Page 37 of Ink Sworn (Greatdrakes #3 | The Fae Universe #24)

T he dawn sky was like a slash of blood on the horizon. A storm was brewing above them, and Valentine tilted his face to the sky as the first drops of rain hit his skin. It wasn't the worst way to start a day.

None of the guards at the entrance of the platform had noticed him as he had slipped past, a glamor wrapped tightly around him. They hadn't expected anyone to try to leave.

Taranis is going to be furious . He grinned. He had always been more of the type to beg forgiveness than ask permission anyway. His uncle could berate him later.

Valentine breathed in and out, slow and deep, before dropping over the side of the cliff. Adrenaline and magic exploded through him, and he shifted into his dragon. There were no alarms, the invisibility glamor held, and Valentine didn't waste a second as he flew through the tight canyon.

He had spent the rest of the previous evening working with Yelena, perfecting each aspect of his plans and writing letters to various family members with instructions. It was his turn to save them, and he was more than ready for it.

It wasn't arrogance that made him confident. He trusted his family to do as he asked, and Yelena would make sure they didn't argue for too long.

Taranis's wards sizzled in warning as Valentine drew closer and closer. He had modified them after the attack and had grounded all the dragons of Mag Argatnél.

This is going to hurt , Valentine thought, and then sped up, wrapping a shield around him tighter and tighter.

He plunged headfirst into them, and agony ripped through him, the wards fighting to keep him inside of them.

He roared and lashed until a tear opened.

He shot through, the repairing wards ripping through his shield and burning the skin of his wings and back.

It hurt like he had been splashed with acid, but he kept flying, determined to get the job done.

The breaking of the wards would have alerted Taranis, and Valentine knew he didn't have any time to waste. The knights would be after him, and he could only hope that Yelena would intercept them in time. A few burns, he could live with.

Valentine didn't stop flying until the charred husk of Midir's fortress came into view.

Now that he had felt the distinct signature of Midir's magic through the token, he could sense it in the land around the blackened scar of earth and melted rock.

He landed in the middle of what remained of the walls.

Rain was falling, turning the ash into black slurry. Valentine shifted back into his human form and took the melted token from his pocket.

Focusing his magic, he reached into it and found the echo of Midir's power. He could see how it worked, how he had woven it together to serve as both a communicator and a means to open a portal wherever it was.

It was how he had been communicating with Afon and how they had sold out Yelena and Avallach's location weeks ago. Valentine ground his teeth together and tried not to think of it. He would get his revenge on that piece of shit soon enough.

Valentine pushed his magic into the token and felt a surprised jolt from the other end of it. He couldn't see Midir, but his presence flared up around him, like he was breathing on the back of his neck.

"King Midir, I would speak with you if you are willing," Valentine said, pulling out the cold bastard that was his easiest mask to put on.

"Sorcerer, this is a surprise," Midir's silky voice replied. "I thought that communicator had been destroyed."

"It was. I repaired it in the hope that we could talk privately together."

Valentine knew Midir wasn't dumb enough to just walk into a trap. He needed to reassure him that he was alone.

"You were right in the meeting when you said they would turn on me.

I shifted, and I am a three-headed dragon.

I don't know enough about Faerie politics to understand the meaning of this, but they were trying to keep me locked down.

I got through the wards, but they burned me badly.

It's not only my dragon that's the problem.

My magic has always frightened them. The potential of what I could do. "

"That is no surprise. They don't like competition, and another rare dragon that is also an alpha is definitely competition to Taranis. Especially now he has grown so old," Midir replied.

A cold prick of power touched Valentine's mind. Bas had helped him fortify his mind the night before, but he didn't want Midir to know just how locked down he was. He let him see the first layer of his mind.

"You are holding something back from me," Midir pressed, his magic feeling about .

"They won't let me claim my mate, Yelena. She is wild, but my dragon knows the truth of the bond. Taranis sees her as his ward and doesn't think I'm good enough for her," Valentine said, threading in some true emotion.

It wasn't Taranis who didn't think he was good enough. It was him. Midir wouldn't be able to tell the difference. With every word Valentine said, he sank in a truth amongst the lies.

"She is an animal, and yet you still want her?" Midir said, and his laughter was cruel. "She should be a pet, not a mate."

"Tell that to my dragon. It's an animal and doesn't know any different.

" Valentine let the resentment of everyone being afraid of his abilities bubble up inside of him.

"If you still want to work with me, I would be willing on two conditions.

One, you keep your mind games to yourself.

I'm going to help you. I don't need you yanking my strings like a puppet.

The second thing is that I get my mate. She is my price for helping you. "

"You would betray your own family for her?" Midir asked, with a softness that was so false that Valentine wanted to laugh.

"I would burn the world for her, like I burned this fortress that I'm standing in." That wasn't a lie in the slightest.

"Why would you want to join me, other than to get her back?"

"What the fuck do I care if you want your old barrow opening in Ireland?” Valentine replied, his tone nonchalant. “The fae come and go as they please. Your business is your own. I can even open it for you. I have a gift like yours, and Ireland is my home and in my blood."

Midir's surprise and delight registered through the link before he closed it down. "Interesting, but I have a final question for you."

"Ask away. I have not hidden what I want from you," Valentine replied.

"You are human, but you don't seem to have the same worries as Taranis when it comes to your kind. Aren't you worried I will hurt them?"

"My kind?" Valentine laughed, cold and bitter as the storm rolled in above him.

"You think humans won't want to hunt and kill me when they realize I can do magic and turn into a dragon?

I want my mate and I to be safe from both human hatred and the fae's criticism.

I'm more animal than human, and I know there is no place for us in either Faerie or Ireland. "

Midir's touch left the first layer of his mind, and Valentine carefully slid his walls back into place.

"Let's talk further, sorcerer. I believe we can help each other," Midir said, and the air charged with power. "I would drop that token if you don't want to lose a hand."

Valentine tossed the piece of silver into the black mud and stepped away from it. Light gathered in the air above it, and a doorway opened, revealing a warrior standing in an earthen tunnel.

"King Midir welcomes you to Brí Léith, and bids you join him in the throne room," the warrior said, his eyes glassy.

Valentine smiled as he bent down and picked up the token out of the ash. "Lead the way. I can't wait to meet your king."