The Heartstone Saga Book 5: Light of the Aegis By Archibald Bradford Copyright © 2020 Cover Art by Erik Von Lehmann http://erikvonlehmann.deviantart.com/ Introduction Nameless and his bond-mates are making a new life for themselves in the city of Garland, but they can’t forget what brought them there, the final showdown is coming and once it arrives things will never be the same. WARNING: This is a work of erotic fantasy, there is nudity, some swearing, a fair bit of violence, and plenty of naughty sex between men (and women) and monster girl/girls. If that isn’t your cup of tea please give this book a pass! Otherwise please enjoy! Table of Contents Introduction Table of Contents Legal Notes Prologue: Armstrong Chapter 1: Incognito Chapter 2: Sunrise Chapter 3: Roll in the Hay Chapter 4: Thunder and Light Chapter 5: Trappings of Home Chapter 6: Stolen Moments Chapter 7: Reconnaissance Chapter 8:Sneaking, Flirting, Killing Chapter 9: Klael Chapter 10: Dismembered Chapter 11: Heated Emotions Chapter 12: Hope:Hope Chapter 13: Invitations Chapter 14: Hearty Parties Chapter 15: Duty and a Weirdo Chapter 16: Telling Tales Chapter 17: Moonlit Bonds Chapter 18: Reunions and Reconciliations Chapter 19: At Auction Chapter 20: Longinus Chapter 21: In the Dark Chapter 22: History Repeats Chapter 23: Fallen Monarch Chapter 24: That Which Sustains Chapter 25: The Baking Queen Chapter 26: This is Me Flirting Chapter 27: Pierced Chapter 28: A Secret is Born Chapter 29: Royal Welcome Chapter 30: Bunch of Goofs Chapter 31: Home Sweet Home Chapter 32: Feeling Blue Chapter 33: Dressing Down Chapter 34: Touching Off Chapter 35: Exposed Chapter 36: Run Bunny Run Chapter 37: Stand Together Chapter 38: Chaos, Above and Below Chapter 39: Triage Chapter 40: The Matriarch Chapter 41: Tainted Pair Chapter 42: Enduring Hope Chapter 43: Grace and Creed Chapter 44: Ham amidst Crisis Chapter 45: Avalanche Chapter 46: Full Circle Chapter 47: Wily Witch’s Wiles Chapter 48: Drowning Chapter 49: The Folly of Yana Brael Chapter 50: Reckoning Chapter 51: Embracing the Light Chapter 52: Titanic Threesome Chapter 53: Despair Chapter 54: The Ripple Effect Chapter 55: Colonial Ambitions Chapter 56: Beginning Again Epilogue: Legend About The Author Other Books By The Lieutenant Legal Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you want someone else to read it please purchase them a copy. All of the characters in sexual situations are 18 years of age or older and any resemblance to persons living or dead is both coincidental and unintentional. This one is for my patrons, thanks for having my back. Prologue: Armstrong Before he was a husband and a father, William Armstrong was a career criminal. He’d never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, and he never messed with monster girls. But he was still guilty of a litany of crimes. Assault, robbery, fraudulent representation, extortion, the list went on. If there was an angle to be found, he was the one looking for it. In his youth he and his parents had a falling out, mostly over the kinds of people he was spending his time with and the activities they were getting up to together. He never did reconcile with them, which would later be his biggest regret in life. He and his associates carried on like idiots for the better part of his twenties, pulling off a number of capers that would solidify their reputation in the criminal underworld. Then he met a girl and everything changed. Kendra Wilburn was unlike anyone he had ever known: she was joyous and kind, loving and selfless, and though she had a bit of a temper, it was rarely seen. From the moment she first fractured his wrist for trying to steal her bag, Will was done. He bid farewell to his friends and ‘co-workers’ and got an honest job for honest pay, all in striving to become an honest man. The only obstacle to his love? A Troglodyte named Cass who also loved Kendra. For good reason the lizard girl didn’t trust him, even when he and Kendra married two years after they first met she was still frosty towards him. But Kendra was in love, and as her best friend Cass respected that, even if it wasn’t with her. It took the lizard girl and the reformed criminal years to become something close to friends; it wasn’t until his son was born that she finally acknowledged that, as much of a rascal as he could be at times, he was a decent man. Then Kendra was murdered, and they had to become more than friends to survive. Even though she was still recovering from childbirth, the selfless mother had blocked the door and bought Cass and her husband the precious few seconds necessary for them to escape the burning house and the dark monster that ruined their lives. Neither would ever forget her final words: a simple plea for them to save her baby. After that night William became a criminal once more, stealing anything and everything he and Cass needed to keep his son warm and fed, healthy and safe. Meanwhile the Troglodyte pushed a stud of iron through one of her ears and pledged a life-debt. Neither to her deceased best friend nor the man who had loved her, but to the nameless infant, who had done nothing to earn it. Her reasoning was that if he grew up to become an Empath like his mother was he could more than earn it then. She was so smitten with her for a reason. While on the run the unlikely pair worried for the child constantly, given how small he was. But time passed and he began to gain weight; becoming a healthy, if small, baby under their almost fanatical care. And they never forgot the threat the dark monster posed to the boy. Both
