by Rachel Aaron
“A nudge?” Julius repeated, his anger coming back in a rush. “You nudged me right out of my home!”
“Don’t act all put out,” Bob said. “This little jaunt to the DFZ has been the best thing that’s ever happened to you. You were miserable hiding in your room, and it made me miserable to look at you. At least now you’re actually living up to your potential.”
Julius opened his mouth to argue, but he closed it just as fast, because Bob was right. The last few days had been terrifying and painful, but also completely life-changing. Just because he was enjoying the results didn’t mean he approved of his brother’s methods, though, and he shoved his hands into his pockets with a surly harrumph. “Well, you could have gone about it in a nicer way, or at least a less dangerous one. Last I checked, a car wreck didn’t count as a nudge.”
“Oh, Julius,” Bob said sweetly. “You’re all the nice we’ve got. And as much as it pains me to admit, you’re giving me a shade too much credit in all this. This Bixby person is indeed a pawn, he’s just not mine.”
The confession came so quickly that Julius, who was still stewing over the fact that he’d actually benefited from Bob’s meddling, robbing him of his right to be upset, almost missed it. “Wait, what?”
“I didn’t arrange this little incident.”
“But it had to be you,” Julius said before he could think better of it. “There’s no way this could have happened without a seer.”
Bob rolled his eyes. “I never said a seer wasn’t involved, only that it wasn’t me. If I was going to nab your dragoness out from under you, I’d find a classier way to do it. Being hit by a car is so pedestrian.”
Julius winced as his brother broke into hysterical laughter at his own terrible pun. In a way, though, the break was good, because he needed to think. Bob’s claim that he wasn’t behind this was a huge relief, if it was true. He didn’t think his brother was lying, though, because the idea of Bob kidnapping Katya so Bixby could use her to get the Kosmolabe when Marci had it in her possession not ten feet away just didn’t make any sense, even for Bob. But if the Heartstriker’s seer wasn’t behind this, who was?
“That’s a good question.”
Bob’s laughter cut off like a switch. He was now sitting perfectly still on the hood of his car with his legs crossed in lotus position, studying Julius with a serene expression. “Your face is very transparent,” he explained. “Tell me, Julius, how many seers do you think are alive in the world right now?”
Before Julius could even open his mouth, Bob broke into a grin. “Trick question! The answer is three. There are always three, and only three, seers in existence at any given point. At this moment, the roster includes myself, Estella the Northern Star, and the Black Reach.”
Julius shuddered at that last name. The Black Reach was a legend from the Golden Age of dragons, that mythical time a thousand years before the disappearance of magic when power had been plentiful and great dragons had flown freely. He hadn’t known the old menace was still alive, or a seer, though the latter would explain the former nicely. Still, “I thought the Black Reach lived in China.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Bob said with a shrug. “The Black Reach doesn’t have to be in the same hemisphere to meddle in your affairs. He didn’t get his name for having unusually long arms, you know. But while the Black Reach certainly could have arranged this particular act of automotive tragedy, I don’t believe he would. Far too unsubtle. This is lazy seer tinkering, real last-minute stuff. The Black Reach would never stoop to such sloppiness.”
Julius shook his head. “But if he didn’t do it, and you didn’t do it, that only leaves Estella, which doesn’t make any sense. She’s the acting clan head of the Three Sisters, isn’t she?”
“Indeed.”
“So why would she do this?” Because even by dragon standards, arranging to have your little sister hit by a car and kidnapped by humans was a bit much.
Bob sighed. “Oh Julius, not all clans value family as highly as the Heartstrikers.”
He grimaced at the thought. “So what’s Estella up to, then?”
His brother lifted his shoulders in a helpless shrug. “I have no idea. I can’t see a thing. This is why seers normally stay away from each other. We block each other’s sight. It’s highly annoying, which is why I’ve been blocking Estella’s at every opportunity.”
Julius gaped at him. “So you’ve just been antagonizing her?”
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Bob said. “Come now. I know you’ve spent most of your adult life hiding in a cave, but even you must be aware that our clan’s not winning many popularity contests at the moment. Mother stepped on quite a few scaly toes in her rush to the top, including Estella’s, and the Northern Star never could learn not to take things personally. She’d eat our whole clan for breakfast if she ever got the chance, and part of my job is to make sure she doesn’t. Now pay attention, this next bit is important.”
Julius nodded, and Bob slid off his car to pace in front of it, his hands moving dramatically as he spoke. “For reasons I haven’t figured out yet, Estella is using this Bixby fellow to go after your charming pet mage and her Cosmopolitan.”
“Kosmolabe,” Julius said.
Bob dismissed the correction with a flick of his wrist. “Whatever. I’m not even sure if the Kosmo-thing is her endgame or just another step, but it warms my heart to keep her from getting it. That’s half of why I’m here: interference. If Estella’s taking a personal hand in this, it must be very important, and making sure Estella’s important plans fall through is one of life’s little joys.”
He pressed a hand to his heart with a satisfied sigh, but Julius was more confused than ever. “Only half? What’s the other part?”
“You, of course.”
Julius blinked in surprise, and Bob rolled his eyes. “Please. I know your little human told you about our delightful conversation. This is a test, by me, for you. Though I have to admit it’s a much better one now that Estella’s come into the game. I never would have thought to wreck your car.”
Julius was sure he’d regret asking, but this was already the longest conversation he’d ever had with his eldest brother, and he wasn’t about to waste what might be his only opportunity. “What are you testing me for?”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Bob said, wagging his finger. “If I told you that, it wouldn’t be much of a test, would it? Let’s just say I learned the hard way to always stress test my tools before I use them. Now, go help your human. It seems my lady love has finally woken up, and I need to get her opinion on a few matters before we begin.”
He tipped his head toward the Crown Victoria, and Julius looked back to see Bob’s pigeon perched on the giant steering wheel, her beady eyes blinking as if she had, indeed, just woken up. Bob walked over to the driver’s door and leaned through the open window to drop a loving kiss on top of the pigeon’s head. It fluttered happily in reply, cooing rapidly. Bob cooed back, face beaming, and Julius quickly turned away, walking over to join Marci before he saw something that ruined the last remaining vestige of hope he maintained for his brother’s sanity.
Chapter 15
“So let me make sure I’ve got this straight,” Marci said. “The three great dragon seers are the Black Reach, Estella the Northern Star, and Bob?” When Julius nodded, she arched an eyebrow. “One of these things is not like the others.”
“Bob’s just his family name,” Julius explained. They were hunched together in the enormous back seat of Bob’s Crown Victoria as he drove them away from what he’d termed the ‘Scene of Interest.’ It wasn’t the most private place to have a discussion he really, really shouldn’t be having, but Marci had refused to stay behind, and Julius couldn’t bring himself to let her step into a mess like this without some basic information. “He’s actually Brohomir, Great Seer of the Heartstrikers, but he only answers to that on formal occasions or when he’s booking tables at restaurants.”
“I can’t address an ancien
t, supposedly future-seeing dragon as Bob,” she said, shooting a look at the back of Bob’s head. “It’s undignified!”
“Trust me, it’s better this way.” He’d seen his brother put aside his goofy, slightly insane Bob persona and become Brohomir only once, and it wasn’t an experience he wanted to repeat, especially in front of a mortal. That thought sent his eyes drifting back down to the makeshift bandage on Marci’s neck. The bleeding had stopped, thank goodness, but the smell of blood still lingered, reminding Julius just how close the miss had been.
“Are you even sure he’s really a seer?” she whispered, leaning closer. “Because every paper I’ve seen on the subject concluded that true clairvoyance is a myth.”
“A century ago, your kind considered dragons to be myths,” Bob said, making them both jump. “Why are mortals always so eager to declare things impossible, anyway? It’s not like things do or don’t exist just because you say so.”
She straightened up again. “So you’re saying you actually see the future?”
Marci’s question sent Julius into a panic. You did not just ask elder dragons to spill their secrets. But before he could think of a way to cover for her before his brother took offense, Bob did the unthinkable. He answered.
“Only very occasionally,” he said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “Mostly, I see what will probably happen based on decisions people make: whether you eat lunch now or later, whether you decide to fake being sick or go to work, whether you kill a man or spare his life, that sort of thing. Every decision made creates a fork in the future, and a seer’s power is the ability to read ahead down those forks to find the path that leads to the outcome we want. Once we find it, we simply nudge the players as needed to make sure all the critical decisions come out in our favor.” He paused, frowning. “This isn’t to say I don’t also have true visions of things that cannot be changed, but they’re not my bread and butter.”
By the time he finished, Julius’s jaw was on the floor. He’d never heard Bob talk about his seer powers like this to anyone. Of course, he’d never heard Bob talk much at all since he’d always made it a point to avoid the upper alphabet members of his family. Marci, however, didn’t seem to appreciate the gravity of what she was learning. She just asked another question.
“What’s the difference between things you nudge and things you can’t change?” she said, leaning as far forward as her seatbelt would allow. “From your explanation, it sounds like the future is made from our decisions, which suggests it’s all free will. But if there are also things that can’t be changed no matter what, that sounds like destiny. So which is it?”
“Is light a wave or a particle?” Bob replied with an elegant shrug. “Really, Miss Mage, you need to keep a more open mind to the inherent dualities of nature if you ever want to understand the higher workings of magic.”
That was clearly not an answer that held water with Marci. Before she could object, though, Bob turned around to look at Julius. “Where to?”
Julius blinked. “You’re asking me?”
“It’s your future,” Bob reminded him. “And in case you missed the point of that impromptu lecture, your decisions are kind of a vital element in all this. Now, where do we go?”
Julius bit his lip. He hated making snap decisions. He especially hated making them when Bob was looking at him instead of the road while operating a manually driven car. He especially especially hated making decisions under the implication that whatever choice he made would influence his entire future. “Can I think about it?”
Bob rolled his eyes. “See, this is exactly why I don’t normally tell people how the game works. You start overthinking and double-guessing and everything gets tangled in knots. Just pretend I’m not here and do whatever you think is best.”
That was kind of hard to pull off with Bob staring straight at him, so Julius turned to the window and set about working things through logically. “The last time Bixby attacked, he went big. I doubt he’ll do any less this time, especially if he thinks Marci might bring help even after he told her not to, which I’m sure he does.” He glanced back at Marci. “Do you think he could put together another army like the one at the house?”
She pursed her lips, thinking. “Not of his own men, but he’s rich and apparently dead set on making this happen. And he knows he’s dealing with dragons now, so yeah, he’s probably going to roll something pretty big.”
“Which means we’re going to need help,” Julius finished, because there was no way he could play magic battery again today. When he looked hopefully at Bob, though, the seer shook his head.
“I’m here on a strictly observational basis. Pick again.”
Julius blew out a long breath. He hadn’t been too keen on the idea of relying on Bob, but without him, their options were limited. Singular, really, but as much as he hated the idea, he couldn’t think of anyone else, and he dropped his head with a sigh. “I’m going to have to ask Justin.”
“Excellent choice,” Bob said, turning back to the road at last. “And where is Justin at the moment?”
Julius snapped his head up again. “You mean you don’t know?”
“I’m a seer, not a directory,” Bob replied testily. “Though if I had to guess, I’d say the family safe house.”
“We have a safe house in the DFZ?”
“Of course we have a safe house here,” Bob said, smiling in the rear view mirror. “Mother keeps safe houses in all the major cities as protection for those she feels deserve protecting.”
Which would explain why Julius had never heard of it. “That’s probably where he is, then. Unless he got a hotel?”
Bob shook his head. “Justin’s not allowed in hotels anymore. Too many incidents.”
Marci snorted. “I can totally see that.”
Both dragons looked at her, but she just looked back totally unrepentant, and Julius sighed. “Fine,” he said, dragging his hands through his hair, which was already standing on end after a full day of such abuse. “Safe house it is.”
“Heartstriker Safe House, coming up,” Bob said cheerfully. “Hold on.”
Before Julius could ask why, or to what, his brother floored the gas, sending the car shooting forward. Marci grabbed Julius with a yelp as the momentum launched Ghost, who’d spent the impromptu car trip hiding in Marci’s bag, straight through her chest and into the trunk. But if Bob noticed the chaos in his back seat, he paid it no mind. He just leaned over the wheel, dodging the late afternoon traffic like he was playing a racing game while his pigeon clung to his shoulder, flapping her wings for balance whenever he took a particularly sharp turn.
***
Svena stood in front of the mirrored vanity in the white dressing room of the penthouse suite she’d secured for her stay in the DFZ, ignoring her sister as she put on the diamond earrings Ian had sent over this morning. As bribes went, jewelry was unsubtle and a clear sign of his youth, which might have been why Svena found it thrilling. Estella, on the other hand, thought it was tacky, and she said so. Repeatedly.
“He treats you like a human,” Estella spat, not even looking up from her phone, which she’d been typing on frantically all afternoon. “Like some mortal paramour. It’s insulting and vulgar, but what more could you expect from the children of Bethesda the Broodmare? She is trash, and trash breeds true.”
“So you keep saying,” Svena replied, turning her head side to side to set the strings of diamonds glittering in the brightly lit mirror. “But if you would look beyond your superiority for a moment, you might notice that the world has changed. The Heartstrikers are no longer a minor power we can ignore. And besides”—she smiled at her reflection—“I am the elder dragon. That means Ian is my paramour, and if he wishes to shower me with gifts, who am I to stop him?”
“Your paramour,” Estella scoffed, glaring at her phone as she slid deeper into the cushions of the dressing room’s silk sofa. “The whelp son of an upstart whore whose only talents are luring more powerful dragons int
o her bed and breeding like a barnyard animal.”
“And yet with those two talents, Bethesda the Heartstriker has made herself the undisputed matriarch of the largest dragon clan on Earth,” Svena said, calmly adjusting the bust of her strapless dress before turning to face her sister at last. “You are a fool if you ignore that simply because you don’t approve of her lifestyle.”
“It is you who is being a fool!” Estella shouted, dropping her phone at last as she shot up from the couch. “Defending our enemies and primping in the mirror like an idiot girl for a dragon so far beneath you, I cannot even acknowledge his presence without debasing myself!”
“Who else could I choose?” Svena said, staring her sister down. “To hear you tell it, everyone is beneath the daughters of the Three Sisters. Has it never occurred to you that I might be tired of being all-powerful, dreadful, and alone?”
“Better alone than to roll about in the mud with pigs!” Estella snarled, drawing herself up to her full height. “At least I remember the fear and respect our bloodline demands. Our mothers were worshiped as gods!”
Svena turned away with a growl, snatching her hairbrush off the marble counter. This was an old argument, and it was no more likely to be settled tonight than the hundreds of other times they’d clashed over the years. “You’re overreacting,” she said, dragging the brush through her already perfect hair. “Ian is nothing but an amusement. Something to pass the time while I wait for his idiot brother to find Katya, which, I might remind you, was your idea to begin with.”
“Yes,” Estella said. “To set up the Heartstrikers! If I’d foreseen you behaving like such a tasteless harlot, I would have scrapped the entire venture and returned Katya to the mountain myself.”
“Then I guess you don’t see as much as you claim,” Svena said, slamming the brush down again. “Enough. I’ve got better things to do than stand here and listen to this. I’m going out. Don’t wait up.”