Page 1 of Surging Reef
Chapter 1
Ashby Kalen clawed at the stone slabs as agony tore through him. The silver had long since burned the flesh around his ankle, leaving the bone exposed.
He couldn’t remove the cuff or break the chain. Which left breaking the bone, and he wasn’t ready yet. Didn’t know if he’d ever be.
His fingertips were bloody, and his healing slow. The sound of the ocean lapping at the stony shore of the island lulled him into a pain-hazed trance.
He hadn’t been conscious when he’d been brought here, but he did not doubt where he was.
Surging Reef.
No one came here simply to visit. No one walked out of here. At least not until they were led out to be euthanized.
Did he deserve to die? Maybe.
Did he deserve to be tortured with silver chains and left to starve? He didn’t think so.
Queen Anne wasn’t what he’d callmerciful.
Had he snacked on her favorite pet? Yes, he had. Or he’d tried to. The moment his fangs had pierced the skin, it had been over.
He’d been starving, and the tart little trollop had played him. Was he too full of himself and too stupid to realize it at the time? Sadly, yes. Thinking wasn’t his forte, not when he was hungry. Had he used his brain instead of his dick—or stomach—he was sure he’d have realized how incredulous it was to think Naveen wanted him.
He’d spent weeks in isolation, swearing left and right and up and down he had nothing to do with the group of assassins who’d found the tunnel into Anne’s house.
She lived in the most amazing six-bedroom stone housethat had happened to be owned by a rum runner during the Prohibition era. The entrance of the tunnel had long since been blocked, but he might have let it slip it was there. He might also have let it slip when Queen Anne would be elsewhere occupied.
Could she prove it? Nope.
Did she suspect him? Hell yeah.
Would she look bad if she killed him without proof? She would, but as stated before, she wasn’t known for being merciful. The only reason she’d spared him was because she couldn’t afford conflict within the ranks.
He wasn’t loved by all, not by a long shot, but he had enough friends for there to be suspicion and outrage if she had him killed without evidence.
But he’d presented her with a solution. Sometimes it sucked being an idiot.
Hervey Jehan, the king of the Woodland Kingdom, tried to take over the Waterside. Since Anne wasn’t Ashby’s favorite, he hadn’t reported there being Woodland spies in the territory. He had bought them a beer and…eh…It had been a glorious night with plenty of liquor and a few pretty humans to snack on.
In retrospect, maybe he should’ve been more careful. Though he wasn’t here because of the spies, and while the failed assassination hadn’t helped his cause, it wasn’t the reason either.
No, it was Naveen, the fucking little strumpet.
Anne had kept him locked up in her horror basement—with the cool rum-running tunnel—for a couple of weeks, and he’d been starving.
He should’ve known better, of course. Naveen had been there, prowling in front of the cage as soon as Anne was out of the house.
He should’ve known he wasn’t there because of Ashby’s charms. He’d never understood what Naveen did with Anne. Itwas obvious he wasn’t into women, but Anne loved him, and he guessed some men liked being treated like precious pets.
Who was he to judge?
In his hunger delirium, he’d been sure Naveen had been stalking around because he wanted Ashby. He was a fine specimen when not starving and chained up in a lighthouse, more than one person had told him so. Why wouldn’t Naveen want him? He sure as hell wasn’t getting dick from Anne, and Ashby could give it to him. A bite for a decent shag was a fair deal. A deal he’d made several times in the past with people much less appealing than Naveen. A vampire had to do what a vampire had to do, and being hungry sucked.
He was a little unsure of how everything had happened. Naveen had been there making suggestions, talking dirty, and showing off his harlot qualities in all the best ways. He’d moaned and stroked his throat, pushed himself against the bars of the cage.
Right as Ashby’s fangs had sunk through the skin, Anne and a group of guards had appeared in the basement.
And now he was here. At Surging Reef. Inside the abandoned lighthouse.
