"You were right in the meeting when you said they would turn on me. I shifted, and I am a three-headed dragon. I don't know enough about Faerie politics to understand the meaning of this, but they were trying to keep me locked down. I got through the wards, but they burned me badly. It's not only my dragon that's the problem. My magic has always frightened them. The potential of what I could do."
"That is no surprise. They don't like competition, and another rare dragon that is also an alpha isdefinitelycompetition to Taranis. Especially now he has grown so old," Midir replied.
A cold prick of power touched Valentine's mind. Bas had helped him fortify his mind the night before, but he didn't want Midir to know just how locked down he was. He let him see the first layer of his mind.
"You are holding something back from me," Midir pressed, his magic feeling about.
"They won't let me claim my mate, Yelena. She is wild, but my dragon knows the truth of the bond. Taranis sees her as his ward and doesn't think I'm good enough for her," Valentine said, threading in some true emotion.
It wasn't Taranis who didn't think he was good enough. It was him. Midir wouldn't be able to tell the difference. With every word Valentine said, he sank in a truth amongst the lies.
"She is an animal, and yet you still want her?" Midir said, and his laughter was cruel. "She should be a pet, not a mate."
"Tell that to my dragon. It's an animal and doesn't know any different." Valentine let the resentment of everyone being afraid of his abilities bubble up inside of him. "If you still want to work with me, I would be willing on two conditions. One, you keep your mind games to yourself. I'm going to help you. I don't need you yanking my strings like a puppet. The second thing is that I get my mate. She is my price for helping you."
"You would betray your own family for her?" Midir asked, with a softness that was so false that Valentine wanted to laugh.
"I would burn the world for her, like I burned this fortress that I'm standing in." That wasn't a lie in the slightest.
"Why would you want to join me, other than to get her back?"
"What the fuck do I care if you want your old barrow opening in Ireland?” Valentine replied, his tone nonchalant. “The fae come and go as they please. Your business is your own. I can even open it for you. I have a gift like yours, and Ireland is my home and in my blood."
Midir's surprise and delight registered through the link before he closed it down. "Interesting, but I have a final question for you."
"Ask away. I have not hidden what I want from you," Valentine replied.
"You are human, but you don't seem to have the same worriesas Taranis when it comes to your kind. Aren't you worried I will hurt them?"
"My kind?" Valentine laughed, cold and bitter as the storm rolled in above him. "You think humans won't want to hunt and kill me when they realize I can do magic and turn into a dragon? I want my mate and I to be safe from both human hatred and the fae's criticism. I'm more animal than human, and I know there is no place for us in either Faerie or Ireland."
Midir's touch left the first layer of his mind, and Valentine carefully slid his walls back into place.
"Let's talk further, sorcerer. I believe we can help each other," Midir said, and the air charged with power. "I would drop that token if you don't want to lose a hand."
Valentine tossed the piece of silver into the black mud and stepped away from it. Light gathered in the air above it, and a doorway opened, revealing a warrior standing in an earthen tunnel.
"King Midir welcomes you to Brí Léith, and bids you join him in the throne room," the warrior said, his eyes glassy.
Valentine smiled as he bent down and picked up the token out of the ash. "Lead the way. I can't wait to meet your king."
37
Valentine followed the warrior through the damp dirt tunnel. It was lit only by the torch that his guide was carrying, and Valentine tried not to think about being buried alive.
He could feel the magic all around him, twisting the paths, trying to confuse whoever was inside them.
It's just another glamor, his dragon said, and Valentine's eyes lit up with the beast's vision. He could see now that they were walking in a circular route, around and around again.
"I thought we were meant to be having a meeting with Midir, not playing bullshit games," Valentine said.
The warrior ahead laughed, and when he turned his head, Valentine saw that the glassiness in his eyes was gone, replaced by the same green glow as the king's.
"Midir, why are you toying about with puppets?"
"A simple test to see how closely you were paying attention," Midir said through the warrior's mouth before the green left his eyes, and it was back to looking like a stoned zombie.
What the fuck is he doing to his people?Valentine kept his curiosity and disgust from his expression. Yelena had tried to warn him about how Midir fucked with people’s heads, so why shouldn't that extend to everyone in his kingdom?
