Page 14 of The Forsaken Heir

Glancing at my watch, I found it was already nearly two in the morning. Rather than feeling exhausted, though, I was wired. I’d had a nap prior to Vincent stealing me away. And with the adrenaline coursing through my system from this whole situation, I didn’t think I could sleep if I tried.

“I’m good if you are,” I said.

He grinned. “Great. Dragons are fairly nocturnal. Wolves?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Somewhat,” I said, skirting the truth I wasn’t ready to reveal yet. “More crepuscular, but for the most part we keep normal human hours. Helps us blend in better. Staying up late doesn’t bother me at all, though,” I added, not wanting my time with him to end.

“All right, then,” he said.

Aurelius led me back into the newer portions of the home, showing me all the amenities—a game room with an antique pool table; a theater room with over two dozen leather recliners; even a fitness room with every kind of exercise equipment I could fathom.

It was a lot larger than the gym Delphine and I went to.

The place was absolutely massive. Knowing the dragons’ numbers were shrinking, the sheer size of the house filled me with a sadness I didn’t care for.

It was like the place had been built for life and activity, but now that was fading.

“Not a bad place to spend time,” Aurelius finally said as he escorted me back to my room.

“You’ve got that right. It’s like a billionaire’s wet dream. Oops,” I yelped, clamping a hand to my mouth. “Sorry. No filter.”

Aurelius grinned, and his gaze slid down my body, then back to my eyes. Heat flooded my cheeks and between my legs. God, he was gorgeous. I wished he’d say something. The silence stretched on for what felt like years, when in reality it was only a few seconds.

“I like you, Elle. You’re a breath of fresh air, and I needed that.”

“Uh, well, I’m glad I could, uh, help with that,” I muttered.

“Hmm.” He grinned mischievously, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

He looked like he was about to say something else, but before he could, the door of my room burst open. Rasp came barreling out, eyes wide in horror.

He nearly ran me over as he exited.

“Oh, thank God!” he shouted, pressing a hand to his chest. “Shit! I thought you’d vanished.”

“He means he was worried you’d escaped,” Vincent said from behind him, his eyes downcast and a furrow between his brows. “Rasp thought you might have gotten out, and were bringing back an army of wolves to vivisect us into bloody piles of meat and bone while we slept.”

Rasp, Aurelius, and I all looked at Vincent in shocked disgust.

“Eww,” I said. “Gross.”

Vincent shrugged, obviously unconcerned. He waved a hand back into the room.

“We brought more food. And wine. That’s what took us so long. Rasp thought cold food wasn’t good enough, so we woke one of the house chefs to make a meal.”

“That’s nice of you,” I said. “Why don’t the three of you join me?”

They shared a look that jumped from confusion, to worry, and then surprise.

“It’s getting late,” Aurelius said. “We wouldn’t want to impose. You deserve to relax and wind down.”

I wanted to tell them I wasn’t used to having so many people to hang out with.

Delphine was pretty much the only person I got to talk to—her and my coworkers at the sewing shop.

Deep inside, I was dying to have a conversation with some people who I didn’t work or live with.

New perspectives, new stories, all the things I’d missed out on during my exile.

“Please,” I said, giving Aurelius my best sympathetic look.

To my utmost relief, he grinned.

“All right. I’m game if these two are,” he said.

“Free food and booze?” Rasp said with a grin. “I am down. ”

“Sure. Why not,” Vince agreed.

In the room, there were several new trays with sautéed meats and veggies. Two bottles of wine sat on the table as well—a white in a bucket of ice, and a bottle of red beside it.

“Were you trying to put me in a drunken food coma?”

Rasp’s cheeks reddened. “I wanted to make sure you had enough.”

“I think you succeeded,” I said.

After settling down in the room, I allowed myself to relax a bit more. None of these three men were a threat, which anyone else of my kind would have had a hard time believing, but it was true. Not only could I sense it from their attitudes, but my instincts told me it was the truth.

Rasp was like a frat boy with a heart of gold—a golden retriever dragon, if you will.

He was goofy but charming and funny. Vincent, while awkward and a bit different, was just as charming.

Even though he didn’t talk a lot, and if what he did say was overly direct and literal, I got good vibes from him.

They were a little more immature than I was, although that was probably to be expected. From the way Aurelius made it sound, these two men were some of the youngest dragons on earth. And a twenty-one year old dragon would always seem less mature than a twenty-seven-year-old wolf.

As for Aurelius? I couldn’t stop looking at him. It was almost as if his very presence drew my eyes to him. It should have been ridiculous, but there was an attraction there I couldn’t put my finger on, and from the way he was acting toward me, it might have been reciprocal.

Oh, please, Elle. Aurelius fucking Decimus does not have the hots for you . The prince of dragons? Really? Get a hold of yourself .

Still, despite my mental warnings, I kept feeling his eyes on me as our little group ate and drank.

All the ways he interacted with us gave off the impression that every movement, every word, was dictated by years of rules and royal propriety.

Every now and then, he’d let loose with a joke or something, but for the most part he tried his best to remain reserved and prince-like for want of a better word.

Yet, there was a beast beneath. Something that intrigued me.

Under that quiet countenance, a wild animal wanted to get out.

Raising my wine glass to my lips, I grinned to myself. I supposed being able to shift into a giant dragon would qualify as having a wild animal inside.

“What’s so funny?” Aurelius asked, noticing my grin.

“Nothing,” I said. “Just thinking that this wine of yours is really good.”

Aurelius leaned forward and lifted the bottle from the melting ice, and lifted an appreciative eyebrow, before glancing at Rasp and Vincent. “Marcassin twenty-thirteen?” He slid the bottle back into the ice. “You know this is a thousand-dollar bottle, right?”

I nearly spit out the sip of wine. My eyes widened as Rasp shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Bro, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there aren’t a whole lot of people around to enjoy this shit. There’s what, thirty or forty members of court, you and your dad, and me and Vince? Not exactly a hive of activity. Why not live a little?” Rasp said, then downed the rest of his glass.

My own family had been exorbitantly wealthy as well, but I’d been gone from that life for so long that the mere thought of spending a thousand bucks on a bottle of wine seemed ludicrous. All my bills were paid, with plenty left over for a comfortable life, but wealthy, I was not.

“What’s it like living with humans?” Aurelius asked.

“The same as living with anyone else,” I said.

“Anyone else who doesn’t magically transform into an animal and have access to wellsprings of magic?” Aurelius responded.

“True, but they have smartphones, self-driving cars, and satellites,” I said. “That’s a kind of magic in itself.”

“We deal with humans a lot, but fully immersing ourselves in that world sounds exhausting,” Aurelius said. “It’s pretty impressive that you’ve done it for this long. What’s the best part?”

I grinned back at him. “Oh, that’s easy. All the porn.”

Rasp sprayed a stream of wine out across the floor as he choked and coughed. Vincent’s eyes went wide with surprise. Aurelius, for his part, understood I was purposefully being a smart-ass and bantered back.

“Ah, yes. The majestic epitome of cinema,” he said, swirling his wine in his glass. “I feel there is a certain elegance in the images they convey.”

He and I looked into one another’s eyes for several seconds before we devolved into laughter.

I liked that Aurelius could keep pace with my humor.

Most men didn’t get it. A quirky, quick-witted girl was all well and good in a sitcom or movie, but in real life, it seemed like men all wanted ladies who fit into a mold I had no wish to slot myself into.

Aurelius didn’t seem to have that issue.

Rasp wiped his mouth and looked at us both. “Jesus, Aurelius, looks like you found someone with the same sense of humor you have.”

“Perhaps, I have,” Aurelius said, then looked at his two friends. “What questions do you have for our guest? I’m sure Elle would love to give you the answers to all the things you’ve wanted to know.”

“Do you guys pee outside?” Vincent asked.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Well, wolves are similar to dogs,” he explained. “Dogs pee outside. Do you guys pee outside too?”

Rasp and Aurelius shook their heads in embarrassment.

“We use toilets, Vince,” I said slowly. “Like you guys.”

Vince nodded once as if confirming something with himself, then took a sip of his water.

“I always assumed, but I wanted to make sure,” he said. “It was a question that always bugged me.”

“ Anyway ,” Rasp said. “Who cares about what we want to know? Wolves are pretty well understood. Dragons like us?” he pressed a thumb to his chest. “We’re the ones who are endangered. Is there anything about us you want to know?”

He looked so eager to please that I didn’t want to disappoint him by not asking anything.

“I do want to know something,” I said, turning to look at Aurelius again. “What’s it like being the prince?”

Glass halfway to his lips, he paused for the briefest second before continuing. Sipping his wine, he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling as if thinking. When he was done, he sat his glass down,

“It’s stressful,” he admitted, then glanced at the other two. “But it’s stressful for them too. Vincent here is the heir to the Beatrix family fortune.”

“Dad doesn’t like me,” Vince said. “He thinks I’m an idiot and a disappointment to the family.”

I gaped at him, glancing sideways at Rasp and Aurelius, but neither of them looked surprised or horrified at this admission.

“You see,” Rasp said, leaning forward. “Our friend Vincent’s dad is what I like to call a grade-A douchebag.”

“His father is difficult ,” Aurelius agreed, using a more diplomatic term.

Vincent shrugged and picked up a roasted chicken leg to take a nibble. “He can dislike me all he wants. I don’t care.”

Aurelius glanced at his watch and winced. “It’s nearly four in the morning, boys. I think it’s high time we let our guest get some shut-eye.”

“You don’t have to leave,” I said, standing up so fast that a wave of dizziness swept through me. I had to blink a few times to clear my vision. Too much wine.

“It’s fine,” Aurelius said, standing and waving for his friends to join. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

The food and conversation had been so wonderful that I hadn’t noticed the dry, grittiness in my eyes that came with lack of sleep.

I knew Aurelius was right, but I still didn’t want the night to end.

Strange as it had begun, it had turned into one of the more pleasant evenings of my entire life.

At least the most pleasant since I was fifteen, and it had become obvious my family was going to exile me.

“Feel free to sleep in,” Aurelius said as he escorted his friends from the room. “I’ll let you know if my envoy has any word for me on when we can deliver you safely to your family.” He smiled warmly at me. “I’m sure it will be a relief to be back with them.”

“Uh…yeah,” I smiled back, but it felt wooden and forced. “Sure will. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He pointed to a phone beside my bed. “Dial five when you wake. That’s the kitchen. They can bring you anything you’d like.”

“Sure thing.” I lingered at the door as he left, unable to keep my eyes from scoping out the perfect ass flexing in his pants as he strode away from my room.

Once the door was closed and locked, I undressed and turned the lights out.

Slipping beneath the cool and crisp sheets, I closed my eyes, wondering if I would wake up back home on my patio, my neck stiff from sleeping in a chair and a ridiculous dream to tell Delphine about.

As I drifted into sleep, I thought of Aurelius again.

Those blue eyes. That face. The voice. I fervently hoped this wasn’t a dream.