Mac was sitting at the desk added to the Dark Indigo office for him, reading his second magic book, when Aleksander showed up in the doorway.
“What’s up?”
“Do you remember Venerable Knight Arvandus Ruarc-Daray from your mating ceremony?” Aleksander asked.
“I do.”
“He’s here and needs to speak with you.”
Mac couldn’t imagine what a fallen knight would need him for, but he rose. “All right.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Idris asked.
“Yes,” Mac replied.
Grabbing Idris’s hand once he reached his side, Mac followed Aleksander out of the building. They crossed the yard and made it into the house. Idris waved at the D’Vaire elves who were camped out in the living room working on their textiles as they passed them en route to Aleksander’s office. Once they arrived, Mac found the Venerable Knight, and he wasn’t smiling.
“Your Grace, thanks for taking the time to speak with me,” the fallen knight said.
“You were at my mating ceremony. You can call me Mac.”
Arvandus grinned a little. “I wouldn’t have missed it. It was a beautiful ceremony. Congratulations again. I’m sorry to interrupt your day, and it’s great to see you too, Idris, but it might be better if I spoke with you alone.”
Mac had no secrets from Idris, and he wasn’t going to allow any to grow between them. “Do you want to stay, Idris?”
“I don’t mind leaving if you want me to.”
After a quick kiss, Mac shook his head. “Nope, I’d prefer you at my side.”
“Fair enough. Let’s have a seat, guys,” Arvandus said. Mac grabbed a spot on the sofa, and Idris dropped down beside him. Aleksander walked past them and sat behind his desk. “This morning a drakeling showed up at our headquarters. He refused to give us his name and didn’t have a Council Identification Card on him anywhere. No phone, no wallet, nothing. When he arrived, he had a single request. He wanted to know where to find Court D’Vaire. Obviously, we weren’t about to give out that information. No matter how hard we pressed, he wouldn’t tell us why. Finally, we got him to reveal that it was you, Mac, that he’s searching for. Again, he didn’t want to say why but when pressed, he divulged that he was or is your boyfriend. We don’t care about your personal life. We just want to know who this kid is, where he belongs, and if he’s in trouble. I know this is completely out of the ordinary and a rather delicate matter, but we were hoping you’d be willing to speak with him.”
Mac turned to Idris, who was staring back at him with curious eyes. He offered the wizard a reassuring smile, then returned his gaze to Arvandus. “I don’t know who he could be. I’ve never had a boyfriend in my life. The only thing in my past is one-off lovers. So, the only thing I can tell you about your mysterious stranger is that he’s a liar.”
“Can I say something?” Idris asked.
“Of course,” Mac replied.
“I’ve been in a situation where I did things I shouldn’t have. There must be something going on to cause him to lie. I’d like to know if there’s a way we could help him.”
“Can we meet with him?” Mac inquired. “Perhaps if we were face-to-face, we could get him to reveal who he is and what his situation is. Outside of friends and family, no one knows I’m mated yet, but it’s going to find its way into the press when Idris ascends. I don’t want rumors to start that I’m one of those shifters who isn’t content with my mate. Idris is way too important to me to be disrespected in that way.”
“Oh, I get it. I have a mate,” Arvandus responded. “I was hoping you’d want to talk with the drakeling. Like you, I want answers and I want to know what we need to do to help him.”
Mac turned back to Idris. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve got a ton of work on your plate, but I’d really prefer that you come with me.”
“I’m happy to go. Don’t worry about school. My projects are all ready to be turned in next week.”
“I’ll ask Dra’Kaedan to come and teleport you guys. Go ahead and get changed,” Aleksander said. Mac bobbed his head at his king and trailed out of the room after Idris. After convincing Roger to hang out in his area of the room, they went to their separate closets and got changed into the attire expected of them at Council Headquarters. Mac tugged on a suit with a new tie Larissa made him, which was black and had a replica of Roger on it. After slipping into his jacket, he pulled his D’Vaire sash over his head. Walking back out into the bedroom, he grabbed his crown and put it on.
Idris strode in wearing a dark suit with an indigo shirt and matching tie. He had on a matching cloak and every time he was in that color, it made Mac’s pulse pick up. “You look good.”
“Thanks. Now let’s go find out who is trying to lay claim to my dragon.”
“Yes, dear.”
Idris held out his hand and Mac snatched it up as they left the room. It was a quick walk back down the hall, and they were in Aleksander’s office in short order.
“Brogan and Dra’Kaedan will be here in a minute. They needed to get changed as well,” Aleksander said.
“Are they just dropping us off, or are they staying with us on this little adventure?” Mac asked.
“Your choice but I don’t think you need them.”
“Me either. And I don’t want their time wasted,” Mac replied.
Dra’Kaedan swept into the room, regal in his gold crown and heavily embroidered cloak. His tall mate was on his heels. “Let’s rock and roll,” the Grand Warlock said, then cast the spell to teleport them out.
Seconds later, the five men were standing close in an area reserved for magical travel. People shimmered in and out all around them. Brogan’s navy eyes met Mac’s. “Call me if you need anything.”
“Will do, thanks.” He, Idris, and Arvandus were hugged by Brogan and Dra’Kaedan; then the pair popped out of view.
“It’s a short walk, guys, if you’re ready to go,” Arvandus told them.
“Lead on.”
True to his words, Mac and Idris walked through the front door of the Order of the Fallen Knights’ Headquarters minutes later. Men and women darted past, but they didn’t stop to speak with any of them. Instead, Arvandus led them down a hallway full of interrogation rooms. Once they arrived at the third door on the left, Arvandus gave it a quick knock, then slid it open. There was a young man sitting with his head bent over a scarred table inside. When he heard them enter, he straightened in his seat and his surprised gaze met Mac’s.
“Shit Mac, why didn’t you tell anybody you’d met your mate?”
“Because I didn’t think anyone would show up at a fallen knight office claiming to be my boyfriend,” Mac retorted after Arvandus closed them all inside the small space.
“I take it you two know each other,” Arvandus said.
“Yeah, we know each other. If I knew Mac was mated, I wouldn’t have told you I was his boyfriend. I’m sorry.”
“Arcanist Idris Vioric-D’Vaire, meet my brother, Carter Stenetdraconis,” Mac stated. “Carter, this is my mate, Idris.”
Idris offered his hand to Carter, who didn’t hesitate to shake it. “It’s very nice to meet you, Carter. You guys have a similar eye shape.” Turning back to Mac, he asked, “Were your eyes brown before you shifted for the first time?”
“Yeah, Carter’s are almost the exact same shade mine were. I’m told they’re the same color as our mother’s. She inherited them from Grandpa.”
“How old are you, Carter?” Arvandus asked.
“I turned eighteen three months ago.”
“Do Alfred and Mom know where you are?”
Carter bowed his head. “No, I stayed over at a friend’s house last night, which I had their permission to do, but I should’ve been home by now.”
“You need to call them, Carter. I’m sure they’re worrying already,” Mac said.
“I can’t. I don’t know what to do,” Carter replied. He glanced back up at Mac and tears fell down his cheeks. “They don’t understand me. Dad found out a couple of years ago I was gay. He told me it was just a phase. That I…well, I looked up to you and that I wanted to be with guys because of you. I tried to tell him he was wrong—that being gay isn’t a phase, but he won’t listen. He says it’s wrong, and I need to grow up. That if I was acting like an adult, I wouldn’t be doing something unnatural like being gay. He wants to control my life. Dad has picked out all my classes at college. I get good grades, and he wants me to be a podiatrist. I don’t want to be any kind of doctor, and I sure as hell don’t want to work on people’s feet. It’s because he’s got these terrible bunions and other weird shit going on with his feet. He’s cheap and wants me to be the one to help him. I want to be able to make my own decisions and live my own life. He picks my friends. My clothes. I have to show him my phone every day, so he can make sure I’m not communicating with anyone he doesn’t like. He doesn’t trust me because he caught me kissing a guy. He thinks he can save me from being gay, which is really fucking stupid. I need your help, Mac. I don’t have anyone else to go to. Mom won’t stand up to him. She never has, even when he says awful shit about you. I didn’t even get to know Grandpa and Grandma because he didn’t want me near you.”
Before Mac could respond, Idris turned to Arvandus. “Is there anything we can do to help Carter?”
“Is King Alfred or anyone else harming you physically?” Arvandus asked Carter.
“No, he doesn’t hit me. He says a lot of stupid fucking shit, but he doesn’t get physical with me.”
“Okay. If you want to get sanctuary status through the Order of the Fallen Knights, you have to meet certain criteria or have your ruler sign the papers releasing you. I’m going to take a wild stab here and say that King Alfred isn’t going to be the type who would sign a release. There’s no physical abuse, so we’ll need to get you evaluated to see if you’d qualify as mental or emotional,” Arvandus said. “The other option is to go through the dragons. I’d suggest giving King Aleksander a call to discuss that route.”
“Carter, I’m willing to speak to King Aleksander, but I’ll only do it if you give me permission to call Mom and at least let her know where you’re at,” Mac told his half brother.
Carter’s brown eyes were troubled but no longer wet. “Can Mom and Dad force me to come home with them?” he asked Arvandus.
“No, you’re over the age of eighteen and can fill out the form to be evaluated for sanctuary if there’s no avenue available through King Aleksander.”
Mac ran a hand down Idris’s back. “I’m going to step outside and make my calls.”
His mate smiled and laid a sweet kiss on his lips. “I’ll stay here and keep Carter company.”
“Thanks, I’ll be right back.”
Once in the hall, Mac connected with Aleksander first. After explaining the situation, his king said, “It’s strange because we’re a sanctuary and now a popular name, but I’ve never had a dragon want to come here without invitation, especially one whose king isn’t going to okay it. I can’t say I know the process, but that doesn’t mean we can’t figure it out. I think you should bring him here. I’d like to meet him and discuss what he wants to do.”
“Sounds good. I’m going to call my mom and tell her where her kid is.”
“I’ll let Dra’Kaedan know that he’ll be hearing from you shortly.”
Mac thanked Aleksander, then gave himself a minute to settle before he dialed his mom. He honestly hadn’t planned on speaking to her again; she’d made it clear he was not welcome in her life, but he wasn’t going to allow her to worry over Carter unnecessarily. After tapping his screen, he listened to his phone ring several times with no answer. Then it went to voice mail. Mac would have liked to fool himself into believing she was busy, but she simply did not want to hear from him. He left her a message anyway. “Mom, it’s Mac. I’m at the Order of the Fallen Knights Headquarters with Carter. He’s fine. We’re heading to Court D’Vaire. He doesn’t have his phone with him, so I’m going to give you King Aleksander’s number, so you don’t have to call me back.” He rattled off the information and ended the call. It would be up to her to call his king if she wanted to know anything more about her youngest son, but he hoped she understood as soon as she heard his voice that he was going to fight for Carter.
No one should have their life dictated to them, and Alfred ought to trust his son to make his own choices. He sure as hell was not going to stand for anyone telling Carter there was something wrong with being gay or that his attraction to men was simply a defiant phase he needed to grow out of. Mac found himself smiling as he thought back to one of the last conversations he ever had with his Grandpa. How the hell had Lloyd figured out Carter was gay? Somewhere on the other side of the veil, the old guy was laughing at how stunned Mac was at the revelation.