Page 31 of Ink Sworn (Greatdrakes #3 | The Fae Universe #24)
Y elena tied up her robe and grabbed her sword hanging on one of her walls. She had lost her last one in the fight with Cathal, but she had learned to always have a spare.
"Are you armed?" she asked Valentine. He finished doing up his pants before pulling two long stiletto daggers from his boots.
"Literally always, baby. Want to tell me what's happening?" he asked.
Yelena opened her door. "I don't know, but it’s all fucking wrong. Keep a lookout. There are enemies in the city, and none of us can shift except on the platforms."
Valentine adjusted his daggers. "Doesn't matter who it is. We find them; we kill them."
"I won't let Midir take you from me," she snarled, panic and magic surging through her.
Valentine kissed her. "I love you. I have your back. Now let's go and find Taranis."
The confession momentarily dazed Yelena, but she had no time to dwell on it. Bells started to toll all over the city, and the halls of the palace were filling with people.
"What do the bells mean?" Valentine asked as they ran.
"Every level of the mountain has a different bell for emergencies. They are telling us where to go," Yelena replied, picking up speed.
Taranis was already shouting orders at the knights by the time they arrived.
"Charlotte! You get to the infirmary. I know you can fight, but we need you to focus on helping the injured more. Reeve, you are with Owain," he called over the noise.
"What's happening?" Yelena demanded.
Taranis spotted them. "Good, you're here.
Portals are opening all over the city, and warriors are coming through.
I don't know how Midir's magic is working to bypass the portal spell wards, but he's succeeding.
You and Valentine get your asses moving to close any portals you find. We will take care of the rest."
"We will get it done," Valentine assured him, his magic already wrapping around his forearms in black and scarlet threads.
"Cut that out. I don't have time to fuck you right now, Valentine," Yelena chided, as they headed back out into the halls.
Valentine only grinned, feral as ever. "Magic first, sex later, baby girl."
Yelena laughed despite the situation and started running. She knew all the fast routes through the city levels, and Valentine didn't pester her with questions. He just followed her, having her back as he had promised.
As they went further into the city, they no longer had to follow the bells. They could follow the screams instead. Midir's warriors had flooded into the tailor's market and were attacking anyone they saw .
Yelena's power burned in her silver hand, and she grabbed a warrior with it and tossed him toward Valentine. He stabbed the warrior in the neck and chest in two quick strikes, and they moved on to the next.
Valentine's magic sizzled the air, scarlet whips ripping and slashing a path for them. They found the portal in an alleyway, and without needing to ask, Valentine combined his power with hers, and they disabled the opening with a muffling spell to cut off the intruder's magic.
A warrior rushed to stop them and only got two steps through before the portal snapped closed, cutting him in half while Yelena brought her sword down on his head.
"Did you feel that weird anchor the portal had?" Valentine asked, searching the alleyway.
"I don't think we have time to figure out how..." she began.
"There! Look at that," Valentine crouched down and pointed to where a small piece of silver lay beside a barrel. It looked about the size of a coin. Yelena caught Valentine's hand before he could reach for it.
"Don't touch it with your bare skin. Midir is a master, and there might be a compulsion on it," she warned.
Valentine tore off a scrap of material from the bottom of his shirt and picked up the token. "This is how he has gotten past the portal wards. His fucking spy has scattered these about the city."
"We will figure out the magic later, Val. We need to go and shut the others," Yelena said, tugging him back to his feet.
Valentine wrapped up the token and shoved it into his pocket. "Lead on, beautiful."
Yelena fell into a fighting rhythm, and they moved down to the next level of the city. Her magic and her body moved in sync with Valentine like they had been fighting together forever. She tried to focus on the fight. She had no time to delight over the connection between them.
They found Avallach and Emyr fighting in front of a portal, a pile of dead fae at their feet. Avallach was splattered from head to toe.
"Working off some of those captivity frustrations, big brother?" Yelena asked, coming up behind them.
"And it's working! Get this damn thing closed already so we can go help Owain and Reeve," Avallach called back.
Threads of Valentine's power wove with hers, and like a blanket smothering a fire, their magic covered the portal and snuffed it out.
"Well, that's something I have never seen before," Emyr said, wiping her sweaty brow.
"Look around for a silver token. It has to be here somewhere," Valentine said, shoving a body out of the way.
"What's he talking about?" Avallach asked, looking at Yelena with a furrowed brow.
"Long story. Just look, or we will have another portal opening any second," she said and helped Emyr shift her pile of bodies. They found the token wedged into a carving of a dragon.
"Should we wrap these in some kind of mini ward? I don't want a portal suddenly opening where my dick is," Valentine said, making Yelena choke back a laugh.
"That would be a waste of an excellent dick," she agreed.
"Nice." Emyr grinned as Avallach pretended to gag.
"I'll explain this magic later, too," Yelena said and quickly wove a silver pouch out of her magic before wrapping it around the tokens and the scrap of shirt.
Valentine's eyes went wide, and she could just about hear his thought process trying to figure out what she did .
"No time," she replied before he could ask.
"Fuck. Okay. Where are Owain and Reeve?" Valentine said to Avallach, the glazed look in his eyes going away.
"Two levels down. Come on," the knight replied, and they ran on.
It was going to be a long night.