Page 133 of The Forsaken Heir
I smiled to my smile. It had been a bit like that. Though, rather than angels, we’d been more like demons, raining down fire and death from the night sky.
After my dream walk in the wellspring, the entire fae town had devolved into well-organized chaos. The leadership council had gathered everyone together and prepared them to be transported to the dragon’s castle. A few of them would stay behind to watch over the wellspring, but nearly three hundred fae would be welcomed as guests by King Cassius Decimus.
Initially, the plan had been for Cassius and the council to discuss how best to mount a defense against the wolves should they come. Yet, as important as all that was, I’d had a hard time getting the vision the wellspring had shown me out of my mind. Most of it had been fuzzy, but I had clearly seen Freddy and Aurelius at the waste treatment facility. The meaning had been pretty clear: Freddy was trying to get Aurelius out.
“Are we going to the castle too?” Vince had asked.
“No,” I’d said. “We’re heading to my family’s territory.”
Rasp, Delphine, and Vincent had all stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Uh, excuse me?” Rasp said. “You mean, you want us to go strolling right back into the lion’s den? That doesn’t sound very smart.”
I gestured toward the wellspring. “It told me something. It’s happening tonight, whatever it is, and I know where.”
Delphine studied me, then nodded and patted my arm. “We’ll go. I’ll go too.”
“Sounds fun,” Vince said. “A secret mission behind enemy lines. Like a movie.”
Rasp ran his fingers through his hair, looking both irritated and resigned. “Okay. I guess so. Fuck it. You only live once, right?”
The four of us had flown to an area near the waste treatment facility and waited until nightfall. The whole time, my three companions eyed me apprehensively, each listening intently for the tell-tale howl of wolves who’d caught the scent of intruders in their territory, but either through luck or fate, we weren’t discovered.
We waited until a little past midnight until a faint sound echoed through the woods. The distantpop-pop-popsounded like fireworks.
Rasp leapt to his feet. “Holy shit, did you hear that?”
“I did,” Delphine said, her voice tight with strain. “Gunfire.”
I stood. “It’s time. Let’s go.”
Moments later, Delphine and I were on Vincent and Raspion’s back, flying through the night air like ghosts. Soon, we spotted three sets of headlights. The cacophony of howls and gunshots reverberated through the night. Even from up high, I could makeout Aurelius. The wellspring had shown me the truth. I’d found him.
When Vincent had swept down and cloaked the wolf attacking Aurelius in fire, it had been all I could do not to release a banshee scream of victory.
The memories, still fresh and visceral, played across my memory like a movie. Finally, I looked at my brother again and shrugged.
“It was magic.” I grinned. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”
Freddy’s brow furrowed, and he looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Eventually, he sighed and leaned back in his seat.
“Fair enough. Keep your secrets. I’m just glad you showed up when you did. We weren’t gonna make it out of there. Nicolas was a good man.” When he looked at me again, it was with haunted eyes. “I think they might have actually tried to kill me, Elle.Me.”
My stomach twisted at that. Had Bastien really gone so over the edge that he’d actually harm Freddy? Heobviouslywanted to harm me, but that was different. I had a stronger claim to being the head of the family. I doubted my parents would have gone along with Freddy’s murder the way they might have for mine. If I had to guess, Bastien’s men were trigger-happy. That, and Bastien was too power-hungry to really think about his actions.
I reached across the van and squeezed his hand. “You’re safe now.” Then I frowned. “Wait, aren’t you getting married soon?”
He blinked several times, then a smile lit up his face.
“Oh, wow, yeah. Ariella Garnier. It, uh… the wedding got postponed.” He shrugged one shoulder. “With everything happening, Mom and Dad said it was for the best. She’sactually on a bachelorette trip with her sister and some friends. They went to Japan. She hadn’t planned it, but—” He stopped abruptly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m rambling about shit that doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. Freddy. It’s important to you, and it’s been delayed. Because of me.” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Freddy shook his head vehemently. “No. Don’t think like that. It wasn’t your fault. It’s Bastien’s fault. It’s our parents’ fault. None of this would have ever happened if they hadn’t treated you like they have. If we were a normal, well-adjusted family, we’d all be hanging out with my new wife. Happy. Instead,” he gave a low growl and glanced around. “We get whatever this is.” He took my hands in his. “I think you’ll really like Ariella when you get to meet her.”
Tears stung at the backs of my eyes. “Thank you. Even if it’s not my fault, I’m still sorry.”
“Yeah. it’ll all work out,” he said, heaving an exhausted sigh.
