I also didn’t think vegetables were going to cut it. Dragons could eat just about anything, but they were primarily hunters. If my father’s body was going to heal, he needed meat, or at least a meat-like substance. A whole live cow would have been ideal, but while I was sure you could buy one of those in the DFZ, I didn’t know where, and there was still the issue of secrecy. I’d gotten my father back into his body, but he was obviously still very weak. I hadn’t worried about taking him to work since the DFZ would never allow a dragon—or any outsider—into one of her personal stashes, but the streets were another matter. Thanks to the Peacemaker, this city was always crawling with dragons. If we went outside, there was a good chance we’d be spotted, which was why I hadn’t gone anywhere that wasn’t directly within the DFZ’s control in two months. But I couldn’t feed him here.
“Nothing for it,” I said, scrubbing a hand through my hair with a resigned sigh. “We’ll have to go out. Can you stand?”
“I’m perfectly capable of moving,” my father informed me.
“Then why haven’t you?” I asked, because aside from sitting up, he hadn’t budged from the mattress on the floor.
Yong arched an elegant eyebrow at the question and waved a hand down at his chest. His pale, bony, naked chest rising from the blanket that covered the also-naked rest of him.
“Oh,” I said, looking away with a wince. “Right. You need clothes.”
“Clothing is not strictly necessary,” he said in a dignified voice. “But it would be useful if you don’t wish to draw attention.”
I’d seen a lot worse than public nudity on the DFZ streets, but my dad was a dragon. Even at death’s door, his human shape was tall, imposing, and beautiful in a way actual mortals simply couldn’t achieve. He was going to attract a lot of attention no matter what he wore, which meant we didn’t just need clothes. We needed a disguise.
“You’re too big for my stuff,” I muttered, scowling in thought. “Don’t move. I’ve got an idea.”
He hadn’t moved since he’d sat up, and he continued to stay put as I scuttled back to my front door. Grabbing the handle, I pictured the place I wanted to go. I was so nervous that it took me several tries to get it right. This was my first time trying to travel to somewhere that wasn’t inside one of the DFZ’s private spaces. Everything in the city belonged to her, though, and I got it in the end, opening my door into the hallway of my old apartment complex.
In hindsight, it wasn’t the best choice for a reemergence after months of lying low. If anyone was watching for me, my old home was the obvious stakeout. I was still getting the hang of my powers, though, and my old door was the one I knew best. It was also right next to what I needed.
Closing the door behind me to disconnect the magic so that no one could sneak in and whack my dad while my back was turned, I hurried as quietly as I could down the hall to the breezeway at the top of the stairs where the vending machines were. Since I’d transferred all my money to Nik when I’d thought I was doomed two months ago, I didn’t have any cash of my own, but the DFZ—ever practical city that she was—had given me an old-style cash card to use for expenses. I didn’t know how much was on it, but I didn’t have anything else, so I pulled the card out of my wallet and tapped it against the vending machine’s chip reader.
When the scuffed digital display showed my account was approved, I made my selection, glancing over my shoulder every few seconds as I typed in the codes listed below the pictures on the machine’s glowing front. The moment my goods landed in the dispenser tray, I grabbed them and bolted, sprinting back to my old door, which was no longer my door at all.
The DFZ must have moved another apartment in to fill the void, because the door that had been mine was festooned with Halloween decorations. I’d totally forgotten the holiday was approaching, but whoever lived here now was clearly very serious about it. I could barely find the doorknob under all the plastic ghosts and cheap AR projector displays of 3D laughing pumpkins and hissing black cats.
Technically, I supposed I could have used any door. The whole point of the priest-of-the-DFZ power-set was to let me move through the city as she did, stepping from anywhere to anywhere in an instant. According to Dr. Kowalski, once I got good enough, even the door wouldn’t be necessary. But that was a long way away, and in my head, this was still my apartment. Even with the over-the-top decorations, the door still felt right and familiar, two critical factors when you were using new powers that could kill you. I clung to that familiarity, digging past all the plastic dancing candy corns and lime-green streamers until my fingers found the doorknob, which wasn’t even locked.
That threw me hard for a moment. Seriously, who leaves their door unlocked in the DFZ? But I got it together and pushed through, opening the way not into the no-doubt Halloween-ified home of the overly trusting tenant who’d replaced me, but my own living room where my dad was waiting for me with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders like an ancient king.
“Did you find something suitable?”
I tossed him the vacuum-sealed packets I’d bought. “It’s not Savile Row, but it should do
