Svena shook her head. “But I’ve always enjoyed seeing you desperate, so feel free to keep asking.”
“Like I’d give you the satisfaction,” Amelia snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I don’t need to know how you did it. Now that you’ve proven it can be done, I’ll just figure the rest out myself.”
“Good luck with that,” Svena said, glancing up at the sun. “Not to cut this delightful conversation short, but I need to get going. Ian said they’re holding the vote this evening, and I’d like to be well rested when he steps up to claim his place at the top of your clan.” She glanced at Marci. “Can we eat the human now?”
Marci’s blood ran cold before Amelia cut in. “This one’s not for eating.”
Svena looked disappointed. “Well, how soon can you get me one that is? I’m eating for six, you know.”
“Wait,” Marci said. “You guys areactuallygoing to eat a human?”
“Not me,” Amelia said. “I don’t touch the stuff. But Svena’s old-fashioned, and humansarethe traditional food for the beginning of dragon pregnancies. Kind of like cake at a baby shower.”
“Only so much more delicious,” Svena said, licking her lips. “I haven’t eaten a proper human since before the Industrial Revolution. They all taste like car exhaust these days.” She turned back to Amelia excitedly. “I know your mother has a secret stash. Can she get me a clean one? Free-range organic?”
“We’ll discuss this later,” Amelia said, glancing at Marci, who was starting to back away. “This is theotherhuman I was telling you about. The mage.”
Svena’s eyes widened in recognition. “This one?” she said, sitting straight up. “Really?Thisis the human you chose?” When Amelia nodded, the white dragon scoffed. “You can’t be serious. She looks like she’s eight.”
“I’m twenty-five!” Marci cried.
“She doesn’t even belong to you,” Svena said over her. “How can you even consider doing this with a mortal you don’t own?”
“Because that’s the point,” Amelia said. “Marci belongs to herself, and that’s why this is going to work.”
Svena’s lip curled in disgust. “I see your family’s youngest idiot has been hard at work,” she said bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Between you and Katya, I’ll never hear a word of sense spoken about humans again.”
“Nonsense,” Amelia said. “Eating humans is a horrible waste, and you know it. You’re just being selfish.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Svena grumbled, glancing at Marci. “But for all your usual skill at managing mortals, you seem to have dropped the ball on this one. She looks absolutely baffled. Have you even told her what you’re planning to do?”
“I was just getting to that,” Amelia said defensively before turning to Marci. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“Okaaaaaay,” Marci said nervously, glancing from dragon to dragon. “What kind of favor?”
“Nothing huge,” Amelia assured her. “I just need you to take care of something of mine for a while. You know, keep it safe while I’m out.”
That didn’t sound so bad. “What am I keeping safe?”
“Me,” Amelia said, laying a hand on her chest.
Marci arched an eyebrow. “Come again?”
“I’ve been living the Planeswalking party-girl life for a while now,” Amelia explained. “And honestly, it’s getting a bit old. Now that things are heating up on this plane again and Mother’s no longer actively trying to assassinate me, I’ve been thinking it’s time to settle down. Get a real job, that sort of thing. Unfortunately, when you’re as hot a commodity as I am, staying in one place for too long can get a little dicey, which is where you come in.”
“Me?” Marci said, still confused. “How could I protect you? You’re a giant, crazy-powerful dragon.”
“And you are very perceptive,” Amelia said, preening. “But that’s exactly why I need you. In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve proven yourself to be a responsible mortal who can stand up to pressure and handle enormous amounts of magic without going insane or burning yourself out. That is very rare, and it’s why I would like to ask you if you’d be willing to hold some of my magic for a bit. Not on a permanent basis or anything. I’d only need you to keep it safe for me until I get a good grip on the situation in this plane.”
Now Marci wasreallyintrigued. “Hold your magic? How would that work? Do you want me to drain you like I did Chelsie?”
“Not quite,” Amelia said. “As I’m sure you already picked up from Svena’s TMI pregnancy talk, dragons aren’t like humans. We can’t just suck in magic from the air like you can. All our power is generated internally by our fire.”
The way she said that made Marci start. “Wait, you meanliteralfire? As in the stuff you breathe out of your mouth?” Because until this point, she’d always thought the whole fire thing was just a metaphor for the dragon brand of magic.
“Breathing fire is part of it,” Amelia said, nodding. “But a dragon’s relationship with fire is more than just heat. You see…” She held up her hand, and a bright-orange flame sparked to life above her palm.
“All dragons have a fire burning inside them. This flame is more than just the source of the fire we breathe. It’s also what generates all of our internal magic, which, for the record, is why dragons were able to keep functioning during the magical drought that completely knocked out the spirits. We had our own power supply.”
