Chapter 1
It was the utter filth that drove him mad. The cold, dank, and moldy scent carried over into what little clothing he had. Aside from his own filthy skin, it was all he could smell most of the time. He scratched his arm and cringed when flakes of skin fell to the hard ground. He hadn’t been cleaned for weeks. It was his punishment, of course. They knew it made him crazy.
And they used it as leverage to gain his cooperation. It wasn’t a hard choice for him. If he refused, the punishments could be worse.
The lashings were nothing he hadn’t eventually learned to take. Physical pain was only on the surface. He could handle that. It was the other stuff that took its toll. Every day was the same. There wasn’t much he could do about it. They ruled him, and he wasn’t strong enough to take them all. If he was, Evander would have left long ago.
But one day, he’d have his revenge, and it would taste better than anything he’d ever sunk his teeth into. That’s what kept him going. It would have been easy to get them to off him. They were easily riled and often killed without hesitation. It was one reason they were so feared among the dragon kin. Not many would move against them, and the tension showed in the ranks. He’d paid attention, listened in, and took note of everything, just in case he could ever use it to his advantage.
The guard stood against the castle wall, glaring at him.
Rinse and repeat. That’s what it was like for him. Day after day.
It was the same guard he’d nearly killed just months before, but too soon the other guards heard his call and came to his rescue.
It was a shame, really.
Evander chuckled as he remembered that day. It was one of the best he’d had in a long time. It had taken the guard a full day to heal. Since the incident, Lyle had done everything in his power to make Evander’s life hell–not that it had far to go to get there. He was, after all, a prisoner to the Council. And they made sure he was reminded every single day that the only reason why he was alive was because they had decided to let him be.
Assholes.
He glared right back. The guard didn’t like messing with him anymore, but he also had the upper hand. Evander was stuck behind a wrought iron, locked gate, with only a worn cot and a thin blanket. The bitter chill from the cement floor soaked through the thin layers of his battered shorts.
He was a dragon. Cold wasn’t an issue for him. Warmth, on the other hand…he shuddered, ignoring the chill that ran down his spine. It tingled along the scars as a daily reminder why heat was bad for him.
He didn’t need to relive his horrors. What he needed was to get the hell out of the only place he’d ever known. He had no reason to stay, and every day he tried to figure a way out. So far, he’d come up empty.
He heard the faint sound of Lyle’s headset before he snarled and barked out his responses. He wasn’t happy about something, and Evander wasn’t either. Usually, this meant it was time to face the Council and do something he hated. He was just tired. He didn’t want to fight.
“Are they ready to off me yet?” He wasn’t joking, but he smiled anyway hoping to unnerve the guard. If only. He’d been waiting for that day since he was ten, and they’d taken the only person in his life he ever cared for.
“Don’t we all wish,” Lyle muttered, and stuck the key in the lock.
The lock was old, and a high-pitched squeal had him gritting his teeth. “What’s the matter, jealous the Council likes me enough to keep me alive?”
Being able to taunt the guards was the only real joy he got out of life. It beat the daily boredom and loneliness. Most of the time, it didn’t bother him, but being a Golden Dragon made it harder to be locked away from his kin. He didn’t understand why it mattered that he wasn’t pure. No one could even tell he wasn’t, or so he thought. There were no defining features that said, “Hey, he’s not pure.”
It was what it was. His mother didn’t choose to have an affair outside of her race. That choice was taken from her. His hand shook, just as it always did–a nervous tick that sprang up any time he thought of the woman whom he lost too soon. Lyle noticed and smirked as if he knew just what Evander was thinking about.
“They don’t like you,” he said, and sneered. “You’re useful when necessary. But you’re nothing but a whipping boy.”
And that truth sucked.
Lyle wrapped his meaty hand around Evander’s arm, holding on like he would try to get away. His fingers dug into his flesh, but he’d grown immune to the pain. It no longer gave the reaction it used to.
Where would he go, really?
The castle was full of pure-blooded Golden Dragons and many other things that the Royals thought they’d kept hidden by keeping them locked away in the filthy dungeon.
But he knew.
And one day, their betrayal would backfire. Their day was coming. He knew it with the utmost certainty.
The best thing of all: he’d be alive to help deliver the vengeance for all he’d lost.
***
She couldn’t do it.
Matt was the sweetest man she’d ever met. He grew up with a mom and a dad and siblings galore. He wanted to follow that same tradition with his own family someday. Callie didn’t feel that a pretty cookie-cutter picture fit her. She grew up with a mother, aunt, and cousin. No siblings. No father, uncle, or brother. Yet her life was full of love, and she was blessed in ways that even Matt didn’t understand.
His family had buried secrets, and she knew deep in her gut that not everything was as it seemed within the walls of their home. She knew his mom didn’t approve of her. It was written all over her face every time they spent any time together. She played it off for Matt, though, because she desperately didn’t want to hurt him, but it was two days before the wedding, and panic was sinking in.
Could she really marry into his family?
Could she paste on a smile and pretend she was anything like his mother or his sister–hell, even his father?
No. She couldn’t. It didn’t matter how much she loved him.
Callie stared out the window and let the tear trickle down her cheek. It wasn’t fair to either of them. She couldn’t be what he wanted or needed, and she couldn’t bear to hide behind their riches and plastic hearts.
If only she’d known before now. Her heart ached for more than just Matt or herself. She had this yearning–one she couldn’t decipher, but it was there nonetheless.
Matt cleared his throat. “It’s over, isn’t it?”
She took a deep breath. He knew her so well. She turned toward him and held out her hand. “I can’t be what you need, Matty.”
Her rolled his eyes at his old nickname but kept calm. “You don’t really know that, Callie.”
“I do, though. It doesn’t feel right.”
“But do you love me?”
She reached for his hand and gripped it in hers. “I do, but sometimes, loving someone isn’t enough.”
He laced their fingers, nodded, and swallowed before he blinked back his own tears. “I know.”
“So, you’ll let me go?”
“Yes.”
And that was it. There was nothing more to say. They loved each other, but it wasn’t in that all-consuming, burning passion she desired. It wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. Her soulmate was out there somewhere, searching for her.
She only wished it would have been Matt. But he’d find the right woman for him, and he’d one day be happy she stopped the wedding.
She wasn’t sure how long they stood with their hands locked together, but the light eventually faded into darkness.