Page 154 of The Forsaken Heir
Sahalie tilted her head back and forth like a metronome for a few seconds. “Something like that. If necessary, of course. If we’re prepared, then whatever the Laurents do won’t be as devastating.”
“All right,” Aurelius said. “I can get behind that. I don’t see a lot of other options. Not if we want to figure out what exactly Bastien’s plan is.”
“It’s settled,” Cassius said, rising from his chair. He turned to address the Hikshil. “Send your message. We’ll begin gathering our forces.”
Everyone broke into smaller groups, conversations welling up and becoming a cacophony of noise. Aurelius pulled me aside to a quiet corner.
“I’m going to talk with Dad. I’ll find you later?” He looked at me hopefully.
“Yeah.” I put a hand on his chest. “Go doprincestuff.”
He grinned and kissed me gently. When he was gone, I moved out into the corridor away from the chaos. When the door closed, dulling the sound even more, I took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm myself. Bastien was becoming more maniacal by the day. Everything he did was twisted and confusing. The asshole he’d been as a kid had only become worse with age.
“Are you all right, dear?” Delphine asked as she stepped out of the room.
“I can’t believe all this is happening.” I chuckled ruefully, and crossed my arms. “I feel like I’ve been saying that every day for the last month or so.”
Delphine put her arm around my shoulders. “Things haven’t beennormalfor a while now.”
As I glanced back at the closed door, a new thought occurred to me. If what Sahalie proposed was going to come to fruition, did that mean I would be present at the meeting? A meeting that would most likely—unless I’d fully misread the situation—turn into a fight?
My strength and speed were better than a human’s, but that was nothing compared to a full shifter. The fight in my apartmenthad been evidence of that. Had Aurelius and Vince not shown up, Delphine and I would be dead now.
“Can you help me with something?” I asked.
Delphine raised an eyebrow and gave me a shrewd look. “I don’t like that tone. Is this going to be something bad?”
“Depends.” I shrugged. “Do you want to help me stay alive?”
She snorted. “I’ve been watching over you for a decade now. I think you know the answer to that.”
“Okay, good.” I grabbed her wrist and led her down the hall. “Let’s talk.”
Delphine had been chosen as my nanny and steward because she wasn’t popular in my household, but also because she was capable of protecting me. Even though my parents hadn’t wanted me around, they also loathed the idea of some random human criminal killing a member of the Laurent family. It was more about status than any real concern, but the idea was the same. Delphine was an excellent fighter. She’d held her own with the two half-shifted assassins who’d broken into our apartment. If I was going to end up in another fight, then I needed to learn to protect myself. Who better to teach me than the woman who’d protected me all these years?
We headed to one of the grassy glens on the estate grounds. Delphine’s breath hissed out in little visible puffs against the cool air.
“Are you serious about this?” she asked.
“I am. Teach me how to fight a shifter. It might save my life. We should have been doing this all along,” I explained. “It won’t hurt anything to learn. Plus, it’ll help take my mind off everything.”
Delphine nodded, resolve and understanding settling on her face. “Well, if we’re doing this, then there’s one thing you need to know.”
“What?”
“Prepare for the unexpected.”
I yelped in surprise as Delphine shifted and lunged toward me, her jaws open and angled toward my throat. Thankfully, I didn’t freeze. Tilting to the side, I used my weight and gravity to pull me down. Twisting my hips, I rolled out of the way of her attack.
Delphine landed on her paws, and spun in place, quick as lightning. She attacked again, her teeth clacking together at my heels as I crawled away in a rising panic. Jesus, she was fast. Within seconds, she’d backed me into a tree. Thick shrubs stood on either side, allowing me no place to run. Flipping over, I met her face-on.
Snarling teeth and bristling fur vanished as she shifted back to her human form, gazing down at me huddled on the ground like a small child.
“I see we have our work cut out for us,” she said.
That stung my pride, and my cheeks heated. Despite myself, I could feel the desire to pout coming on.
“You didn’t warn me,” I said, wincing inwardly at how lame and childish I sounded.
