Grimbold proceeded to a nearby sitting room and sank into a chair by the hearth. “What is it?”
Everard sat opposite him and started speaking, while Geoffrey stood back, leaning on the brocade-covered wall, looking his very somber self.
“The boy will be going into heat soon, Father. Quite frankly, it’s a miracle that he hasn’t already. All the research Harrison has conducted into color theory mating suggests that a Topaz and an Amethyst will not be able to produce offspring. Have you noticed a mate mark appear?”
This was tricky. There was no mate mark on Walter, but only because Grimbold hadn’t allowed one to form. He didn’t think Walter was incapable. Indeed, he suspected the opposite, which was the main—the only—thing that had held him back from taking the boy’s virginity.
“No,” he said.
Everard and Geoffrey sagged a little, perhaps from relief. “Perhaps the dampener isn’t necessary, then,” Everard said. “If you’ve bedded the omega and—”
“I have not,” Grimbold said quietly but firmly, “bedded Walter.”
His sons exchanged a look. “We’d thought perhaps…” Everard began.
“Have you given any thought to where Swallow—” at Grimbold’s frown, Geoffrey amended it to, “—Walter will go after he leaves here?”
At which point Grimbold’s dragon took charge. Smoke poured out of his nostrils. “Mine,” he growled. “Keep. Forever. Mine.”
The boys exchanged another look. Everard looked troubled. “Harrison did warn me that this might be the case. He’s not sure what the results would be in such a… mating, but he sensed a bond. Weak and fragile, but a bond. He thought the weakness was due to clan incompatibility, but now I see that wasn’t the correct assumption to draw.”
Grimbold said nothing. That Harrison had sensed a bond between himself and Walter didn’t surprise him. Grimbold could all but feel it, and his dragon desperately craved to solidify it.
Geoffrey leaned away from the wall and began to pace the room, doing no favors to the Persian rug. “You’ll need to submit the official paperwork. As the head of the council, it’s your duty to uphold the law. I’ll complete and submit the forms myself if Sargon won’t. It is imperative that it’s filed soon. The Topaz rebellion isn’t anywhere as powerful as it was after Ian first wrested the position of clan head from Marduke, but—”
“No. I’m not bedding the boy out of a biological imperative, thereby trapping him. It not fair, and I won’t have it. That’s final.”
Everard cleared his throat. “Well, yes. Of course. I’ll prescribe an effective heat blocker—at least then the boy won’t lose his mind to his heat and demand you sate it by breeding him. In your situation, it’s the kindest thing we can do.”
The doorbell rang. “Are you expecting anyone else, Father?” Geoffrey asked.
Grimbold shook his head. “No. Only Everard. You were a bonus. Today seems a cavalcade of unexpected visitors.”
Protect. Shield. Mine.
His dragon had him rising from his chair with alacrity. “Walter’s in danger,” he said.
From out in the hallway all three heard a clear, strident voice. “Hello. It’s come to my awareness that Grimbold Drake has stolen a piece of my property. I’d like to speak to him, please. It’s about time I took it back.”
Grimbold, despite not having manifested his wings, practically flew out of the sitting room and into the entry hall. He saw Carsons, looking uncharacteristically fierce, next to a young dragon with a passing resemblance to Geoffrey’s mate—and Walter. He didn’t see the omega, but his dragon sensed him, and he swiveled his neck in the direction of the staircase. Walter was huddled in an alcove adjacent to it.
“You are not welcome here,” Grimbold boomed, turning back to the Topaz intruder. “By what right do you claim to invade my territory?”
“You know that paperwork needs to be filed before you’re allowed on Amethyst lands, Marduke,” Geoffrey stated.
“That’s Lord Brand to you,” Marduke sneered. “And I don’t see paperwork keeping you out of my territory.”
“Your brother’s territory. He’s the clan head, not you. We’ve taken great pains to remind you of this again and again.”
Everard snorted. “I think your tequila sunrise got all the brains in that clutch. Some dragons just can’t take a hint. Also, we outrank you, you wanker. Father and Sebastian are dukes, most of us are earls, except Geoffrey who’s a countandan earl, which is just showing off. Even Al is a baron. Only titles are meaningless these days and no one gives a shit. Except you.”
Marduke ignored the jibe, focusing instead on the alcove where Walter cowered. “You have my property. Give it back and I’ll be on my way.”
“Your property?” Grimbold asked, eyebrow raised. He tried to hold back his dragon, but smoke escaped his nostrils and mouth anyway.
“He’s my get. My useless Disgrace who should have been shot down his mother’s throat instead of inside her belly. It’s how Swallow came by his name. But I’ve finally found a use for him, wretched creature. My uncle Aelfric wants him. So much better if his care is kept within the family, I think.”
A howl rose from two separate throats: Beatrice and Walter. “No! No! No! No!”
