Share
Chapter 37: Return to Safehold
Related chapters
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 38: Welcome Home
Evie StantonI refused to cry.Even as I thought of the horrible visual of Desmond laying in the puddle of his own blood, Bells crying and trying to hold him. Thane looked utterly helpless as everything crumbled apart around us. Crewmen shot.Rio slashed.Katarina hiding behind the half-wall. I knew Robert would recognize her. He was a friend of my father and perhaps played a part in the insurrection. I wouldn't risk it.And who knows what happened to Samara? The children living there. The old, retired sailors that liked to fish off the pier. Homes were ransacked. Farms burned. Livestock slaughtered. The rage in Thane's eyes when he watched Robert take me away. I saw the determination. Right then and there, I knew he would do anything for me. I saw how badly he wanted to shift. Absolve us of the immediate enemy. And bring up a whole slew of others.I couldn't let him.Not at the expense of everyone else in safehold. It wouldn't be over.He knew that. I knew th
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 39: Make Them Pay
Thane DrogosI stared out at the open ocean. Our ships beckoned me to chase her. Find her. Bring her back to me again. Evelyn Stanton had wedged herself into the cracks in my walls. She was there. Holding onto me, hooked into the delicate fleshy part of my heart. Evelyn was the adhesive. Finding a place for herself within me, keeping me together so subtly that I didn't know she was doing it.With her gone, I felt everything crack, the fissures rupturing and falling apart.Empty.So much fucking emptiness, like an abyss taking up residence in my soul. My hands were covered in blood as I leaned against my mother's cabana. I sank down against it, unable to look away from my crimson hands. Desmond's blood felt as piercing as his wails from inside. Gunner had taken point, checking the damages. I felt like a ghost, everything moving in slow motion. Heavy emptiness consuming me at an alarming rate. Eating piece after piece of me until I had nothing left.Crewmen found
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 40: Family Ties
Evie Stanton"Go on, my darling. Give us a spin!" My mother encouraged with excitement that didn't reach her eyes. She was as empty as I was. If I cared, I wonder when it happened. Who broke her and when. I stood there on the platform while a seamstress pinned a white gown around my hips. The cream lace flared at the waist in a ballgown silhouette. It felt too large. Too heavy.The corset pinched my ribs. I nodded, lifting the skirt and swishing it to please my mother. "Now smile! Robert will love it," my mother added.Gulping down a hard lump, I couldn't even force a smile. I fought the urge to take the seamstress's scissors and tear them across the lace. I wanted Robert to hate it. I wanted him to take one look at me and feel just as disgusted as I did. But I refrained. My mother would call me hysterical and lock me in my room like she had the first week I was back. Handmaidens and guards stayed in the room with eyes all over me while I bathed. No sign of M
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 41: What Happens to Thieves?
Thane DrogosFirst stop: Rapier Port.Where would a pirate who just came into a shitton of money go? Men like Charles Burmingham were predictable. Deplorable. He would go to the largest pirate colony, brag about defeating me and my crew, and then fuck his way through an entire brothel.While we were en route, Sam spent the entire time hunched over the side of the ship, hurling her guts out while Rio rubbed her back. Gunner had taken up the role of first mate while Desmond recovered. Bells waited on Des hand and foot, doing everything in her power to help him heal. We still didn't know if he'd walk, but we'd cross that bridge when we got there. Doc was optimistic though, but that didn't hold much leverage in the mouth of a drunk.One-Eye's husband was a miracle worker when it came to farming. Even in scorched dirt, he manages to get seedlings to form. Hope. Seedlings gave us hope for a future at safehold. My mother stood beside me, excited almost. As if she couldn't
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 42: Wedding Bells
Evie StantonWedding bells.The day every girl wanted, or so I was told. A big, extravagant wedding. Flaunting status in the faces of the common people. Everything my mother thought a girl should want.I hated all of it.The too big dress, petticoat lined with white lace and a steel cage to hold up the weight of it. None of it felt like me, except for the open neckline where it revealed my scars. I wore them proudly. Proof of adventure. A part of who I am.And my mother would hate me displaying them. Good. Fuck her.Fuck everything about this day.But I would go through with it.I'd step down the aisle, Richard guiding me and giving me away. Not my father, he didn't deserve that title. I'd kiss Robert's thin lips and taste his tobacco-stained breath. I'd sign that fucking paperwork, selling my soul to this life.And then I'd rock the entire fucking kingdom.During the toasts, with my new mantle as Queen, I'd detail every single thing they did for power. Watch in
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 43: Indignance
Thane DrogosSeeing Evelyn again, after an excruciating month, felt like coming up for air. I had been dragged beneath the waves, smothered in darkness and icy water, fighting my way back up to the surface. Then I saw her.In a white dress that didn't suit her at all, a shawl over her shoulders, hiding all of her skin. Her face was hidden from me behind her veil. She marched down the aisle to a man that wasn't me. A man that didn't deserve her. Richard wore a crown atop his head, but it wasn't lost on me how hard he gripped Evie's arm like she would run at the first chance she got.My fingers played the keys, but my eyes wouldn't leave her. Her shoulders were set back, chin held high as if she walked toward the gallows. Pure resignation. She accepted her fate. But she wasn't broken. In an act of defiance, she shed her shawl, revealing her scars, the mauve claw marks from the siren attack. The dress dipped down in front, showing off the freckles sprinkled across her collarbone. The
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 44: A House Divided
Evie StantonI was ready. For death or liberation.My choice. Thane's cutlass was heavier than mine, but I held it with finesse. I knew the common people were watching over the guards' shoulders at the doors. Whatever happened, my father's reign was over. "Then kill me, motherfucker," I snarled, taking a stance in front of Thane. The crew that I loved so much. They were my people. Katarina took a step forward, beside me. My mother had fled to the altar, standing beside Robert as the officiant took his chance to get the hell out of there.My father didn't look like himself anymore. A mad contortion of himself. Angry and deranged. But perhaps this was what he always looked like. Just hid it well. His hair, usually unkempt, fell into his bloodshot eyes as he grasped at his chest."Kill them!" he screamed. "Kill them all!"All the sailors behind me shifted their stature. Ready to fight. To be honest, I wasn't sure I could fight in this god-awful dress. The petticoat w
Lust of a Dragon Chapter 45: Whole Again
Thane DrogosAfter catching up with the ship, I emerged from the water, shifting, the dragon returning to its place right under my skin. Evie stared up at me, no longer afraid, but fascinated. Life had come back into Evelyn's face. Her adoration for me was clear all over her face.Finally, I felt whole again. That Evelyn-shaped cavern in my chest vanished. I dressed in my cabin, eager to get back to Evie. I think she'd enjoy some of the changes I made in my cabin for her to make it our cabin.I met Evie on the upper deck, looping my arm around her waist while she engaged in friendly conversation with Rio, a cup of bourbon in her hand. Celebratory drinks.We joined other crewmen in joyous conversation. The crew seemed as satisfied as I felt. Justice had been served. Both Robert and Charles paid the price for their sins.It wasn't over.Not by a long shot, but I'd take the victory before planning the next move. This time against Richard and Beatrice Stanton. Rio left
Latest chapter
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 51: Goodbyes
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 50: The Hoard
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 49: One Last Night
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 48: The Mark
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 47: Wanted
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 46: Perfect
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 45: Whole Again
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 44: A House Divided
- Lust of a Dragon Chapter 43: Indignance
