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“Daddy’s home!”
It was shouted in a chorus of voices, but one that seemed much smaller than usual. Indeed, when Sebastian counted heads, four of his children were missing and an extra one had been added—Everard’s whelp, Darwin. Alarmingly, there was a pair of metallic wings strapped to his back and a little scuff of dirt on his cheek. Julius, his closest friend, stood next to him, grass stains on his knees.
Fearing the missing whelps had been launched into space, Sebastian zeroed in on the most reliable of the clutch. “Cornelius,” he barked. “Report.”
“Yes, sir,” Cornelius piped up enthusiastically. “Hadrian, Octavius, and Elian went over to the Opal Consulate and Maximus went to go play with Chaucer and Olive. Uncle Everard and Uncle Harry came to see Papa and—”
“Brought me!” Darwin finished excitedly. “I’ve been studying aerodynamics. Aren’t my wings neat? They don’t work so well just yet, but they will if I keep trying, so Jules and I have been experimenting on them to make them better. We built a ramp. It’s fun! I’ll have to build one at home so Steve can have fun, too. May we have cookies?”
Sebastian frowned at his youngest child. “What did Papa say?”
Julius looked between Darwin and his father and seemed torn.
“Not until after dinner!” Cornelius pronounced, eliciting groans from the other boys.
“Correct. Now, go play,” Sebastian ordered, and off the boys scampered.
How strange it was to think that it had been eight years since they’d hatched. It felt like not much time had passed at all, but here they were, well on their way to becoming respectable young dragons.
Sebastian’s heart clenched, but it was a pain he quickly swept aside. There was no point in suffering the inevitable. The whelps would grow up whether he wished it or not. It would be better to cherish the time they had left rather than mourn what was already behind them.
“Oh, hello, Sebastian!” came a familiar voice from across the foyer as Sebastian plotted ways to join the boys in their games. It belonged to Harrison, his brother Everard’s mate and Darwin’s father. It appeared, owing to the direction he was coming from, that he’d recently left the atrium. It was where Perry had to be. “Perry said you weren’t home.”
“I was not.”
“Oh.” Harrison crossed the foyer and came to stand just short of Sebastian. To Sebastian’s displeasure, he did not possess the same sense of self-preservation as the average human. Or, unfortunately, the average anything. “I suppose it is getting late, isn’t it? Everard sent me to find Darwin so we could head home, too. Have you seen him?”
Sebastian pointed in the direction the boys had gone.
“Over there?” Harrison turned to look. “Thanks. I’ll go take a peek and see if I can find him.”
“Wait.”
Harrison turned to face him. “Yes?”
“Is Everard with Perry?”
Harrison frowned as though puzzling it out. “Well, he was when I left the atrium, but there’s a chance he left since then. So as far as I know, yes, but it’s not a sure thing. Do you want to talk to him? I can try to find him, too, while I’m off looking for Darwin.”
Sebastian shook his head. “No, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Harrison beamed at him. “I’d better go find Darwin. If I don’t see you again before we leave, it was nice seeing you!”
Sebastian nodded in agreement, so off Harrison went, leaving Sebastian alone with quite the mystery.
What was his brother doing with his mate?
It wasn’t unusual for Harrison to visit, but Everard, while nosy, did not tend to be as social. He was not the kind to drop in out of the blue, and certainly not on a whim. There was a reason for him to be here, Sebastian was sure, but what it was would have to wait for later. After Everard was gone. No good would come of investigating while he was still in the house, as Everard was wily and would find a way to keep his secrets hidden. It would be better to find out the truth from Perry directly, so off Sebastian went to bide his time. In a few hours, he would go in search of his mate.
* * *
Sebastian found Perry in the atrium. The hour was approaching twilight and shadows filled the room. His mate lay on his side by the pond, his fingers trailing in the water. He was forcibly reminded of a twilight centuries ago when he’d found Peregrine lying melancholy beside the pool in the oasis on the grounds of their palace, southeast of Beirut. Back then he’d been wreathed by a veil of sadness, and while he was much better at hiding his emotions now, Sebastian sensed all was not well.
Deceit, his dragon hissed. Sorrow. Despair.
“Perry?” Sebastian asked softly as he approached.
Perry startled, then looked up at his mate and smiled his familiar sweet smile. For a bare few seconds, however, before the smile had come, Perry’s face had seemed utterly tragic.
