Page 96 of The Forsaken Heir
“Fuck.” Two wolves descended upon him, biting and clawing at his body.
“Rasp!”A voice bellowed behind me, and an instant later, Vincent appeared in his full dragon form. He closed his jaws around the wolf’s midsection, slicing it completely in half. Blood sprayed through the air, and I covered my head with my arms to keep from being drenched.
Rasp managed to fight off the other wolf, then he half-shifted and dived into battle with the others, pushing the advancing wolf away from me.
Something hot and wet splattered across my face, and I looked down to see another wolf flailing on the floor, bloody stumps where its forelegs used to be. Vincent raised his head, dragon lips bloody, and let out a roar of victory that rattled the glass around us.
A silver arrow flew through the air like a blur. The tip would have slammed into my chest were it not for the magic bound in my leather armor. Instead of piercing my heart, the arrow shattered like glass. Unfortunately, the arrow must have depleted the magic, because the armor now felt empty, like an engine that had run out of gas.
“Imposter!”
Turning, I found a half-shifted wolf stomping toward me, looking as terrifying and menacing as the ones who’d tried to kill me in my apartment. It sounded like it was talking with a mouthful of gravel, its voice warped and twisted by its half-formed mouth and tongue.
I glanced around. Rasp was busy fighting two other shifters, their claws slashing at him, their teeth trying to tear at his arms and legs. Vincent and Aurelius were deep in the battle as well—it looked likemoreof the house staff had arrived and shifted to join the fight.
“Bitch,” the wolf before me growled again.
I grabbed a chair to my right and swung it at the beast, surprising it with my speed and power. The heavy wooden chair connected with its lower jaw. The bone gave way as it shattered, and the wolf staggered back, clutching his mouth and howling.
Rough hands pawed at me from behind, and I slammed my elbow back. There was a meaty, satisfyingcrunchas I madecontact with a nose, followed by a feminine shriek of agony. Turning, I found Sasha kneeling on the floor, her hands cupped around her mouth, blood flowing freely down her chin.
My terror faded, and shame overtook me at having hurt her. As unpleasant as she had been to me, this woman had been used and twisted by my brother. For all I knew, she was only helping him out of fear.
“Come on,” I said, kneeling to help her up. Perhaps we could both get out of here.
“Don’t touch me,” Sasha hissed and shoved me back.
I crashed to my knees as she leaped to her feet and rejoined the battle. So much for trying to be nice.
I scrambled to my feet, but was struck down almost immediately as four ragged lines of fire traced down my back. I screamed in agony as hot blood soaked my shirt. The pain was so overbearing that I collapsed to my stomach, cursing myself for taking the time to try and help Sasha.
Sensing a large form moving toward me from behind, I rolled to the side just as a heavy boot crashed down where my head had been. Bastien stood above me, his hands twisted into claws. Although he had shifted back into his human form, he still looked like an animal.
“Always a fucking pain in my ass,” he snarled as he lunged for me.
Aurelius’s tail slammed into Bastien’s midsection, sweeping him off his feet and through the air. Bastien landed on a group of fully shifted wolves who’d been trying to bite Octavian’s legs.
Aurelius shifted to his human form and helped me to my feet. A silver arrow whizzed past his head, missing him by inches, but he didn’t even flinch.
“Get out of here,” he shouted, pushing me toward the back. “I saw your sister and aunt run that way. I think there’s an exit. Go.” He gave me another shove.
“Not without you!”
“I said go, Elle! I’m not important.”
Before I could argue further, he shifted again, swatting away a werewolf who had pinned down one of his men. All around me, chaos and ruin flourished like some mad dream. For a moment, I thought I might still be in that strange spirit walk, but no, this was real. This was hell. Blood painted the walls, men and women lay dead and dying on the floor, I’d never experienced anything like this. The dragons were losing. Their number had already been cut in half.
Doing as Aurelius commanded, I sprinted toward the back of the conservatory, away from most of the fighting, willing myself not to slow down. Every roar, howl, and scream sent a shudder of terror through me as I ran.
For a moment, I really thought I would make it. The stairwell some of my family had used to escape was visible, a mere twenty feet ahead. Relief and excitement coursed through me at the possibility of escape, but then three large, slavering wolves leaped in front of me, blocking my path. One half-shifted, two fully shifted. They all looked at me with greedy, hungry eyes.
The half-shifted beast pointed a taloned finger at me. “Skinwalker,” it croaked.
At his word, the two others bounded forward, ready to tear my flesh from my bones. There was no time to run, and no way to fight off three shifters. This was it. Unwilling to die, I clenched my hands into fists and shrieked in defiance, daring them to come. If I died here, I’d make sure they remembered what it was like to do battle with Brielle Laurent.
Choosing the left wolf, I reared back and swung my foot forward, catching it beneath the jaw. Its teeth clacked together with a gunshotsnap, and it tumbled aside. Before the other wolf could pounce upon me, though, a massive form slammed into it from the side, sending it tumbling away with a yelp of pain.
“Aurelius?” I gasped the first name that came to my mind.
