“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’swhat 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 isdefinitelynot 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 liked 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 problemandkept them both in the city, which makes my life much easier.Andyou 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, especiallythisHeartstriker. 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 actuallyworked.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 actuallylive.
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? Anddon’tsay 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?”
