Page 68 of The Forsaken Heir

AURELIUS

“ M aybe this will finally break you,” Bastien said, holding up a small hypodermic needle up for me to see.

The steel tip glinted in the fluorescent lights, and the liquid inside was a bright, sky blue.

“What’s that?” I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity.

My strength had returned after Freddy’s visit, and along with that, some of my resolve.

The terror at my situation was still there, but it was pushed to the back of my mind.

I didn’t know if I could ever thank him enough for that small kindness or for the hope he’d given me when he’d told me he had a plan.

All I had to do was hold out until he revealed whatever he was orchestrating.

“Magic, dumbass. A little blood potion I had cooked up. It should be”—he grinned wider—“especially painful.”

When Bastien had returned, I’d done all I could to look like I was still in agony. I thought I’d done a decent job of acting, but he’d noticed how much stronger I was. From what I saw in his eyes, he’d taken it as a total affront to his character and skills as a torturer.

“Random question,” I said as he stuck the needle in my arm. “Do your parents know what kind of psycho you are?”

He snorted derisively. “Perhaps. Though, my family has always prized strength over everything else, so even if they don’t approve, they know I’m the best to lead the family.

My pathetic sister Brielle showed weakness by having no wolf.

My other two simpering siblings haven’t shown much in the way of strength either.

” He rammed the plunger home. “Though, I must say Freddy surprised me when he slugged you the other day. Maybe he’s not a total lost cause. ”

A burning cold flooded my body as the blood potion worked its way through my veins.

“What is this?” My knees went weak, and my shoulders protested from the stretch as I hung limply from the ropes.

“I found a rather unscrupulous fae apothecary down in San Francisco a few years ago. They make really special stuff—if you have the money, that is. This is called The Frozen Death. I hope you like it.”

Frozen? It was more like someone had mixed gasoline in ice water, pumped it into my veins, then lit it on fire. Hot and cold surged through every capillary. I clenched my jaw as the stuff flooded every millimeter of my circulatory system. It wasn’t until it reached my heart that I screamed.

I was being burned alive from the inside. Burned by ice. Even in my agony, I remembered touching a piece of dry ice when I was a kid. It had burned my finger instantly. It hadn’t made sense to my child brain. How could ice burn? Now, that same sensation was coursing through my veins.

Bastien leered at me. “Painful, yes? I tested this on one of our horses. The creature tried to run through a wall to get away from the pain. Dumb thing broke its neck.”

I shuddered violently, the ropes digging into my wrists. I glared at him, my teeth clamped together, cords standing out on my neck. “ Fuck you .”

The smile never left Bastien’s face, but rage flashed in his eyes. He still hadn’t broken me, and it was eating him alive inside.

“Just wait,” he said. “It gets better. You’re only getting started.

” He shoved his finger into my chest. “I own you. You are no longer a prince, you are my plaything. Understand? This will go on for as long as I want it to. Until you succumb. And you will fucking succumb .” He emphasized each of the last three words with a slap to my face.

It felt as though arctic steam should have been billowing out my mouth and nose.

My whole body felt like it should have been a block of ice, yet I could still move.

Jerking spasmodically, I brought up memories of Elle again.

Her radiant smile warmed my soul and kept some of the pain at bay, but not all of it.

The rest I had to fight against with sheer force of will.

“Counterspells?” Bastien asked, inspecting his nails while I writhed against the ropes.

My heart felt numb—numb but also searing with pain.

The combination of frigid agony and flaming torment nearly short-circuited my mind.

Yet, even then, I found what I needed. Deep in my soul, I latched onto a reservoir of strength and resistance.

My duty to my people. My people… And Elle.

No matter the amount of pain, no matter how long this went on, I would withstand all of it.

Until my inevitable execution, I would show this man what a dragon was made of.

Bastien’s jaw went slack as I planted one shaky foot on the ground, then the other. The pain in my wrists lessened, and I managed to clench my fists, forcing my upper body to stop shivering.

“Could you...turn the air down? I’m a little…hot,” I said, the words coming in a halting staccato.

“You—” Bastien let out a petulant roar of anger, kicking aside a metal stool. “Give me the spells!” He lunged forward and slapped me again.

“No.”

Hie slammed his fist into my jaw, and my head snapped to the side, blood flying from my mouth.

“The spells !”

“Go fuck yourself.”

Another childish scream erupted from his throat, and he bent over, gripping his knees. I could imagine the spoiled child he’d once been. Now a spoiled adult, with delusions of grandeur. It was pathetic to see.

“That’s it!” He straightened and dragged his hands through his hair. “That’s it,” he repeated as he strode to the table of implements. “If I can’t make you give me the secrets, we’ll do it another way, shall we?”

When he turned to face me again, he held a curved blade that looked like a scythe. Even as I continued shivering and fighting the agony in my veins, a new tremor of fear struck me.

“What do you know of Haruspicy?” he asked, giving the blade an experimental swing.

“What?”

“Haruspicy, you dumb fuck . It’s an ancient, dark branch of necromancy magic.

Certain practitioners can read the future and gain secret knowledge by reading the spilled entrails of a sacrificial animal.

” He pointed the blade at me, and flashed that manic and psychotic smile again.

“The odds are very low, sure, but I know people who travel in dark circles. I bet I could find someone to give it a try on you. As far as I’ve heard, it’s never been tried on a shifter.

Usually, only goats and sheep and cow calves, but I bet it would be fun to give it a go. ”

He pressed the blade against my stomach. My balls shriveled, contracting against my body at the feel of the metal.

“I wonder what we might see in the guts of a dragon prince? Huh?”

“Enough, Bastien. You’ve had your fun, but it’s time to stop.”

Flinching as though he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Bastien dropped the knife and spun around. Lady Gabrielle Laurent stood in the doorway, her arms crossed, and her mouth twisted in disapproval.

“Mother? I was just?—”

“About to slice his stomach open and spill his innards all over the floor,” she said dryly. “Yes, I heard. I’ve been standing in the hall waiting for you to succeed. It looks as though our friend Prince Decimus is made of heartier things than most dragons.”

“ No ,” Bastien cried. “He’s not. I can break him, I swear.”

Gabrielle raised a reproachful eyebrow at her son.

“Bastien, your father and I have overlooked your proclivity for torture. We both know that our house must be led by the strongest. That doesn’t mean we will allow you to ruin what’s to come.”

“But—”

“No buts.” She pointed at me. “We need him alive for the public execution. We need to label him a terrorist. It’s the only way to garner enough support for our cause.”

Bastien grunted in disgust and waved a hand through the air. “We don’t need the fae or other shifters. We’re strong enough alone.”

“I wish that were true, Bastien. The problem is that we do need their support.”

The Frozen Death Bastein had injected into me was finally dissipating, and the agony faded enough that I could actually try to concentrate on the interaction between mother and son.

“The fae control most of the magic in the world. We have a few small wellsprings in our possession, but the fae watch over most. We all know how symbiotic their relationship with the wellsprings is. Could we force them to help us? Of course, but there is a chance the magic within the wellsprings could weaken or—God forbid—turn against us. Especially with the Hikshil tribe. We need the other magical races to believe Aurelius Decimus attacked us and killed our men in an unwarranted attack. We’ve laid that groundwork with the death of the fae seer at the ceremony, but we have to follow through.

Having this man die alone in a cell will not have the same gravitas as a public execution.

Your father and I will not allow you to play with your toy only to ruin our chances of full control. ”

The muscles in Bastien’s jaw rippled as he ground his teeth together. He then jammed his thumb into his own chest.

“Am I or am I not the leader of this house? Father stepped down and bestowed the rights upon me. True?”

Gabrielle inclined her head. “You are officially the head of our house, but your father and I are still advisors. We must temper the heat of youth. Basically, we have to save you from yourself until you are experienced enough to handle these things on your own. There is nothing legally binding you to following our assistance, but I would highly recommend you do.”

Bastien glanced from his mother to me, and let out a low wolfish growl. In the next instant, he threw the blade at me. The metal pinwheeled and whizzed past my ear before the curved tip buried itself in the drywall a few feet behind me. Despite myself, a trembling sigh escaped my lips.

“Your lucky day, lizard boy,” Bastien said.

A moment later, an overwhelming pressure suddenly built within my veins, surging up from all across my body in a torturous white-hot blast. I felt like I was going to explode into a cloud of white-hot steam. I tried to scream, but only a strangled moan escaped me.