“Amelia,” Chelsie finished with a growl.
“But how is that possible?” Julius asked. “You specifically told me last month that our family was safe. ‘My brothers, my pawns,’ that’s what you said. Svena I can understand, but how could she get Conrad and Amelia?”
“If I knewthat, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Bob grumbled, sitting down on the floor. “A seer’s work is dominated by probability. We look at all the things that might happen, and then we do whatever it takes to ensure thatmightbecomeswill. But even with the power of foresight, there are still some events that aresounlikely, they’re functionally impossible. For sanity’s sake, seers learn to ignore these extremes, but over the last twenty-four hours, those seemingly impossible futures are exactly what has been happening.” Bob bared his teeth. “It’s like Estella’s just yanking the future into whatever shape she pleases. I could accept that as just really good seer work if it wasn’t for the fact that she’s also yankingmypieces away with no setup whatsoever.”
The seer was growling by the time he finished, and the sound was enough to make Julius want to run for the hills. He’d never seen Bob actually angry before, and he never wanted to again. Even Marci looked spooked, stepping back toward the wall. Chelsie was the only one who looked unaffected. “So how is Estella able to do it?” she asked.
“There’s only one explanation,” Bob growled. “She’s cheating.”
Marci frowned. “How do you cheat at the future?”
“I don’t know,” the seer said, glaring down at Amelia. “But I intend to find out.”
Chelsie sighed. “Be that as it may, we still have two siblings down. Conrad—”
She stopped, looking pointedly at Julius and Marci, but Bob just rolled his eyes. “They’re in neck deep already,” he reminded her. “Might as well put everything out there and get more minds working on the problem.”
“Fine,” Chelsie growled. “It’s not like they can make things worse.” She turned to Julius, folding her arms over her chest. “Unlike Amelia, Conrad suffered no injuries at all from his attack. The only reason we know something happened at all was because I found him unconscious in his room with Estella’s scent on his clothes. When he woke up, he had no memory of what had occurred. Now, Amelia’s situation is obviously different, but given that she still hasn’t woken up, I wouldn’t be surprised if her memories were altered as well. Since they both came out of Estella’s clutches alive and in our custody, however, we have no choice but to assume they’ve been compromised.”
“Compromised?” Marci squeaked. “You mean like bugged or mind controlled or—”
“I don’t know,” Chelsie said sharply. “But there’s no way Estella would take out two of the most powerful Heartstrikers only to turn right around and give them back to us without a hitch. Even Mother’s accepted that and ordered Conrad be restrained until we know exactly what’s going on. Unfortunately, Amelia’s situation is a little more complicated.”
“More complicated how?” Julius asked, staring at his sister, who was starting to look deathly pale. “Shouldn’t we be getting her back home as well? She needs a doctor if nothing else, and Heartstriker Mountain’s the only place—”
“No.”
They all jumped. On the couch, Amelia’s eyes shot open. “No,” she gasped again. “Not the mountain. Never.Never—”
Magic began to surge. It rose from Amelia’s body in a desperate strike, digging into Julius’s chest before he could defend himself. But then, just when he was sure the power would rip him open, Chelsie grabbed Amelia’s head and slammed down with magic of her own. It happened so fast, Julius couldn’t even tell what Chelsie had done. Whatever it was, though, it worked. Amelia collapsed back onto the couch, her whole body going limp as her magic vanished as quickly as it had risen. Chelsie kept her hands tight on her sister’s head until the last of it was gone, and then she unclenched her fingers with a grimace. “That was close.”
“Too close,” Marci said, shaking. “She nearly sliced and diced us.”
“What did you expect?” Bob asked, glaring at Julius. “He threatened to take her to Mother.”
“I said she needed adoctor!” Julius cried. “I know Bethesda isn’t exactly Mother of the Year, but unlike my house, she has physicians on hand who actually know how to treat a dragon. And how was I supposed to know she’d freak out like that? Amelia was at the mountain just last night.” He looked back down at his sister, who looked terrifyingly pale. “I still think taking her back is the best option. I don’t know what Mother’s beef with Amelia is, but there’s no way she’d risk starting trouble inside the family while we’re under attack from another clan.”
That logic made perfect sense to Julius, but by the time he finished, Chelsie and Bob were both staring at him like he’d lost his mind.
“Please tell me he’s kidding.”
“I don’t think he is.”
Julius’s cheeks began to heat. “What did I say?”
“Julius,” Chelsie said, exasperated. “Amelia is Bethesda’sheir. Do you have any idea what would happen if she arrived at the mountain injured and vulnerable? It wouldn’t matter if there was an army at our gate, Mother would never overlook a chance like that.”
“You can’t be serious,” Julius said, horrified. “I know Bethesda’s ruthless, but she’s not stupid. Using whelps as pawns is one thing, but a dragon like Amelia is an irreplaceable asset. There’s no way she’d throw away a dragon that valuable. I mean, Conrad’s there chained up right now, and you’re not worried about him.”
“That’s because Conrad’s male,” Chelsie growled. “Not to mention he’s two clutches down. Plus, he has the eyes.”
Julius grew very still. “What do you mean, the eyes?”
“Heartstriker Green isn’t exactly anaturaldevelopment,” Bob said grimly, blinking his own neon green eyes. “But that’s not what’s important right now. The real issue here is that Amelia isfemaleand only a hundred years younger than Bethesda herself. That makes her a threat of the highest order, or have you forgotten how Bethesda became the Heartstriker?”
Julius hadn’t. The story of how their mother betrayed their grandfather and took his clan was the legend of their family. He’d been taught from birth to revere Bethesda’s ruthlessness and cunning, using the confusion caused by the sudden disappearance of magic and her status as her father’s favorite daughter to take down an ancient dragon ten times more powerful than herself. What he’d never considered, though, was how that kind of treachery would color Bethesda’s own view of her children. Even so.
“I can believe she’d be suspicious of Amelia’s intentions,” he said. “She certainly didn’t look happy to see her at the party, but we’re under siege here. You said yourself that Amelia’s the only one who can stand toe-to-toe with Svena.” He shook his head. “I just can’t believe that Bethesda would risk losing an asset that powerful just because she’s paranoid about her heir, especially since Amelia doesn’t even seem to like being on this plane.”
