Page 95 of Saving the Last Heir
When the server took our order and removed the menus, I glanced over to see the rest of the family were deep in conversation, then turned my full attention to Bryn.
“What’s wrong with that stuff?” I asked. “Lots of people have those kinds of degrees and jobs.”
“I want to follow my dreams. You know there are actual shifters in Hollywood, right? Hidden away, and none of the humans know what they are.”
“I do know,” I said, nodding along. “There’s?—”
“Keanu Reeves,” she blurted, eyes wide and excited again. “He’s a sea serpent shifter. He told everyone he didn’t know how to surf when he did Point Break, but he did because he spends all that time in the ocean, in his serpent form and his human form. Michelle Pfeiffer is a panther shifter. It’s why she was so good as Catwoman in that old Batman movie. Oh, also?—”
“I get the picture,” I said. “Listen, kid, follow your dreams.”
“What?” She looked at me in surprise, as if she’d expected me to talk her out of it.
“I said follow your dreams. Who gives a shit what anyone thinks but you? I know it seems like forever away, but when you’re forty or fifty years old, do you want to look back on your life and think, ‘what if?’ Or do you want to look back and say…” I again made sure none of the other adults were listening before going on, “Do you want to look back and say, ‘I did that shit!’”
Bryn clamped her hands to her mouth to stifle her giggles.
I prodded her shoulder. “Well? Which one do you want? A big bank account and a trail of discarded dreams, or a life full of joy and happiness? Do you want to do what someone else wants you to do, or do you want to follow your heart?”
The conversation was deeper than most young girls were used to, and Bryn looked at me with renewed interest. It was the look you got when you’d done something unexpected and amazing. It was the type of look I could imagine a child having if they came downstairs on Christmas Eve to find Santa placing gifts around the tree.
“What’s your answer?” I said, urging her on.
Her lips curled into a mischievous grin as she leaned forward to whisper into my ear.
“I want to do the cool shit,” she said.
The horror of what I needed to do now—what that fucker was forcing me to do—washed over me. One life for another. I had to take that sweet, brilliantchild who’d been like a surrogate little sister to me for years, and…and…
I grabbed another branch to steady myself and vomited down onto the forest floor below, my guts heaving and cramping as all the food I’d eaten in the last twelve hours came back up. The horror of what had to be done was almost too much. I retched and threw up until there was nothing left inside me, and even then I continued dry-heaving, tears running down my face. Tearing a handful of leaves from the tree, I swiped them across my mouth and spat.
Eyes wet with tears, I tried to focus on the mansion. Sometimes blood came before friendship. An entire species hung in the balance. I couldn’t let my love for Bryn push aside my duty and honor to my family and my people. It was a sacrifice that had to be made. All I could do was hope that what we’d told Christian would make it easier for me to do what needed to be done. With him out of the way, then it would be one less obstacle.
As the sun gave up its last vibrant rays and slipped past the horizon, I pulled my phone out and texted Shyanne.
Jackson:It’s time. I’m going in.
I didn’t bother waiting for her response. Now that it was dark, time was of the essence. I pulled a vial of wyrm pheromones out of my pocket and spritzed it on my chest, arms, crotch, armpits, legs, neck, and head. Tossing the empty vial aside, I leaped from the oak tree at the edge of the forest that surrounded the estate. Spreading my arms wide, I took a swan dive from nearly two hundred feet up, the wind rushing up to whip at my clothes and hair. Jaw set and determined, I stared down as the ground rushed up to meet me.
At twenty feet above the ground, I shifted to my dragon form. Turning my death dive into a swift banking turn, my wings scooped air and shot me forward at fifty miles an hour only three feet above the ground. I had to gain as much speed as possible to glide all the way to the mansion with as minimal wing flap as possible. Like any other shifter, wyrms had an enhanced sense of smellandhearing. The last thing I needed was to get screwed over because someone heard my wings.
For most of my life, the Bauer Estate had been a second home for me, a place where I played as a boy. It was always a place of joy for me. Now? It looked sinister and dangerous in the faint glow of the rising moon. Yet, the house itself wasn’t sinister. How could it be? All it did was provide security and safety to those inside. The only actual menacing thing around here was me.
There was no rooftop access to the home, which meant I couldn’t attempt the same trick I’d used to steal the car and the supplies needed to repair it. That meant entering the home would be even harder. This plan had been worked out as precisely as it could be, but there was always a chance that something I hadn’t anticipated might pop up.Anymistake, and this was all over. My sister was as good as dead if I was caught before completing this god-awful task for that piece of shit.
There was a small peach orchard along with a fruit and vegetable garden behind the main building. Speed decreasing rapidly, I tilted my wings to take me into the orchard, where I shifted and landed silently. Crouching low, I made my way toward the house, scanning for movement. At the edge of the thin patch of trees, I looked toward the house. Lights shone in most of the windows on the first and third floors. That made sense. Most of the bedrooms were on the top floor, and the bottom held the living room, den, kitchens, and dining room. At this time ofnight, the second floor would be mostly unused since it held a couple of offices for Christian and his parents, a playroom that Bryn basically never used anymore, along with a billiard room and library—areas that wouldn’t see much foot traffic this time of night.
Even as I scanned the building, I noticed the flickery movement of people walking past the windows. Too many people. There was definitely a security presence in the house.
“Shit,” I whispered.
I’d seen bodyguards around the house before. Mr. Bauer was a high-ranking businessman who had enemies and people who’d want to kidnap him or his family for ransom. Though, most of those would-be kidnappers were humans who would be in for onehellof a surprise when he shifted into a twenty-foot-long armless and legless snake-like dragon. The problem was, there seemed to be more guards than usual—either that, or they had guests over. Both were major problems. It would severely limit my options, but there was nothing to be done about that now.
I moved toward the small garden shed, doing my best to stay in the shadows as I went. Halfway there, the sound of footsteps sent a burst of fear through me. Feet in the grass, close enough that I could actuallyhearit.
I forced myself to stay quiet and not sprint to the shed. Instead, I moved as fast as I could without giving myself away. My panic increased as the footsteps gave way to the low rumble of conversation. Two men, from the sound of it. The rear door of the shed lay partially open, and I slipped inside, cloaking myself in the shadows ten seconds before the approaching men rounded the corner. I had to clamp a hand over my mouth to hide my sigh of relief.
“You think we’ve got a chance?” one man said.
