Page 24 of The Forsaken Heir
Rasp, Aurelius, and I all looked at Vincent in shocked disgust.
“Eww,” I said. “Gross.”
Vincent shrugged, obviously unconcerned. He waved a hand back into the room.
“We brought more food.Andwine. That’s what took us so long. Rasp thought cold food wasn’t good enough, so we woke one of the house chefs to make a meal.”
“That’s nice of you,” I said. “Why don’t the three of you join me?”
They shared a look that jumped from confusion, to worry, and then surprise.
“It’s getting late,” Aurelius said. “We wouldn’t want to impose. You deserve to relax and wind down.”
I wanted to tell them I wasn’t used to having so many people to hang out with. Delphine was pretty much the only person I got to talk to—her and my coworkers at the sewing shop. Deep inside, I was dying to have a conversation with some people who I didn’t work or live with. New perspectives, new stories, all the things I’d missed out on during my exile.
“Please,” I said, giving Aurelius my best sympathetic look.
To my utmost relief, he grinned.
“All right. I’m game if these two are,” he said.
“Free food and booze?” Rasp said with a grin. “I amdown.”
“Sure. Why not,” Vince agreed.
In the room, there were several new trays with sautéed meats and veggies. Two bottles of wine sat on the table as well—a white in a bucket of ice, and a bottle of red beside it.
“Were you trying to put me in a drunken food coma?”
Rasp’s cheeks reddened. “I wanted to make sure you had enough.”
“I think you succeeded,” I said.
After settling down in the room, I allowed myself to relax a bit more. None of these three men were a threat, which anyone else of my kind would have had a hard time believing, but it was true. Not only could I sense it from their attitudes, but my instincts told me it was the truth.
Rasp was like a frat boy with a heart of gold—a golden retriever dragon, if you will. He was goofy but charming and funny. Vincent, while awkward and a bit different, was just as charming. Even though he didn’t talk a lot, and if what he did say was overly direct and literal, I got good vibes from him.
They were a little more immature than I was, although that was probably to be expected. From the way Aurelius made it sound, these two men were some of the youngest dragons on earth. And a twenty-one year old dragon would always seem less mature than a twenty-seven-year-old wolf.
As for Aurelius? I couldn’t stop looking at him. It was almost as if his very presence drew my eyes to him. It should have beenridiculous, but there was an attraction there I couldn’t put my finger on, and from the way he was acting toward me, it might have been reciprocal.
Oh, please, Elle.Aurelius fucking Decimus does not have the hots for you.The prince of dragons? Really? Get a hold of yourself.
Still, despite my mental warnings, I kept feeling his eyes on me as our little group ate and drank. All the ways he interacted with us gave off the impression that every movement, every word, was dictated by years of rules and royal propriety. Every now and then, he’d let loose with a joke or something, but for the most part he tried his best to remain reserved and prince-like for want of a better word. Yet, there was a beast beneath. Something that intrigued me. Under that quiet countenance, a wild animal wanted to get out.
Raising my wine glass to my lips, I grinned to myself. I supposed being able to shift into a giant dragonwouldqualify as having a wild animal inside.
“What’s so funny?” Aurelius asked, noticing my grin.
“Nothing,” I said. “Just thinking that this wine of yours is really good.”
Aurelius leaned forward and lifted the bottle from the melting ice, and lifted an appreciative eyebrow, before glancing at Rasp and Vincent. “Marcassin twenty-thirteen?” He slid the bottle back into the ice. “You know this is a thousand-dollar bottle, right?”
I nearly spit out the sip of wine. My eyes widened as Rasp shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Bro, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there aren’t a whole lot of people around to enjoy this shit. There’s what, thirty or forty members of court, you and your dad, and me and Vince? Not exactly a hive of activity. Why not live a little?” Rasp said, then downed the rest of his glass.
My own family had been exorbitantly wealthy as well, but I’d been gone from that life for so long that the mere thought of spending a thousand bucks on a bottle of wine seemed ludicrous. All my bills were paid, with plenty left over for a comfortable life, but wealthy, I was not.
