Anger hot as dragon fire flooded the mate bond Ian shared with Matthieu. It was enough to snap him from his stupor and bring him to come stand with his mates. He laid a hand on Matthieu's back and did his best to calm him with his touch while Geoffrey lowered Matthieu's arms. The garden gnome tumbled from his hands and hit the ground with a heavy thunk. Then, trembling with anger, Matthieu pushed himself aggressively into Ian's arms and tugged Geoffrey into place behind him.
“I hope you are right,” Matthieu said more slowly, this time in English, as Ian locked him into place and Geoffrey sealed them together. “I hope the law does serve him the justice he deserves. I have little faith in a system that would have seen our family dead for our love, but what I do have is faith in you,mes dragons. I know that no matter how difficult the obstacle, you shall endeavor to make things right.”
“And we will, kitten.” Ian kissed the top of Matthieu's head, then looked across into the dark pools of Geoffrey's purple eyes. “We'll make things right for you, and for our children. As ourwytad, you have our word.”
“For now and forever,” Geoffrey confirmed, his word an oath that echoed through their mate bonds. He looked into Ian's eyes, and while he was frazzled and exhausted from surviving the most horrific moment of their lives, he looked hopeful as well, as though for the first time ever, he was excited for what the future held.
Ian felt the same.
Beside them, a very naked Everard skidded to a stop and scooped his son into his arms. Darwin chirruped and presented his neck for his papa.
“You scared me, Charles,” Everard whispered. He traced his fingers along Darwin’s neck while a glow of magic enveloped Everard’s hand. The slash Sigric had rent on him healed, stitching his skin and repairing his soft scales. Once it was done, Everard held Darwin up and butted his forehead against his son’s. “Never again. Do you promise? Never again.”
Darwin purred.
Harry, breathless from sprinting across the yard, windmilled his arms as he came to a stop by the pair. Everard tucked him under his arm, and together they held Darwin while the young purple dragon sired by Sebastian climbed up Harry’s body and inserted himself into their love-fest.
Ian looked at them, then looked at his own family—Geoffrey, his love, and theirwytad. In a year’s time, their six children would brave leaving their shells and would come to join them, too. Of course, the peacocks would be there as well. Ian couldn’t imagine life without them.
To think that he’d almost run…
Ian took a deep, steadying breath and drew his men closer. What could have been wasn’t important—all that mattered was the now. Against all odds, he’d found his family, and he would keep them safe no matter the personal cost.
“Julius, you scamp,” Perry teased as he approached. His presence was announced by the brightclinkof his delicate bangles as they tumbled down his arm. Seven bouncing young dragons followed behind him, flapping their wings to gain extra height. “I know you adore Darwin, Julius, but that space is typically reserved for someone else, isn’t it?”
Julius wiggled out of Harry and Everard’s embrace and took to weaving affectionately around Perry’s feet. Perry, meanwhile, placed an iguana in the space his son had vacated.
“Steve,” Harry said, his voice warbling with love and relief. “Steve, you’re okay, too.”
Steve flicked his tongue. It brushed Harry’s cheek. Harry closed his eyes and buried his face against his lizard. Ian couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen a man so overjoyed by the risk of salmonella.
A hand capped Ian’s shoulder, stealing his attention away from the adorable sight of a man, his dragon, and their flightless, adopted son. Sebastian, whose shirt hung off his sculpted body in tatters, stood just short of Ian’s side.
“What you did just now, Topaz?” Sebastian said in a low voice. “How you rushed into the fray and put your life on the line for Amethyst whelps instead of staying to guard your own eggs? It will be remembered.”
Ian shook his head, but refused to let Matthieu and Geoffrey go. After the terror they’d endured, he thought he might never do so again. “I am bound to those whelps as much as I am to you, or Alistair, or even Everard. The color of their scales doesn’t change the devotion of my heart. As far as I’m concerned, those whelps are my nephews, and I’ll do anything it takes to keep them safe. Anyone Geoffrey calls kin, so do I. You are my family now.”
“And I,” Matthieu agreed. He leaned into Geoffrey to look up at Sebastian. “We are family,monsieur dragon énorme. Geoffrey, Ian, and me. I know it is much to ask, but I hope you can come to see us that way.”
Sebastian, whose stoic face rarely showed emotion apart from anger, smiled. The expression was fleeting, but Ian witnessed it all the same. “As of today, I already do.”
As they spoke, Alistair and Nate, accompanied by their three whelps, approached. Alistair nudged Sigric in the ribs with the pointed toe of his Italian leather shoe. “What will we do with this?”
“Flay him alive and string up his entrails like garlands,” Nate growled. One of his whelps shot a puff of fire into the air in agreement.
Matthieu pulled back from Ian and Geoffrey, beaming at his cousin. “Yes, I think you and I will get along,mon cousin.Unfortunately for us, my dragons believe that despite his heinous crimes,le monstreis entitled to a fair trial.”
Nate huffed. “He didn’t give his son the same chance. Hey!” Nate’s attention flicked to Ian. “Hey, you, only-decent-Topaz-dragon-in-existence, what’s your name again? You’ll have to excuse me, but shit kind of got crazy, and I forgot.”
“Ian,” Ian said.
“Ian Drake,” Geoffrey corrected. He took Ian’s hand and wove their fingers together, causing Ian’s heart to nearly burst. For the last hundred years, he’d hungered to hold Geoffrey’s hand in public without fear of retribution, and while Alistair Drake’s back yard wasn’t a crowded downtown street or a three Michelin star restaurant, it was still a dream come true. “And this is ourwytad, Matthieu Drake. We are mated, us three, and no matter what you or anyone else thinks of us, we are in this together, and always shall be.”
“Ian Drake?” Everard parted from his family and lifted an eyebrow, looking Geoffrey over. “A bold move, brother. Knowing you, one I hope will prove defensible in the eyes of the law?”
Geoffrey, every bit as clever and perspicacious as he had been when Ian had first seen him speak before the council, only smiled. He had a plan. Ian could see it in his gorgeous aubergine eyes.
37
