Page 48 of The Forsaken Heir
The spray wasn’t the only weapon I’d stashed around the house. For years, I’d worried this could possibly happen. Poor Rasp and Vincent had taken me, thinking they’d saved my life, but their ill-advised kidnapping had made my greatest nightmare come true. The path to hell was always paved with good intentions.
Ducking a swiping claw, I rolled to the side and scrambled to my feet, running to a framed picture on the way. Behind me, a groggy, but angry growl erupted as Delphine came to.
The second beast turned his attention to her, but the other followed me with slow and deliberate steps. When I looked into its eyes, there was no fear, no worry, not even anxiety. The wolf stalked toward me as though I was nothing more than a cornered rabbit that would be easily dispatched. It wasn’t even trying to hurry. Well, if that was how it thought, then it was in for a surprise.
I ripped the painting off the wall. Taped to the back was a pair of specialized brass knuckles I’d had made a few years before. The handle that sat in my hand, the part that touched my skin, was solid stainless steel. The rigged and wicked knuckle portion was made of silver. I’d just managed to slide my digits into the holes when a hand crashed into my shoulder.
Strength, unlike anything I’d ever experienced, slammed into me, sending me rolling head over heels down the hallway. Thankfully, I’d kept my hold on the weapon, and managed to get up to my knees by the time the murderous creature was upon me again.
Looking up, I had time to see the yellow eyes, feral in their hunger, bearing down on me. A mouth of stalactite teeth yawned open, lunging toward my face. Before I could think, I swung my fist up, and when the knuckles made contact with my attacker’s jaw, a meatythwacksounded.
Blood sprayed from his jaws, and a single tooth went flying through the air, pinwheeling before my eyes in slow motion. The beast clutched at its face, howling out in rage. I jumped tomy feet and kicked out as hard as I could toward the thing’s midsection.
I was not a full shifter, which meant I didn’t have the absurd enhanced strength I should have had. Though, I was still born of shifters. My strength would have been on par with some of the strongest human women on earth, and I made good use of it. My foot connected with the rippled and ropy muscles of the wolf’s midsection, sending it tumbling over onto its back.
Delphine was in trouble. I watched in horror as the other attacker leaned down and bit into her rear flank. He tried to jerk his head to the side, most likely attempting to tear her entire leg off. Thankfully, she managed to latch her jaws onto his shoulder, preventing him from doing any lethal damage to her.
Jumping over the creature I’d hurt, I slammed my entire body into the other wolf. Lowering my shoulder, I rammed into him, aiming for the ribs. A yelp of surprise burst from his throat as I hit him, causing him to release Delphine. As we tumbled to the ground, he thrashed out with his claws, and caught me in the forehead with a slight glancing blow. An instant later, my vision turned red as a sheet of blood coated my eyes.
Behind me, the other wolf released a roar of anger. I only had time to punch the beast beneath me once in the stomach before a hand wrapped around my ankle. I was yanked backward and flew through the air. There wasn’t even time to scream as I crashed into Delphine. Both of us crashed to the ground in a heap of limbs, Delphine yelping in pain again. My weapon went skittering across the floor. When I looked up, both of the beasts stalked toward us.
We’d made a good fight of it, but we were outnumbered. We were going to die. This was it. A strange calm settled over me. Allthe fear and terror left my body. There was nothing more to do, other than fight until the end. Even as they tore my throat out, I’d make sure they’d remember the day they tangled with Brielle Laurent. I refused to go down easily, even if that meant Iwouldgo down. With a single final surge of anger, I opened my mouth and let out a war cry.
What came from my mouth did not sound like a human scream. In fact, it sound more like the screeching cry of a?—
Two dragons, half-shifted like the wolves, rushed into the apartment, their jaws wide and crying out in rage. I recognized the rusty brown one as Vincent. The other was a dark, inky black with eyes like burning coals. He was larger than Vincent. His gaze locked on me, and a ripple of gooseflesh erupted all over my body. Even in this form, I recognized him.
Aurelius.
It didn’t matter that I was in the heat of battle—nothing could have prepared me for his majestic dragon form. I was in awe of his power and grace. Muscles rippled beneath the black scales of his dragon hide, and as he surged forward, Vincent behind him, he looked like some kind of beautiful avenging demon straight from hell. Thankfully, it looked like he was on my side.
With howls of surprise, the two half-shifted wolves spun on the dragons and launched a new attack. I backed away, cradling Delphine in my arms, both of us watching in awe as the battle unfolded.
Aurelius moved with serpentine grace, dodging blows and teeth, striking out with precise and controlled movements. Vincent swamped the apartment with chaotic energy and aggression. Itwas shocking. Nothing like the gentleman I’d read to a few days before. It was almost like he had no clue how strong he was.
The first wolf leaped at Aurelius, claws outstretched, shifting to his full wolf form as he did, jaws open wide and snarling. Aurelius lifted a hulking arm, actually allowing the wolf to clamp its teeth onto him. Once his enemy’s jaws were latched on, the prince growled, smoke billowing from his nostrils, and threw a punch into the wolf’s side. The beast let out a yelp of pain before being tossed across the room to crash into the wall.
Vincent slashed at his attacker with his claws, shredding the air before him as the half-shifted wolf backed away and eyed him warily. Aurelius caught the enemy unawares, dragging his claws down the wolf’s back from behind.
With a howl of pain, the wolf ducked Aurelius’s second slash attempt and kicked out, catching Vincent in the knee. Vincent collapsed, but as he went, he managed to slice the wolf’s leg with a claw. It shouted and fell to one knee. Aurelius kicked him hard in the back, sending the would-be assassin sliding forward along the floor, where his head smashed into the wall. As powerful as the impact had been, the thing got to its feet almost at once.
I glanced around. The other two wolves had struggled to their feet as well. The one I’d sprayed with wolfsbane staggered around, his face swollen, eyes sealed shut, but it still managed to slice and paw at the air. I pulled Delphine away a moment before he would have ripped her throat open.
Vince and Aurelius rushed the attackers again, moving quickly. Vince crashed into the two nearest me, and Aurelius strode toward the one he’d just kicked. As I stared on in disbelief, he reached down and hauled the wolf up as if it weighed nothing. Aurelius tossed the wolf aside, then stood above Delphine andme. He reached one taloned hand out, gazing at me with those wicked red eyes.
“Come,” the voice, distinctly his, was garbled by his dragon jaws and tongue. It sounded like he was speaking through a mouthful of gravel.
I leaped to my feet and took his hand. It was hot beneath my fingers, as though a fire burned a millimeter beneath the skin.
Vincent let out another roar of rage and kicked the first wolf, who’d regained consciousness and tried to jump back into the fight even though it was blind. The beast went crashing into the wall, leaving a jagged hole in the drywall. Turning, Vincent rushed to pick up Delphine.
She gasped in terror, flinching away from Vincent as he leaned toward her.
“Get away!” she shrieked.
“Delphine, they’re friends! Let them help,” I said as I climbed onto Aurelius’s back.
She looked at me like I’d gone mad, then Vincent leaned in.
