Taranis and Owain had been right, though. Valentine would never have taken her seriously and written to her if he had known it washer. She was just so...shiny and perfect. He had mockingly called her Baby Girl Galadriel. Maybe like the elf queen, she had a darker side that she hid well from others. He knew all about hiding a dark side; he just never suspected she was doing the same.
Valentine hissed a long list of Gaelic curses under his breath. There was no point in thinking about her because he had blown it. He had lost his temper and shoved her away because that was what he did with everyone who tried to get close to him.
Yelena hadn't replied to his last letter either. He didn't blame her. Under different circumstances, he would have let the whole thing roll off his shoulders and been done with it.
Unfortunately, the dreams had started as soon as Yelena's letters had stopped.
Valentine wasn't a stranger to bad dreams or premonitions, but it was rare when both combined. So rare that it had only happened like this once before.
Valentine had been an awkward teenager, desperately trying to understand and harness his magic. He hadn’t known that the dream he had of his mother Lisa's car accident was going to be a premonition—not at the time. It was the first time anything like that had happened. He'd always suffered from night terrors, so he had never told anyone. He’d dismissed it, like always, as just another bout of anxiety.
When his mother died, it had happened exactly the way Valentine had dreamed. He had never told his father or brothers about it, but he had carried the guilt over it ever since. It had eaten a hole inside of his chest and lived there to the point that the pain was like an old friend.
Now Valentine was dreaming about Yelena covered in ice like a fucked-up Sleeping Beauty. He knew she was with Avallach,and he would be keeping her safe. Hell, Valentine knew she could take care of herself without any help from Avallach. Their correspondence had proven the depth of her knowledge on defensive magic because she had advised him how to use his own powers to protect Apollo.
There would be no reason for her to be curled up and frozen in a cage. It was just his fucked sense of loneliness that was making her unattainable even in his dreams.
"Fucking bullshit," he muttered.
"What is, big brother?"
Valentine's hand slipped, and the tattoo gun created the wrong line. "Goddamn it, Apollo! Don't sneak up on me when I'm tattooing."
Apollo held his hands in the air in surrender. "Dude, I called your name three times, and you ignored me. Your brooding has gotten so deep, it has reached the depth of sensory deprivation."
Valentine turned off the gun and wiped the blood and ink off his arm. "It's fine. The stupid sigil wasn't working anyway. What do you want?"
"I'm taking you down to the pub for some dinner, that's what I am doing," Apollo said, putting his hands on his hips. His blood hair was carefully brushed, and he was dressed to go out. He hadn't seen him look so neat in weeks.
"Can't Lachie take you?"
"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 tomy 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.
