Chapter 16
Death was a gentler experience than Julius expected.
Growing up with daily threats, he’d always expected his end would be quick, brutal, and messy. But while being ripped apart from the inside had been all that and more, the actual dying part hadn’t been so bad. Peaceful, almost, which was why Julius was very confused when he woke up to find himself lying in a hospital bed.
He jolted, his whole body going stiff just in time for him to realize it was his human body, which only made everything even weirder. He was positive he’d died as a dragon. Inside a Nameless End, no less. If he was going to wake up anywhere, it should be inside his own death, as Marci had described. He knew he wouldn’t be lucky enough to get their house, as she had, but he’d certainly expected better than a human hospital, complete with mint-green walls and scratchy sheets.
At least it smelled nice. The whole room smelled of Marci’s magic. Tons of it, actually, as though he were inside one of her casting circles. Not that he minded, of course, but it was still odd. Why was there so much magic? And why was his chest so heavy? Like there was a weight lying right in the middle of his—
Julius froze, eyes growing wide. Marci was sleeping on his chest. The real Marci, unless ghosts came with dark circles under their eyes and hospital scrubs. That did explain the overwhelming scent of magic, though. Everything around him—the sheets, the bed rails, the hospital’s monitoring equipment, the walls, the door, the window—was covered in spellwork written in Marci’s precise hand. From the overlapping marker stains on her fingers, she must have been at it for days, but Julius had no idea what it was all for. He was arguing with himself about whether he should wake her and ask or let her sleep since she looked so tired when he realized the two of them were not alone.
On the far side of the room, sprawled across a plastic hospital chair like he’d been dropped there from orbit, was Bob. He looked absolutely terrible. His face was gaunt, as though he’d been starving for weeks, and his skin looked like it hadn’t seen the sun in months. But while his dark circles were even larger than Marci’s, the seer’s eyes were open, the bright-green glowing in the soft light from the window as he smiled at Julius.
“Welcome back.”
That felt needlessly cryptic, but Julius was too worried about the state of his brother to mind. “What happened to you?” he whispered frantically.
“You did,” Bob replied, hauling himself up in his chair. “You gave us quite the scare. I must have poured five hundred years of fire into you before your flame caught, and who knows how much Amelia used. Even after we got you going, your fire was so weak we had to have someone with you at all times to keep it from snuffing out. We eventually set up a rotation. That’s what the spellwork was for. Marci and the other human, Myron, I think his name is, they figured out how to construct a system that would send concentrated dragon magic straight into you. Sort of like an IV, except for fire. Anyway, everyone’s been through to take their turn—Chelsie, Justin, Conrad, Fredrick, Svena, Katya, the Qilin.” He grinned. “You’ve got so many different magics in you, you’re practically the draconic average at this point. Even Mother dropped in to do her share.”
Julius’s jaw dropped. “Bethesda came to help me?”
“It was the fashionable thing to do,” Bob said. “You know her. If everyone’s doing something, she has to have her piece. I’m sure you’ll hear all about how she saved your life the next time she needs a favor.”
He was sure he would. “But,” Julius said, clutching his sheet, “I don’t understand. I was dead. How did you—”
“Never underestimate a desperate dragon,” Bob said with a wink. “I still had a Nameless End of my own, so I traded her all the futures where I use my abilities as a seer in exchange for one where you lived. Of course, that exchange only guaranteed that I’d save your fire. Keeping it going was another matter, but if you think I was going to let you go out after spending so much to save you, you’re crazier than everyone says I am.”
Julius stared at his brother in wonder. “You… you did that for me?” he whispered. “Gave up your—Why?”
“Because I owed you,” Bob said, his voice uncharacteristically sincere. “You’ve suffered for my plans for a long time now, Julius. The least I could do was pick up the slack at the end. Anyway, I was done being a seer. Once you’ve beaten the Black Reach, where else is there to go? The challenge was gone, so I thought I’d give myself a handicap and try playing the game on your level for a while. You know, just for something different.”
“But you’re the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers!” Julius cried. “How can you just give that up?”
“Because I never asked to be it,” his brother said with a shrug. “There’s no pride in being what you were born to be. It’s how you use your gifts that counts, and I don’t need to see the future for that. Everything that makes me great was always up here.” He tapped the side of his head. “Never forget, I was a genius long before I was a seer. If you think losing my vision of the future will make me any less good at manipulating dragons, you haven’t been paying attention. And speaking of attention, I need to be going.”
“Why?” Julius asked, alarmed. “What’s about to happen?”
“Nothing I’m aware of,” Bob said, pointing at his eyes. “Blind as a bat now, remember? But I haven’t slept since you went down two weeks ago, and I’d very much like to break my streak. Also, the sleeping pill I slipped your mortal should be wearing off any minute now, and I don’t think you want me in the room for that.”
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Julius’s cheeks began to burn. Laughing at him, Bob rose from his chair and held out his arm for his pigeon, who hopped off Julius’s vitals monitor with a happy coo. It was such a usual Bob thing to do, Julius didn’t even realize it was wrong until his brother was almost out the door.
“Wait!”
Bob glanced over his shoulder, and Julius pointed to the bird-that-wasn’t-a-bird. “If you’re not a seer anymore, why do you still have your Nameless End?”
“Julius!” Bob cried, cupping a hand over his pigeon’s head as though he were trying to shield her from such offensive speech. “What sort of dragon do you think I am? I would never use and leave a lady just because my plots were finished. I can’t believe you’d say that.”
“Sorry,” Julius said quickly. “I didn’t mean to insult your, um—”
“Consort,” his brother said primly. “She is my consort, and you are being very rude. She gave up her futures to save you as well, I’ll have you know.”
“I-I didn’t know that,” Julius said, bowing his head respectfully to the pigeon. “Thank you.”
The pigeon blinked at him, uncomprehending, but Bob looked placated. “I am exceedingly lucky I found her again,” he said, pressing a kiss to her feathered head. “I had to bribe Amelia to open me a new portal into the space beyond reality so I could start us over since all our timelines in this reality were used up. But that’s the lovely thing about the future: you can always make more of it. All it takes is a bit of effort, and the fact that she was waiting just outside for me didn’t hurt, either.”
The pigeon cooed happily at that, and Bob sighed, lovestruck. “Anyway, you owe your life to both of us. I expect you to show proper gratitude in a few days after I’ve slept this off. Our pick, your treat, and make sure you behave like a gentleman this time.”
“Of course,” Julius said, ducking his head to the pigeon again. “I’m sorry if I offended you, ma’am.”
The pigeon nodded back to him, which seemed to please Bob greatly. “Splendid!” he said as he walked out the door. “See you soon.”
“You too,” Julius said quietly, staring after his eldest brother in bafflement. He was still trying to puzzle out if Bob had been really offended just now or if this whole exchange had been another of his ploys when Marci woke with a start, her eyes shooting wide as she turned her head to gape at him.
“Hi,” Julius said, smiling awkwardly. “Um, I’m back?”
The words weren’t even out of his mouth before she tackled him, sobbing and laughing and hugging him until he couldn’t breathe. He hugged her back with all he had, closing his eyes as he breathed in her scent. Breathed in being alive.
Needless to say, he didn’t worry about Bob again for a long time.
***
“Yeah, well, I always knew he’d pull through,” Amelia said, taking a swig from her cocktail. “How could he not? He had me on his team, and I’m a god now, remember?”
“How can we forget?” Svena grumbled. “You remind us every five minutes. And it’s not as though godhood is anything special these days.” Her blue eyes slid pointedly to Raven, who was perched on the railing beside Ghost’s cat and the giant rat that was the DFZ. “We are overrun with vermin.”
They were sitting on the roof of the hospital Julius had been taken to, which turned out to be an Algonquin Corporation private hospital on the edge of Reclamation Land. Like everything else in the city, the modern steel-and-glass building had taken heavy damage during the fighting, but it was now as good as new thanks to the DFZ.
“Pro tip: it’s not a good idea to call the god of the city you’re currently in ‘vermin,’” Amelia whispered loudly. “This building was on its side when we found it, but she set the whole place to rights in under ten minutes with a flick of her little pink tail. Imagine what she could do to a delicate snowflake like you.”
“I’d like to see her try,” Svena said with a sniff, though Julius couldn’t help noticing the White Witch’s retort was much quieter than usual. No one was stupid enough to point that out, though, for which Julius was profoundly grateful. He’d had enough conflict to last him a lifetime, and Svena was surprisingly pleasant to be around when she didn’t have her hackles up. Pleasant and amazingly knowledgeable. The things she would casually mention about magic constantly blew his mind. He just wished Marci were around to hear them.
Now that all the Mortal Spirits were up, the new Merlin had her hands full. She was in the Sea of Magic right now with Myron for a big peace talk. Ghost, Raven, and the DFZ were with them as well, though somehow also here. Julius wasn’t entirely sure how that worked, but apparently spirits could be in multiple places at once now. He’d tried using that to his advantage, asking Ghost about Marci when she wasn’t here, but the cat’s shoulder was as cold toward him as ever, and he hadn’t gotten far.
That was probably for the best. Marci didn’t need him distracting her while she was trying to convince the new Mortal Spirits to cooperate with the Merlin Council she and Myron were trying to found here in the DFZ. As she’d explained it to Julius, the idea was to locate, test, and train a whole bevy of suitable mages so that new Mortal Spirits could have their pick of certified not-crazy humans for their potential Merlins. Something certainly needed to be done. In the fourteen days Marci had spent by his side helping keep him alive, the new gods had been running amok all over the world. She’d left to help Myron calm things down the moment she was certain Julius wasn’t going to expire on her. That was two days ago, nearly all of which she’d spent inside the Sea of Magic, but Julius was confident she could handle it. Meanwhile, he was relearning how to handle himself.
Not being a mage or fond of burning things, Julius had never paid much attention to his fire. Since he’d woken up, though, the emptiness in his chest had been a constant ache. His family and friends still dropped by regularly to make donations, so at least he wasn’t flat on his back anymore, but he was still confined to a wheelchair. Amelia had assured him his flames would come back in time, but time was a fuzzy thing to a dragon who’d lived for thousands of years. Julius hadn’t gotten her to specify yet whether they were on a schedule of months, years, or decades. There was nothing he could do about it, though, so he tried not to worry too much. His magic would recover eventually. What really mattered was that everyone was safe.
After the Leviathan vanished, UN troops had swarmed in to take control of the city. The people had started coming back a few days later, though most had been forced to turn right back around again since their homes were in ruins. Normally, damage on this scale would have taken years to repair, if it could be rebuilt at all. For them as for Julius, though, having a god on your side changed things. The DFZ wasn’t just powerful—she was the city. She knew how every inch of it should be, and she could put things back to rights in minutes, raising the broken buildings with a flick of her hand. She’d already made a ton of progress, but the DFZ was a big city, and all of it needed work. She was also very busy with Myron, keeping the other Mortal Spirits from destroying things. Unlike Ghost, though, the DFZ always took time to pass Julius’s messages along to Marci. Provided he paid her, of course.
“Julius?”
He looked up to see Amelia staring at him. “Are you okay?” she asked, cocking her head. “You’re awful quiet.”
“What else can he be?” Svena snapped. “You take up all the available air.”
“I’m fine,” Julius assured her.
“You sure?” his sister asked, her eyes sharp. “Because I can get you more fire if you need it.”
“I’m fine,” he said again. “Really.”
She nodded and turned back to Svena, but her eyes kept darting back to him. The watchfulness ruined the rooftop’s happy mood, and a few minutes later, Julius grabbed his wheels and turned his chair away. “I’m a little tired,” he said. “I think I’ll go downstairs and rest.”
Amelia stood up at once. “I’ll push you back down.”
“That’s okay. I’ve got it.”
Now she looked really suspicious. “You sure?”
“I’m sure,” Julius said, wheeling toward the elevator as fast as he could go.
He knew she meant well, but Amelia’s hovering made him feel like an invalid. Even Svena’s presence was only for show. She far preferred to spend her time with Ian, whom she’d immediately moved back in with the moment the DFZ had repaired their superscraper apartment building. But he’d noticed Amelia always seemed to have another dragon around whenever he was awake, and it was starting to get to him. Having so many people watching made him feel like a drain, especially since he knew Marci could have used Amelia’s help. She hadn’t figured out the trick to being in multiple places at once yet, but she was a spirit too. She should have been in that meeting in the Sea of Magic, but she’d insisted on staying here. Ostensibly because of Svena, but Julius didn’t believe that for a second. As flighty as she could be, his sister took her position as the Spirit of Dragons very seriously. The only reason she’d skip out on something this big was because she didn’t think Julius could be left alone, and that made him feel like a failure.
With a frustrated sigh, Julius took the elevator back down to his floor. With so few people in the city, they had the hospital mostly to themselves, which meant no one was around to see him get out of his chair and hobble the last few feet down the hall to his room. It was really too soon, but he was so tired of feeling useless. He was trying to open his door without falling over when a hand shot past his to grab the knob.
“Let me get that.”
Julius jumped, coming dangerously close to losing his balance as he spun around to see Chelsie standing behind him. This in itself was nothing unusual—it was the Heartstriker family motto that Chelsie was always behind you—but the rest of her was a shock.
His sister looked different. Physically, she was the same—same lean body, same short black hair, same deadly aura—but she wasn’t dressed in black combat armor and boots anymore. She was wearing normal clothes. Colorful clothes, including a purple sundress and a washed-out jean jacket that stopped just above her waist. Her feet were tied into pretty lace-up sandals with little straw flowers on the tips, and her toenails were painted the same green as her eyes. It was such a stark difference from how she usually looked, Julius didn’t know what to say, which unfortunately meant he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
“Are you going undercover?”
“What? No! I just…” Her cheeks flushed as she looked down at her clothes. “I haven’t gone shopping in a long time, okay? Modern women’s clothing is… tricky.” Her brows furrowed. “Is it weird?”
“No, no,” he said at once. “You look great! It’s just… really different.”
“You’re telling me,” she said, opening the door to his room so they could go in. “But I always hated wearing armor. Now that I no longer have to, I thought I’d try something new.”
“It looks lovely,” he assured her, trying not to show how relieved he was to get back to his bed. “So why are you here?”
Chelsie shrugged. “Can’t I just visit you?”
“Yes, but no one does that except Marci.” Julius sighed. “Amelia called you, didn’t she?”
“The moment you left the roof,” his sister confirmed. “But that’s actually very responsible of her. Your fire is still too low to be left unattended. Really, though, you should be flattered. The only other dragon she’s ever been this on the ball for is Bob.”
Julius was flattered, which was part of what made this so annoying. It was hard to be mad at your sister when she was only trying to help. “I’m just tired of being treated like I’m made of glass,” Julius grumbled. “I feel fine.”
Chelsie snorted. “You just collapsed in your bed after walking half a hallway.”
“Says the dragon who didn’t stop working after she got stabbed.”
“That was different,” Chelsie said sharply. “I had to do those things, but you’re not like me. You’re free, and we’re only doing this because we care about you. I don’t see how you have cause to complain.”
“I know,” Julius said, slumping into his pillows. “You’re right. I’m sorry. But it’s only been two days, and I’m already sick of it. I just feel so useless. Everyone else is up to their necks in important work, and I’m stuck here being a burden.”
“You’re not a burden,” Chelsie said. “You carried us over a lot of hard ground, Julius. Let us carry you for a change. And not all of us are working.” Her lips curled in a smile. “I didn’t just happen to be in the area when Amelia put out the call for someone to check on you. I came to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?” Julius sat up with a start. “Why goodbye? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Chelsie said. “I’m just going on vacation.”
He gaped at her. “You are going on vacation?”
Chelsie’s smile grew wider. “Crazy, huh? I didn’t want to leave so soon, but Fredrick insisted. He and Frieda practically packed my bags for me. Bethesda’s still enjoying the novelty of getting to be in the DFZ without hiding, so F-clutch has taken over Heartstriker Mountain. They’re all there, including the baby. They said they needed Felicity to themselves for a whole week, some nonsense about teaching her F-clutch solidarity, so they kicked me out.” She shrugged helplessly. “I’d be suspicious, but it’s so transparent, there’s no point. Especially since Fredrick already went through the trouble of getting Xian kicked out too.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Julius said, putting up his hands. “Fredrick got the Golden Emperor kicked out of China?”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure that part was Xian’s idea. I find it highly convenient that my children kicked me out at the exact same time as my ex’s subjects suddenly decided he needed a week off.”
Julius did too. “But you’re still going, right?”
“Of course I’m going,” she said. “I haven’t been to the Bahamas in a century, and Xian’s never been. It’ll be nice.”
He grinned. “Nice, huh?”
“Shut up,” his sister snapped. “This doesn’t mean anything. We’re not back together, we’re just… trying it out. A lot has changed, and we need to get to know each other again before anything can… you know…” She cut off with a growl. “Why am I even telling you this? Anyway, I just wanted you to know where I was in case you needed me. I still owe you a huge debt, so if you need help with anything, promise you’ll call.”
Julius crossed his heart. “I solemnly swear that I will not call you for any reason while you are vacationing in paradise with the Golden Emperor. Have fun. You deserve it.”
“Whatever,” Chelsie grumbled, her face red. “Just try not to let Justin throw anyone out of your window. I’ll be back in time for the all-clan meeting next week.”
“The what?”
“The all-clan meeting,” she repeated, giving him a funny look. “Didn’t they tell you?”
“No!” Julius cried. “No one tells me anything in here! What’s the all-clan meeting?”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” Chelsie said, leaning against his door. “The defense against the Leviathan was the first time all the dragon clans had been together in one place in ten thousand years. Miraculously, we got through the whole thing without killing each other, so Bethesda, Ian, Xian, Svena, and Marlin Drake banded together to organize a more formal meeting next week. They’re even holding it in the DFZ since this is still the only neutral territory in the world, though that’s sure to change now that Algonquin’s no longer around to keep everyone away. Between you and me, I think a big reason Bethesda pushed for the meeting is because she intends to claim the DFZ for Heartstriker. Seeing how we control the rest of North America, I don’t see how anyone could object to that, but they will.”
“Of course they will,” Julius said. “Even in ruins, the DFZ is one of the wealthiest, most magical cities in the world. No one’s going to let Bethesda just walk in and take it. She could start a war.”
“So make sure she doesn’t,” Chelsie replied, giving him a wry smile. “You’re on the Council, and you wanted something useful to do.”
Dealing with his mother was not on Julius’s preferred list of jobs. He’d much rather have helped Marci, or Amelia, or General Jackson, or literally anyone else. But his sister was right. He was one of the heads of Heartstriker, and the fact that Ian and Bethesda had planned this meeting without him even knowing proved it was time to get back to work.
“I like the idea of using the DFZ as neutral territory,” he said, thinking it through. “Has a human government claimed it yet? Because I know Algonquin’s out.” Even after her apology, the DFZ had made it very clear that the lake spirit was never to enter her city again.
“Not yet,” Chelsie said. “Plenty have tried. Canada’s pushing hard, and David’s bending over backward to make the case for Detroit rejoining the US. So far, though, the DFZ isn’t interested. It’s hard to tell a sentient city that she has to listen to a bunch of humans. Myron had to step in to convince her to let the UN troops stay so they could continue their disaster relief. It’s been a mess.”
Julius scowled. He hadn’t heard any of that, either. How much were the others keeping from him? But Chelsie’s report had set an idea spinning in his head. An idea that was rapidly forming into a plan. “Thanks for bringing me into the loop, Chelsie. I really appreciate it.”
“I knew you would. Just don’t tell Amelia. She’s got everyone on strict orders not to tell you anything upsetting, but I’m painfully familiar with your nosiness, so I figured I’d save us all the trouble and get everything out now.”
“Thank you,” he said again, reaching for his phone to do some research. “Tell Xian hello for me, and have fun on your vacation.”
His sister smiled. “I think I will,” she said, shutting the door behind her.
***
Chelsie didn’t come back from the Bahamas in time for the all-clan meeting.
“Where is she?” Julius asked nervously as Fredrick sewed him into the stupidly expensive jacket his mother was making him wear. “She was supposed to be back this morning!”
“If she hasn’t arrived yet, I don’t think she’s going to,” Fredrick said, holding Julius’s sleeve at the precise right length with one hand while he quickly stitched it in place with the other. “It seems the island has been besieged by freak magical storms. The airport and all forms of teleportation are shut down, and she and the Golden Emperor have been forced to take shelter in their hotel. Very unusual.”
“There’s nothing unusual about it,” Marci said with a snort. “Sounds to me like Mr. Magical Good Fortune didn’t want to leave his love nest to go to a meeting.” She grinned. “Would a ‘getting lucky’ joke be out of place?”
“Considering I’m the one who sent them to paradise, I find it entirely appropriate,” Fredrick said smugly. “This is actually going even better than I’d hoped.”
“Yes, yes, it’s great for them,” Julius agreed. “But what are we going to do? It’s a hard room in there, and I was counting on the Qilin’s support.” He nodded through the door into the hotel ballroom, which was packed to the gills with dragons. Delegations from every clan sat at tables that had been set up in a circle, and despite this supposedly being a peaceful summit, every one of them looked ready to kill. “We could use some good luck.”
“You’ll be fine,” Marci said, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Who needs luck when you’ve got friends in high places?”
She looked pointedly across the hall at Amelia, who was deep in conversation with the spirit of the DFZ. The city was dressed in her best glowing neon for the occasion, her beady eyes shining a bright, cheerful orange from beneath the shadow of her deep hood. Myron looked less happy standing beside her, but what mortal could feel comfortable in the presence of so many dragons? Except Marci, of course. She was used to it, and like everything else about her, Julius loved her for it.
“You’re right,” he said, taking a deep breath. “We’ll be fine.”
“You’ll be fine,” Marci said pointedly, handing him his cane. “We’ve got to go take our seats now. Knock ’em dead!”
Julius took the cane with a smile as Marci adjusted her long formal dress—which looked suspiciously like a wizard’s robe—and hurried to follow Myron and the spirits into the meeting room, Ghost trotting along behind her like the cat he pretended to be. Julius was still watching her go when he felt a familiar murderous presence behind him.
“You’re bringing that in, are you?”
Bethesda’s voice was scathing, and Julius turned to find his mother decked in gold from head to toe, glaring down her nose at the cane he was using to keep himself upright. “Really, Julius! I know you’re only a week into being miraculously raised from the dead, but if you hobble in there like an invalid, you’re going to look weak.”
“Not as weak as I’d look falling on my face,” Julius pointed out. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but until my fire finishes healing, it’s what I’ve got.”
“You could at least try to stand up straight,” his mother scolded. “That way, the others might think it’s an accessory instead of a necessity.”
Julius didn’t think there was any chance of that. Dragons had a sixth sense for weakness, and even after everyone’s contributions, his fire was still little bigger than a hatchling’s. Cane or no cane, he’d be outed the second they smelled him.
“Where’s Ian?” he asked, changing the subject.
Bethesda’s perfect red lips curled in disgust. “Where he always is these days, with Svena.” She shook her lovely head. “Cementing alliances is well and good, but this is bordering on ridiculous. The ex-Daughters of the Three Sisters are up to their snouts in debt to our clan, and we’ve already gotten our clutch out of them. There’s nothing left for Ian to charm out of the White Witch, so I don’t know why he’s still playing consort. We’re on top! He should be gunning for new conquests, not wasting his time hanging around old ones.”
“I’m happy for them,” Julius said stubbornly. “They seem well matched.” Not that he understood a relationship that seemed to be based on who could use the other better, but Svena and Ian were both dragon’s dragons, and it seemed to work for them.
“Well, he’d better pull himself out of her icy clutches soon, because we’re starting in two minutes,” Bethesda said, checking her phone. She grimaced when she saw the time and shot Julius the closest thing she had to a nervous look. “The plan is still on, right? You haven’t killed it or something stupid like that?”
“Why would I kill it?” Julius asked. “It was my plan.”
“Yes, but I like it,” his mother pointed out. “And you always destroy the things I like, so…”
“It’s fine,” he assured her.
“What’s fine?” Justin asked, suddenly appearing at Julius’s side.
“Everything,” Julius said, smiling at his knight. As always, Justin was dressed like a modern knight in military-grade spellworked Kevlar with his Fang at his side. Conrad was wearing the same as he stepped into place beside Bethesda. The only one who didn’t have a knight was Ian, but he didn’t seem to mind when he finally appeared.
“About time,” Bethesda snapped, eying his skewed suit and uncharacteristically rumpled hair, which was standing up in the back as though someone tall had been running her fingers through it. “Did you make sure Svena is still on our side?”
“It didn’t come up,” Ian said, neatening himself up in the hall mirror. “But I trust my consort to do what is best for our clan.”
“Which one?” Bethesda growled. “This is the problem with letting you bat for two teams. I’m never sure where you stand.”
“I stand where I always have,” Ian said, tugging his silk tie straight. “With my own self-interest, and that’s very well served by Julius’s plan.” His brown eyes flicked to his brother. “Shall we go in?”
“Any time,” Julius said. “We’re just waiting on Amelia.”
Bethesda rolled her eyes. “No point in that. This is her first big meeting as the Spirit of Dragons. She’s not going to make a normal entrance through the door. Just go in. It never pays to make dragons wait.”
That was a good point, so Julius motioned for Justin to lead the way. Proud as an armored peacock, the knight shoved the doors open, letting the Heartstriker delegation into the elegant ballroom where the rest of dragonkind was already waiting.
After greeting nearly every dragon in the world as they’d come through Svena’s portal, Julius hadn’t been too worried about seeing them all again now. As they walked to Heartstriker’s table at the front, though, he realized he’d drastically underestimated the situation. It was one thing to face all the clan heads when the world was about to end, but it was quite another to stand in front of them now. Back then, they’d had no choice but to listen. Now, things were far less certain.
Thankfully, he was saved by Amelia. As Bethesda had predicted, the Spirit of Dragons had been waiting to make her entrance. The moment the Heartstriker delegation was in place behind their table, completing the circle of the clans, she appeared behind the podium at the circle’s apex with a swirl of fire. There was quite a lot of fire, actually. The normal dress she’d been wearing just a few minutes ago had been replaced with a gown of living flames, and a crown of fire in the shape of a dragon crouched on top of her head. Even her shoes were made of fire, scorching the elegant hotel carpet and all but ensuring they wouldn’t be getting the deposit back.
She stood there for a moment, looking haughtily around the room as she waited for shocked silence to become reverent awe. When she was satisfied everyone was suitably impressed, Amelia began.
“Welcome,” she said in a voice as sharp as fangs. “As you know, but I never get tired of saying, I am Amelia the Planeswalker, Spirit of Dragons and your benevolent god. These talks were not my idea, but I heartily approve of them and thus have agreed to bless you with the gift of my presence. Since I could swat any of you like flies, I will not take sides since that would be king making, and I’m not looking to be one of those micromanaging deities. I will not interfere with any decisions for the same reason. You’re all free to act in your own best interests, as dragons should. However, since these are peace talks, I will incinerate anyone who attempts to break the truce. Those are the rules. Don’t break them. Now that we’re all on the same page, I’ll pass the stand to my brother, Julius Heartstriker, who surprisingly didn’t arrange this meeting today but has somehow managed to end up leading it. Take it away, Julius!”
She threw out a fire-wreathed hand toward him, and Julius winced as every dragon in the room turned to stare.
“Thank you, Amelia,” he said awkwardly, hobbling to the podium as fast as he could. He paused when he got there, looking around the room as his sister stepped aside to give him space. What he saw wasn’t very reassuring. When he’d arrived this afternoon, he’d thought the ballroom his mother had booked in one of the nicest hotels on the just-restored riverfront was ridiculously huge for their purposes. Now, he was wishing she’d gotten a bigger one. Even in their elegantly dressed human forms, the circle of dragons filled the room. He couldn’t even see Marci, Myron, and their spirits standing in the back through all the calculating scowls and measuring glances, but he knew they were there, and that gave him the courage he needed to begin.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said, lifting his voice since no dragon would ever respect someone who needed a microphone. “The world has changed a great deal in the last three weeks. The human governments are in disarray from the influx of magic and the rise of Mortal Spirits. We have also changed, our fires bound to the magic of this plane by our own Spirit of Dragons. Thanks to her actions, we finally have a true home again, and now more than ever, we need to work together to cement our future here.”
He tightened his fingers on his cane. Here it went.
“For too long, we have acted like barbarians, fighting and brawling over land. That savagery has taken its toll. There are fewer dragons alive now than there have ever been, and that is our fault. No human hunter or vengeful spirit, even Algonquin, has hurt dragons more than we’ve hurt ourselves through our greed and shortsightedness. That is why, if we wish to live long enough to enjoy the new life expectancy my oldest sister’s work has bought us, we dragons have to change. We proved we could work together when we defended the Great Lakes from Algonquin’s Leviathan. Now, for our long-term survival, we have to do it again. If we don’t wish to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors who destroyed their old home plane, we must come together as a species, if not in peace, then in alliance. It is my hope that, through these talks and the ones that will surely follow, the dragon clans of this world can surpass all who came before us by finding a way to coexist nonviolently for our mutual benefit.”
He paused there, holding his breath, but to his amazement, most of the room was nodding. Some, like Fading Smoke, looked disgusted by the idea of stopping the killing, but the vast majority of the faces looking back at him were relieved. They were all tired, he realized. Tired of death, tired of dwindling numbers and fading power. That wasn’t enough to bury all the centuries-old grudges, but it was enough to start, and Julius decided to push ahead.
“With this in mind,” he went on, “as the first act of this all-clan meeting, I am taking the opportunity to formally claim the DFZ as my personal territory, effective immediately.”
The room exploded.
“What?” cried Fading Smoke, almost knocking over his table as he surged to his feet. “You think Heartstriker can claim the richest prize in the world without a fight?”
Other clans were yelling similar things, then yelling at each other as the whole ballroom fell into one giant argument over who most deserved Algonquin’s city. The noise of it was so loud, Julius couldn’t hear himself think, but he made no move to calm things down, because that wasn’t his place. It was hers.
“SILENCE!” the spirit of the DFZ roared, making the whole building shake.
Every dragon snapped their mouths shut, swiveling their heads back to the podium, where the spirit of the city had appeared beside Julius, her orange eyes shining like spotlights in her rage.
“I am not a corpse for you vultures to bicker over!” she snarled, baring her sharp teeth. “I am the DFZ, the living city! I can choose for myself which dragon is fit to manage your affairs within my borders, and I have chosen Julius Heartstriker. Of all of you, he is the only one who stood beside the Merlin to save me. He was the one who kept up hope when all other plans failed and the one who died so that the Lady of the Lakes could have a second chance and we could all survive. For these reasons and more, Julius Heartstriker is the only one of you I trust as the dragon of my city. I will accept no others.”
She set her jaw stubbornly after that, glaring at the dragons as if she was hoping they’d be stupid enough to fight her on this. And sure enough, someone did.
“It’s not your place to tell us whom to obey, spirit,” Fading Smoke growled. “Why should we listen to you?”
“You don’t have to,” Bethesda said sweetly. “Even if you were stupid enough to ignore the will of the sentient city you’re so eager to exploit, the DFZ belongs to Julius anyway. You were there same as the rest of us, Arkniss. You know perfectly well that my youngest son was the one giving the orders during the defense of the lakes, because you obeyed them. That fight and what he did after is the reason we’re still here to bicker about this, which means the lands those actions won are Julius’s by right of conquest. It’s the same logic you used to claim your territory in Gibraltar, so unless you’re willing to give your rock back to the dragons of North Africa, you have no ground to stand on.”
“Bethesda is right,” Svena said, her pale face shocked as though she couldn’t believe those words had just come out of her mouth. “We all fought hard that day, but Julius Heartstriker was the one who led. Even I followed where he pointed, but none of us followed him into the final confrontation that defeated the Leviathan. For that alone, I back his claim. This city and all the Great Lakes belong to him.”
“Why do you say to him?” Arkniss said, his dark eyes wary. “You mean they belong to Heartstriker.”
“I am a Heartstriker,” Julius said carefully. “But our clan lays claim to the whole of the Americas. Even we’re not big enough to centrally manage all that land, which is why our clan has a long tradition of letting each dragon claim and run their own territory as they see fit. By claiming the DFZ, I am bringing it into Heartstriker’s shared territory, but I—not Bethesda or anyone else elected to the Council in the years to come—will be the one who controls dragon affairs in the city.”
When the other dragons started grumbling, Julius raised a finger. “Before you complain, this does not mean the rest of you will be cut off. As the dragon of the DFZ, my plan is to keep the city exactly what it is right now: neutral territory. I want to make this city a place where dragons of all clans can come together and talk without fear of being betrayed. Every one of you is welcome to work and profit and run whatever enterprises you wish inside my city. My only requirement is that you do so peacefully, no killing, no fighting, no clan wars. Furthermore, I also intend to offer myself as a neutral third party to mediate clan disputes so that they may be settled without the usual bloodshed.”
“So that’s your ploy, is it?” Arkniss snorted. “Play the peacekeeper? Make us come to you?”
“It’s not a ploy,” Julius said stubbornly. “It’s a hope. We’ve lost so many powerful dragons to stupid clan drama, including my own grandfather, the Quetzalcoatl.” His mother made a choking sound, which Julius ignored. “My goal is to stop that from happening again. It shouldn’t be hard. We’re dragons, the cleverest, sneakiest, most conniving creatures to ever live in this world. If we can’t talk our way through a problem, then it can’t be solved. We just need somewhere safe to do it, and that’s what I mean to build.” He thumped his cane on the burned carpet. “From this moment on, I am Julius, Dragon of the DFZ. Anyone who wishes to challenge me for that title may do so now.”
He stopped, listening, but the room was silent. No one, not even Arkniss, said a word against him. Then, slowly, Lao, the Qilin’s cousin who was filling in for the absent emperor, raised his hand. “The Golden Empire supports Julius Heartstriker’s claim,” he said calmly. “In this support, we honor our debt. Any who oppose him oppose us.”
“Heartstriker supports him, of course,” Ian said, speaking quickly before Bethesda could open her mouth and remind the other dragons in the room how much they hated her. “We feel that a neutral DFZ is in the best interest of all parties, and we will bring our full might against any who threaten it.”
“We also support him,” Svena said. “The youngest Heartstriker has long been an ally of my clan, and I can think of no better use of his skills than what he has proposed for this city.” She flashed Julius a cold smile. “He is, after all, the dragon who tamed Heartstriker. I think we are all eager to see what other miracles he can perform.”
The other clans seemed to like that, and Julius let out his breath at last. “Thank you all for your support,” he said, trying not to sound as relieved as he felt. “And welcome to my territory. Now…” He smiled wide. “What can I help you with?”
***
“See that?” Bob said, passing his binoculars to the Black Reach, who was sitting beside him on the scaffolding surrounding the still-under-construction hotel directly across from the one the dragons were having their meeting in. “What did I tell you? He had it in the bag the whole time.”
“You are no longer in a position to tell me anything,” the construct replied sourly, though he did look through the binoculars. “You made a lucky guess.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it,” Bob said proudly. “That, old friend, was skill. I know all my assets, and Julius is the most reliable, especially for something like this.” He sighed happily. “They’ll be calling him ‘Julius the Peacemaker’ and flocking to him with their problems before the year is out, mark my words.”
“Of course they will,” the Black Reach said. “Because you’ll be sending them, and spreading that ridiculous epitaph.” He passed the binoculars back to Bob. “It’s not actually predicting the future if you’re setting everything up, you know.”
“I don’t care what you call it so long as it happens,” Bob replied. “And neither should you. My little brother is in there building the future you’ve always wanted. You should be falling over yourself to help me help him.”
“Who says I’m not?” the Black Reach said with a cryptic smile. “I’m here, aren’t I? Despite that thing on your shoulder.”
Bob went pale in horror, his hands shooting up to shield his pigeon roosting against his neck. “Don’t listen to him, darling,” he whispered. “He’s just jealous you’re with me.”
The bird cooed in reply, and the oldest seer rose to his feet with a sigh. “Now that you’ve made your point, can we go? They’re going to be in that meeting until midnight at least, and you promised me a local delicacy for dinner. Some sort of canine, I believe?”
“A coney dog,” Bob said, popping to his feet as well. “Which isn’t actually a dog, but you’re still going to love it. And across the street, there’s a place that serves chicken and waffles!”
The Black Reach looked troubled. “Why would anyone put chicken on a waffle?”
“Oh, my sweet, innocent child,” Bob said, wrapping his arm around the taller seer’s shoulders. “This is going to be the best vacation you’ve ever had.”
The Black Reach sighed again, but he didn’t resist as Bob dragged him down the scaffolding toward the service elevator, the pigeon fluttering along behind them in the cold winter air.
***
The meeting didn’t get out until one in the morning. Julius was exhausted by ten. Given the state of his body, he really should have called it earlier, but the whole “get dragons to talk instead of killing each other” plan was working so well, he couldn’t bring himself to stop. By the time the all-clan meeting adjourned, he’d helped resolve three clan wars—all of which were stupid—arranged a five-clan trade summit for next weekend, and gotten Svena and Amelia to agree to take on younger dragons as apprentices to help rekindle the dying art of formal dragon magic. All in all, it was a marvelous beginning, but the best part came at the end, when he hobbled out on his cane to find Marci waiting in the hotel lobby.
He hadn’t expected to see her again tonight. The Merlin delegation was still fantastically busy. Getting them to come and support him for the first ten minutes had been tricky enough given their overlapping obligations, and he hadn’t been offended when they’d ducked out the moment the actual clan politicking had started. He’d assumed they’d moved on to whatever world crisis was on the docket next, but when he stepped out, there she was, waiting for him by the elevators in the same lovely, long dress she’d worn to the meeting.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey yourself,” he replied, hobbling over with a grin. “What are you doing here?”
She gave him a funny look. “What do you think? You just became the Dragon of Detroit. I’m here to help you celebrate!” Her look turned sly. “I might also have gotten us a room at the hotel since, you know, it’s late and I thought you might be sick of the hospital.”
He loved the way she thought. “You have no idea,” he said, hitting the button to summon the elevator. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, reaching out to take his hand. It wasn’t until they got into the elevator, though, that Julius realized Ghost wasn’t there. Not that she could ever really be separated from her spirit, but by their standards, this was alone.
Even three weeks after he’d confessed his feelings, that was still enough to turn his whole head red. “So,” he said, loosening his collar against the sudden heat. “Anything big happen while I was in the meeting?”
“Actually, yes. Myron and I need to get serious about recruiting more Merlins to handle the flood of spirits, so we decided to go ahead and open up a formal headquarters in the DFZ.”
His heart began to pound. “Here?”
“We can’t exactly be anywhere else given Myron’s spirit,” Marci said with a shrug. “Personally, though, I think it’s very fitting. The DFZ always was the city of mages. Now it can be that for real. We’re actually meeting with what’s left of Algonquin’s city council tomorrow to discuss making the new Merlin Council a permanent part of the city’s governing structure. The spirit of the DFZ isn’t actually interested in running herself on a municipal level, but she doesn’t want to cede power to humans she doesn’t know, so we’re trying to compromise with a joint government between the city’s spirit and the elected officials. That way, we’ve got proper civil servants running all the normal stuff people need—trash, power grid, police, economic policies, and so forth—but the DFZ still has a say in how she’s run without having to do something crazy like swallow up city hall, which she has threatened to do.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Julius said. “Anything will be an improvement over being left to fend for ourselves by Algonquin. Maybe we’ll actually get laws this time.”
“Don’t count on too much order,” Marci warned. “This is still the DFZ, and she values her freedoms. But I think we can strike a good balance between freedom of choice and cruel neglect.” Her face darkened. “There are parts of the DFZ none of us want to see come back.”
That was certainly true. “At least I won’t have to worry about being hunted anymore,” Julius said cheerfully. “The city can be my home for real now, and speaking of homes…” He turned to look at her. “If we’re both going to be staying here for the long term, I’m thinking we should move in together.”
Marci laughed. “But we’ve always lived together.”
“I meant for real this time.”
Her cheeks flushed as she realized what he was implying. “Oh,” she said, reaching up to fiddle with her short brown hair. “Sure. I’d love to shack up with you.”
“Actually,” Julius said, moving closer. “I was hoping for something a bit more permanent.”
He hadn’t meant to say this so soon. He couldn’t even kneel due to the stupid weakness in his legs. But Julius had learned his lesson many times now about putting things off, and it wasn’t as if he would ever change his mind about Marci.
“I was hoping you would live with me forever.”
By the time he finished, Marci’s eyes were so wide, he could see the whites all the way around. “Wait,” she said, voice shaking. “Is this what it sounds like?”
“I certainly hope so,” Julius replied, leaning his cane against the elevator wall so he could wrap his arms around her. “Because I’d very much like you to marry me. If you can find the time.”
“I have time right now,” Marci said, whipping out her phone. “There’s gotta be a twenty-four-hour license office somewhere in this city. I’ll get us an appointment tonight and—”
Julius cut her off with a kiss, holding her tight until her body relaxed into his. “It can wait until tomorrow,” he said when he finally pulled back. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not letting you go, either.”
“Like I’d leave before I got you on lockdown,” Marci said breathlessly, looking up at him with a lovingly dazed expression before she suddenly stopped. “Wait, is this all right? I’ve never heard of a dragon getting married. Do you guys even do that?”
“I have no idea,” Julius confessed as the elevator stopped at their floor. “And I don’t care. I’ve never been a proper dragon. Why start now? All I know is that I want to marry you, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Works for me,” Marci said, dragging him off the elevator and down the hall, laughing the entire way.