Page 103 of The Forsaken Heir
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Delphine sat and shrugged. “Yeah. Sure,” she said, then quickly averted her eyes, going back to her book.
Heaving a sigh, I climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Whatever I’d dreamed had put me in a terrible mood, and Delphine acting strange wasn’t making it any better.
After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I came back out dressed in fresh clothes. Delphine still sat in her chair, but instead of reading her book, she was staring off into space. In all the time I’d known her, I’d never seen her look so apprehensive.
“What’s wrong?” I said, stalking forward to get in front of her gaze. “You’re acting super weird.”
Delphine blinked and shook her head, then focused on her book again. “Nothing. It’s all fine.”
I yanked the book out of her hand and tossed it aside.
“Elle, what?—”
“Spit it out. I’m done playing games. Why are you being weird?”
She looked up at me, but didn’t meet my eyes. It was like she was looking at my mouth or forehead instead ofatme. A worming sense of unease filled me.
“I should really wait for the king to tell you this,” she said at last.
“Tell mewhat?” My knees felt weak, and I put a hand out to the wall, steadying myself.
“We received word from Bastien before daybreak,” she said.
Word?
“And?” I prodded.
Delphine swallowed. “Good news and bad news.”
It was all I could do not to scream at her for being so goddamn vague. Why wouldn’t she just spit it out?
“Go on,” I said, making a spinning motion with my finger.
“Aurelius is alive. He was taken prisoner.”
A sigh that sounded more like a sob burst from my chest, and I collapsed into the chair across from her.
“And the bad news?” My lips suddenly felt numb.
“He has been branded a terrorist,” Delphine said. “The letter Bastien sent declares him an open enemy of the Laurent family and wolf shifters in general. It sounds like they’re trying to bait King Cassius into open war. They say Aurelius will be executed on all charges within days.”
“Executed?” I clamped a hand over my mouth as bile rose in my throat and stood up so fast that the chair fell backward, knocking against the back of my knees. “I need to…uh…I need to walk.”
Before Delphine could stop me, I rushed out of the room.
Out in the corridor, I leaned against the wall, forcing air into my lungs. I had to stay in control. Deep down, I’d assumed if Aurelius had survived the fight, Bastien would use him as a token. Something to be traded. Maybe he’d demand access to the dragon wellspring, or maybe even one of the many companies the dragons owned. In my mind, Aurelius was more valuable alive. It appeared my brother thought differently. He wanted war. He wanted death.
23
AURELIUS
Elle.
When I spotted her, she was toward the back of the conservatory, running for her life. A single human figure among dozens and dozens of wolves and my dragon forces. A fully shifted wolf was on her heels, chasing after her.
Shifting back to my human form, I cried out to the person nearest Elle.
