Chelsie sighed. “I’ll let you in on a secret. I’ve had that list of challenges for weeks. I only gave it to Justin now because he lives for that kind of thing, and it was the only way I could get him away from you tonight.”
Julius went very still. “Why would you want to get him away from me?”
“Because he’s a terrible bodyguard,” Chelsie said matter-of-factly. “He’s perfectly strong, but he’s also easily distracted, overconfident, gullible, and he pays no attention to his surroundings. That’s not a winning combination, and even if it’s not my job, I’d still like to see you alive tomorrow.”
“I appreciate that,” Julius said wholeheartedly. “But I really don’t think it’s going to be as bad as you and Justin seem to think. Yeah, Gregory’s mad, but I’ve been at the bottom of the clan for years. I’m used to bigger dragons trying to kill me.”
“I’m sure,” Chelsie said dryly. “But I don’t think you’re taking into account the difference in scale.”
When it was obvious Julius had no idea what she meant by that, Chelsie darted her eyes at the crowd of Heartstrikers that was still lingering near them in the throne room. Sure enough, when Julius turned to look, it became clear that the dragons weren’t just loitering. They were watching him. Several actually eased daggers, garrote wires, and various other weapons back into their sleeves and coats as he watched. By the time he turned back to his sister, he was sweating bullets.
“I see what you mean,” he said quietly, wiping the back of his golden gauntlet across his face. “But I just showed them my Fang stops all violence. Every dragon likes to posture, but surely no one’s going to actually try something. They’re just trying to make me nervous.”
“Don’t underestimate the destructive potential of power-hungry dragons in large numbers,” his sister said. “Your Fang is a powerful deterrent, but I never met a dragon who saw a deterrent and just gave up. You might no longer be an easy target, but you’ve still put yourself at the top of the clan. That’s a dangerous place for anyone to be, or do you think Bethesda keeps Conrad with her at all times for the pleasure of his company?”
Julius sighed. She made a good point.
“Mark my words,” his sister went on. “Someone’s going to try something, probably soon, and I intend to be there to make sure they fail. I’m just glad I had those challenges lying around to distract Justin. I was thinking of guarding you along with him, but I can only take your brother in small doses.”
“That’s most people for Justin,” Julius said, giving her a weak smile. “Thank you, Chelsie. I’ll try my best not to be a sitting duck.”
He put out his hand to shake on it, but she just grabbed his palm and steered it right back to the hilt of his sword. “Keep that there,” she ordered. “It might not be the guaranteed protection you think it is, but your Fang is still the best defense you’ve got. I don’t care if you’re in the shower, you keep a hold on that sword at all times. Understood?”
Julius nodded.
“Good,” Chelsie said, returning her hand to her own sword hilt. “Now, where are we going to pick up Marci?”
That was a very good question. “Do you know where Amelia is?”
She gave him a haughty look. “Who do you think I am?” she said, turning on her heel. “Just try to keep up.”
Chelsie was off before she finished, forcing Julius to run after her as she strode out of the throne room, opening a wide path through the remaining clumps of watching, whispering Heartstrikers as she made her way toward the elevators.
Chapter 5
“Watch your step.”
Julius nodded silently, peering nervously into the dark as he followed Chelsie out of the elevator into what appeared to be a pitch-black stone hallway. He was fumbling in the ridiculous jaguar-fur breastplate to find where Fredrick had stashed his phone when warm light blossomed all around them, bouncing off the rough-hewn stone walls from the fire that was now burning merrily on Chelsie’s fingers.
“Nice trick.”
His sister shrugged. “No trick to it,” she said, resting her other, not-burning hand on the hilt of her Fang. “You just have to learn to master your fire.”
She shot him a look that made it clear what she thought of him for not learning to control his better, and Julius decided it was time to change the subject.
“Where are we?” he asked, looking up and down the dark hall, which looked more like an actual cave than any of the other passageways in Heartstriker Mountain. Even stranger, though, was the fact that Julius didn’t recognize it. He’d thought he’d seen every public hallway in this mountain, but he’d never seen this place. “I thought we were going to Amelia’s?”
“We are,” she said. “Though I’m not surprised you’ve never been here. This is the part of the mountain shared by Bob and Amelia, otherwise known as the crazy floor. No one comes here if they don’t have to.” She shook her head and got moving, walking at a brisk pace down the hall to the left. “This way. The other direction goes to Bob’s room, and trust me, you don’t want to go there.”
He was curious why she’d say that, but now didn’t seem like the time, so Julius just hurried after her, struggling to keep up with his sister’s long strides in his stiff ceremonial armor. He’d just found his pace when Chelsie stopped in her tracks.
“What?” he asked, hand falling to his own sword in alarm.
Rather than answer, Chelsie just lifted her burning hand, letting her dancing fire sparkle on the overlapping strands of nearly invisible magic that covered the hall in front of them like an orb weaver’s web.
“What is that?”
“Wards,” Chelsie said coldly. “And traps.” She crouched down to shine her firelight on the glittering net of silk-fine magic closest to them. “Amelia doesn’t mess around. These are normally invisible, but I’ve learned a thing or two about dodging Amelia’s magic over the years, and I’ve found that naked dragon fire reflects off her spellwork better than anything else. Just stick with me, do what I do, and you should be fine.”
“Is it really that bad?” he asked, staring at the filled hallway. “I mean, I’m no expert, but even I can see there’s hundreds of spells in here. Surely that’s overkill.”
Chelsie shrugged. “Amelia’s lived with Bethesda trying to kill her for most of her life. I’d say she’s not being careful enough.” She turned sideways, stepping high over the webbed magic. “See? I can step right through. Then again, it’s not like she’s here much. This stuff is mostly just to keep out nosy siblings. The security on her island is another matter altogether.”
If this was Amelia’s version of light security, Julius didn’t even want to think about what it looked like when she got serious. Even so, it took him and Chelsie almost twenty minutes of slow-motion acrobatics to work their way past all the wards. By the time they made it to the heavy wooden door at the end, Julius was cursing himself for not taking the time to change into something more practical, but he was in too deep to do anything about it now. Chelsie was already picking the lock on the door, her fire flaring for a moment as she cracked the magical seal as well before shoving the heavy door open to reveal an enormous, dark, and (so far as Julius could tell) completely empty cave.
“Um, are you sure she’s here?” He glanced down at the centuries-old carpet of dust on the cave’s stone floor. “It looks a little…unused.”
“Trust me,” Chelsie said, striding into the room. “She’s here.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when a peal of laughter echoed through the emptiness. Shaking her head, Chelsie motioned for Julius to follow as she strode across the dusty floor—without, to Julius’s amazement, leaving a footprint—to what appeared to be an enormous, dusty wall hanging. He was wondering if she was about to reveal a secret door when she yanked the cloth aside, and he saw that the truth was far simpler. The hanging wasn’t a cover for a secret entry. It was a perfectly normal curtain hanging over the entrance to a balcony just as large as the one in Bethesda??
?s throne room covered in the remains of what must have been a truly epic party. He was gawking at the entire frat house’s worth of empty liquor bottles strewn across the stone floor when a wailing cry split the night.
“Juliusssssssssssss!”
Something soft and warm crashed into him a second later, and he looked down in surprise to see Marci wrapped around his chest.
A very drunk Marci.
“I’m s’happy you’re alive!” she said, burying her head in the coarse jaguar fur covering his chest. The unfamiliar armor must have thrown her even through the haze of alcohol, though, because she backed off as fast as she’d rushed in, her dilated eyes going wide. “Oh my God, you look amazing!”
It was all Julius could do not to grin like an idiot at that. “Thanks,” he said, face heating. “I—”
“Like, super hot,” Marci continued, still gawking at him. “Is this your dragon uniform or something? Cause whoa.” She turned to call over her shoulder. “Doesn’t he look good?!”
“Quite,” Amelia agreed, leaning over to look around her lounge chair and almost sliding off it in the process. “You clean up real nice, baby-J.”
“I know, right?!” Marci said, practically bouncing with excitement.
By this point, Julius was blushing so hard he was legitimately afraid he’d melt through the balcony floor and plummet to his death. But while everyone else was staring at him, Chelsie was looking at Marci. “Why does she smell like you?” she demanded, turning her glare on her eldest sister. “What did you do to her, Amelia?”
“Nothing she didn’t agree to,” Amelia said innocently. “Come on, Chelsie. We’re not all up to no good.”
Chelsie clearly didn’t buy that for a second, but Julius still had no idea what they were talking about. When Marci snuggled closer into him, though, he realized she did smell different. Not anything alarming or bad, but under the overpowering smell of alcohol, Marci’s usual combination of magic and chalk and the sweet tang that was her own unique smell was tinted with something new. A sharp, draconic scent that that smelled distinctly of Amelia.
“What the—”
“Relax,” Amelia said, wobbling to her feet. “It’s nothing sinister. Marci and I just made a deal. Didn’t we, Marci?”
“Yep,” Marci hiccupped.
A lump began to form in Julius’s stomach. “What kind of deal?”
His eldest sister smiled. “A necessary one.”
“Necessary for whom?” Chelsie growled. “And did you make this deal before or after you got her sloshed?”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “Before, obviously. Give me some credit, here! I take good care of my mortals, and it’s not as though I could have done anything untoward with her cat on the prowl. This is all on the up and up, I swear. Just ask her.”
Chelsie glanced at Marci, who would have been sliding down Julius’s chest if he hadn’t been holding her up. “I don’t think she’s in a position to give a reliable answer.”
“She’s doing great,” Amelia said dismissively. “And you could be, too. I broke out the good stuff.” She held up her half-empty fifth in salute. “Lighten up, Chelsie! Have a drink!”
“Drinks are gooooood,” Marci agreed, oozing halfway down Julius’s body before he could pull her up again.
“I think you’ve had enough,” he said gently.
“Past enough,” Chelsie agreed, scowling at Amelia. “Stop being a bad influence.”
“But those are the best kind!” Amelia cried. “You should stop being such a dragon-in-the-mud. What was I supposed to do? Endure being at home sober?”
“You could try being responsible,” Chelsie suggested. “Our entire clan is in uproar, and you’re partying. I’d say you’re as bad as Bob, but at least he showed up for the vote.”
“I’ll have you know I’m being very responsible,” Amelia said, glaring down her nose. Or, rather, she would have been glaring down her nose if she hadn’t been listing so badly Chelsie was forced to catch her before she fell.
“This is for all of us,” she slurred as Chelsie helped her back to her seat. “I had to do it. This is the only future we’ve got left.”
“If our future depends on you being drunk, I think we’re covered,” Chelsie said bitterly as she pushed Amelia firmly down into the chair. “Now stay there, and try not to fall off the balcony.”
She let go of her sister gingerly. When it looked like Amelia wasn’t going to try standing again, she turned back to Julius, who was still clutching Marci. “Can you carry her?”
He nodded and crouched down. It was much harder than it should have been with the armor restricting his movements and Marci herself being floppy as an overcooked noodle, but eventually he managed to get one arm under her knees and one under her back. He was attempting to gently pick her up when she finally realized what was going on. After that, Marci nearly knocked him backwards in her rush to jump into his arms.
“Best. Night. Ever!” she cried, hugging him around the neck so tightly Julius could barely breathe. “Let’s go flying!”
Julius’s poor heart—which was already racing at breakneck speeds thanks to Marci being wrapped around him like an octopus—skipped several beats. But while parts of him strongly agreed that a night flight with Marci was, in fact, the best idea ever, the rational, responsible part of Julius knew that flying with a drunken passenger wouldn’t end well for anyone. A few seconds later, though, it became a non-issue, because Marci had already gone limp in his grasp, her body falling still and soft against his as her drunken energy finally gave way to exhaustion.
Even if it was just a drunken pass-out, Marci falling asleep in his arms was still too adorable to stand, and it took Julius several seconds to stop smiling down at her like an idiot long enough to glance back at Chelsie, who was tapping her foot.
“If you’re done.”
When Julius nodded, she turned back to Amelia, who was sucking the last drops out of her bottle. “I’ll send one of the Fs up to check on you later. Don’t give them a hard time. I’m on Julius duty, and I don’t have time to babysit both of you.” She looked over her shoulder at Julius. “Where are you staying tonight, anyway?”
He’d been hoping she knew. “My room, I guess,” he said, adjusting Marci in his arms. “I don’t know where else I can go. The mountain’s full.”
Chelsie winced and glanced down at her sister. “Are you functional enough to deactivate your wards to let us out? I’d rather not have to wrestle a passed-out human through your minefield of a hallway.”
“I’ll do ya one better,” Amelia said, lifting a wobbly hand. “Where’d’ya live?”
It took Julius several seconds to realize that slurred question was directed at him. “Overflow sub-hall four.”
Amelia looked horrified. “Overflow? Isn’t that where the failures live?”
“What do you think I was?” Julius said with a shrug. “And it wasn’t that bad. Sure, it’s a bit far away, but at least I didn’t have to deal with my siblings there.” No dragon who cared enough to bully him would deign to set foot in overflow housing.
“Whatever tickles your feathers,” Amelia said, extending her fingers. “One doorway to the Heartstriker slums coming up.”
The magic was rising before she finished, and Julius realized too late what was about to happen. “Wait!” he cried. “Should you be doing that in your state?”
“Please,” Amelia scoffed as the air began to warp. “They day I’m too drunk to make a portal is the day I swear off drinking. So, never basically.”
That didn’t exactly inspire confidence, but it was too late now. Amelia’s portal was already opening, the doorway through worlds bending and shifting before popping into place, creating a perfect oval-shaped hole in the air beside the savaged buffet table. On the other side, Julius could see the familiar beige walls and narrow doorways of his own part of the mountain, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” he said nervously, darting through the portal before it collapsed. br />
“Don’t encourage her,” Chelsie growled, stepping through after him.
“You’re welcome,” Amelia said at the same time, ignoring her sister. “And have fun!”
The innuendo in her voice left no doubt what kind of fun she meant, and Julius felt himself going bright red all over again. Fortunately, the portal closed before Amelia could see, leaving him and Chelsie standing alone in the narrow, utilitarian hallway of the Heartstriker overflow tunnels.
“I think she has a problem,” he said quietly.
“Amelia has a lot of problems,” Chelsie replied. “It’s a good thing dragon livers are as immortal as the rest of us, or she’d have pickled hers centuries ago. But Amelia’s high-functioning alcoholism is a battle for another day. We’ve got more immediate problems.”
She wasn’t kidding.
The Heartstriker overflow sub-floors were a series of hallways that branched off the main mountain’s underground floors like ant tunnels, burrowing wherever there was room into the surrounding desert. Bethesda had had them built decades ago to house the seasonal human laborers that came in every year to work the mandatory Heartstriker holidays like egg laying and her birthday celebration. Under normal circumstances, dragons wouldn’t be caught dead down here in the endless, utilitarian tunnels lined with bleak, windowless rooms, which was exactly why Julius had chosen them for his home when he’d lived in the mountain. But these were hardly normal circumstances, and the moment the portal closed behind them, the smell of unknown dragons hit Julius like a punch.
“Here too?” he asked, looking up and down the drab hall. All of the doors were closed, so he couldn’t actually tell which rooms were occupied, but his nose told him that several dragons had moved in since he’d left, which was just insane. “Couldn’t they find room anywhere else?!”
“If they could have, they would have,” Chelsie said, keeping her hand on her sword. “But Heartstriker Mountain was never designed to hold the whole clan at once, and this is the overflow area.”