Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers) (54 page)

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.