Page 3 of Ink Sworn (Greatdrakes #3 | The Fae Universe #24)

T he knife that had been lodged in Valentine's chest for weeks twisted.

"What do you mean by missing?" he demanded.

Taranis rubbed at his beard. "I mean, I sent them north on a mission, and they haven't checked in. That's not unusual. I expected them to be busy and not able to use magic where they were going without calling attention to themselves."

He glanced about at the pub and back at the table. "Wrap this up. We can't talk about this here. Val, I know you have some resentment where Yelena is concerned, but I will need your help finding them."

Valentine hadn't seen Taranis worried since mating Quinn. He shared a look with his brothers. They were all thinking the same thing. The king of dragons was spooked.

Within minutes, they had paid the bill, and Taranis had opened a portal back to the castle. The faerie horses they had ridden in were already long gone.

"I've called a meeting, this way," Taranis said .

They moved up the stairs to Kian's private parlor, where Bayn, Killian, Mananan, Oberon, and Cosimo were already sitting by the fire, drinking whiskey.

Valentine looked about. "Just us?"

"This is fae and dragon business. I didn't want to upset the rest of the family until we need to," Taranis said.

The Greatdrakes pulled up more chairs, and Valentine poured himself a large whiskey from Kian's supply. He always had the best stuff, and Valentine was going to need something strong.

"All right, boys?" Cosimo asked, staring at his sons.

"We are fine, Dad. We only went to the pub," Apollo huffed and flopped down on an overstuffed couch.

Mananan cuffed him on the back of his head. "Leave a message next time. You boys had us all worried."

"Why? It's not like we are children and haven't gone to the pub before," Reeve asked.

"It's because Apollo was kidnapped," Bas said softly before anyone else could answer. "And this is about dragons."

"Exactly. No leaving the grounds at all until this is over," Kian replied and crossed his long legs. Even in repose, he managed to look intimidatingly royal. It was a shame they were family, and it didn't work on any of them.

Oberon grinned smugly. "And you told me growing an impenetrable forest around the castle was a bad idea."

"Because that's your answer for everything!" Kian replied.

"It's because it solves a multitude of problems. I tried to warn you they would go off on their own. They remind me of you three when you were their age," Oberon said, pointing at the princes.

"I have no recollection of disobeying anyone. I was an angel," Killian argued, his green eyes wide and innocent.

Bayn frowned. "I was the good one. I'm sure of it."

All three of their uncles snorted with laughter, and the tension in the room eased a little. Valentine stood by the fire because he knew if he sat, his leg would start bouncing and give away just how anxious he was.

"What is this all about? Where are Avallach and Cae…Yelena?" he demanded when he couldn't handle it any longer.

From a couch beside Quinn, Taranis gave a long, tired sigh. "What do you boys know about King Midir?"

Valentine stretched his memory, but it was Cosimo who answered first.

"He is a character from an old Irish saga. He was a fae king who fell in love with a woman called étaín, and there was something about him challenging the king of Ireland for her hand," he said, frowning.

Taranis snorted. "So you know nothing real about him. I suppose that will save us some time."

"He's a solid gold bastard, that’s what he is," Mananan added.

"His land has bordered Taran's forever. He's always hated humans. His stronghold is next to impossible to find because he can manipulate the pathways leading to it. He was sniffing about the borders again, stirring up trouble. Rumor has it he’s lost his way in Ireland. For a male whose magic is all about roads and routes, that’s got to piss him off. "

Taranis lifted his glass to his brother.

"That is the long and the short of it. He was going into places he shouldn't, and I sent Yelena and Avallach to find out what the fuck is going on up in the north, where some of Midir's warriors were seen.

He's a sneaky fucker who can take control of other creatures and manipulate them to do his bidding.

He's always been jealous of the dragons. "

Valentine's magic burned under his skin. "And now this king, who has the power to take control of other creatures, has Yelena and Avallach. Two dragons."

"Powerful dragons that are too strong for Midir to manipulate. Dragons don't like people fucking about in their heads. That kind of magic doesn't work on them," Taranis argued. "It's why I sent a mixed group of warriors with Yelena and Avallach watching over them."

"We also don't know if Midir has them at all, Val," Quinn said gently.

Valentine forced his jaw to unclench. "We don't know that he hasn't. Sounds to me like he’d love nothing more than to get some dragons under his thumb. I can't believe you sent Yelena up there."

Taranis's brows rose. "You know next to nothing about what she can handle."

"The lad makes a valid point, though. Yelena is the last person that Midir should have the chance to control," Oberon said gruffly.

"Why is that?" Valentine demanded. His magic was scratching at him to get out.

Not now, not now, not now .

Mananan swirled the scotch in his glass. "Yelena is special."

"She wouldn't want us to tell him..." Taranis began.

"For fuck's sake, Uncle Taran, spit it out. If you didn't trust us, you should have left us at the fucking pub," Apollo exclaimed.

"Fine, but if she's pissed, she can take her anger out on you lot.

" Taranis groaned and rubbed a hand through his thick hair.

"Yelena was a foundling, and I mean that in the way that I quite literally found her.

I was visiting the lands where most of the wild dragons live.

The ones who can't shift at all. From what I could understand, she was born wrong.

At least, wrong to one of the wild ones.

She was left to die as a hatchling, except she didn't. She wandered near a settlement, saw humanoid fae creatures, and shifted to try to blend in.

It should be impossible for one born of the wild ones.

She was a dragon in girl shape and couldn't talk, couldn't communicate.

She ran away from the villagers before they could try to catch her.

They were the ones who sent a message to me, and I went to find her. "

Taranis drained his drink. "She was absolutely feral and had been surviving by using her magic to freeze herself during the winter months so she didn't starve.

She had so much power, and it was as wild as she was.

I had to change a few times from this shape to a dragon to prove I was like her.

She came with me but had no idea there were others like us.

It took her a long time to talk and to learn how to do simple things like dress herself properly.

But the magic? The magic was loud, abundant, and uncontrollable. It's why she's so sensitive to it."

Oberon said, "And her power is still as wild as ever, too. I can feel the feral in her, buried deep down, but it's still there. It's why Taranis's court is still afraid of her. They know she is not like them."

Valentine winced. Not like them. Hadn't he heard that same bullshit from other magicians and sorcerers since he was born?

Bas got up and topped up Valentine's glass but remained standing with him by the fire. His mind gently nudged Valentine's. Okay, big brother?

Not really. Sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it? Wild, uncontrollable magic that no one understands.

You got along with her for a reason. Like tends to call to like. Bas broke off the mind link, so they didn't miss too much of the conversation.

"How would Midir have known where Yelena and Avallach were?" Bayn asked. He had a thin dagger in his hand and was idly flipping it.

"They were on the borders and could have been seen and taken," Kian suggested.

"Or Taran's got a spy and a traitor in his court," Killian said, darkness curling about his fingertips. "I was a spy for a long time, so it seems obvious that Midir has eyes somewhere. You can't trust anyone from Mag Argatnél except your knights, Uncle. At least, not until this is over with."

Taranis nodded and glanced at Valentine. "There wasn't anything in your letters that mentioned she could be in trouble?"

"No. She never said what she was doing, which is why I thought she was someone in the court," Valentine replied.

His dream of her frozen in a cage came back to him, and his stomach soured.

He put down his drink. He couldn't tell them about it because he didn't know if it was a real vision or just his imagination.

"You have her letters, though? I thought there might be a way to track her last location using them," Taranis pressed. They all turned to look at Valentine, and he tried not to squirm. His neck was getting hot.

He turned back to look at the fire. "Yes, I still have them. Let me think about how I could use them to find her."

"What about getting Ella to touch them and see if her psychometry can pick anything up?" Bayn asked.

Mananan, ever overprotective of his mate, shook his head.

"I don't want her anywhere near Midir and his mind.

Besides, her gift would only indicate that Yelena had sent it.

Fire messaging is a magical transference.

It's not like she handled the paper herself.

Valentine has a magical connection to her in order to send the messages.

He has more of a chance of finding her."

"Whatever magical assistance you might need, Valentine, let me know," Kian said and cleared his throat. "I…I have a pressing need to find Yelena as well. She has been making an elixir for Elise, and I don't know what was in it."

Apollo perked up. "Oh? What kind of elixir exactly? Do you have any left? I might be able to figure out what ingredients were used. "

They looked at Kian expectantly, and he tried to look away.

"What is wrong with Elise? Is she hurt? Oh, gods, is it some human thing, and she's dying?" Oberon demanded. "Kian, we need to take her to see some proper healers and…"

"She's pregnant," Valentine said, and Kian shot him a surprised look. "What? It's obvious..." He trailed off as everyone stared at him. "Okay, so maybe only obvious to me?"

"A baby? Really?" Quinn gasped and then smiled. "That suddenly explains so much. She's been wearing an absurd amount of flowy dresses and has put off having a girls' night."

"You can't tell anyone!" Kian commanded. "Elise doesn't want anyone to know until she's ready. Yelena's elixir hides the change in her scent."

"A Tuatha Dé Dannan baby," Oberon said, still stunned. Then he was out of his chair and hugging Kian, almost tangling their antlers. "My baby nephew is going to be a father. Oh, blessed Danu, I feel like crying."

Valentine had never liked children, but he supposed it was different for the fae. Kian and many others had struggled to find the source of their infertility over the years.

"I have been crying. A lot," Kian said, accepting the congratulations. "Elise doesn't want to say anything until we can't avoid it. It's not just hope for us but for all the fae. It's a lot to put on her shoulders."

"I can always take her to Tír fo Thuinn," Mananan suggested. "If anyone threatens her, I can drown them with a tidal wave."

Kian laughed. "She might like a trip to the sea for a few days, but I don't know how she would feel about hiding in Faerie."

"She doesn't need to go all that way. I got a perfectly good castle in the north for her. Freya's going to freak out when she's told," Bayn said with a wide grin .

"You never know, baby brother. She might want one next," Killian teased, and Bayn's grin slipped off his face.

"I'm too young to be a father," he said quickly. "You're the oldest. You can be next."

Killian snorted. "You think more Ironwoods in the world is a good idea?"

"This is so nice," Bas said beside Valentine. "I can't believe you knew."

"I'm observant."

"The Fae are going to lose it when you tell them," Cosimo commented. "My liver is already hurting just thinking about the inevitable party."

"No parties until Elise asks for them," Kian said, pointing to Quinn. "No acting suspicious."

Taranis knocked his hand away. "Don't point at my mate."

"Tell her to behave herself."

Quinn laughed evilly. "Have you met me? I don't do 'behaving.'"

"It's because you like discipline too much," Apollo chimed in.

Quinn opened her mouth to say something, but Taranis put his hand over it and muffled her reply.

"Okay, enough. We need to focus on finding Yelena and Avallach.

Elise and Kian's good news, and when they want to share it, is their business," he said, and then looked back at Valentine.

"Use the letters and anything else you can think of to track them down. "

"And then what?" Valentine asked, his mind already turning to the magical problem.

"Then I go and find them. I hope it's just me overreacting, and they are just being overly cautious, but until I find out otherwise, we treat this like a rescue mission," Taranis said.

Valentine thought about the letters and his dreams, and magic tingled his fingertips. If there were any connection linking their magic, even if it were just the magic of the letters, he would find it. And he wouldn't sit back and watch Taranis go into Faerie without him.

Valentine closed his eyes, let the voices in the room drown out, and dropped into his magic. In the warm darkness, the dragon inside of him stirred.

Unlike the rest of his family, he hadn't needed to wait until magic had been restored to feel his dragon. He had kept his beast and his knowledge of it locked up since he was a teenager. It had been safer that way for all of them.

I need your help , Valentine told the slumbering beast. If my dreams of Yelena are real, help me figure out how to use them to find her.

The dragon opened its ruby eyes. You have ignored me every time I tried to warn you before…especially about her.

Valentine knew it was right, but he didn't have time to argue about it. I know, and I'm sorry. It might be safe enough for you to be free soon, but she was the only one I thought might help us not hurt anyone when we let you out.

Sleep , demanded the dragon. Sleep, and we will fly to the silver one together.