“Probably because she’s busy,” Julius replied. “The vote has the entire clan crammed in together. That’s a hundred and fifty dragons in close quarters, many of whom are involved in ongoing blood feuds. I’m pretty sure the only reason no one’s died yet is because Chelsie’s been working her butt off.”
“That’s no excuse,” Justin growled. “I was stabbed through the heart by a crazy dragon seer not two days ago, and you don’t see me slacking. Look at you.” He slapped Julius on the back. “Fit as a fiddle. Not a single assassination attempt all morning, unless you count a little bit of C4.”
Julius was pretty sure that counted, but his brother sounded oddly let down. “Do you want me to get assassinated or something?” he said, rubbing his bruised back.
“Not gonna happen,” his brother said cockily. “But I wouldn’t mind if someone tried. The whole reason I agreed to let you have the Fang Council seat was so that I wouldn’t have to go to meetings, but that’s all we’ve done all morning! I thought your peace-and-love routine would pull dragons out of the woodwork, but other than one attack on your mage, no one’s tried anything direct. It’s all been traps and curses and other cowardly nonsense.”
“Why would they do anything else?” Julius asked, pointing at his sword. “I’ve got a weapon that stops any Heartstriker with killing intent cold before I even see them. Attacking me head on is pretty pointless.”
“Yeah, but I still thought they’dtry,” Justin said irritably. “You’re a weakling, easy prey, and thanks to your demonstration at the vote yesterday, everyone knows you have to be actually grabbing your sword for it work. That’s a pretty big loophole in an unbeatable weapon. You should be drawing real assassins by the dozens, but we haven’t seen so much as a knife up a sleeve. I didn’t even get to punch Gregory!” He pouted. “What’s the point of being your bodyguard if I don’t get todoanything?”
Julius sighed. He supposed he should be comforted that Justin was so eager to protect him, but that didn’t change the fact that this was all about ego at the end of the day. He was about to tell his overly aggressive brother to swallow his disappointment and prepare for more meetings when the hairs on the back of his neck began to tingle.
“Speak of the devil,” Justin said, lifting his lip in a sneer at something on the steps behind Julius. Or, rather, someone.
“Hello, Chelsie,” Julius said, turning around to greet his sister. “We were just talking about…”
The words died on his tongue. When he’d seen her last night, he’d thought Chelsie looked a little haggard. Now, though, she looked almost as bad as Amelia.
As always, she was dressed in black combat armor, with her Fang on her hip. But while she looked normal enough at first glance, the harsh glare of the stairwell’s lights showed that her armor’s matte black surface was heavily splattered with darker stains, some of which were still wet. The smell hit Julius a few seconds later, a pungent mix of dragon blood and fear, neither of which belonged to her.
This wasn’t to say Chelsie wasn’t injured. Her stern face boasted several faint bruises, and she was holding her left arm at an odd angle, like she couldn’t completely use her shoulder. She also seemed to be heavily favoring her right leg, but Julius didn’t want Chelsie to think he was casing her for weaknesses, so he forced his eyes away from her injuries and back to her face.
Naturally, Justin was not so polite. “What happened to you?” he demanded, looking her up and down. “Losing your touch?”
Chelsie answered that with a cutting glare that rolled off her hardheaded brother like water off a duck’s back. “So who got you?” he asked excitedly.
“No one you’d expect,” Chelsie growled, finally giving up. “And before you get any ideas, they were all lucky shots.”
He snorted. “Likely story.”
“Verylikely,” she growled. “I’ve fought close to thirty of our idiot siblings this morning already. With those numbers, some hits are bound to get through. Even the blind pig finds an apple every now and then.”
Justin was already opening his mouth to keep arguing, and Julius scrambled to get ahead of him. “I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard time.”
Chelsie shrugged. “It was inevitable. Enforcing the clan rules is my job, and even smart dragons can lose their heads when power is up for grabs. But I didn’t come to complain. I’m actually here to offer you an apology.”
Julius blinked. “Me?”
His sister lowered her eyes. “I suspected Gregory was going to make a play for your human,” she said. “That’s why I went back downstairs after you left and rearmed all the wards on my rooms. I didn’t expect her to be able to break out anyway, or that Gregory would find her before I finished reminding a pair of Hs that a change in clan power doesn’t mean they can get away with murdering each other.” She looked at him again. “I’ve already dealt with Gregory, but I wanted you to know I’m sorry I was late. I hope your human is all right.”
Chelsie apologizing to him was more than Julius knew what to do with. Even Justin was shocked speechless, his jaw hanging open. Finally, after the two of them had stood stupidly for way too long, Julius found his voice at last. “Marci’s fine,” he said in a rush. “She wasn’t a prisoner, anyway, so there’s no worries about her getting out. But, um, you didn’t… That is…”
“Did you kill Gregory?” Justin finished for him.
“No,” Chelsie said, shaking her head. “I only kill dragons who deserve it, and seeing how he’d just been defeated by a human, I decided he was already going to suffer plenty. But he knows I’m watching, and he shouldn’t be bothering you or Marci again.”
“So you didn’t even rough him up?” Justin said, appalled. “I turned into a dragon in the DFZ forfive minutes, and you took my sword and had me chained to a chair for a week! Gregory straight-up attacks Julius’s mage, and you let him off with a warning?”
“I gave you plenty of warnings,” Chelsie snapped. “You just chose to ignore them. Gregory, by contrast, is still on his first offense of the year. I would have come down harder, but like I said, I’m a little busy at the moment. And again, it’s not like he isn’t going to suffer. You just sent news of his defeat by a human to the entire clan. I wouldn’t be surprised if he up and left altogether after this.”
That would suit Julius just fine. But before he could thank his sister again, Chelsie winced, clutching her arm.
“What?” he asked, instantly on guard.
“Nothing,” she muttered, closing her eyes with a deep breath. “I have to go.”
That made Julius more nervous than ever. “Where?”
