Page 46 of The Forsaken Heir
Rounding the corner to get back to my office, I froze when I saw Vincent pacing outside the door and taking huge bites out of the massive sandwich he was holding.
“Vince?” I said. “Why are you back?”
He spotted me and swallowed. “I got bored. One of the cooks was talking about football. I left.”
I chuckled. “Okay, then. Where’smysandwich?”
Vincent glanced down at his food, a look of dawning confusion on his face.
“You want mine?” he finally asked.
“No, it’s fine. I’m joking. Come on, I’ll call for tea or something to be brought up.”
We went into my office, and Vince took the seat he’d had before. I picked up the phone, calling the kitchens to have tea and some light lunch items brought up.
“Where’s Rasp?” I said as I settled in my chair. “I haven’t seen him all day.”
Vincent shoved the final bit of his food into his mouth and spoke through the wad of bread, meat, and cheese. “He’s out on a job. Something for his dad.”
If I had to guess, it was some simple task my uncle had given him. Rasp, as much as I loved him, was too immature to be trusted with much more than low-priority items.
The food and drinks arrived ten minutes later, and Vince and I spent the early afternoon together in a mostly companionable silence. I worked while he read more ofFrankenstein. Eventually, he put the book down and sighed heavily.
“I miss Elle.” He pointed at the book. “It’s not as good when I’m the one reading it. It was better when she read it.”
“I miss her too,” I said.
A thought occurred to me then. An idea that, until that moment, hadn’t even crossed my mind. When I’d left Brielle on the sidewalk outside her apartment two days before, I’d done so with the thought that I’d never see her again. Butwhy? I knew where she lived. It was less than a forty-minute drive from the estate. Not only was it close by, but I was the bloodyprince. Why did I feel like I couldn’t go see an ally whenever I wanted to? That was exactly what she was too. Elle may not have been a part of her family’s life, but she was still a Laurent, regardless of what her parents or brother thought.
“Vincent?” I said, looking across the desk at my friend. “Do you wanna go say hi to her? Go with me for a little visit?”
His eyes widened, and he leapt to his feet. “Yeah, I do. Are you serious?”
Rising from my own seat, I felt a strange elation at my decision. Like I’d done something huge and full of consequence.
“Go grab one of the servants. Tell them to put together a gift basket. Maybe some baked goods, some snacks. A few of our magical beauty and toiletry items as well. Let them know it’s for a high-born lady. I’ll call the valet to have a car around. You and I are going on a little drive.”
11
BRIELLE
After the embarrassment of my family’s response to Aurelius wanting to send me back, I’d refused to wallow in self-pity any longer. Instead, I’d thrown myself into research. Over the decade-plus of my exile, I’d basically given up on learning anything about my family, their businesses, and wolf shifters in general. I’d been living as a human for years. Delphine would disappear a few nights a month to head into the forests near town to shift and run, but she typically did that after I’d gone to bed. In fact, I knew so little that I felt like an idiot. I was blind to what they did and who everything affected.
After returning from Aurelius’s mansion-cum-castle, I’d begun digging. Delphine still had access to some of the secure servers my family used, and I’d spent the entire morning digging through them until my eyes hurt from staring at the screen. Glancing outside, I found nothing but heavy gray skies, the fog thick and the rain heavy, where I couldn’t see more than a few feet past our balcony.
“Find anything interesting?” Delphine asked as she strolled through the living room.
“Tons. Stuff on the family server as well as other stuff I found online.” I leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest and eyeing her. “Did you know the family businesses are set up like little mafias? A head of each business, lieutenants beneath them, all doing their best to force surrounding businesses under.”
Delphine paused, a watering can in one hand, poised over a potted plant. A look of irritation crossed over her face.
“Yes, it’s true. It’s something your great-grandfather started as a matter of principle. It’s become sort of a badge of honor among the members of your family. Strong-arm tactics. Pushing smaller competitors out of business or forcing them to sell.”
I let out a dejected sigh and shook my head. “Why didn’t I ever hear about this when I was younger?”
“You were never in the business side of things. You were a young girl. I’m sure, uh…had things turned out differently, you’d have been read into all the things the Laurents do.”
“I’m not sure that makes me feel any better,” I said, waving a hand at the computer screen. “It’s not even fair to the humans. All our business dealings, for the most part, stem from magic from the wellsprings. Human tech is getting better every year, but they’re still pretty far off from what we can do.” I picked up a small jar from the end table and held it up. “It’s like this stuff.”
