Queen of Myth and Monsters (Adrian X Isolde, #2)

by Scarlett St. Clair

“King Dragos keeps a pleasure house in the dungeon of the Red Palace,” she explained. “He says it is for his lords, says they will perform better if they have a place to spill their seed.” She spoke with her bloody teeth clenched, her disgust barely contained. “The lords are free to go any time so long as they bring a new boy or girl every month. They have kidnapped hundreds, and I have only helped a few escape, but tonight as I was trying to free a girl, I was caught.” Her voice broke and she shook, tears streaming down her face. She pulled her hands from mine and started to wipe her face, but I stopped her. That only seemed to make her cry harder. “They raped me,” she whispered and then spoke through her teeth again, shaking with hate. “Every. Lord.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. I had no words. There was no comfort for this—not even in revenge—because trauma was a nightmare that clung to its victims with an iron fist. “Then they killed her,” she said, and then she wailed. “They killed her because of me.”