The Unshackled King (by David Wu) novel Chapter 87

Hewitt, Celeste, and Zoey were all crowded into the hospital room.

Celeste's eyes were red and swollen, tears threatening to spill. Seeing her son like this—bandaged, bruised, broken—made her heart clench. "Hank... how did this happen? Who did this to you?"

Hewitt stood nearby, his face a mask of barely contained fury. "Tell me who did this." His voice was low, dangerous. "No one lays a hand on my son and walks away."

The Stewart name should have been protection enough. Whoever did this wasn't just attacking Hank—they were spitting on the entire family.

Zoey nodded, her expression fierce. "Just say the name. We're Stewarts. We don't let people push us around."

Hank's face twitched as he tried to speak. The movement pulled at his injuries, and fresh tears welled in his eyes. "It was... Mr. Burgess. From the Celestial Wyrm Society."

"The Celestial Wyrm Society?"

Hewitt's expression shifted. The fury in his eyes dimmed, replaced by something more cautious.

Zoey blinked. "Wait—I thought you went to see someone named Dawson. What happened? And who's this Mr. Burgess person?"

"Deputy leader." Hank's voice was weak. "He's their deputy leader. He's the one who beat me."

The room went quiet.

The deputy leader of the Celestial Wyrm Society? How had Hank gotten tangled up with someone like that?

"Hank." Hewitt leaned forward. "Start from the beginning. How did this happen?"

"I don't even know!" His voice cracked. "I was just—" Hank looked like he might actually cry. He explained everything.

His plan was to have the Celestial Wyrm Society teach Stefan a lesson. The initial conversation with them went smoothly. And then, he'd shown them Stefan's photo. And Norris had lost it. Completely. Like someone had flipped a switch. He'd attacked Hank.

"After he finished beating me," Hank added quietly, "he said if the Stewarts wanted revenge, we were welcome to try."

In Mound City, she was legendary. Her and Nina Reed—the city's two great beauties.

But Megan drew more attention than Nina. For one simple reason: widows always do.

Ten years ago, she'd married into Mound City's Spencer family. Days later, her new husband—the Spencer heir—died of a sudden illness. Left her a widow at the peak of her beauty.

She could have left. Could have remarried. The Spencers wouldn't have stopped her. The head of the Spencer family, William Spencer, had urged her to move on.

Instead, she shocked everyone. She stayed. She mourned. And when the Spencer family's fortunes began to sink, she rolled up her sleeves and saved them. Single-handedly dragged them back from the brink.

A woman like that? Of course people talked.

Megan cupped water in her palms and let it run over her face.

The water beaded on her skin, catching the light. A tiny beauty mark sat just below her right eye—barely there, but devastating. Each droplet that clung to it only made her more impossibly beautiful.