"Fucking hell," he murmured, staring up at the clouds.
Yelena rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her hand. "Sooo, did you know you had three heads?"
Valentine covered his face with his hands. "Gods no. Who the fuck has three heads?"
"You do, apparently. I've heard legends of three-headed dragons but never seen one for myself." He hadn't removed his hands from his face. She pinched his nipple, making him hiss. "You just can't help being the super special and unique one, can you?"
Valentine slid his hands so he could glare at her. "You are one to talk. Your dragon is…"
"Oh, no. We are talking about you right now. You made the knights panic and shift. You made Reeve shift, too."
"I did? Fuck. Was he okay?" Valentine sat up, and she grabbed his hand to pull him back down.
"Taranis was with him, and he seemed fine. His scales arecoppery gold like an autumn leaf," Yelena said, and he sank back to the grass.
"Shit. He's going to be furious. They all are. I scared everyone..."
"Surprised. Not scared. If Taranis stayed in his fae form, it was because he knew there was no threat in you. He wanted you to leave so he could stabilize Reeve, but that was all." Yelena placed a hand on his chest. "You shifted back when you needed to. You are more in sync with your dragon than you think you are."
"Maybe we were both eager to catch you," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Maybe I made sure I was excellent prey," Yelena replied and pulled a face at him.
Valentine grinned. "If you say so. Now, are we going to practice some magic with your hand before we need to head back, or are we going to just lie here?"
Yelena tucked her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. "My hand is fine. I only said that so I could bring you here without everyone else." She yelped when he dug his fingers into her ribs, tickling her.
"You sneaky little thing! I thought this whole damn exercise was to get help with your hand!" Valentine growled as she giggled.
Yelena pinned him down and ran her finger down the length of his nose. "Silly male. This whole damn exercise was to help you get over shifting and to let your dragon out. If I had made it about you, you would still be grumbling back in the city."
Valentine only stared at her. "I think everyone should stop worrying about whether I'm going to turn mad and into some dark sorcerer and start worrying about your clever schemes," he huffed finally.
Yelena fluttered her lashes. "But I'm only using my clever schemes on you, so they won't care."
"Pure evil," Valentine said, running his fingers up her spine. "But fair is fair. I showed you my dragon, and while we are out here, I want to see yours."
Yelena kissed him and sat up. "Okay, but once I show you, you are not allowed to freak out on me."
Valentine pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yelena, you just watched me turn into a bloody three-headed dragon, what could possibly be worse than that?"
Yelena only laughed. "Oh, so many things, my sorcerer."
25
Valentine pulled up his pants but left his shirt off. The sun was beating down on him, and if it was cold, he didn't notice because fire coursed through his veins. He should have been freaking out about his dragon having three heads, but Yelena wasn't worried, and her calm acceptance was keeping him stable.
Valentine touched the scars on his chest, a feeling too big building inside of him. He thought his dragon would take over, that there would be no more Valentine, just a creature that could wield too much power.
For the first time in a long time, Valentine felt like just maybe he wasn't going to lose his mind after all.
It had a lot to do with the belief of the female beside him. He had one memory from the shift, and that was the single focus on her. He didn't know what was happening to him. He had never been this relaxed and easy with anyone.
Yelena seemed to know things intuitively about him, like whenhe didn't want to be touched or when he was spiraling in his own mind.
She is the balance. That thought kept returning to him because he could feel the truth of it. He didn't feel unsteady when he was around her because she was on the other side of the scales, keeping him even.
Yelena got to her feet, completely comfortable in her naked skin. She held out a hand, and he took it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
