"And Apollo kindly sent some healing elixirs that are speeding things up," Yelena added.
Valentine finally dared to look at her properly. Her wounded arm was in a sling that was bound to her chest. She still looked tired, but there was a glow about her cheeks that hadn't been there when she had first woken. It was hard for him to look at anything else when she was in the room. It had always been a problem he had struggled with. He tried to focus and not get lost in the blue sea of her eyes.
"Yes, about those elixirs. I'd like to know what my brother put in them," he said, poorly hiding his annoyance.
"Whatever it was, it has helped," Yelena said with a slight shrug and sipped her wine.
"You still shouldn't be out of bed yet," Valentine grumbled, his hand clenching under the table at her nonchalant attitude for her own well-being.
"I'm able to judge what my body is capable of, thank you, Valentine," Yelena replied, a flash of heat in her eyes.
Valentine's dragon twitched, sensing the alpha in her—a challenge.
"Have some wine, Val. You look like you need it," Taranis suggested, sliding a glass toward him.
Valentine forced a tight smile and drained his entire goblet. Reeve elbowed him in warning. He took some deep breaths.
Calm down. She's not challenging you,Valentine tried to tell the dragon rolling to the surface.
Pin her down, the beast insisted.
The rest of the table went on talking as Valentine shut his eyes and did his breathing exercises again. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Yelena was watching him, her head tilted a little, studying him. No one else seemed to notice the war he was fighting except for her. She held his gaze, and the dragon finally relented. Then he felt like he could breathe again.
"Valentine?" Quinn said, making him snap his attention to her.
"Yes, Auntie?"
"I asked if something was wrong with the food," she said, her brow rising.
"No?" Valentine replied, trying to hide his confusion.
Quinn's red smile widened. "Then I suggest you start eating. You are becoming gaunt, and I don't want Cosimo getting snippy that I don't take care of his boys when you visit."
Valentine couldn't remember when he had last eaten. He knew he had put things in his mouth at some point. He didn't know when.
To make them happy, he grabbed some bread, vegetables, and roasted meat. He cut them up into small pieces while he tried to focus on what everyone was talking about.
"Midir knew where to set a trap for you, Avallach. Did they happen to taunt you and tell you how they knew where you were?" Vidar asked.
He hadn't spent a huge amount of time in England with the others, but Valentine liked him. He had a braid almost as long asAvallach's, but it was as black as a raven's wing except for a few silver streaks, and he was usually the strong, silent type. Valentine tended to like people who didn't babble all the time.
Avallach finished chewing and said, "Cathal was quiet about that when he was using his fists to tenderize my insides. We think there has to be a spy somewhere here at the court. It couldn't have been anyone who came with us because they all died in the ambush. Yelena, did you see anyone else in your vision?"
The piece of meat Valentine was eating lodged in his throat. He forced himself to swallow before asking, "What vision would that be?"
Yelena looked to Taranis. The king leaned back in his chair.
"Might as well tell them,” he said. “That way, we are all on the same page. We need to figure out how to move forward from this, and if we should retaliate more than what Valentine already did to the fort. As it stands, we are one fight apiece, and I don't want this to escalate to a full war."
"What damn vision?" Valentine repeated.
Yelena didn't look at him once as she spoke. She recounted everything she had seen before they had been ambushed, not even flinching when she got to the part about Valentine being their target all along.
"Are you fucking kidding me with this shit?" Valentine exploded once she was done.
"Val..." Reeve began.
"No. Don't fucking 'Val' me like I am overreacting right now." Valentine tossed out some power across the table, making Yelena jump and then glare at him at last. "What were you thinking? I was in the human world, where Midir could never have reached me. Why would you risk your life for this? You still think I'm going to go evil and change sides?"
