“Of course, of course,” Drake said, moving closer still despite the increasing volume of Justin’s growling. “You can tell me everything on my show when this is over. An exclusive interview with you and your Merlin, and your knight, of course.” He flashed a smile at Justin, who seemed surprisingly mollified by the possibility of being on television despite badmouthing the whole idea earlier. But while his brother was looking pleased, Julius was starting to get annoyed.
“If we survive, I’ll think about it,” he said, moving away. “Right now, we have more important things to worry about.”
“But right now might be our last chance to talk,” Drake said, his sea-blue eyes gleaming dangerously. “I’m dying to know more about the runt of a J who rose from the bottom of his clan to become the leader who commands the respect of every important dragon in the world. The Qilin, Svena, the Planeswalker, even Bethesda’s Shade all defer to you, and I find that fascinating. Not surprising, of course. Unlikely success is in your blood. After all…” His lips curled into a coy smile. “You are my son.”
Julius jerked back so fast he nearly fell over. His face must have been a sight, because Marlin Drake’s smirk turned into a laugh. “When we survive this, call me,” he said, flipping a business card out of his sleeve and tucking it into the front pocket of Julius’s jacket. “We’ll do a whole series. ‘The Unlikely Dragon Who Saved the World!’ It’ll be a sensation.” He gave Julius a final wink and turned around. “Bring your Merlin girl as well. When I’m done, the two of you will be the talk of the world. I just hope you’re ready to be famous.”
He walked off with a wave, leaving Julius staring after him with his mouth hanging open.
“There he goes again,” Justin said, shaking his head. “Leave it to the First Dragon in Television to turn our real life into a cheesy ‘tune in next week’ style cliffhanger.”
Julius’s head bobbed, but he was still too shocked to speak. It wasn’t until Justin grabbed his arm and started dragging him back toward the other Heartstrikers that he finally blurted out, “Did you know?”
His brother stopped, confused. “Did I know what?”
“That!” Julius cried, pointing at Marlin Drake’s back. “Did you know he was our father?”
“Of course I knew,” Justin said. “Drake does the dad reveal whenever one of us gets famous enough to catch his attention. He pulled it on me back when I became the clan’s knight at seventeen, though I never got invited to do an interview.”
Julius stared at him. “You’ve known who our father was since we were seventeen, and you never told me?”
“You never asked!” Justin cried. “I’m not psychic! I don’t know what you want. Even when you do tell me, it doesn’t make sense half the time.”
“I would think this would be obvious!” Julius cried back. “He’s our dad!”
“All the more reason to keep it to myself,” Justin snapped. “What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey Julius, you seem to be having a good day, so let me ruin it by telling you that our father is a clanless reject whose only claim to power is being in charge of other clanless rejects. He’s also a shameless huckster who made his fortune spilling dragon secrets for human entertainment, and our mother only slept with him so she’d have a regular spot on his talk show.’” Justin rolled his eyes. “Seriously, you were mopey enough as it was back then. I wasn’t about to make it worse by telling you the truth.”
If he’d been less upset, Julius would have been touched by Justin’s thoughtfulness. Emotional sensitivity wasn’t usually his brother’s strong suit. But while hearing the logic behind the decision made him feel slightly less betrayed, he still couldn’t believe Justin had kept this from him.
“We have to tell the other Js,” he said angrily. “They deserve to know.”
“I’m pretty sure they already do,” Justin said. “Like I said, Drake does the dad reveal whenever one of us gets important, and unlike you, all of us became important a while ago.”
Julius’s shoulders slumped. “So I’m the last to know?”
His brother nodded. “None of us talked about it because who brags about a deadbeat dad? But we all knew. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out sooner. Marlin Drake’s a sea serpent, and his dragon form is all over his movie posters. Didn’t you ever notice we all shared his coloration and head shape?”
“Blue and green aren’t exactly uncommon Heartstriker colors,” Julius said defensively. Then he thought of something else. “Wait, if our father’s a sea serpent, why don’t we have any water-related powers?” Having gills or something would have been really useful all those times he’d nearly drowned fighting Vann Jeger and Algonquin.
“Because like I said, he’s a deadbeat,” Justin growled. “Bethesda picked prime mates for her early clutches because she was breeding up her power base. By the time she got to us, though, she needed other things more than she needed strong dragons, so her standards for good matches started going downhill. Drake is only slightly older than the H’s and the last surviving member of his clan, so it wasn’t like he had a broad power base to start from. Even if he had been ancient and powerful, though, it’s never gonna be a good mix when you’re combining scaly sea serpents with feathered dragons.” He huffed in disgust. “If we did get something good out of the match, I’ve never found it. I can’t even go into the water in my true shape without looking like a drowned chicken.”
Julius had never been crazy enough to try swimming as a dragon for that exact reason, but hearing they’d gotten nothing from their dad made him angry all over again. Worse, Marlin Drake hadn’t even bothered to seek him out until Julius had something he wanted. Like a true dragon, he’d only cared about his son when Julius became useful, and even then, his caring was limited to how Julius could be used to his advantage.
“He and Bethesda deserve each other,” Julius snarled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’d rather have no father at all than another parent who only sees me as a tool.”
“That’s what children are to dragons,” Justin said with a shrug. “You see, this is why I never told you. The rest of us could handle the truth, but you were always too soft. You wanted parents who loved you, but that just doesn’t happen for us. Anyway, it’s not like Drake matters. He’s half our DNA, but he’s not family. We are. We’re Heartstrikers, clan. That’s something Drake could never have given us, and who wants to be part of a stage show for humans, anyway?”
He finished with a grin, but Julius could only stare at his brother in awe. Their entire life, Justin had been his bully, the tormentor of his childhood. He’d hunted and harassed and irritated Julius more than any other J, and yet, of everyone in the family, Justin was the only one who’d always been there. Even when he was being a pompous, overbearing jerk about it, he’d always looked out for his little brother even at the risk of his own life. He could be an absolute pain, but Justin had been truer to Julius’s idea of family than any other dragon, and though he’d always known it deep down, Julius loved him for it now more than ever.