Nice Dragons Finish Last

Chapter 18

Estella the Northern Star, Seer of the Three Sisters, stood behind a rusted-out dumpster at the end of what had once been a high school parking lot, waiting. Above her, the magic eaters she’d lured with her sister’s blood were still swarming, but they gave her a wide berth. Estella paid them no mind in any case. She simply stood, waiting patiently until, at last, she heard the beautiful clink clink of antique glass rolling over decaying asphalt.

She leaned down, pressing her fingers to the broken ground just in time to catch the golden ball rolling across it. The priceless treasure the human mage had lost in the chaos. The Kosmolabe. Estella stroked the smooth, cool glass with her fingers. Her Kosmolabe, at last.

Tucking the beautiful orb carefully into the warded box she’d brought along just for this purpose, Estella hurried back to her car. This whole operation had been a mess. Thanks to the young Heartstriker’s antics, there wasn’t even the remotest possibility the Lady of the Lakes wouldn’t notice what had happened here, which meant Estella needed to leave. The idea irked her—she did not run from anyone—but her mothers had taught her early that it was best to give Algonquin a wide berth, and Estella always listened to her mothers.

Fortunately, her limo was waiting just around the corner. She slid into the back seat, commanding the autodrive to take her back to her hotel. She’d barely made it a block before her ears caught the muted blare of sirens approaching at top speed, and the thundering hooves of a horse.

A minute later, she passed a convoy of DFZ heavy weapons teams going the opposite direction, led by an enormous man riding a horse made of crashing waves and carrying a spear the size of a telephone pole. His magic was so potent, Estella caught the scent of him even inside her car: ocean spray and blood, dragon’s blood to be precise. But then, whom else would you send to a situation like this but a dragon slayer? She was only sad the overgrown Heartstriker whelp had vanished before Algonquin’s hunter could spear him.

In an ironic twist, the wasteland created by the Lady of the Lakes’ emergence was located directly below the DFZ’s Financial District. This meant it was barely a five-minute drive from her hotel, yet another reason why she’d chosen it as the stage for Bixby’s final act. She had hoped he’d beat the odds and survive since he was the only human she had in Vegas, but then, that was why she’d made him give her all his information before sending him in. Estella never bet on long odds.

She’d avoided touching the Kosmolabe the whole drive over, but once she reached her hotel, a massive superscraper luxury development directly across from Svena’s, Estella gave in, digging out the golden ball the moment the elevator doors closed. As a dragon, she’d always coveted beautiful, rare, powerful things, but it was the seer in her who treasured the Kosmolabe’s true gift. With this as her guide, she could find her way straight to any of the outer planes, no matter how hidden. The one she sought was the most hidden of all, but when she looked into the Kosmolabe, there it was, nestled in among all the others like a little star in the heavens, and all she had to do was follow her new compass right to it.

But while Estella finally had what she’d set out to acquire, the cost had been higher than she’d reckoned thanks to Brohomir’s interference. Katya’s loss was negligible—the girl had always been more of a liability than an asset—but Svena was a blow from which their clan could not recover. Estella had seen the possibility building for years now, but even so, she’d held on to hope. She’d even broken her rule against betting on long odds by ordering Svena directly in a desperate attempt to change their fate, but it had all come to nothing. Despite her best efforts, everything had turned out exactly as she’d foreseen. Now, the only thing left to do was to make sure the last chance she’d paid so dearly for came through.

When she reached her hotel suite, Estella locked the door and started clearing a space in the front room. When she’d pushed all the matched furniture to the walls, she stepped into the middle of the now open floor, clutching the Kosmolabe between her palms. Peering down into the twitching, interlocking gold patterns, she fixed on her target and pulled her magic tight, honing her power to an edge sharp enough to slice through the fabric that separated this world from the worlds beyond. She was almost done when the phone in her purse began to ring.

The noise made her jump. She hadn’t foreseen getting a call now. She didn’t recognize the number, either, but her surprise plus the Chinese country code at the front was as good as an engraved calling card, and by the time Estella answered, the voice on the other end was as expected as it was deep.

“Do you know what time it is here?”

Estella sighed. Only the Black Reach would call you to complain about the time where he was. “What do you want?”

There was a rain-like sound as the elder seer stretched, his scales clicking together like a cascade of jade beads. “Actually, this is a courtesy call. I promised the last time we spoke that I would say something if I saw you setting foot down an irrevocable path. Of course, if I’d known you were going to do so at seven-thirty in the morning, I would never have agreed.”

“You didn’t foresee that as well?” Estella said. “And here I thought you were supposed to be the greatest of us all?”

“The greatest and the oldest,” he agreed. “And the most patient with overwrought young seers like yourself who don’t stop to think things through.”

“Your concern is noted,” she said briskly. “But my decision is already made. I refuse to live in a world where that tacky whore and her upstart brood become more powerful than us.”

“So I see,” the Black Reach replied, his smooth, deep voice turning serious. “But a promise is a promise, Estella. I swore to warn you, though it’s up to you to listen.”

Estella sighed and sat down in a richly upholstered chair. “Get on with it, then.”

“You’re beginning your fall, little star,” the old dragon said. “For over two thousand years, the Three Sisters have been the unquestioned queens of the dragon world; their magic unmatched, their seer unparalleled. But no queen rules forever. The wheel of fortune turns on all levels, and the old must always make way for the new.”

“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped. “You act as though you’re the only seer in this conversation. I foresaw the Heartstriker’s rise perfectly well. Unlike you, though, I wasn’t content to drink tea and watch the world fall apart around me. I’ve worked tirelessly for decades now to prevent this catastrophe.”

“And lost your favorite sister in the process.”

Estella closed her eyes with a sharp breath, and in the silence that followed, the Black Reach continued. “Brohomir has done his job exceptionally well for one so young. The Heartstriker’s assent cannot be prevented. If you wish to survive, you must adapt.”

“You’re wrong,” she said, looking down at the Kosmolabe shining in her hand. “There is one last way.”

“Perhaps,” the Black Reach said. “But know this, Estella. If you start down this path, you will find the weapon you seek, but it will be your death as well. You have lived longer than any seer in history save myself. Are you sure you’re ready to give that up for a revenge you will not live to enjoy?”

“Of course,” she said at once. “You might see more than any seer, Black Reach, but seeing isn’t the same as understanding. There is more to life than mere survival. It is because I’ve lived so long that I can say without doubt that I would rather die tomorrow with my teeth lodged in the Heartstriker’s throat than live forever in a world where the daughters of gods are forced to bow to Bethesda the Broodmare.”

The phone vibrated against her ear as the Black Reach let out a long, deep sigh. “So be it,” he said. “My warning is delivered. With this, all debts between us are answered, which means I will see you soon.”

“Soon?” Estella repeated, scowling. “Why?”

There was soft click of sharp teeth as the Black Reach smiled. “Because the next time we meet will be the day you die. Have a nice trip, Estella.”

The phone went silent as he hung up, and Estella stared it for a long moment before flinging it away. She was not afraid. She was a seer, the Northern Star, and she had set herself down this path long ago. Death was just another price, and if it could be used to buy the destruction of her enemy, she would count her life well spent indeed. With that thought ringing in her mind and the Kosmolabe as her guide, Estella reached out and tore the world apart.

Her honed magic sliced through the fabric of the universe like claws through cloth, ripping a six-foot-wide hole in the air above the hotel suite’s tasteful Ottoman carpet. On the other side, a black desert stretched out like an endless sea, lit only by a blood-red moon trapped eternally at its zenith by powers so old even Estella could not name them. There was no movement in this world, no howling wind, no water. Only dust and the distant clink of chains from the black mountain at the desert’s center.

For the first time since she’d decided to embark on this journey, Estella hesitated. There was no future on the other side of that hole, no river of possible choices for her to look down. All she could see was what she perceived with her physical eyes, and for the first time in many years, Estella the Northern Star felt a twinge of fear.

Like all her weaknesses, thoough, it was fleeting, because on this side of the portal, she could see just fine. For example, she knew if she looked out the window behind her, she would find shadows moving against the drawn curtains of Svena’s hotel room. Two shadows, caught in an embrace…

That horrid thought was all she needed. With a furious snarl, Estella stepped through the portal, casting off her humanity as she went. When her feet landed in black dust of the other world, they were white claws, and they only touched down for an instant before she took flight, her delicate, frost-traced wings moving in powerful beats as she flew up into the still, empty, eternally night sky. By the time the portal sealed behind her, she was following the bright gold beacon of the Kosmolabe straight toward the mountain of chains at the center, the black prison even seers could not foresee, throbbing like a beating heart beneath the light of the blood-red moon.

And back in the hotel room, discarded and forgotten beneath the silk damask couch, her phone began to ring.

And ring.

And ring.

Marci crouched in the back seat of Bob’s car, one hand pressing the scarf she’d found at the bottom of her bag against the wound on Julius’s chest, the other pinning Ghost behind her just in case the death spirit got any ideas. On the opposite side of the seat, Katya watched nervously from a safe distance, which actually made Marci like her a great deal better. Julius had warned her that dragons were calculating and manipulative, but anyone who looked so legitimately worried about his welfare couldn’t be all bad. Bob, on the other hand, was no use at all.

He’d slowed down when they hit the skyways, but he was still driving like a maniac, watching his phone instead of the road despite the fact that he was driving a manually operated antique. He’d finished his conversation with whoever Chelsie was a few minutes ago, and now he just seemed to be dialing the same number over and over again. With no luck, apparently.

“What’s wrong?” Marci asked.

“There’s been a great disturbance in the Force,” Bob said gravely. “As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“No,” Bob said, dialing the number again with an irritated growl. “How’s our fainting flower doing? Still breathing?”

Marci’s jaw clenched, but things were much too serious to bother with a comeback, so she let it go and just answered the question. “Shallowly,” she reported, pressing makeshift bandage harder against the deep wounds that were still sluggishly bleeding. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Outlook hazy,” Bob replied. “Try again tomorrow.”

Now it was Marci’s turn to growl. “How can you be so flippant about this? Your brother might be dying. Who are you calling, anyway?”

“An old girlfriend,” he said, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “Do you always ask so many questions?”

“Are you always so cryptic and annoying?” Marci snapped back, earning her a gasp from Katya.

“Mortal,” she warned softly, casting a nervous eye at the front seat. “Perhaps you are unaware, but the dragon you are addressing is Brohomir, the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers. You should not speak to him like that. You are making Julius look bad.”

“Oh, Julius does that all on his own,” Bob said, dropping the phone on the seat beside him with a sound of defeat. Hands now free, he grabbed the wheel and turned the car hard, flinging Marci against the door as he took them around a corner on two wheels. She righted herself with an annoyed sigh, but she’d already learned it was pointless to try to correct Bob’s driving, so she decided to focus on making sure Julius didn’t get any worse.

He already looked awful. The sun had sunk while they’d been down in the pit, but there was still plenty of light up here on the skyways, enough to see that the amount of blood in the car was staggering. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was still breathing, Marci would have sworn Julius was already dead.

“Don’t worry. He’s a dragon.”

Marci’s head snapped up to find Katya watching her with a little smile on her face.

“He won’t die from this,” she said. “It’s only one bullet.”

The gentle words made Marci want to wring the dragoness’s lovely neck. “It’s not just the bullet. He also got bitten by the magic eaters, and he’s sealed. He shouldn’t have been in there at all!”

She hadn’t meant for that last part to come out quite so hysterical, but to her surprise, Katya was nodding. “I know this was my family’s doing,” she said. “I smelled my eldest sister while the humans were putting the chain on me. I’m not sure what sort of play she was making with this—I could never claim to know the workings of a seer—but your clan was hurt in the process, and I would offer amends.” She straightened up, looking Marci dead in the eye. “I offer your master a life debt in payment for my rescue and to make things even between our clans.”

Marci blinked. “Master?”

“You are his human, are you not?” Katya said, nodding at Julius. “I’d offer it to him directly, but he’s not exactly in a position to make a decision at the moment, and I would like this settled quickly.”

Marci bit her lip, brain racing. For the sake of accuracy, she felt she should own up to her own part in the Bixby/Kosmolabe fiasco. On the other hand, if Katya wanted to blame her sister and give Julius a life debt to settle the score, who was Marci to screw that up? There was only one problem; Julius hated debts. If Marci accepted one on his behalf, he’d probably be really upset. Then again, it did sound like a pretty sweet offer.

“I don’t know,” she said at last. “I don’t think Julius would—”

“Nonsense,” Bob interrupted, making her jump. When she looked up, he was staring straight at her through the rear view mirror. “A life debt between dragons is a power that can balance clans. It is not tendered often and should never be squandered. Julius, of course, is too young and too nice to understand this because he would never dream of going to war. But he’s indisposed at present, so the question is, how nice are you, Marcivale Novalli?”

“Not that nice,” she said, turning back to Katya. “We accept the debt.”

With remarkable lightness for someone who’d just given up something of such vaunted value, Katya smiled and offered her hand. After cleaning the blood off her own, Marci took it, but the bite of icy magic she felt through the dragon’s fingers almost made her let go again. She had pride to maintain, though, so she held her ground, gritting her teeth as the magic swelled and burst, falling over all of them like snow before Katya finally let go.

“There,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “That’s settled.”

“And just in time, too,” Bob said, whipping the car around another corner and down a ramp into a parking deck set into the skyway itself. “Fancy that.”

Marci looked up in alarm. With everything that was going on, she hadn’t been paying attention to where they were driving. Judging by how nice the parking deck was, though, she could only imagine it was somewhere very expensive—a hypothesis that was further supported by the pair of armed and augmented security guards who tried to stop Bob when he parked his car directly in front of their elevator.

The guards had barely taken their first menacing step forward before Bob hopped out with a huge, friendly smile. “Gentlemen, gentlemen,” he said warmly. “No cause for that. We’re expected. Just call up to apartment fifty-three and tell Jessica that her brother Bob is here to see her.”

The guards looked skeptical, but they obeyed, the bigger one hanging back to keep an eye on Bob while his partner made the call on his headset. Whatever answer this Jessica person sent, though, it must have been a doozy, because by the time Marci got Julius to the edge of the seat, the guards were falling all over themselves to help. One even offered to drive Bob’s car around to a more secure location that wasn’t in the middle of a loading zone. Bob’s reply was to smile sweetly and announce that anyone who touched his baby would lose a hand. This threat was further reinforced by Ghost, who chose that moment to hop up into Crown Victoria’s back window and splay his fluffy, transparent body out in the shadows like normal cat would in a sunbeam.

After that, the guards didn’t say a word. Not about Bob’s parking or the apparent dead body he dragged out of his back seat and tossed over his shoulder like a bloody sack of flour. They didn’t even comment on the trail of ashy dirt the three of them tracked into the fancy elevator, or the pigeon that quietly swooped out of the car to land on Bob’s head. It was a mark of just how surreal Marci’s life had gotten that riding in an elevator in one of the nicest buildings she’d ever seen with three dragons didn’t even strike her as notable anymore. She was mostly worried about Julius, who was starting to look terrifyingly pale.

Bob stopped them at the fiftieth floor, leaving a little trail of blood on the carpet behind him as he carried Julius down the tastefully appointed hall to one of the building’s corner units. The door opened before he got there, revealing yet another fantastically beautiful woman with perfectly dyed blond hair and striking green eyes, giving Marci pause. Just how many Heartstrikers were there, anyway?

“Brohomir,” the new dragon said breathlessly, ducking her head in a little bow. “This is such an honor. I was not expecting the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers. What can I do for…” She stopped suddenly, eyes flicking to the body on Bob’s shoulder. “Is that Julius?”

“Indeed it is,” Bob said, shoving his way into the immaculate apartment behind her. “Hello, Jessica! No need for pleasantries. We’re just here to borrow your medical degree.”

“For Julius?” she said skeptically.

“An excellent medical deduction, seeing how he’s the one bleeding on your carpet,” Bob replied. “Now are you going to tell me where to put him, or should I just choose a spot?”

He looked at her for an answer, but the dragon seemed to have lost her ability for speech. Her green eyes had turned as round as cue balls as they traveled from Bob to Marci and then to Katya, where they got stuck. When the silence had stretched on too long, Bob shrugged and started for the white, incredibly expensive-looking couch in the middle of her living room.

He was about to drop a very bloody Julius on the cushions when Jessica cried, “No!” The threat to her furniture seemed to have woken her up, because she burst into motion, marching quickly through the living room and down the hall that led to the rest of the apartment. “This way. I’ll look at him immediately.”

Smiling, Bob followed his sister, Julius’s body bouncing on his shoulder. Marci hurried after them, leaving Katya to shut the door, blocking the view of the curious neighbors who’d come out to see what all the fuss was about.

Julius woke up slowly, easing into consciousness like he would into a too-hot bath. Fortunately, coming back wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d feared. He felt clean and dry, and there was something on his chest that, though itchy and constricting, was much better than the painful mess he’d passed out to.

Encouraged, he slid his hand under the sheets to investigate and immediately encountered the familiar softness of medical gauze. Bandages, then. Also sheets, which meant he was probably in a bed. That was a definite improvement over the back of Bob’s car, worth checking out, and so, with a deep breath, Julius cracked his eyes open.

He was in a bedroom. That much wasn’t surprising, given the bed, but what was surprising was that he recognized it. The elegant beige and white room was one of Jessica’s guest bedrooms. Bob must have brought him to their sister for medical treatment after he’d passed out. That would explain the expert bandage job, and why he’d been upgraded from the couch. Seers always got the best stuff.

After a few groggy tries, Julius managed to sit up with relatively little pain. He was contemplating giving standing a go when the door opened and Marci burst into the room.

“Oh, thank goodness,” she said. “You’re finally awake.”

He smiled at the clear relief in her voice, but before he could ask any of the pertinent questions—how he’d gotten here, what had happened, was she all right—Marci flung herself onto the bed and hugged him tight.

She kept her arms on his shoulders to avoid his injuries, but Julius wouldn’t have cared if she’d crushed them. The feel of her around him would have been worth the pain. This was still lovely, though, and after a few seconds, he tentatively returned the gesture, putting his arms loosely around her waist as he breathed her in.

There were no tears this time, thankfully, just Marci and the distinctive scent of Jessica’s fancy soap. She’d showered and changed since he’d last seen her, but the pale lemon sundress she was wearing must have been Jessica’s, because it didn’t fit Marci at all in size or style. She was beautiful in it, though. Beautiful and alive and soft with her body pressed against his so firmly, he could feel the racing thrum of her heartbeat. And reckless as it was, Julius really, really wished that she would kiss him again. Right now. Instead, she pulled away.

“Sorry,” she muttered, dropping her eyes. “Got carried away. The others kept acting like your injuries were nothing, but I swear you almost died a few times back there, and…” she trailed off with an emotional sigh. “I’m just really, really happy you’re okay.”

“Me too,” Julius said softly, fighting the urge to sigh himself. That was quite possibly the nicest, most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to him, and he took a moment to revel in it while she checked his bandages.

“Wow, you do heal fast,” she said, tucking the gauze back into place. “Your skin’s already closed over. How are you feeling?”

Not nearly so good now that she wasn’t hugging him. “Not bad,” he said. “Almost normal, actually. Where’s Bob?”

“He left half an hour ago,” Marci replied, glancing nervously over her shoulder at the door. “I really wish he’d stuck around, though. Things are getting tense out there.”

That put Julius on alert. “What’s going on?”

“I couldn’t explain it if I tried. You’d better come see for yourself. Can you stand?”

Between the two of them, they managed to get him to his feet. Once he was up, the remaining grogginess cleared quickly, and he started looking around for something to wear. Unfortunately, his shirt was now nothing but bloody scraps, and he wasn’t about to ask Jessica for a spare. Going out bare-chested felt crass, though, so he settled for draping one of Jessica’s decorative throw blankets over his shoulders like a shawl.

When he was decent enough to face company, he let Marci help him into the hall, breathing deep to try to get an early warning for whatever was waiting. He caught the scent just as they turned the corner into the living room, and swallowed his groan just in time.

The apartment was full of dragons. Ian and Svena were sitting on the couch, the former watching with carefully veiled interest while the latter glared ice-cold daggers at Katya, who was standing by the window like she wanted to jump out of it. Jessica was in the kitchen, making drinks and looking like she wanted to throw the lot of them out the window, or at least out of her apartment. Her head snapped up when she heard Julius coming, and she went straight for him like a charging shark, yanking him away from Marci and back into the hall.

“What were you thinking, bringing all these dragons to my doorstep?” she hissed. “That’s the White Witch in there! Are you trying to get me killed? And you’d better teach your human some manners before—”

“Don’t speak that way about Marci,” Julius said, calmly removing his arm from his sister’s grasp. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I didn’t ask them to come. Bob brought me here, so if you have problems, take them to him. Now, I’m going to go try my best to get these dragons out of your living room.” His eyes darted past her to the tray of gin and tonics she’d been in the middle of preparing. “I’ll also take a drink. And one for Marci, too, please.”

With that, he patted his shocked sister on the shoulder and walked back into the living room to see what was going on.

Katya was waiting for him when he got there. “I’m so glad you’re up,” she said, pulling him over to stand before the dragons on the couch like he was a prisoner facing his parole board. “This is the one who saved me.”

Julius froze, eyes wide. Svena was staring at him like she was contemplating just how slowly she wanted to gut him while Ian’s face was perfectly blank and unhelpful. “Well,” he said, scrambling to pick words that might best encourage Svena not to do anything permanent. “Justin did most of the work. I—”

“Because you asked him to,” Katya said firmly, glaring at her sister. “You see? It’s just as the human reported. Julius Heartstriker rallied his human and his brother Justin, a Blade of Bethesda, to come to my aid. They fought valiantly to save my life, which Estella would have thrown away. This is why I vowed a life debt to him, and I will not revoke it.”

Julius almost choked as she finished, looking desperately between Katya, who was standing with her chin lifted defiantly, and Svena, who looked ready to murder them both. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” he said. “I didn’t—”

A flash of movement caught his eye, and he glanced at the kitchen to see Marci waving her hands in a frantic play along gesture.

“What I mean is, Katya is telling the truth,” he corrected. “I found her this afternoon and convinced her to come home, but then she was abducted by humans—”

“Who were working for Estella,” Katya cut in. “She was using me as a pawn to breed war between our clans. You know she will stop at nothing to—”

“Enough!” Svena yelled, shooting to her feet. “You will not speak so of our sister in front of outsiders!”

“I’ll speak however I like!” Katya yelled back. “I am a daughter of the Three Sisters same as you, and it was these outsiders who saved my life when our sister endangered it!”

Svena lifted her lips in a deadly snarl and began speaking rapidly in Russian. Katya responded in kind, getting into her sister’s face so aggressively, Julius worried it would come to blows. Apparently, the youngest daughter of the Three Sisters took being kidnapped by humans on the orders of the eldest very personally. The defeated, tired girl he’d seen at the diner had vanished completely, leaving behind a dragoness who was absolutely determined to get her way and more than ready to drag Julius into battle with her if necessary.

“I am through being thought of as the failure of the clan!” Katya cried, in English now. “And I am done being kept like a prisoner by my own family! My debt is mine to give, and if I choose to give it to the one who risked his life to save mine, you cannot stop me.”

Svena shot Julius a nasty look. Or she would have, but Katya got in the way, growling loud enough to rattle the coffee table’s glass top. This got Svena’s attention as nothing else had, and the dragoness flopped back down on the couch with an angry sigh. “Fine,” she snarled. “I acknowledge your stupid debt. But you are still coming home.”

“No,” Katya said, her face breaking into a wicked smile. “You just acknowledged my debt.”

“So?” Svena said. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It has to do with everything,” Katya said proudly. “By your own words, I am now honor bound to answer the call of Heartstriker, and I can’t do that if I’m locked up in Siberia, can I?”

Svena’s ice blue eyes widened in surprise before narrowing to dangerous slits. “Very well,” she said slowly. “If you aren’t going home, then where would you live?”

“Here,” Katya said, standing tall. “I wish to remain in the DFZ.”

Julius’s breath caught. That’s what she was doing. This wasn’t actually about life debts or gratitude or any of that. Katya had just used the circumstances surrounding her kidnapping to modify their original plan to keep her in the DFZ. She’d also upped the ante enormously. Now that Svena had formally acknowledged the debt Katya owed to the Heartstrikers, not allowing her to stay and honor it was as good as refusing to pay. She was using her own capture to force Svena’s hand, turning her defeat into her means to victory, and the whole thing was such a beautiful twist on dragon politics that Julius couldn’t have stopped grinning if he’d tried.

Svena, however, was far less impressed. “You think I can’t see what you’re doing?” she said, her voice an icy threat. “You think to make a fool of me?”

“I don’t have to,” Katya said. “You’re making a fool of yourself if you let pride stand between you and such a good outcome for all involved. Come on, Svena. Do you really want to have to keep going back to Siberia every month to check on me? I’ve always thought that a sister who’s constantly running away is a much greater embarrassment than one who can’t use magic. This is a far superior arrangement for both of us, especially since I’ll be in a city where I shouldn’t cast anything flashy even if I could. And since I don’t want to run, you won’t have to worry about chasing me. Everybody wins.”

As Katya spoke, Svena’s expression had turned from furious to conflicted. Now, she was openly thinking it over, tapping her sharp nails on the arm of Jessica’s couch. “Estella will never permit you to live on the Lady’s lands.”

“She won’t,” Katya agreed. “But Estella isn’t here, is she?”

Julius didn’t understand the significance of that statement. Of course Estella wasn’t here. If she’d been in the apartment, a clan war would probably be breaking out right now. But physical nearness clearly wasn’t what Katya was referring to, because Svena gave her sister a cross look. “That is definitely not talk for outsiders.”

Katya shrugged. “It’s no secret that she’s not around right now,” she said. “Surely you don’t mean for us to sit around waiting on a seer’s convenience when it would be so much easier for you to step up in her absence and make the call yourself,”—she broke into a coy smile—“clan head?”

Svena raised a warning finger, but Julius didn’t miss the flash of interest in her eyes. Clearly, Svena like the idea of being clan head very much. Ian seemed to like it even better, because his face lit up like a young dragon seeing his very first pile of gold before he masked it.

“I think your sister makes an excellent point,” he said casually. “The DFZ’s strategic advantages are unparalleled if you’re going to be managing your clan’s assets in Estella’s stead. Just until she comes back, of course. In the interim, I would be more than happy to offer you a place to stay as a token of good will between our two clans. It just so happens that I own all three of the penthouses in my building. You could have your pick.”

Julius held his breath. Even though turning Ian into their advocate had been his plan from the beginning, he still couldn’t quite believe it was actually working. Better still, Ian wasn’t even paying attention to him. His eyes were on Svena, waiting for her to take the bait, and from the sour look on her face, she knew it. At the same time, though, there was no question that this arrangement worked enormously in her favor. Now, everything depended on what she decided was more important: pride, or getting what she wanted.

That was always a tricky call with dragons, and Julius began to sweat as the seconds dragged on. In the end, though, ambition won. “It would certainly make my life easier if you stopped running away,” Svena said, leaning back on the couch and generally making a great show of being highly put out. “Oh, very well. So long as you stay out of trouble and obey me as you would our mothers, you may remain here.”

“Thank you, Svena!” Katya said, running to hug her sister.

Svena sighed and waved her away, but even her cold dragon routine wasn’t quite enough to keep the smug smile off her face as she leaned over to whisper something in Ian’s ear. Whatever she said had him smiling, too, and they exchanged a meaningful look before Svena announced she was going to inform the rest of her clan of the new arrangement and walked off to the rear of the apartment.

Katya followed right on her heels, taking two drinks off the tray Jessica had just finished preparing as she passed. Being treated like a waitress in her own home was apparently too much for Jessica, however. She slammed the tray down on the counter and stormed off as well, leaving Ian, Marci, and Julius alone in the living room.

Ian glanced at the drinks and then at Julius. Getting the message, Julius grabbed the tray and set it on the coffee table in front of his brother, who helped himself.

“I understand you’re the mind behind all this,” he said, taking a slow sip.

“Partially,” Julius said. “Katya was the one who sold it, though.”

“Modesty ill becomes dragons,” Ian said, no longer bothering to hide his grin. “Svena told me just now that her sister named you as the instigator during that rather delightful bout of Russian. It seems I must reevaluate my opinion of you, Julius Heartstriker. You got the job done.”

“Thank you,” Julius said, taking a careful sip of his own drink. “Though if you want to tell someone, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell Mother.”

“I will,” Ian said, studying him. “I’m not quite sure how you pulled it off, but whatever you did, it was clearly effective. You got Brohomir on your side, prevented a clan war, solved Svena’s little sister problem and kept them both in the city, which makes my life much easier. And you got rid of Estella.”

“That wasn’t me,” Julius said quickly.

“Who cares?” Ian said with a shrug. “The point is that everything turned up roses for Heartstriker, especially this Heartstriker. So yes, I’ll be telling Mother a great deal. I can’t make her unseal you, of course, but if she doesn’t, it won’t be for lack of positive reporting on my end. You are absolutely wasted as a scapegoat.”

“Thank you,” Julius said, but it was more out of habit than anything else. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that he’d actually pulled it off. The long shot plan he’d thought up in the car and then sold to Katya had actually worked. And while Ian’s good opinion wasn’t the same as their mother’s, he was reasonably certain she wouldn’t kill a dragon her current favorite son considered useful, which meant he might actually live.

Considering the number of times he’d squeaked past death tonight, that shouldn’t have come as such a shock, but Julius had lived in fear of his mother for so long, the idea that he’d wiggled out of one of her traps barely seemed possible. He was still wondering at it when he realized Ian had asked him a question.

“Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “What was that?”

Ian gave him a cutting look. “I said, what are you going to do now? And don’t say go back to your room in the mountain. This Katya business has bought you a reprieve, but mother’s still going to expect you to do something with your life. So, what is it?”

Julius had no idea. Hiding had been his life for so long, he’d never actually put much thought into what else there was to do. The only thing he knew for certain was that he definitely wasn’t going back to the mountain, but beyond that, he had no clue. It must have shown on his face, too, because Ian sighed.

“Let me put it another way,” he said, setting his drink down on the table. “What do you want to do? I have several businesses that can always use someone competent. I’d be happy to start you out somewhere in my organization in exchange for a few favors.”

That didn’t sound like something Julius wanted to touch with a ten foot pole, but his brother had still given him an idea. “Actually,” he said. “I think I’d like to start with the payment for this job.”

Ian’s smiled as he reached for his phone. “Now you’re thinking like a dragon. Very well, how much do I owe you?”

“We didn’t actually agree on a specific amount.” Which was a mistake Julius would never be making again. Right now, though, the oversight actually worked in his favor. “I was wondering if I could ask for a different kind of payment, though. You own a lot of properties in the city, right?”

“A few hundred,” Ian replied casually. “Including our family safe house, which I presume is still standing after its recent Justin infestation?”

“Last I saw,” Julius said, though the mention of Justin’s name made him wince. Overbearing as his brother could be, Justin had come through for him in spades tonight. He was trying to think if there was any way he could get back in touch with Chelsie and ask her to be lenient when Ian cleared his throat and snapped Julius back to the conversation.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, smiling at his brother, who was looking dangerously bored. “I was just thinking that, instead of paying me money, you could let me use one of your buildings instead. I’m thinking of starting a business.”

Now Ian looked flat-out shocked. “What would you do with a business?”

“Make something of myself,” Julius said, pulling himself a little straighter. “You and Mother were right, I wasn’t going anywhere hiding in my room. I’d like to change that, but I need a base to operate out of, preferably one without a human landlord to worry about. So if you’re offering me payment, that’s what I’d like. Please.”

Ian tapped his phone, thinking it over. “That’s highly suspicious,” he said at last. “But I don’t see any reason why such an agreement wouldn’t work. Come by my office tomorrow afternoon and we’ll go over your options.”

“Thank you, Ian,” Julius said, but his brother was already turning away, lifting his phone to his ear to take a call Julius hadn’t even heard go off. Leaving him to have his conversation in private, Julius got up and went to the kitchen in search of Marci.

He found her standing by the sink, emptying something out of her purse into one of Jessica’s stainless steel colanders.

“Hey,” she said when he came over. “I hope your sister doesn’t mind me using her strainer. I tried to find an older one, but I swear everything in this place is brand new. It’s like a show apartment or something.”

“That’s Jessica,” Julius said, looking over her shoulder at the half dozen long, sharp, black objects Marci was now rinsing in the colander under a scalding spray of water. “What are those?”

“Magic eater teeth,” she replied, moving her hands so he could get a better look at the blade-like fangs. “I found them on the ground when I was looking for my Kosmolabe. I figured they were probably worth something, and since I’m going to need money to fix my car, I picked some up. Really glad I did, too. I looked them up while you were asleep, and according to the Thaumaturgy forums, these things have all kinds of unique properties, not to mention the bounty.”

Julius looked at the teeth with new interest. “They have a bounty?”

She nodded. “A big one. Since wounded dragons aren’t exactly common here, magic eaters in the DFZ prey primarily on spirits, and this being a spirit’s city, the money on them is off the charts. Justin probably burned a few million’s worth while he was rampaging.” She sighed sadly. “I really wish I’d thought to grab a head. There were several lying around that weren’t too badly scorched.”

Julius’s lips quirked in a smile. “Actually, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.” He moved around to her side, leaning on the marble counter so he could look her in the face. “What are your plans now?”

“I was just wondering that myself,” Marci confessed. “I’d like to go back to school, but I’ve got no money and this semester is pretty much a bust. Honestly, even with Bixby dead, I’m not comfortable going back to Vegas. He and my dad screwed over a lot of people, and it’s not a very friendly town for me at the moment, if you get my meaning. I guess I’ll just look for a job here.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that,” he said. “It so happens that I need a job as well, one that’s not for my family, and I was thinking, if we’re both free, why not work together?”

Marci blinked at him. “Doing what?”

“I haven’t quite figured out the details yet,” Julius said, reaching over to pick up one of the magic eater teeth. “But I think we’ve established that this city is full of nasty things that are worth a lot of money if you’re willing to take them on. Considering how awful the civic services are here, I bet there are also people who would be willing to pay us handsomely to clear said animals off their property. That plus the bounties and the magical parts we could collect adds up to a pretty nice income, so I’m thinking about starting a business to take advantage of it. Sort of like magical pest control. I’ve already got a building lined up and everything.”

Now Marci just looked impressed. “A building? How’d you manage that so fast?”

“I’m not a complete failure as a dragon,” Julius said, flashing her a confident smile to hide how nervous he actually was. “So what do you think? You said yourself that we make a good team. Want to help me keep it rolling?”

Her eyes lit up so fast, he could almost see her forcing the excitement back down. “Could I have my own lab?”

“You can have whatever you want,” he said, spreading his arms. “I’ll make you co-owner, just come help me. Please?”

“Deal,” Marci said immediately, her face splitting into a glowing smile as she stuck out her wet hand. Julius took it gladly, grinning back just as wide as they shook on it.

“Oh, man,” Marci said, turning back to the sink. “A dragon and a mage doing bounties in the DFZ! We are going to make bank.”

“Hopefully,” he said. “But, please, no more getting people over barrels and shaking them. I don’t like it.”

She sighed dramatically. “Fine, I’ll be nice. It might not be so bad, though. After all,” she flashed him a smile, “it worked out pretty well for you.”

“I suppose it did,” he said slowly, reaching down to help her pick up the freshly scrubbed teeth.

Marci laughed, an excited, happy sound that thrilled him right to his toes. And as he basked in the glow, Julius couldn’t help thinking that she was right. At this moment, being nice, being himself, was working out very well indeed.

“Come on,” he said, dumping the clean teeth into her bag. “Let’s go get dinner. My treat.”

“Dutch,” Marci countered. “It’s a business dinner. Before we go, though, I think you need to work on your business attire.”

Julius blinked in confusion, and Marci reached out to tap her damp finger against his naked chest, making him shiver even as his face began to burn. “Maybe a little.” he admitted, looking down at his bare feet to hide his blush.

That must have been the right thing to say, because Marci burst out laughing. Julius joined her a few seconds later, the two of them raising such a racket that Jessica came out of the back bedroom to see what was the matter.