“I know that,” he said. “But I’m not doing this for her. There’s a lot more dragons than just Bethesda who’ll be hurt if Estella strikes. You’re safe because you can just go to another plane, but the rest of us are stuck here.” Like Katya, like himself, like Bob and Chelsie and Ian and Justin and everyone else in his family he didn’t want to die. Not to mention that, if he didn’t do anything, and thingsdidgo bad, he’d never be able to forgive himself.
“I appreciate your advice,” he said, smiling at his sister. “You’re the only one who’s treated me like I had a brain tonight, but I can’t let this go. I don’t know if it’ll do any good, but if I have a chance to figure out what’s going on, I need to at least try.”
Amelia stared at him for a long moment, and then she shook her head. “You’re an odd little bird, Julius Heartstriker. I’m beginning to see why Bob picked you.”
Julius wished she’d tell him, but it was too late. His sister was already turning away. “Do as you like,” she said. “Personally, I’m going to get while the getting’s good. If you’re still alive later, maybe I’ll drop by and meet your mage. Sound like fun?”
It sounded like trouble, but Julius didn’t want to insult his sister any more than he already had. And besides, for a dragon like Amelia, “later” might be in twenty years. “Sure,” he said. “See you then.”
She waved over her shoulder as she walked back out onto the balcony, presumably to fly away, but Julius didn’t have time to wait around and see. He was already plunging into the crowd toward Katya.
Given how many whispering Heartstrikers were staring her down, Julius had fully expected Katya to bolt. By the time he got close enough to catch her attention, though, she was still in the frozen doorway, sticking to the ice like a lifeline. Her blue eyes lit up when she spotted him coming toward her, but Julius shook his head rapidly, pointing instead to the discreet door that led to the toilets. When she nodded, he turned back around and started slipping his way through the whispering crowd in the same direction.
Like all places meant to be accessed by dragons, the hall leading to the toilets was richly decorated in a lavish display of Bethesda’s wealth. In this particular instance, it was her collection of antique textiles, including several historically significant Mesoamerican wall-hangings and carpets, which Bethesda kept unprotected on her walls and floor, because nothing said “I have money to burn” like walking over an irreplaceable historical artifact on your way to the restroom.
Since Katya had to give a whole room the slip, Julius fully expected to have to wait, but by the time he’d weaved his way through the crowd and down the hall, she was already there, sitting on the black leather ottoman that marked the discreet entrance to the ladies’ room. She jumped up the moment she saw him, grabbing his hand and yanking him into the alcove behind a 13th century Mayan serape before he could even say hello.
“What’s going on?” he whispered, pushing the heavy wool hanging away from his face so he could see her. “Are you okay?”
Katya put her finger to her lips and stuck her head back out into the hall, looking up and down its entire length as she breathed deep through her nose. She must not have scented anything, though, because she ducked back in behind the hanging a second later. “I don’t know,” she said frantically. “I didn’t even know Estella was back until she blasted her way into our bedroom this morning. She nearly killed Ross.”
Julius winced in sympathy. Ross was Katya’s beloved human mage. “Is he okay?”
“I’m not sure,” Katya said. “Estella took my phone. She won’t let me contact anyone, and she won’t say why. She doesn’t even talk to me unless she’s ordering me around, and worse, Svena’shelpingher.”
She said that like it was unthinkable, but Julius didn’t understand. “Don’t they usually work together?”
Katya shook her head. “Not anymore. Svena’s made a lot of changes to the Daughters of the Three Sisters. If you’d asked me yesterday, I’d have sworn she’d die before she let Estella rule her again, but now—” Katya’s voice broke as she grabbed his hands. “Something’swrongwith her, Julius!”
“I believe you,” he said, clutching her fingers reassuringly. “Ian mentioned she was acting strange as well, but do you have any idea why? Is there some kind of blackmail or threat Estella could be holding over her to make Svena go along with her plan?”
“Nothing that could make her act like this. She won’t even talk to me.” Katya bared her teeth. “Estella must have done something, trapped her in a spell. Whatever it is, I’ll kill her for it. No one hurts my sister!”
The raw fury in her voice surprised him. When she’d been on the run, Katya had been…not meek, exactly, but wary. She was like a wounded animal: ready to fight if she had to, but more interested in running away. Now, though, Katya looked ready to charge in and start ripping things apart for Svena, which was kind of touching. No one in Julius’s family felt that way about him. But while he was sure Katya would give it a good try, there was no way she could beat a seer. At least, not directly.
“We’ll figure this out together,” he promised. “First, though, we need to find out what Estella’s actually after. Can you tell me about this mating flight?”
“I found out about it when you did,” Katya said angrily. “Svena and I knew this party was a trap the moment we read your invitation. We were still planning to accept—I think Svena wanted to show your mother that she couldn’t be manipulated—but never in a million years would I have guessed that Estella would want to come here. Shehatesthe Heartstriker.”
“Could it all be a ploy just to get close to Bethesda?” Julius asked. “Mother’s well protected, but offering her the mating flight she’s been obsessing over for months would be a surefire way to get her to the negotiating table and into striking range.”
“I thought about that, too,” Katya said. “But you don’t have to be a seer to know that wouldn’t work. Svena’s amazing, but even she can’t beat a throne room full of Heartstrikers. Attacking now would be suicide for all of us, but I don’t know what else Estella could want.”
Julius didn’t either, but her words made him remember something Bob had said. “Do you think she could be going mad?”
That was a terrible thing to say about someone’s sister, but he didn’t know how else to phrase it, and Katya didn’t look surprised in any case. “It’s possible,” she said sadly. “All seers lose their minds in time, and Estella is the oldest of us all. But she doesn’tseemmad. Just the opposite, she’s been more driven and alert today than I’ve seen her be in ages. Svena’s the one acting strange. Normally, ordering her to do something is the fastest way to make her do the exact opposite, but she’s followed everything Estella’s said today like an obedient doll. It’s creepy. Sometimes, she looks at me, and I don’t even recognize—”
Her voice cut off with a gasp. For a heartbeat, Julius couldn’t understand what was wrong, and then he felt it. An icy wind was blowing down the hallway, chilling him to the bone.
“Go ahead.”
Even though he knew it was coming, the soft, cold voice still made Julius jump. He came down with a thump, peeking out from behind the wall hanging to find Estella standing in the hall directly in front of them.
“Go ahead, Katya,” she said again. “I’ve already found you conspiring with the enemy, why not finish the job? It’s not like I haven’t already foreseen what you’re going to do.”
“I—” Katya stammered. “I was only—”
Estella silenced her with a wave of her hand. “Save your excuses. If you’re delusional enough to think you can betray me, do it now and be done. Otherwise, go back and wait until you’re called.”
