Page 98 of The Forsaken Heir

brIELLE

B astien rolled onto the ground and shifted into his human form.

He shook his head, trying to throw off the effects of the magic, but it was too late for that.

We were in it now. Just like Jolon had dragged me into the deepest recesses of my mind, I’d done the same to Bastien.

Even as Bastien tried to right himself, he paused, staring in confusion at the ground.

No longer green grass and dirt, but a solid inky black, like polished onyx.

“What the hell is this?” he asked, his eyes wary and flashing dangerously.

It was strange, at least for me. I could still see everyone standing around us, but it was through a weird haze, like smoke or fog obscured them.

I’d initiated the dream walk, and the magic of the wellspring allowed me to control what happened.

My brother was at my mercy, at least mentally.

Physically, he might still be able to hurt me, especially since I had no experience with controlling something like this.

I was learning as I went, but if it was like mine had been, most of what happened would come directly from his mind.

Bastien let out a low growl and sprinted in my direction.

I planted my feet and raised my hands, ready to defend myself, but before he reached me, the scene around us transformed.

The obsidian floor became hardwood planks and plush carpeting.

Our father—a couple decades younger—stood with his hands on his hips, glaring down at Bastien.

My brother skidded to a halt and fell on his ass, staring up at our father in confusion.

“ Dad? ”

“Don’t you understand how much we need from you, boy?” Dad said, his voice low and menacing. “You’re the oldest male in our line. You need to be a fucking man , and I find you playing with dolls !”

Dad threw a hand aside, gesturing to his right. Out of nowhere, a small pile of action figures appeared. Bastien looked over, and his look of confusion morphed into recognition and fear. This had actually happened to him. At some point in his life, this exact moment had played out.

Bastien rose to his feet, recovering from his shock, and glared at our father.

“I’m not a little kid anymore,” he said, and went to shove dad.

Our father, moving fast as a snake, slapped Bastien’s cheek.

“You’ll understand. You’ll learn, and you’ll live to regret it,” Dad hissed, shaking his fist in front of Bastien’s face. “The Laurent family is destined for greatness. If you want to be great, you need to act great.”

Bastien put a hand to his cheek and looked like he wanted to cry. Slowly, he nodded his head. “Okay, Daddy. I’ll be strong. I promise.”

“You better be,” Dad said, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Bastien blinked, coming back to himself. He spun, leveling his eyes on me again.

“Where are we? What have you done?”

“This is a dream walk, little brother,” I said, holding my hands out. “I brought you here so you could face your demons.”

His lips pulled back in a snarl. “All I need to face is you .”

Lunging at me, he swung a fist at my face, trying to smash my nose. Recalling a move Delphine had taught me, I ducked to the side and batted his hand away, giving me an open shot at his ribs. I sent my elbow crashing into his side, forcing him to fall to the ground.

When I turned, the scene had again changed. Bastien, locked into the magical display, had lost all interest in me. He stood above a bird flopping on the ground at his feet. Beside him, a seven-year-old Freddy stared down in horror.

“It’s hurt. Help it, Bast,” Freddy cried, tears shining in his eyes.

Bastien punched Freddy in the arm, making his face scrunch up in pain. “Stop being a little baby,” Bastien said, and a child’s voice came from his grown mouth. The combination of an adult man speaking with the high-pitched voice of a child was bizarre.

“Why won’t you help him, though?” Freddy asked, sniffling and holding his arm.

Bastien glared at our little brother in disgust. “You’re such a little prissy asshole.

You act like a girl.” He snorted in disgust. “You’re worse than Brielle.

” He pointed at the twitching bird. “The only thing you should worry about is whether or not you’re strong enough to do what needs to be done.

” He lifted his foot and brought it down with thunderous force on the injured bird.

The tiny body shattered beneath his shoe. Freddy spun away and ran, sobbing as he went. Bastien shook his head, trying to clear it.

“How do you know about all this?” he screamed at me. “You weren’t there when any of this happened.”

“This is your mind, Bastien. I’m just here observing. Watching how you became the monster you are.”

He smirked. “You know what’s really monstrous?

You.” He spat on the ground in disgust. “Letting that filthy fucking dragon soil you with his cock. No self-respecting wolf would ever take a dragon to bed. It shows how weak you are, that you’d even consider being his mate.

It’s why Mom and Dad chose me to lead instead of you. You can’t even shift, for fuck’s sake.”

Something tickled at the back of my mind, similar to the strange feeling I’d experienced within the wellspring. A semblance of control filled my mind, and I did my best to use it. This was a spell I’d created, and that meant I could use it to my advantage.

Snapping my fingers, everything vanished, going black, then another snap and the two of us were standing in a field.

I recognized the rolling meadow our family used for horseback riding.

A line of trees bordered the grassland, and I recalled a large pond sitting on the far side of the trees. We used to swim there as children.

“What now?” Bastien said. “Another little show? Something that’s supposed to make me feel?—”

His words stopped abruptly as three boys, ranging from thirteen to fifteen, came running from the woods into the meadow, all laughing in a spiteful sort of way. The type of laugh someone does when they’re doing something petty and hurtful.

“Come and get it, Bastien,” one of the boys said, holding up a wad of fabric. “Come and get your pants, you little baby.”

From the woods, fourteen-year-old Bastien came running, fully naked, his left hand covering himself, his face and chest blotchy red from embarrassment.

“Give it back, Jean-Paul,” Bastien screamed, his voice on the verge of breaking.

The adult Bastien shook his head angrily. “Stop it,” he growled. “Stop it now. I don’t want to see this.”

“Why should we?” another boy said. “You didn’t stop when you were beating the shit out of Jean-Paul’s brother.”

“He deserved it,” Adult Bastien said, clenching his fists.

“Why did he deserve it?” I asked moving closer. “Why did a boy deserve to be beaten? Did he do something to you?”

Bastien released a low growl, but said no more. The answer came a few seconds later as young Bastien reached the boys.

He reached for his clothes with his free hand, but the other boys stepped out of reach.

“Does the Laurent brat want his panties back?” Jean-Paul asked, his voice a sing-song babyish mockery. “Tell me why you beat up Jack. If you don’t, I’ll burn these, and you can walk back home and tell your mommy why you’re naked.”

Young Bastien let out a screech of rage. “I beat up Jack because he won that race at school. Now give me my clothes.”

Jean-Paul looked at Bastien with a contempt I’d only ever seen when someone had stepped in dogshit.

“ Really ? Are all you Laurents that pathetic? You can’t handle being second place?” Jean-Paul shook his head, and looked at his friends. “Get him. I’m gonna chuck his clothes back in the pond.”

“ Noooooo! ” The scream came from Bastien, as the two other boys began to kick and punch him.

“It seems you had to face the consequences of your actions,” I said, leaning in close to speak in his ear.

“How many times did this happen? Can’t you see how pointless it is?

You can’t achieve power by hurting other people.

You can only achieve it by inspiring devotion and love. The way Aurelius does with his people.”

Bastien spun and swung his fist at me. I was fast, but not quite fast enough. His knuckles grazed my cheekbone, snapping my head around. Even as I fell to the ground, I used my control of the dream walk to reach into Bastien’s mind and pull out a new vision.

Mom stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Bastien. My brother had his head bowed in deference.

Standing, I rubbed at my cheek and glanced around. We were in one of the many rooms of our family estate. From the way Mom looked, this had to have been around the time I’d been sent away.

“Your sister can’t shift,” Mom said, clucking her tongue in disappointment. “You know what that means, right?”

Bastien raised his head and smiled. “It means she’s worthless. I always told you all that she was. Now you see, don’t you? Am I going to be the head of the family?”

Mom slapped him, and the sound of it cracked through the air like a gunshot.

“Shut your mouth, boy. We have to be very careful with how we deal with this. I don’t want you blabbing about it. She’ll be sent away, but it needs to be done in a way that no one knows why. We can never let the world know our family birthed a broken shifter.”

“I’m the best,” Bastien said, his eyes burning with fervor as he looked at our mother. “I’ll prove I’m the best. You’ll see. I promise I won’t say anything.”

“You’d better not. We have big plans for this family, and we’ll need someone to lead us.

Someone who won’t skirt their duty, who won’t flinch when things get dirty, or when hard choices need to be made.

Your other siblings…ugh…they aren’t what we need.

Hard as we’ve tried, your father and I can see how soft they are.

They are all disappointments. It will be up to you, Bastien. Do not let us down.”

“I won’t,” Bastien said, and with those words our mother faded to smoke and vanished.