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“Offer again and I will rip your spine out of your body and make a necklace of the bones.”
“That’s very specific,” Everard said after another one of those blinking pauses.
“I’ve given it much thought.”
“Clearly. But do be reasonable. I promise you I will never steal, borrow, or abscond with your omega. Neither will I harm him. But you can’t keep him, don’t you see? The council will not have it, and I don’t wish to have you dragged all the way to Cathay to stand trial. Besides, it will annoy Geoffrey, and you know how he is when he’s annoyed. Now, can you please get off me so we can discuss this like the rational beings I know we are capable of being? It will be a struggle, I’m sure, but I have faith in you.”
Sebastian snarled at his brother, then sprang off of him. He didn’t go back to the uncomfortable throne, however. He would have to make plans and it was easier for him to think while pacing. The mere thought of losing Peregrine made him want to howl with fury and pain. He’d already suffered one loss—he would not abide another. “There is nothing to discuss,” he growled. “Peregrine is mine.”
Everard stood nimbly and brushed at his tunic. “God’s bones. Are these cat hairs?” He sneered in distaste.
“They’re good mousers,” Sebastian said absently. Inside, his mind was churning. If his brother would not listen to his word, then perhaps he could be persuaded by reason. “Peregrine’s contracted time is not yet up. I see no reason why I can’t keep him.”
“Did you not listen to a bloody word I just said? It is not done. Why can’t you be like Bertram? He sired his clutch with a perfect Pedigree omega and went on his way. You, meanwhile, are consorting with a Disgrace who may very well be barren. What are you thinking?”
Sebastian grabbed his brother by the front of his tunic and tried to shake some sense into him. “I’m thinking that I love him.”
Everard’s eyes sprang wide. “You love the omega?”
“He is mine.”
“You keep saying that. It’s very curious.” Everard beetled his brow. “I wonder if… no, it cannot be the case. It would be unprecedented. As far as I know.”
“Talk sense, man. What are you on about?” Sebastian released his brother’s tunic and Everard staggered back a few steps before regaining his footing.
“Ah… nothing. But a mere stray thought.” Everard looked away from Sebastian. “Theoretically, were you to keep this omega and live with him for several years and then he bears you a clutch, what would you do? You know he’ll go mad if he doesn’t have the eggs taken away before he bonds with them. You say you love him, yet you would put him through that. Are you saying you’ll look into his extremely fetching eyes and tell him he has to go away for his own good, and for the good of the clutch? Are you truly capable of that, brother? Because I think you are not. Better to sever this now rather than later. Your love will fade. There will be other omegas.”
The idea of bedding another omega made Sebastian feel sick. Unsteadily, he sat on his throne and then looked up to see Peregrine standing silently in the shadow cast by the hall’s entryway. Sebastian’s heart constricted within his chest. Lose Peregrine? Give him up? Impossible. “My love will not fade,” he said, more for Peregrine’s ears than Everard’s. “There will be no one else. I will carry Peregrine in my heart until I am no more.”
Everard groaned and clutched at his hair in frustration. “You must see reason, Sebastian. You are courting heartbreak not only for yourself, but for Peregrine as well. There is no happy conclusion to this business, I assure you.” Then he added, “Probably. The best scenario in this situation is that Peregrine is, indeed, barren. If he produces no clutch, you may keep him with you until he dies, although there will be talk. With dragons, there’s always talk.”
“Dragons can talk until they have no breath or fire left. It will not change my mind.”
“Or he could be fertile enough to bear you either a clutch or a human child. You’re already aware of what a nightmare it would be should he fall gravid with eggs, but have you considered fathering a Disgrace? What on earth would you do with the child? Lord knows you couldn’t keep it. The family would never live it down.”
Sebastian stared hard at Peregrine and willed him to see the sincerity in his words. “Then I will be an Amethyst no more, and therefore cannot bring shame to our clan. I will take Peregrine and whatever offspring he gives me, and we will be our own clan. I’m young and strong enough to protect us all. I can hide. I can make a new hoard. I will leave everything behind, but not him. Never him. If he brings me no child, he will live with me as long as he can draw breath and his heart beats.”
Everard strode over to stand right before Sebastian. “And what if he bears you a clutch? He will go mad. You must see that.”
But Sebastian couldn’t see it. While he could envision his lovely and sweet Peregrine with his eggs, or even caring for a human child, he could not see the man ever harming his own young. It was utterly impossible. It would not happen. “No,” he told Everard curtly. “I don’t see that at all. What I do see is the man I adore wandering around this misbegotten palace like he’s already a ghost. I will not have it. I will do whatever it takes to keep him by my side. There is no depth I wouldn’t sink to in order to protect him.”
Everard threw up his arms in frustration. “I suppose it doesn’t matter if the omega catches egg madness when you’re mad already.”
“Mayhap I am,” Sebastian said, looking at Peregrine and not his pesky sibling. “It’s of no consequence.”
“Your mind—what little there is of it—is made up, then? There is to be no talking you out of this?” Everard sounded like he’d already given up. “Fine, then. I will keep your secret and I will endeavor to silence Al, although I can’t promise much luck there. Unless he keeps traveling, which actually might be for the best. If you need me again, ever, you know how to contact me.”
Sebastian shifted his attention back to Everard. “You would do that for me?”
Everard shrugged. “You’re my brother and I’d hate to lose you. I might need to use you as a battering ram at some point.”
That made Sebastian, despite everything, bark a laugh. “Enough, brother. At least for tonight. I have matters to attend to.” He rose from the throne and strode past Everard and toward the lovely ghost that haunted the palace. Everard must have turned around and seen Peregrine, judging by the surprised intake of breath Sebastian heard. That, however, was secondary and unimportant. The only thing he could think of or see was Peregrine, because Peregrine was his world. They were bound, somehow, no matter how unlikely, and he’d see that they were never parted.
“My lord dragon,” Peregrine said. His voice was thin and wispy, as if he were a specter in truth. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but was afraid to do so.
“My love,” Sebastian said.
Peregrine started to cry silently. Tears more precious than any diamond fell down his cheeks. Softly, carefully, Sebastian touched Peregrine’s face and captured one of the tears. “Don’t cry.”
