood to one side and Hannah was seething. Jennifer had been crying the entire day and they were all angry. Jasper wanted to be there but I asked him to stay away because I was afraid that he’d kill the Elders out of pure rage. I still needed them to grant me execution rights for Joseph and Carson McIntyre.“The Elders have requested your presence so that my punishment can be executed tonight and they want you all to bear witness to my humiliation. What they don’t realize is that this isn’t humiliating for me, I take these lashings proudly because I stand with my decision to turn Jennifer Halstead and make her a proper member of our lair,” I said and wild applause erupted.“Charming,” Elder James said as they stepped forward and my lair looked at them with disgust. Elder Gareth held the syringe of dragon venom that would del
“Coming!” she yelled at the knock on the door of her apartment.She opened the door and stood frozen as she looked at Hannah and Rev. Hannah smiled slightly and Rev just grunted as they all stared at each other.“Hello Rylee,” Hannah said.“How did you find me?” Rylee asked her.“I have friends,” Hannah shrugged.“Does Lucas know where I am?” Rylee asked.“No,” Hannah said, “can we come in?”“Sure,” Rylee said as she looked around.She opened the door wider and let Hannah and Rev enter. They walked through to the living room and Rylee showed them each a seat.“Something to drink?” Rylee asked.“Coffee for both of us,” Hannah said as they sat down.Rylee walked to the kitchen and absent-mindedly her hand went to her stomach. She was now almost four months pregnant and living in Joliet. She was slightly worried that Hannah had found her and she was itching with curiosity as to why they were here.“I assume this isn’t a friendly visit to see how I am,” Rylee said as Rev took the tray fro
I was vaguely aware of beeping machines deep in my subconscious. My limbs felt too heavy and I couldn’t move them. I knew I was dreaming or hallucinating as I smelled Rylee’s scent close to me and I could swear someone was holding my hand.I felt tired and I hurt and for some reason I couldn’t open my eyes or speak. This process repeated itself about four times and I had no idea how much time had passed. This time when I came to my senses things felt different.I still struggled to open my eyes and I was aware that I was on my stomach and I could smell her again. It was like she was right there with me, stroking my hair with one hand while the other one was entwined in my own hand.I felt her hand move and I gripped it tightly, “please don’t leave me,” I whispered and I could feel her breath on my face.“I’m not going anywhere,” she said in her soft voice.“Is he waking up?” I heard Hannah ask.“Yes,” Rylee said.“I’ll call Stella,” Hannah said and I heard her footsteps as she left th
After dinner I followed Rylee up the stairs and she stopped on the third floor and turned to me. I didn’t really know what to expect because I had treated her like shit yet here she was and I didn’t know what to say other than sorry which wasn’t really good enough.“Well this is me,” she said and turned to walk down the hall.“You’re sleeping in the guest room?” I asked her.“Well I am a guest here,” she said and my heart sank.“Okay,” I said and turned towards the stairs again.“We should make some time to talk,” she said.“We should,” I said to her.I lay in bed and thought about everything I wanted to say to her, everything I should say to her but knowing she wasn’t staying kind of ruined all that, not that I could blame her. I was surprised she was even here now.I woke up as Rylee put a cup of coffee down on the bedside table. She was already dressed and she looked good, she was glowing and she looked happy.“Morning,” she said with a smile.“Hey,” I said as I sat upright and too
“How do you know Beckett Lawley?” I asked Rylee as I stood in the doorway of her bedroom.“Why?” she asked me and I could see that she had stiffened when I mentioned his name.“You’re living in his apartment,” I said.“How do you know that?” she asked me.“The Elders told me, so it’s true?” I asked her.“I met Beckett about three years ago at a function that Colin had at his house,” she said.“I’m sure he just jumped at the opportunity to take you in,” I said.“We became friends,” she said.“So how do you see this working?” I asked her.“See what working?” she asked me.“Us,” I said to her.“There is no us Lucas. I meant what I wrote in that letter,” she said.“So why are you here?” I asked her.“Closure maybe and I felt guilty for you taking my punishment and I wanted to help you heal which my presence did,” she said.“So you intend to leave again?” I asked her.“Yes,” she said.“Don’t,” I said to her.“I know you don’t want them and I’m more than capable of looking after them myself