"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. His hands must have been off you for five seconds."
Apollo shot him the finger. "Cover that shit up and let’s go. I'm not allowed to leave the castle without an escort thanks 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 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."
2
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 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 peacekeeper.
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."
