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She growled at me, drawing on her draconic heritage to inform me I walked on thin ice. As hissing might upset Garnet, I went with my next weapon in my arsenal: I laughed at my mother. “You’re mad because I’m not using my savings account?”
“Yes.”
“Come on, Mom. I’ve been doing fine.”
“You’re living in the slums.”
“I happen to like the slums. And while I do happen to live in the Gray Ward, it’s the safe part. Cecilia’s liked by the dragons, she has dragons and dragon-kin on staff, and I’m right down the street from her brothel. Sure, it’s not the swankiest of places, but it’s cheap, it’s mine, and I’m holding my own.”
She growled at me again, which she followed up with a sigh. “Holding your own is good, but you deserve a proper house.”
Once I passed my test and established my permanent identity in the city, I would have an easier time—and I already had a bank account in the city, which I’d gotten with a little help from the titanium dragons. “I guess there’s no reason I couldn’t transfer money from my savings account into my account here. I might be anonymous, but I do have a bank account.”
“And how did my pretty little princess manage that? Dragon Heights is notorious about such things.”
“A titanium dragon-kin and his clan vouched for me. The same clan that gave me Garnet.”
“Ah. That is acceptable, then. Did you forget about your savings account?”
Damn. My mother had it out for me, and she was as accurate as ever. “That may have happened in my general determination to beat this city.”
“Now we’re talking. And just how do you plan on conquering Dragon Heights?”
“She is not going to be conquering Dragon Heights,” my father stated in the background.
“Like hell she isn’t, you old snake! You take that back. She can conquer Dragon Heights if she wants to.”
I laughed at the argument between my parents, which was very similar to their argument when I’d joined the force. They’d wanted me to aim for being a captain or chief, but I had wanted to solve crimes as a detective. It had taken work, but I had convinced both of them I lacked that sort of aspiration.
I still longed to do detective work, and I carried around more than a few regrets.
“Mom, I don’t want to conquer Dragon Heights—not unless conquering it is required to pass my test and pick up a job in forensics accounting.”
“You want to do what?” my mother bellowed.
Right. I was the daughter of egotistical and proud dragons. “I want to catch crooks being crooks with money. It interests me.”
She heaved a sigh. “That’s the gold dragon in you, raising her wicked little head. Darling, she wants to hunt robbers using the financial trails. Where did we go wrong?”
“Can we go back to talking about how I’ll accept the laptop?” I begged.
“Only if you allow us to bring it in person,” she countered.
I considered my situation and decided I could use a hug from my parents. “I might permit such a thing with a few conditions.”
“Okay. What conditions?”
“You do not embarrass me in front of any other dragons. Frankly, I’d rather you pretend you aren’t even dragons if such a thing is possible.”
“That is not possible. We’re known in Dragon Heights, my little hatchling. Frankly, I’m astonished no one has started leveling accusations of being our child at you yet.”
I giggled at the disgust in my mother’s tone. “I did not come out a clone of either one of you, Mom. I’m sorry. If people know you really well, they might figure it out examining my features, but I’m more like a feminine version of Dad, and there’s nothing feminine about Dad. Dad’s manly.”
“Is he ever,” my mother replied. “But you’re right.”
“It’s a miracle,” my father stated in the background.
I laughed. “All right. You can deliver the laptop in person so you can meet your grandkitten. But unless anyone exposes me as your child, you will pretend like you’re meeting me for some entirely unrelated reason. You will hug me in the questionable comfort of my home. I’ve earned my reputation here, and I want to continue earning it on my own.”