She turned her smile on Nik, who was watching the interaction warily. “That offer extends to you as well, by the way. You’re going to be famous for a good while after this, which I understand from my time in Opal’s head isn’t something you’re a fan of. If you want to disappear, I’d be happy to take you in! I owe you both big time for putting an end to this drama, and I’m seriously shorthanded. Also, you two are going to need somewhere to run in just a few moments, so it’s a good deal for everyone!”
“Wait, what was that last bit?” I asked nervously. “Why would we need somewhere to—”
I was interrupted by a smashing sound as several huge somethings crashed through what was left of the arena’s roof. For a horrible second, I was certain I was about to be crushed. Then the huge shapes spread their wings, and I realized they were dragons. The entire arena was filled with dragons, and even more were hovering in the open space of the Rentfree chasm above. None were anywhere close to my father’s size, but they were still enormous, magical, fire-breathing monsters of every breed, shape, and color. Even my dad looked stunned, his face pale as he stared up at the sky full of fluttering wings. I was turning back to the DFZ to ask what the hell was going on when a roar filled what was left of the arena.
“Yong!”
I jumped. I knew that voice, though I’d never heard it use that tone. Sure enough, when I turned around, the Peacemaker was stomping toward us across the sand, his normally gentle face more furious than I’d known it could be.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, stopping in front of my much taller father.
Yong lifted his chin and straightened up to stand even straighter. “I don’t see how that is any of your concern.”
“Not my concern?” the Peacemaker repeated, his green eyes so bright they glowed. “You flew a military convoy into my airspace without warning or permission and crashed it into a sporting arena full of people! You knew fighting was strictly forbidden in my territory, but you dueled and ate a god on live TV! How is this not my concern?”
“He was forcing my sister to fight,” Yong said dismissively. “If you’re so concerned about duels, why didn’t you bring all this force to free her?”
“I did try to free her!” the Peacemaker yelled. “But she refused because, according to her, she wanted to be there. What was I supposed to do, tell her she was wrong? My law prevents in-fighting and killing humans, but it says nothing about sport fighting. She wasn’t breaking my rules, unlike you.”
My father sighed as if he found all of this unspeakably tedious, and the Peacemaker scrubbed a hand over his face. “I knew it would end like this,” he muttered angrily. “I’m the Dragon of Detroit. I talk to the DFZ every day. I knew you were alive, but I understood your concerns and I was trying to respect your wishes to remain anonymous. I didn’t think you’d try to fight a god alone! Why didn’t you ask me for help?”
“Because I didn’t need your help,” Yong said haughtily, placing one arm on my mother’s shoulder and one on mine. “My family was more than sufficient, and unlike you, they don’t require me to sign away my fangs first.”
That was unfair. I didn’t know the Peacemaker well, but the one time I’d gone to him, he’d been so nice he was practically bending over. I absolutely believed he would have helped us without cost. I also believed that my father would have rather died choking on his own tail than ask the aid of the dragon he considered a disgrace to the very meaning of the word.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” the DFZ pleaded with the Peacemaker. “They did it for my sake. If I’d confronted the Gameskeeper directly, there’d have been no avoiding a long and bloody war that would have consumed the entire Underground. Yong and his daughter prevented that. Surely that merits some leniency?”
“Leniency isn’t his problem,” said the muscular, black-haired dragon with bright-green eyes and a huge sword who’d followed the Peacemaker in. “He’s too lenient. That’s why stuff like this happens.”
“Thank you, Justin,” the Peacemaker said in a sharp voice, glowering at my father, who looked utterly unrepentant. When it was clear that Yong wasn’t even going to give a non-apology for his actions, the Dragon of Detroit’s mouth pulled into a hard line.
“We have rules for a reason,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you acted at the DFZ’s request or not. You knew that killing anyone in my territory was forbidden. You knew I do not allow private military forces into my city. You knew all of this, and you still broke my edict. You have knowingly and deliberately ignored every single limit I’ve put down, and there must be consequences.”
He lifted his head, raising his voice so that all the dragons hovering above could hear him. “Yong of Korea, you and all your mortals are henceforth banished from my lands! Anyone found in violation of this will be captured and brought to the consulate to await further punishment. You have thirty minutes to remove yourself from my territory, after which you will be escorted forcibly over the border and most likely into the river.”
The big dragon with the sword smirked eagerly at that last part, but Yong merely nodded as if this were entirely expected and waved for his people to start packing up. When my mother and her men rushed to obey, Yong turned to me, and I swallowed.
Here it came. He was going to order me to go home with him. Hell, the Peacemaker had already done it for him. There was no way I could claim
