Page 42 of The Forsaken Heir

AURELIUS

W hen I knocked on her door twenty minutes later, I already had everything planned out and ready to go. Elle deserved a night to hang out and enjoy life. A simple evening that resembled her old life might ease her mind and worries.

Because of my friends’ actions, she’d had to leave her whole life behind. Her apartment, her job, everything. If I could give her a night to blow off some steam, then I was going to do it.

“Hey,” Elle said, as she opened her door.

She was dressed in the clothing I’d sent her. Nothing extravagant, though. I’d told her to be comfortable. She’d already had to get stuffed into a ball gown today, so there was no need to do all that again.

“Hello,” I replied, smiling at her. “Ready to go?”

“Uh, any hints on what we’re doing?”

Extending a hand to her, I winked and said, “Dinner, silly. Isn’t that what I said?”

She rolled her eyes as she took my hand. “Well, yeah, but where ?”

“Torrence Steak House. I called and made a reservation for eight-thirty.”

She gaped at me, then checked her watch. “Aurelius, that’s in less than thirty minutes. The city is at least a forty-five minute drive and…” she trailed off as she saw my smile get wider.

She swallowed hard. “Oh, God. Seriously?”

Five minutes later, with Elle clutched gently in my talons, we flew down from the mountains.

I’d given her my heavy jacket to hold back the chill air as I drifted down, cruising on updrafts.

She’d been wary, her only other experiences with flying having been when Rasp and Vince had kidnapped her, and me rescuing her from slavering, murderous wolves.

“Maybe one day I’ll get used to this,” she’d said as we stood on the parapet of the old castle portion of the mansion. “But it would be less terrifying if you guys had, like, seats and seatbelts.”

I’d belted out a laugh. “We aren’t steeds to ride into battle, if that’s what you mean.”

She’d blushed and tripped over her words. “That’s not what I meant. I just want to be secure.”

I’d shifted to my dragon form and turned to her, my claws and talons uncoiling gently. Elle only hesitated for an instant before zipping my jacket around herself and stepping closer.

Now, as I circled the city and descended toward one of my family’s office buildings, I could hear her laughing in delight as the wind rushed up to meet us, billowing her hair and putting color in her cheeks. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Good.

With the darkness of a new moon, the skies were easier to traverse, with less chance of a human eye glancing up and seeing my serpentine form gliding through the sky.

With the low cloud cover and my ink-black hide, I was nothing but a shadow gliding toward the roof.

I chose our biggest office—a forty-story skyscraper that lay in the dead center of downtown, and only a two-block walk to the restaurant.

After we landed, Elle took a moment to get her legs back under her as I shifted back.

“Fun?” I asked.

She let out a little breath, and pushed her hair back, putting it up into a ponytail. “That was amazing. I can’t believe it took less than ten minutes to get down here.”

“You do get used to it.” I took her arm again and led her to the elevator. “It’s both a blessing and a curse, I guess.”

“What part?” she asked, frowning up at me.

The elevator was, for stylistic reasons, on the outer edge of the building, encased in glass, so the occupants could look out over the building. I pointed down at the lights of passing cars on the street below.

“I think about them a lot. Humans, I mean. Every single one of them, at some point in their life, has begged the universe to make magic real. As children, they read books, watch movies, play make-believe, and deep down they yearn for a world of enchantment. It’s almost as if, perhaps, in the past they too wielded it and lost it, and now it travels down their line in some sort of genetic memory.

“That fades as they grow older, and then they tell their own children that the supernatural isn’t real.

A whole life spent shattering magic in the minds of children.

There is no Santa Claus, no Tooth Fairy, and wizards aren’t real.

Dragons and werewolves are imaginary. All of it.

Yet, they live in a world that is overflowing with spells and sorcery, and we always sort of forget that.

Shifters have our own worries and desires, our own issues, and we get jaded by how amazing our lives really are.

That’s what I mean by a blessing and a curse.

We’re literally made of magic, and use it all the time, but we treat it like a human treats a toaster oven.

I feel like, if we really thought about it more, we’d see the world with a bit more awe than we do now.

” I shrugged helplessly. “Maybe that would help us get along better too.”

The elevator stopped on the ground floor, and the door slid open. Elle frowned up at me as we stepped out.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. I’m trying to figure out how you’re rich, gorgeous, funny, fantastic in bed, and a philosopher. Is there anything you aren’t good at?”

“Well, I’ve never been any good at video games. God knows Rasp and Vince have tried, but I’m pretty hopeless. So, there’s that.”

Elle snorted and clung to my arm as we walked. “Good to know. I’m glad there’s something really important you can’t do. That’s great.”

“We all have our shortcomings.”

She poked me in the side. “Very funny.”

We arrived at the restaurant less than a minute before our reservation, and the hostess led us to our table.

The place had been built inside an old department store from the nineteen-thirties.

It had been transformed from a polished shop selling women’s clothing, homeware, and toys, to an upscale steakhouse with dim lighting, flickering candles, antique brick walls, black-and-white paintings, and pristine tablecloths.

“I’ve never eaten here,” Elle said as we took our seats. “I thought about it, but Delphine never wanted to.”

“Why not?” I asked, tucking my napkin into my lap. “The best steaks in the northwest.”

Elle studied the menu and smirked. “She doesn’t like places like this. She says they don’t cook the steaks enough. She likes hers well done and won’t go anywhere that refuses to cook it that way.”

I gaped at her. “You’re telling me a wolf shifter, a woman who lives with a wolf in her subconscious, doesn’t like meat unless it’s been cooked to death?”

“That’s what I tell her,” she said with an exasperated laugh. “When she’s in her wolf form, she eats whatever, but as soon as she’s back to being human, it’s right back to well- done and globs of ketchup or A1 Sauce.”

“Fucking sacrilege,” I said.

“No shit , right?”

“Good evening,” the waiter said as he came to the table. “How are we doing tonight?”

“Well, and yourself?” I said.

He placed a hand to his chest. “I am wonderful now that I get to serve you two lovely folks,” he said. “What can I start you off with?”

I eyed Elle questioningly. “Mind if I order for us? I’ve been here a few times.”

Elle flopped her menu down and relaxed her shoulders. “Yes, please. So much pressure. I’m sure I’ll like everything.”

“I can assure you, ma’am, there’s nothing bad on our menu,” the server said with a grin. “You’ll be happy no matter what.”

“We’ll start with a bottle of your house red, and for the appetizers, can we have an order of the elk sliders, as well as the crab dip?”

“Fantastic choices, sir,” the server said as he scribbled on his notepad.

“For the main, I’ll have the porterhouse, medium rare, with the sauteed trumpet mushrooms and the potato soufflé. For the lady, the twenty-four ounce ribeye, also medium rare, with the fried artichoke hearts and the potato

soufflé.”

“Oh my god, I’m starving,” Elle murmured, eliciting a chuckle from the server.

“We will take care of you, ma’am. No worries,” he said. “Any salads?”

“I think we’ll save room for dessert,” I said, handing him the menus.

“A man with priorities. I like it.” He winked at us as he left to place our orders.

For a few moments, we sat in silence, enjoying the faint piano music. The server returned with the wine and water glasses. He popped the cork and poured two glasses before setting down a bread basket on the table and vanishing again.

“This is really nice,” Elle said.

“It is. It was a rough day. I sort of figured this would be a good way to wind down.”

She took a sip of her wine. “You mean what we did earlier wasn’t winding down ?”

I recalled the way her body had enveloped me, hugging my shaft as I thrust into her. “I would call that getting worked up, rather than winding down,” I said, lifting my glass to my lips.

An adorable shade of pink crept into her cheeks. “Fair point.”

“So, tell me about yourself,” I said, setting my glass down and picking up the roll. “We haven’t had time to really talk since I gave you that tour a few weeks ago.”

In all the stress of preparing for the gala, she and I hadn’t had more than a few moments alone.

Delphine, Rasp, Vincent, Titus, and even my father had always been hovering around somewhere.

What little time we had spent alone had been taken up with finalizing the millions of details for the gala.

Those hours we’d spent wandering the estate, riding horses, and getting to know each other seemed a sweet and distant memory. I wanted to recapture that.

“What would you like to know?” Elle asked as she spread butter on her roll.

“What was your favorite class in school?”

“ Really ? That’s your question?”

“I have more,” I said, tossing a piece of bread in my mouth. “I figured we could start things off easy.”

“Okay,” she said, drawing the word out as she stared up at the ceiling. “I suppose it was history.”

“History? Really? Why’s that? I always found it boring. Oh, also, did you go to a human school or one of the small shifter academies?”