Page 116 of The Forsaken Heir
I forced a smile to my lips. “I’m getting kinda hungry. Could you get me a cheeseburger?”
Bastien’s face remained emotionless for several long seconds. Then, as what I’d said sank in, he pulled his lips back in a sneer.
“I will break you,” he hissed, spittle spraying across my face. “You. Fucking. Watch.”
He rammed his knee into my stomach. Just as the pain threatened to overwhelm me, I slipped away again, grasping at thoughts of Elle to get me through what was happening to me.
“Open it,” Elle cried, clapping her hands in excitement. “I want to see what you think.”
I blinked in surprise as I found myself sitting on the ground beside a glittering Christmas tree. My friends and family sat around the room. Dad was chatting to Delphine over a cup of tea. Rasp and Vincent were each tearing into packages of their own, wrapping paper and bows flying through the air.
“Well?” Elle said, nudging me with her foot. “Are you going to open it or not?”
I took a deep breath, and my lungs filled with cinnamon, roasting meat, pine needles, and peppermint. I grinned and put my hand on Elle’s knee. The sensation of her skin beneath my fingertips filled me with strength.
“You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Open the damned thing.” She laughed. “You’re taking forever, and I can’t wait.”
Obliging, I tore through the paper and ripped open the gift box. Inside was a dark brown leather jacket. I took it out of the box and marveled at the craftsmanship and the soft leather.
“Do you like it?” she asked, clasping her hands beneath her chin. “I hoped you would.”
Leaping to my feet, I slid my arms into the jacket. “It feels great. How do I look?”
“Super hot,” Elle said.
Rasp made a retching sound. “Gross. Keep the lovey-dovey stuff for when you guys are behind closed doors.”
“You know what?” Dad said.
“What?” I asked, flashing him a goofy smile.
“I think I’ll let you think about this for a while,” he said, taking a sip from his cup.
I frowned. “Think about what?”
Dad raised his cup in a toast. “You’ll break soon, you son of a bitch.”
The door of the cell slammed, and my daydream of Elle faded. Bastien was gone, leaving me alone with my misery. With no one around, I could let myself have a moment to, if not break, at least bend a little.
A sob of agony escaped my lips, and tears trickled down my nose, pattering onto the blood-stained floor beneath me. I wouldn’t allow myself more than a few seconds of self-pity. That was all I could give. Bastien might return any second, and when he did, I needed to be composed.
The sap on my chest was still crackling and fizzling. During Bastien’s relentlessness, most of the chunks had hardened and fallen, but that brought little relief. I couldn’t heal the way I usually did. Not with the ropes binding me and suppressing my dragon. Holy shit, was this what it was like for humans? To be injured, and unable to fix it in a few minutes? It sounded like a terrifying existence and gave me more respect for them as a race.
Before I’d fully recovered, the door swung open again. I shoved all my pain and emotion away and mentally prepared myself for the torture to continue. Lifting my head, I saw Freddy instead of Bastien.
“What?” Was this another hallucination?
“Be quiet,” Freddy hissed as he shut the door softly behind him. He unslung a small backpack from his shoulders and hurried toward me.
“What do you want?” I asked.
He knelt and unzipped the bag. “God almighty, you look like shit, Aurelius.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly. “I try.”
“Here, drink this. We have to hurry, I’m not sure when Bastien will be back.” He pressed a small vial to my lips.
