Page 53 of The Forsaken Heir

Leaving my brother to finish the wolf, I bolted for the stairwell.

When I got to the exit, I took a moment to catch my breath.

The stench of blood, fire, and magic was less strong at the top of the stairs than in the center of the conservatory.

I watched in horror as I glanced back to see Aurelius thrash his winged arm at two wolves just as more Laurent men rushed in to join the battle.

A silver arrow tore a ragged hole through one of Octavian’s wings, and he screeched in pain. Rasp and Aurelius moved to guard him from the others.

God, please let them be okay, I prayed, then turned to head down the stairs.

I’d gone less than three steps when something heavy slammed into my back.

I stretched my hands out to catch myself, but I wasn’t fast enough.

My temple smashed into the edge of one of the steps.

White flashes of light burst across my vision.

The world spun, and sharp pain shot through my skull.

I would have passed out, if not for the incessant tugging on my booted foot.

When I twisted around, I discovered a wolf had its teeth clamped into the leather of my boot and was yanking me back to the conservatory.

“No!” I cried. The room tilted slightly as my vision blurred. I tried to kick at the beast, but I missed.

Its haunches bunched and flexed as it hauled me up another step and pulled my leg back into the room. My body was too weak. There was no adrenaline left to pump into my system. I was drained and unable to fight back like I wanted. All I could do was reach up and take hold of the handrail.

“Stop,” I hissed and kicked at it again with my free foot.

I didn’t make contact, but the wolf let go anyway, opening its mouth and widening its eyes in a comic expression of wolfish surprise.

An instant later, Vincent’s dragon reared up, holding the wolf by its back leg.

The wolf thrashed and clawed at him, but it was no use.

The dragon shifter had him dead to rights.

With a remarkably graceful movement, Vince flicked his head up and released the wolf. As the beast turned in mid-air, Vincent snapped his jaws forward, and bit the wolf’s head clean off.

“Holy shit,” I yelped, watching as the wolf’s headless body slammed into the ground.

Vincent turned his head toward me and scooped me up.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he pulled me close.

He looked down at me, and partially shifted his face to speak. “ Saving you . It’s not fun here anymore .”

“No. I can get out on my own. You have to help Aurelius.”

Vincent shook his head. “ He sent me to take you home .”

Without another word, Vincent thrashed his tail at the wall. Shards of glass rained down to the ground, opening an exit into the night. He jumped through the jagged opening and flapped his wings, taking flight.

“ Aurelius!” I screamed, looking back at the glowing battlefield the conservatory had become.

Vincent flew fast in the direction of the Decimus territory. In the darkness behind us, I thought I could make out a few dragons crawling free of the mansion and taking flight. Aurelius had to be with them. They were getting out. He’d be okay. He had to be.

The sweltering heat of the dragon skin and the dissipating adrenaline sent me into a stupor.

My sluggish body and mind stayed conscious for a few minutes, stuttering like a car that had been driving with the pedal slammed to the floor for hours, the engine ready to explode.

Eventually, despite me fighting against it, my eyes slipped closed, and I fell into a dark and fitful sleep.

I awoke with a start as Vincent landed on the parapet of the dragon castle. My eyes snapped open, and I glanced around, my breath hissing out in puffs in the cold night air.

“Where’s Aurelius?”

Vincent shifted, but he ignored me as he rushed to the door.

I heard him screaming, calling for help, but my busy mind drowned out his words.

I turned and stared off into the distance.

Far away, silhouetted by the light of the moon, I could see some figures approaching.

Dragons. A shuddering sigh shook me at the sight of them.

Aurelius would be with them. We’d gotten out. Thank God.

Seconds later, men of the Decimus household rushed out onto the roof, the king at their heels. Cassius’s eyes were wide and alert, as if he’d been waiting for word all night.

“What is it? What’s happened?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the only thing that came out was a sob, and Vincent hurried over to put an arm around me.

“They betrayed us,” Vincent said.

“Betrayed?” Cassius’s brow furrowed, then his face fell, his mouth going slack then like a light bulb turning off, his face fell, his cheeks and mouth going slack. “Where’s my son? Where is Aurelius?”

Vincent shook his head and pointed at the approaching dragons. “I don’t know. I hope he’s with them.”

There was no hope for me, only certainty. Aurelius was with them. That was all there was to it.

All the men on the roof stared up into the night sky, watching the black shadows of membranous wings sweeping toward the sky. Only seven. Of the sixteen of us who’d made the trip, only seven were returning.

Please let him be there. Let him be one of them.

I couldn’t make out the colors of the dragons until they landed and the light illuminated them.

Octavian was the first to land. As soon as his feet touched the roof, he shifted to his human form and collapsed face first onto the ground, exhausted and covered in bloody scratches and bite marks that hadn’t had time to heal during the flight back.

“Healers!” a man shouted, and someone sprinted into the castle to find help.

My heart thundered as the rest of the dragons landed, one after another.

They shifted back as soon as they landed, some looking healthier and better off than others.

The last to land was Rasp, his emerald-green scales shimmering in the light for an instant before he fell to his human knees and dragged in large breaths.

Cassius rushed toward him while I turned back to the sky, looking for Aurelius. He had to be there. At the rear perhaps, guarding their retreat.

“Raspion?” Cassius shouted, shaking the man’s shoulders, panic edging into the king’s voice. “Where’s Aurelius? Is he behind you? On the way?”

Ripping my gaze from the sky, I turned back, and the look I saw on Rasp’s face nearly sent me to my knees.

He looked up at the king, his face twisted and his eyes shimmering with tears.

He shook his head slowly, and it was as though the floor had dropped out beneath me.

My left leg, then my right, gave way as I fell to the ground.

“Speak, boy!” Cassius shouted, his own voice growing taut with panic.

“He…he held them off,” Rasp said.

“It’s true, Your Majesty,” one of the security guards said. He looked shell-shocked, his eyes wide and his face pale. “He blocked the wolves. He ordered us to leave.”

Rasp nodded and wiped at his face with the back of his hand.

“Aurelius held them all off—Christ, there had to be over a hundred of them—he held them back so we could escape.” Rasp grasped at the king’s shirt.

“I told him I wouldn’t leave. I said I wouldn’t go.

” Tears flowed freely down Rasp’s cheeks as he spoke.

“But he ordered me, Your Majesty. The prince ordered it. He refused to come. He stayed to give us a chance to get out. When I looked back, they were swarming over him.” He dissolved into sobs. “ I’m sorry, I’m sorry …”

He kept sobbing those two words, over and over again, falling forward and burying his face in his hands as Cassius took a staggering step away from him. The king glanced toward me, his eyes haunted.

Behind us, a familiar voice rang out. “They dare take the crown prince as a prisoner?” Benedictus bellowed. “This means war!”

Shouts and yells of agreement echoed along the parapet as the king of dragons and I looked up into the dark night sky. A sky that lay empty and desolate.

The man we both loved was nowhere in sight.