Legacy of Brick & Bone

LEGACY OF BRICK & BONE TAINTED DOMINION BOOK 2 KRYSTLE MATAR Copyright © 2023 by Krystle Matar All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of quotations in a review. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Cover illustration and design by Brad Bergman Edited by Trinica Sampson and Taya Latham Maps by Soraya Corcoran Created with Vellum CONTENTS Also by Krystle Matar Author’s Note Acknowledgments What Came Before Prologue 1. Ishmael 2. Ishmael 3. Tashué 4. Lorne 5. Lorne 6. Stella 7. Stella 8. Stella 9. Stella 10. Stella 11. Illea 12. Tashué 13. Illea 14. Tashué 15. Ishmael 16. Tashué 17. Stella 18. Lorne 19. Stella 20. Lorne 21. Tashué 22. Ishmael 23. Tashué 24. Tashué 25. Jason 26. Illea 27. Ishmael 28. Illea 29. Ozra 30. Tashué 31. Jason 32. Ozra 33. Stella 34. Tashué 35. Illea 36. Tashué 37. Illea 38. Ozra 39. Ozra 40. Stella 41. Jason 42. Stella 43. Jason 44. Lorne 45. Stella 46. Jason 47. Stella 48. Lorne 49. Ishmael 50. Tashué 51. Ozra 52. Stella 53. Ozra 54. Stella 55. Tashué 56. Ishmael 57. Lorne 58. Ishmael 59. Illea 60. Lorne 61. Jason 62. Tashué 63. Ozra 64. Lorne 65. Jason 66. Lorne 67. Tashué 68. Ishmael 69. Jason 70. Tashué 71. Jason 72. Lorne 73. Tashué 74. Illea 75. Tashué 76. Stella 77. Ishmael About the Author ALSO BY KRYSTLE MATAR Legacy of the Brightwash (Tainted Dominion #1) Tainted (A Tainted Dominion Novella) Anthologies Alchemy of Sorrow (featuring The Paperweight Watch) Anatomy of Fear (featuring Baby Teeth) AUTHOR’S NOTE Dear Reader, Thank you for joining me here in the Dominion. Tashué’s story depicts scenes containing and/or discussing instances of domestic violence, miscarriage, addiction, drug and alcohol use and/or abuse, prisoner abuse, police brutality, racism, and torture. There are also instances of animal death. I tried to depict what it’s like to try to love in a world that’s terribly bleak, and that meant portraying that bleakness. It also meant portraying love, found family, hope, passion, courage in the face of overwhelming odds. It’s a rough world out there, and it’s a rough world in here. Here’s to trying to muddle through it all and finding love in the darkness. Take care of yourself. Even if that means skipping this book. Love, K For Stella For teaching me how to survive ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Once again, I am reminded how it takes a village to support a writer. Where do I even start? Karem, you deserve first billing, if only because you’ve survived living with me while I vacillated rapidly between despair, threatening to give up, and hyper focus. Thank you for companionship, support, surprise beer deliveries, and way too many late night burgers. You’re my King. The obligatory nod to the late great David Gemmell, without whom I would never have taken this writing business seriously. Another vital nod to Dennis Lehane, who never ceases to inspire me. And now, the village. I can’t count the number of friends I’ve met on Twitter, and in various other indie circles. There’s something really special about the way readers and writers get to come together and share in the deep love for storytelling. All of you have been so special to me, in ways that are hard to full articulate. Thank you for making an awkward hot mess of a writer feel connected, seen, and loved. hanks to everyone who bought, reviewed, boosted, everyone who’s stuck with me through endless babbling (here I am, at it again) and all the delays it took to get this book out. I want to thank you all by name, but I’ll write another 50k and then I won’t be able to fit this book in print! Specifically, thanks again to Nick, who started me on this journey by pulling me into the indie crowd. I love my Before We Go Blog family especially. And now I call myself a member of the FanFiAddict family, too, and I am honoured. Thank you, Beth and David, for everything. You’ve built pillars of this wonderful community, holding us up so we can reach as many people as possible with our stories. To my frogicorn brethren and sisteren, I love you all. Jenn, Tim, Kerstin, Holly, Ben, Fletcher, Clayton, Lauren, Taya, Christopher—it was an honour to stand with you in SPFBO 7. Here’s to the wildest ride of my professional life, and here’s to the companionship that got us through it. And Jenn specifically, here’s to the wildest story about minotaurs I have ever witnessed. Thanks again to Fletcher, for slogging through the hot pile of garbage I sent you and helping me to find the gems. (Everything bad that happens in this book is his fault and angry mail should be sent to him.) Thank you to Connor, my hero. I can’t wait to watch the rise of your career. You’re going places, kid. Sara, my whisker, what can I even say? Thank you for being so interesting and thank you for being like family. Special love to Dan and Fiona. Thank you both for helping me ground my own feet in who I am, and for giving me the courage to just be that person, come what may. Adrian, thank you for taking the time to teach me how to tattoo myself safely! Your company through what was a very hard stage of my life in general helped keep me close(ish) to sane. Thank you to Ryan Cahill and Carissa Broadbent for inspiring me to reach for the stars. Saving the very best for last, thank you to Ronkwahrhakónha again, because without you, Tashué wouldn’t be the man he is.