Page 47 of The Forsaken Heir
Delphine put the watering can down and stepped over to take a look. It was one of my family’s biggest sellers.Eau Phantasmique Face Cream. I had a never-ending supply of the stuff. One of the few perks I had, along with my exorbitant monthly allowance, was access to nearly everything we had a patent for.
“That’s good stuff,” Delphine said appreciatively.
“Ugh.” I grunted and rolled my eyes. “That’s not the point. The point is my family charges an arm and a leg for it. This jar”—I held up the four-ounce container—“is a hundred dollars. The ingredients costs us a buck-fifty. Add to that the magic that basically costs us nothing, and this stuff is ninety-percent profit.”
Delphine’s nose crinkled in disgust. “It does seem excessive.”
Setting the jar down, I gestured toward the computer again. “It’s all in here, in the files and documents on the secure server. An entire underground magic economy that continues to line our pockets. From what I can see, the dragons do something similar, but they don’t seem as ruthless, and they aren’t gouging the prices like we are. They’ve got a similar cream that’s a quarter of the price.”
Delphine took a seat beside me. “Is it really that big a deal to make money, sweetheart? I don’t have any love lost for your family, but isn’t this basic economics? Supply and demand? If humans and other shifters weren’t willing to spend that much for this stuff, then they’d drop the prices, right?”
That part was true, but it was actually the other things I’d found that made my blood run cold.
“It’s not the money—it’showthey’re making it,” I said, scrolling up on the computer. “I found all these emails. The dragons have more magic to draw from, so they can make more money. For thewolvesto do the same, they have to cut corners. They’re adding gross shit to the products to make it stretch even further, threatening inspectors to not report safety regulations. Five workers in one of the factories where they make some sort of magic hair serum died last year because of lax safety. The more I read, the more disgusted I get.”
“So, they’re breaking laws?” Delphine said.
“That’sexactlywhat they’re doing.” I let out a dejected sigh. “I knew they weren’t great people, but I never anticipated they’d be criminals. It makes me wish I’d looked into this earlier.”
She patted my shoulder. “It’ll be all right. One good thing is, you aren’t part of that world any longer. No reason to bother yourself with that part of your life.”
“I guess so,” I said, but I wasn’t sure I believed it.
My family was doing awful things, and God only knew what else they were into thatwasn’tin those servers. Could they be more bloodthirsty than I imagined?
Delphine’s cell rang, and she hurried across the room to answer it. I watched her, bored with my research.
“Hello?” she said, her face placid, a slight smile on her lips. That slipped away quickly, though, as whoever was on the other end spoke.
“Excuse me? How dare you…that’s not true… I’m sorry, what?” Delphine said, her brows furrowing. “What’s this about?”
Delphine’s frown vanished, and her jaw fell open. She turned her head, her eyes locking on mine. The hair along the back of my neck stood up, and a tremble of fear spun in my stomach like writhing worms.
“Elle, run!” she screamed, dropping the phone.
The patio window exploded inward, shards of glass bursting out like ice. A scream burst from my throat as a massive beast leapt through the shattered sliding door. It landed with athudand straightened. I gasped as I laid eyes on a massive bipedal wolf-like creature. It had hulking humanoid arms, a thickly muscled chest and torso atop the large wolfish legs and back paws. Its thighs bulged and rippled with strength, and a huge wolf’s head sat atop the broad shoulders. Yellow eyes turned, scanning the room, razor-sharp canines glittering with saliva. The instant the beast’s gaze locked on mine, I understood what was happening. My family wanted to kill me. This half-shifted creature was sent to end me.
Behind him, a howl erupted as Delphine shifted to her wolf form and lunged at the intruder. The assassin wolf turned and swiped a clawed hand at her, missing Delphine by inches.
Legs numb with shock, I barely managed to stand and run, rushing toward the door. Before I could reach it, a cacophony of sound echoed in from the hallway outside. Howls, snarls, and mad barking sounds. More of them? Why now?
The question didn’t really need to be asked. It was my kidnapping. The fact that the Decimus family had taken me. Either my family thought I’d divulged secrets, or they were worried I would. Either way, I’d finally gone from a disgrace that they could hide to a liability they couldn’t allow to live. Deep in the back of my mind, I’d always thought this day might come, and I’d prepared.
Behind me, Delphine and the huge abomination of a shifter fought and snarled at each other. While my nanny and friend tried to protect me, I rushed to the kitchen, shoved my hand into an oven mitt, then pulled open a drawer. Reaching in, I extracted a spray bottle filled with wolfsbane tincture and colloidal silver. This stuff didn’t affect me as badly as it did true shifters, but the scent still nauseated me.
A lamp shattered beside me, exploding into a hundred pieces, and forcing me to duck away. As I did, the front door of the apartment burst inward, and two more creatures surged in. Oily, pervasive fear washed over me, making it difficult to think as the monsters rushed into my home.
Delphine growled at the new arrivals and swatted at the first with a paw. She let out a yelp of pain as the first wolf swung its arm out at her, catching her in the shoulder. She spun and crashed into the dining room table, falling behind.
“Hey, fuckyou!” I screamed and sprayed the wolfsbane at her attacker.
The spray of liquid struck the beast in the face, and the sound it released was like nothing I’d ever heard. The high-pitched keening noise was like a banshee wail of wolf agony. Clutching at its face, the beast took two staggering steps back and collided with the two other assassins before collapsing on the floor. It writhed in agony and clawed at its maw.
Jerking away from their partner, the two new arrivals lunged toward me. I attempted to spray another, but the one on the left swiped at the spray bottle and sent it flying out the shattered window.
“Fuck,” I muttered, flinging my oven mitt at the creature.
It gave a low growl and took a step toward me, bloodlust and rage in its yellow eyes.
