Love and Vengeance

Love and Vengeance Love and LiteratureBook 2 Aviva Orr © Copyright 2023 by Aviva Orr Text by Aviva Orr Cover by Kim Killion Dragonblade Publishing, Inc. is an imprint of Kathryn Le Veque Novels, Inc. P.O. Box 23 Moreno Valley, CA 92556 [email protected] Produced in the United States of America First Edition June 2023 Kindle Edition Reproduction of any kind except where it pertains to short quotes in relation to advertising or promotion is strictly prohibited. All Rights Reserved. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. License Notes: This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook, once purchased, may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or borrow it, or it was not purchased for you and given as a gift for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. If this book was purchased on an unauthorized platform, then it is a pirated and/or unauthorized copy and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Do not purchase or accept pirated copies. Thank you for respecting the author’s hard work. For subsidiary rights, contact Dragonblade Publishing, Inc. ARE YOU SIGNED UP FOR DRAGONBLADE’S BLOG? You’ll get the latest news and information on exclusive giveaways, exclusive excerpts, coming releases, sales, free books, cover reveals and more. Check out our complete list of authors, too! No spam, no junk. That’s a promise! Sign Up Here * Dearest Reader; Thank you for your support of a small press. At Dragonblade Publishing, we strive to bring you the highest quality Historical Romance from some of the best authors in the business. Without your support, there is no ‘us’, so we sincerely hope you adore these stories and find some new favorite authors along the way. Happy Reading! CEO, Dragonblade Publishing Additional Dragonblade books by Author Aviva Orr Love and Literature Series Love and Literature (Book 1) Love and Vengeance (Book 2) Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Publisher’s Note Additional Dragonblade books by Author Aviva Orr Epigraph Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Author’s Note About the Author Epigraph You remember, I suppose, How the August sun arose, And how his face Woke to trill and carolette All the cages that were set About the place. In the tender morning light All around lay strange and bright And still and sweet, And the gray doves unafraid Went their morning promenade Along the street. —Robert Louis Stevenson, “To Ottilie” Prologue Here is the ancient floor, Footworn and hollowed and thin, Here was the former door Where the dead feet walked in. —Thomas Hardy, “The Self Unseeing” Dartmoor, Devonshire Autumn 1866 Jack Bastin sat atop his chestnut mare and peered into the hazy darkness as if searching for a sign of life. “Dang!” his companion Owen Brandt said. “We’ve faced some dangerous terrain before, but ain’t nothing I ever seen compares to these fogged up, pitch-black wetlands. We’d be better off cast out at sea.” “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Jack said as they navigated through the white mist that covered the night like an ethereal shroud. “I grew up on this moor.” Brandt leaned forward and patted his steed’s muscular neck. “Wouldn’t be the first time I relied on you to keep me alive.” “Ain’t that the truth.” Jack mirrored his partner’s accent. “Now you’re sounding more like the cowboy I know.” Brandt chuckled. “But I guess I’ll have to get used to you talkin’ pretty all the time seein’ we’re on your territory.” Jack smiled to himself. He’d been born an Englishman, but ten turbulent years in Texas and the American West had taught him to develop a chameleon’s skin. He’d learned to play the part of cowboy, vigilante, gambler, businessman, and gentleman to perfection. “I see something up ahead.” Jack straightened his back and pointed at a flicker of orange. “See that light? It belongs to Ye Olde Ash Tree Inn. All we need do is ride toward it.” “What light?” Brandt strained his body forward. “That spark yonder? Looks like a firefly. Are you sure we ain’t chasing insects?” Jack chuckled. “Trust me. Follow the light, and you’ll have a fiery whiskey in your belly in no time.” “What are we waitin’ for then?” Brandt spurred his horse to a trot. Within minutes, a whitewashed, granite longhouse emerged out of the mist like some ghostly apparition. A warm glow flickered in two of its mullioned windows, and thin whips of smoke spiraled out chimneys on either side of its thatched roof. In front of the tavern, a row of horses waited for their masters, their reins knotted over a makeshift wood fence, and their feet stamping against the cold. They whinnied and flicked their tails as if to welcome the newcomers that approached. “I’ll be damned!” Brandt said. “This looks mighty inviting.” Jack halted his mare and gazed at the building. “Never thought I’d see the likes of this place again.” “Let’s get inside.” Brandt dismounted his horse. “It’s too dang cold out here.” A swing of light brought forth a scruffy stable boy carrying a lantern. Jack handed over the reins. “Fill up a bucket of water for these critters and give them some hay too.” “Aye, sir.” The boy held out his grubby palm, and Jack pressed a coin into it. He glanced at the row of horses. “Make sure none of them go without water or food, you hear?” He dropped another coin into the boy’s hand. The child nodded. “Come on.” Jack slapped