Page 43

Blood, ink, and magic stained Valentine Greatdrakes's arm.

He sat at one of the work counters in the laboratory, his needles and inks set out like neat soldiers in front of him.

There were sketches of sigils, and another circular dragon design that he had in his head, but he didn't know what for.

Sketching designs usually helped him think, but the old tricks were no longer working.

After Apollo's recent kidnapping and mating to Lachlan Ironwood, Taranis had politely but forcefully demanded that the Greatdrakes spend some 'quality' time in England.

Uncle Taran had his own worries, and having the Greatdrakes amongst the fae while their dragons were awakening would lessen one of them.

He made sure at least one dragon was present in case any of them decided to spontaneously go scaly.

After Bas and Apollo transformed, they all knew it was a matter of time before Reeve, Cosimo, and Valentine followed. Or so they thought.

Valentine saw the whole thing as a kind of loving imprisonment in the way only family could demand of you.

He didn't mind it so much because Kian had a good library, an excellent team of kitchen brownies, and lots of space.

The biggest downside of the castle was having to share the lab because all of his brothers had different standards when it came to cleanliness.

That morning, Valentine had taken one look at the utter chaos Apollo and Reeve had left it in, and his eye had twitched. He hadn't bothered to use the magic that was still burning in his fingertips. He needed to use up the restless energy coursing through him and had rolled up his sleeves.

Three hours later, the whole place was gleaming and arranged, every beaker and test tube polished and in its place.

Not so deep down, Valentine knew that his OCD tendencies flared when his anxiety did, and that his current obsessive cleaning had everything to do with the problem of Yelena Caelan Tuadach.

The sigil Valentine was working on his arm had been one that had locked down part of his magic. He had released it to help Apollo in France, and now patches of skin cut through the design where the threads of power had risen out of him.

He was halfway through mending the sigil, and he already knew it wasn't going to work. He had let the magic out, and it wouldn't be tricked the same way into going back in.

A treacherous little voice inside him whispered, ' ' Caelan would know what to do. " It was like shoving a needle under his fingernails whenever he thought about it.

Yelena had pretended to be 'Caelan' just to make friends with him. He had found out, and it had hurt him in ways he didn't fully understand and didn't want to think about.

After Valentine had cooled down from the sudden stabbing feeling of betrayal, all that was left was a kind of horrible loneliness that had never been there before.

What does it say about you that she had to go to such a measure just to talk to you?

Taranis and Owain had been right, though.

Valentine would never have taken her seriously and written to her if he knew it was her.

She was just so...shiny and perfect. He had mockingly called her Baby Girl Galadriel.

Maybe like the elf queen, she had a darker side that she hid well from others.

He knew all about hiding a dark side; he just never suspected she was doing the same.

Valentine hissed a long list of Gaelic curses under his breath. There was no point thinking about her because he had blown it. He had lost his temper and shoved her away because that's what he did with everyone who tried to get close to him.

Yelena hadn't replied to his last letter either. He didn't blame her. Under different circumstances, he would have let the whole thing roll off his shoulders and been done with it.

Unfortunately, the dreams had started as soon as Yelena's letters had stopped.

Valentine wasn't a stranger to bad dreams or premonitions, but it was rare when both combined. So rare that it had only happened like this once before.

Valentine had been an awkward teenager desperately trying to understand and harness his magic.

He didn't know that the dream he had of his mother Lisa's car accident was going to be a premonition at the time.

It was the first time it had happened. He'd always had night terrors, so he had never told anyone. Dismissed it as anxiety, like always.

When his mother died, it had happened exactly the way Valentine had dreamed. He had never told his father or brothers about it, but he had carried the guilt over it ever since. It had eaten a hole inside of his chest and lived there to the point that the pain was like an old friend.

Now Valentine was dreaming about Yelena covered in ice like a fucked up Sleeping Beauty.

He knew she was with Avallach, and he would be keeping her safe.

Hell, Valentine knew she could take care of herself without any help from Avallach.

Their correspondence had proven the depth of her knowledge on defensive magic because she had advised him how to use his own powers to protect Apollo.

There would be no reason for her to be curled up and frozen in a cage. It was just his fucked sense of loneliness that was making her unattainable even in his dreams.

"Fucking bullshit," he muttered.

"What is, big brother?"

Valentine's hand slipped, and the tattoo gun created the wrong line. "God damn it, Apollo! Don't sneak up on me when I'm tattooing."

Apollo held his hands in the air in surrender. "Dude, I called your name three times, and you ignored me. Your brood has gotten so deep it has reached the depth of sensory deprivation."

Valentine turned off the gun and wiped the blood and ink off his arm. "It's fine. The stupid sigil wasn't working anyway. What do you want?"

"I'm taking you down to the pub for some dinner, that's what I am doing," Apollo said, putting his hands on his hips. His blood hair was carefully brushed, and he was dressed to go out. He hadn't seen him look so neat in weeks.

"Can't Lachie take you?"

"He's ducked back to Ireland for the night to take care of some stuff with Kenna, so you have the honor of taking me out instead."

Valentine smirked. "I wondered why your hair looked so neat. Should have guessed Lachie was away because his hands were off you for five seconds."

Apollo shot him the finger. "Cover that shit up and lets go. I'm not allowed to leave the castle without an escort due to my super cool new dragon powers, and I want to spend some time with my big brother."

"I don't feel like company," Valentine grumbled.

"Do you ever? Look, I know you're broken up about the Yelena thing. And I get it, I do." Apollo rested a hand on Valentine's shoulder and added sincerely, "But I also don't care because I'm bored and want to go to the pub."

Valentine knocked his hand away. "I'm not broken up, I am busy."

"If you don't come and have dinner and a pint with me at the pub, I won't give you any more sleeping elixir. So help me god, I will cut your moody ass off from all of the good things I make for you and I will stay here and annoy you so you can't work anyway."

Valentine wrapped his arm so he wouldn't bleed on his shirt. "You're such an asshole."

"Yes, I'm the worst person in the world for wanting to take my sad big brother out for a drink," came the sarcastic reply.

Apollo brushed some invisible lint off Valentine's shoulder and pushed back the lock of dark hair that had fallen in front of his face. "You'll do. Let's go."