Page 44

If Valentine hadn't been so caught up in his own head, he would have realized he was about to walk into a trap. The publican gave them a friendly nod from behind the bar as they walked in. The villagers were living amongst the fae comfortably now, and they knew the Greatdrakes boys on sight.

Valentine walked in ahead of Apollo, and when he spotted Bas and Reeve waiting in a booth, he knew he had been set up. He went to back up, but Apollo was there to poke at him.

"Get moving. They wanted to see you, too," Apollo insisted.

"So much for you needing an escort," Valentine growled. "You lying little shit."

"Too bad you're here now. We just want to have dinner, for fuck's sake."

Valentine knew he would never hear the end of it if he left, so he resigned himself to the inevitable.

"You look like shit," Reeve said as soon as Valentine sat down.

"Thanks. At least none of my clothes have holes in them."

Reeve gestured to the mahogany knit jumper he was wearing. It had a few pulled holes along the bottom. "It's supposed to look this way. It's vintage."

"You look like a hobo."

"You look like a vampire but not hot."

"Come on, guys, can we get drinks before you start bitching at each other," Bas asked, ever the peace keeper.

Valentine went to get up, but Apollo pushed him back down. "I'll get the drinks. Stay here."

"Where are the girls?" Valentine asked. It was rare for his brothers to go anywhere without their mates.

Reeve said, "Charlotte and Bridget are studying today with one of the fae healers. We haven't had a boys' night, just us, in ages."

"Could have something to do with you all disgustingly shacked up all of a sudden." Valentine needed Apollo to hurry the fuck up with their drinks.

Bas frowned at him. "You think we planned it to happen that way? Bridget was as much of a surprise to me as she was to everyone else."

"And let's face it, Lachie and Apollo were only a matter of time from the moment they met," Reeve added. "Least they will stop mooning over each other so much."

Valentine managed a smirk. "Doubt that."

"Here we go, boys," Apollo said, bringing over a tray of tall pint glasses and setting them down in front of them. "What are we talking about?"

Bas grinned over his pint. "You and Lachie mooning over each other."

"Can you blame me? He is literally perfect in every way," Apollo said matter-of-factly, and sat next to Valentine on the bench seats. Blocking him in, Valentine couldn't help but notice.

He lifted his beer and tapped it against his brother's, " Slainte ."

It only took two mouthfuls before they all turned to him with their big puppy dog eyes.

And here it comes…

"We are worried about you," Bas began. "You need to talk to us."

"There's nothing to talk about. I'm fine," Valentine insisted, and had another mouthful of his drink.

Apollo bumped his shoulder against his. "Come on, Val. We aren't dumb. You're having problems controlling your magic and getting it to settle again. You're not eating. You have to take an elixir every night to knock yourself out. You haven't said anything about what happened with Yelena."

"Because nothing happened with Yelena," Valentine snapped. His brothers raised their brows in an eerie, almost identical manner. Valentine rubbed at his forehead irritably. "I sent her a letter telling her I knew that she was Caelan, okay? She never sent anything back. That's it."

"What did you say in the letter?" Reeve asked, his expression shifting to a frown. "I mean, from what Charlotte has told me, Yelena's pretty easy going."

Valentine stared at the water condensing on the side of his glass so he wouldn't have to look at them. There was no way he was going to get away from them without a fight, and his brothers could and would gang up on him. He didn't want to hurt any of them, and he would if he were provoked.

"Nothing really. I told her that I knew she had been pretending to be Caelan and that was about it," he said, and shrugged.

"I also said I didn't know how we could move past it because I can't trust her.

That's all true. She lied to me, and now it'll always be in the back of my head when I talk to her.

None of that matters anyway because she never wrote back, as I said.

She didn't even try to defend herself. Nothing. "

Bas sighed. "Oh, Val."

"Don't pity me. I was only trying to be honest, something she never was," Valentine replied. He didn't remember when he last ate, and the alcohol began to buzz through him. Shit.

"She only gave you a different one of her names. The rest wasn't a lie," Apollo pointed out. "You trusted her enough as Caelan to get her advice about magic that helped you save me and all those prisoners. You were a good team."

"I know...I did thank her for that. I'm not a total asshole," Valentine said, and drank more. Gods, he was going to need a hell of a lot more booze if they were going to force him to talk about this.

Reeve snorted. "Just 80% asshole. She was always curious about you, and you used to look at her like she was infectious or something. I'm surprised she wrote to you at all."

"You all seem to be forgetting that she saw me and thought I was a dark mage, tackled me, and held a blade to my throat!

She immediately assumed I was going to start sacrificing baby kittens or something.

She bloody stalked me when I came into the same vicinity as her.

She only stopped because Charlotte convinced her I wasn't some fucking dark sorcerer," Valentine spat out, the alcohol singing in his veins now.

"She judged me before I even said hello.

So fuck you all for acting like I'm the only asshole here.

Her ideas about magic are way more darker than mine, and just because she's got all that honey hair and those big pretty eyes, you all think I'm the villain and she's an angel. "

His brothers stared at him again, like he had completely lost it. Maybe he had. Maybe this was the beginning of the end. He didn't care anymore if it was.

"I mean, she also licked your blood off your neck when she cut you that first time. Hell of a meet-cute if you ask me," Apollo said, the side of his mouth twitching.

Bas swallowed a laugh. "I had forgotten about that."

"I hadn't," Valentine said into his glass, fighting the urge to rub his thumb over the slight scar that remained there. She had marked him, and it twisted him up inside late at night. He had thought about the feel of her tongue on his skin a lot, too. Far more than he should have.

Just like he always thought about how they had worked together to help heal Taranis after the battle with his former pupil.

Yelena had been holding back and only using the healing side of her magic.

Valentine knew she had been hiding parts of herself.

He had never said anything about it, because she would have known he was doing the same thing.

"I still think you guys can get past the Caelan thing," Apollo insisted.

"I don't know why I would want to, or why I should even care."

Apollo pulled on Valentine's ear. "Because you liked her, idiot. You were grinning like a fox every time you talked about Caelan. It's still her. Even that name is one of hers! You could see it like it was a way to break the ice, and you can carry on being pen pals or whatever."

"I don't know why you're all so invested in this," Valentine said, rubbing at the knot in his jaw.

Reeve's eyes went soft. "We care because you had a friend who understood you, Val. We all know we can only meet you halfway. Even Dad can't always keep up with you. Yelena can. Even better, she can challenge you. You haven't really been challenged in years."

Food arrived in time to save Valentine from having to reply to that. It was like Reeve's words had stuck another blade in his chest.

"Just answer us one thing," Bas said, waving a chip about. "Do you miss the letters?"

Valentine didn't look up from where he was slicing his own chips into bite-sized pieces. "If I say yes, will you all shut up about it?"

"Probably not," Apollo said.

Valentine wasn't hungry, but he put a chip in his mouth and chewed dutifully. "Yes, I miss the letters. I thought she would have responded to my last one. Given me some kind of explanation or told me off at the very least. But she hasn't."

"Owain did say she was off in the wilds with Avallach. Maybe the letter got lost," Reeve pointed out. "A million things could have happened. Write to her again."

Valentine shook his head. "The magic we used to send the letters meant they would go wherever we were. It's not like they are getting delivered by a third party."

"Maybe she's just giving you some time to cool off. She's bound to come back to England one day, and you two can start again then," Apollo replied.

Valentine hummed noncommittally and ate another mouthful of food so he didn't have to reply. They were about to order another round of pints when Taranis came into the pub with Quinn, her long red hair free and wild from the wind.

"You invited them to this intervention as well?" Valentine huffed. He didn't need a lecture from Taranis, either. Yelena was one of his favorite surrogate children after all.

"We didn't tell them where we were going," Bas replied.

"Hey guys...what's up?" Apollo asked casually when they reached their table.

"What's up is you assholes are meant to stay inside the castle grounds," Quinn said, before Taranis could open his mouth. She put her hands on generous hips and glared at them. "I shouldn't have to hunt you guys down like naughty teenagers."

"So why are you?" Valentine shot back. "We are fine."

Quinn's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, you're really fine, Val. Fucking hell, you look like a vampire who hasn't been feeding."

"What the fuck is with you guys and vampires right now?" he muttered.

"What my beloved is trying to say is you boys could have left a fucking note," Taranis said, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Val, we need to talk."

"Sorry. Can't. Wedged in. What can you do?" Valentine said, gesturing at Apollo blocking him.

Taranis grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat on it. "Fine, we will do it here in front of everyone."

"I'm staying too." Quinn sat on Taranis's thigh, and he dropped an arm around her without comment. Valentine had rarely seen her use a chair unless she had to since mating with Taranis.

Valentine took Reeve's half-finished pint and swapped it for his empty glass. His little brother didn't try to stop him.

"I know you have had some mixed feelings about Yelena in the last fortnight, but I need to ask you seriously: Have you heard from her?" Taranis asked, his voice steady.

"I sent her another letter after I found out the truth." Valentine had a big mouthful of his stolen Guinness. "She never replied, and before you start, it was a polite letter, all things considered. She never bothered to acknowledge that she got it."

Taranis let out a long sigh. "Fuck."

"It's going to be okay, love," Quinn said, rubbing his arm.

"Write to her yourself. I'm sure she showed you the fire magic for the messaging," Valentine replied. "It's me she doesn't want to talk to."

"I've tried writing her for weeks now," Taranis admitted. He took Apollo's pint and drained what was left. "Yelena and Avallach are missing."