She stomped her foot on the wiggling chain floor, and Julius chuckled. “That makes two of us,” he said, leaning in to rest his forehead against hers. “But we don’t have to trust them. If Bob’s right, and our decisions make the future, then we just have to trust us.”
“You mean ‘be yourself’?” Marci replied in a terrifyingly accurate Bob impression.
Julius nodded. “Just don’t tell him he was right.”
“He’s a seer,” Marci reminded with a laugh. “He already knows.”
That was actually very comforting, and Julius turned back to Dragon Sees the Beginning. “I’ll pay it.”
“Excellent,” the dragon said, flicking its claws. “Catch.”
It took all of Julius’s discipline not to dodge the tiny black chain flying like a bullet at his chest. But though he saw it hit, he didn’t feel a thing. The black links simply vanished into his shirt. There was no pain or trauma like he’d seen Chelsie go through in the video. He didn’t even feel like something had been taken. “Um, did it work?”
“Only one way to find out,” Dragon Sees the Beginning replied. “It was a true pleasure to meet you, young Heartstriker. Give my regards to my brother when you see him.”
Julius had already opened his mouth to ask how soon that would be when the layer of chains cracked opened under his feet, dropping him and Marci into the void.
Chapter 19
The sun was low over Heartstriker Mountain when two dragons—one enormous with scales white as new snow, the other smaller and covered in rich, royal blue feathers—shot out of the balcony that opened into Bethesda the Heartstriker’s throne room. They circled each other in the cloudless desert sky, shining like jewels in the evening light, and then the white dragoness put on a sudden burst of speed, shooting toward the horizon. The smaller male matched her immediately, folding his wings like a fighter jet as he set off in hot pursuit.
He would never catch her.
Estella took a deep breath, watched the flash of her sister’s frosted wings until she vanished into the distance. Only when she was sure Svena was safely away from what was about to happen did the Northern Star finally turn to face her host.
As always, Bethesda the Heartstriker was dressed like a gaudy mess. Where Estella looked regal and elegant in a simple, sleeveless white dress, Bethesda looked like she’d spent the last hour rolling in her treasury. Her indecently low-cut, golden gown was little more than a backdrop for the giant, tacky clusters of jewelry she wore at her neck, ears, arms, wrists, fingers, ankles, and feet. But even though the Heartstriker was displaying her wealth so hard Estella was surprised she could still move, the clan headstillfell short. The only piece of real value in the whole gaudy display was her headdress: a solid gold Aztec crown commissioned for her by her father back when she’d been the Quetzalcoatl’s spoiled princess.Thatwas actually lovely, but the rest of it reeked of someone who’d spent her whole life trying too hard. But then, “trying too hard” was Bethesda in a nutshell, as the trashy snake proved yet again when she turned to address Estella as an equal.
“They’ll be out until midnight at least,” she said, her crimson lips curling into a smug smile. “Ian always does thingsproperly.”
The blatant suggestion in her voice turned Estella’s stomach. It was not quite time yet, though, so she hid her disgust, though no force in the world could make her smile as she followed the Heartstriker back into her throne room to the banquet table that had been set up beneath the Quetzalcoatl’s suspended skull.
That sight was enough to turn her stomach again, and Estella’s jaw clenched. The God of Hurricanes deserved so much better thanthis,reduced to a mere decoration, his teeth stolen so his murderous daughter could have weapons for her spawn. He only had two fangs left at this point: the long one that usually belonged to Bethesda’s baby knight, and the one that none of the Heartstriker whelps had yet managed to yank from his head. Neither Fang would ever be used again after tonight, of course, but Estella was still sorely tempted to break them both, if only to see the Heartstriker’s face when her treasured weapons were reduced to splinters. She was still enjoying that mental image when Bethesda’s smarmy voice interrupted her.
“Champagne?” she asked, holding up a gold-foiled bottle. “I had a case flown in from my son Evan’s vineyard in France just for this occasion.”
“No.”
Bethesda’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure? It’s the best in the world, the private reserve of a winery that had been run by the same family since the seventeen hundreds before we forced them out of the business.”
“No,” Estella said again, not even bothering to hide her disgust at the blatant name dropping. As always, though, the censure rolled right off the Heartstriker’s back. She just shrugged and popped the cork to help herself.
“Now that we’re alone,” Bethesda said, filling a tall flute with golden, bubbly champagne. “I think it’s time we dropped the act and discussed the terms of your surrender.”
“I wouldn’t discuss that with anyone,” Estella said coldly. “Least of all you.”
“Come now,” the Heartstriker laughed. “Your arrogance is legendary, Northern Star, but surely you’ve comprehended your situation by now. This room, my mountain, and all the airspace for a mile in every direction is entirely under my control. I have wards set down by my best mages, mortal and dragon, specifically constructed to prevent that little teleportation trick you used to crash my party last time. Fifty of my most talented children are already waiting in the wings. All I have to do is think the order, and they’ll rush in to tear off your head so I can add it to my collection. You are completely surrounded in every meaning of the word. At this point, the only choice you have left is whether you enter my service as a slave or a trophy.”
By the time she finished, Bethesda’s voice was so smug it could have curdled milk. Normally, that would have made Estella furious, but not this time.Thistime, she savored it, letting the silence stretch until even the Heartstriker’s victorious grin faltered.
“Nothing to say to that?” she asked, taking a sip of champagne. “Have I rendered the Seer of the Three Sisters speechless at last?”
“Not at all,” Estella replied with a smile of her own. “I was simply enjoying the moment before your fall.”
“Myfall?” Bethesda laughed. “I see you’ve finally gone senile.Iwon’t be the one who…”
Her voice trailed off as magic began to build in the air. Not Estella’s magic, either, but a power Bethesda knew perfectly well, as evidenced by the pleasingly ashy pallor of fear that washed over her face. “Frieda!” she barked, dropping her glass as she jumped back. “Now!”
Nothing happened.
