“You have a lot of nerve,” the emperor’s cousin growled over the phone when Julius identified himself. “Can you even comprehend how much trouble you’ve caused?”
“Nothing like what’s going to happen if you don’t let me talk to him.”
He didn’t even realize how terrible that sounded until Lao snarled, “Is that a threat?”
“No, it’s an emergency,” Julius said quickly, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Look, I’ve got some information he’s going to want to know, but it’s not the sort of thing I can explain over the phone, and I can’t go up there with the empress trying to kill me. I just need you to let me talk to him for five minutes without dying.”
The blue dragon sighed, and then there was a click as he put Julius on hold. Thirty seconds later, Lao’s voice snapped back into his ear. “Come up.”
“What about the empress?” Julius asked nervously. “Can you send us an escort to make sure we don’t get beheaded on the way or—”
“You don’t have to worry about the Empress Mother,” Lao said, his voice hurried. “Just get up here. The Qilin will see you in the throne room.”
He hung up after that, leaving Julius staring at the terrified servant’s phone in confusion. “What was that about?”
“A trap would be my guess,” Fredrick said, looking up the open stairwell. “But at this point, what isn’t?”
“No way to know except to try,” Julius said, putting a hand on the place where his sword should have been before remembering he’d left it upstairs. One more reason to go back. “Let’s go see how far we can get.”
Fredrick scowled, but he followed Julius up to the very top, where the spiral servant stair discreetly ended behind the elevator at the end of the now-empty Hall of Heads. When the hidden doorway slid open, though, two red dragons were waiting on the other side.
Julius froze, eyes going wide in surprise and fear. Fredrick was far more sensible. He grabbed the door, yanking Julius back into the stairwell as he slammed it shut on their enemies. He was about to lock it when one of the red dragons ripped the sliding door off its track and threw it aside. Julius was preparing to jump down the stairwell’s open center to get away when Lao pushed his way to the front.
“It’s all right,” the blue dragon said quickly, scowling at his fellow imperial dragons. “The clans of Mongolia obey the emperor.”
The two red dragons nodded, though they still looked like they were waiting for a reason to rip Julius and Fredrick apart as Lao ushered the Heartstrikers back into the hallway.
“Come,” he said, walking toward the throne room at a speed mortals would have called a run. “The emperor is not accustomed to being kept waiting.”
Julius didn’t have to be told twice. He sprinted after Lao, blowing past the two red dragons with Fredrick right behind him, reaching Lao’s side just as he threw open the throne room doors to reveal the Qilin sitting alone on the white-jade half of the two-seated golden dragon throne.
The moment he saw the emperor, Julius knew it was bad. Even with his veil down again, the angry hunch of the emperor’s shoulders said volumes. He actually looked even more upset than he had when he’d told Julius to leave, clutching the engraved arms of his throne as he waited impatiently for Julius and Fredrick to take their places.
“Thank you for seeing us again so quickly,” Julius said.
“Lao said it was an emergency,” the Qilin said, his deep voice clipped and sharp. “Though I should warn you, this is not a good time. My mother has gone missing, and I am anxious to find her.”
Julius blinked. “Missing? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” the Qilin snarled. “You think I don’t know where my empress is?”
Considering that was the entire problem, obviously not, but Julius didn’t have to say a word. The Qilin just growled and moved on, leaning hard on one arm of his throne as he tried to explain. “I don’t keep tabs on her specifically, but my mother has always been the one tied closest to my luck. Whenever I wanted her, she would appear, even before I knew I desired her company. This time, though, she hasn’t.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Julius said. “I just saw her here an hour ago.” And really, how far could the old dragon hobble in an hour? “But this is urgent. I—”
“You don’t understand,” the emperor snapped. “My motherneedsme. She sacrificed nearly all of her fire to give me life, and what little she has left relies on my luck to remain stable. If we were safe at home, it wouldn’t be an issue, but in enemy territory, as I am now—”
The mountain rumbled, and the emperor stopped, his chest rising as he took a deep breath.
“Again, not a good time,” he said when the shaking finally stopped. “Unless you’re here to tell me where my mother is, it’s probably better if you deal with your emergency on your own.”
“I’m afraid we can’t,” Julius said, taking a deep breath of his own. Here went nothing. “We need your help.”
The Qilin laughed. A deep, mirthless sound. “You can’t be serious.”
Julius stared hard into the golden veil so the emperor could see just how serious he was. “Chelsie’s in trouble.”
The emperor slumped back in his throne. “Of course she is,” he growled, pressing his hand hard against his veiled forehead. “What else would she be? But you already know how to solve this problem. Surrender, embrace my rule, and—”
