Cosimo slowly released him but took Valentine's face in his hands. "You should have known better than to attempt that kind of magic alone."
"I know. I'm sorry, but it worked," Valentine replied.
Cosimo helped him sit up properly but kept a protective arm around his shoulders. Usually, Valentine would have bristled at the fussing, but he was shaken, and his father's bulk and the pressure of his arm grounded him.
Taranis pulled up a chair and sat down. He eyed the scattering of letters around the bed. "Tell me what you learned, lad."
"They are in a fortress. It was further north than their last camp. They both still live, but I didn't see any of the others that you sent with them. There are at least a hundred enemy warriors there," Valentine replied. He swallowed back the panic that was clawing its way up from his guts. "Yelena has frozen herself in a cage. She... She's missing a hand."
Taranis's face went gray because, despite what Cosimo had said, hedidknow what it was like to be a father. Yelena hadalways been the closest thing to a child he could get, and his enemies had her. "Those fucking bastards. I need to go to Mag Argatnél," he said, his eyes burning with dragon fire.
"Yes, but you aren't going alone," Valentine replied. His dragon shimmered just under the surface, too, refusing to go back into the darkness. "I am coming with you, and I won't stop until I have her back."
Taranis glanced at Cosimo, who still looked pale and worried. "I don't think…"
"Dad can't stop me. No one can. I either go with you into Faerie, Uncle Taran, or I go alone. I will make them pay a thousandfold for hurting her." Valentine could taste fire and blood, and his dragon said through his mouth, "I'm going to burn their world to ash, and they won't be able to stop me. Neither can you."
Taranis looked at him for a long time before nodding once. "Get your gear. We leave in an hour. "
6
Twenty minutes later, Valentine paused on the stairs, his bag over his shoulder, as he watched Cosimo approach Taranis in front of the great doors. He moved behind a statue, not wanting to intrude.
"I'm sorry," Cosimo said and ran his hands through his black and silver hair. "I snapped at you like a bastard before I could think, and you didn't deserve it."
"I can see where your sons get that strong streak of asshole they all have." Taranis sighed dramatically and pulled him into a hug. "Think nothing of it, little brother. It's not only your sons who are contending with their dragons waking up."
"I feel like I'm losing my mind," Cosimo admitted. "I've never felt so overprotective of my sons, and I feel like I'm failing them because I can't help them with this. I can't even help myself."
Valentine hadn't heard him talk like that since their mother had died. He didn't know how to help his father either. Not then, and not now.
Taranis rubbed Cosimo's back. "It's not only up to you anymore. The boys are handling their dragons themselves, andtheir mates are helping them. Maybe you need to focus on letting others help you too."
"I know. I just…I don't know how," Cosimo replied. He looked up at the fae king. "You will look after Valentine?"
"Of course, but I have a feeling he's going to be looking after us instead. He's got power like I've never felt before. It's so deep, so…" Taranis struggled for the word and gave up. "It might be a good thing for him to be in Faerie for a while. It's safer for that kind of magic."
"Why are we spying?" Quinn whispered behind Valentine, making him jump. She gave him a wicked grin and poked him in the side. "What's going on?"
"Dad is apologizing for being a dick. Uncle Taran looks stressed," Valentine said, adding, "I didn't want to interrupt."
Quinn nodded and threaded her arm around Valentine's. "Taran is more than stressed. I love him to distraction, but he needs to go to Faerie to do his dragon king thing and go on a rampage or something. This beef with Midir was already pissing him off, but to take the baby of his knights? Midir has got some big, big balls going after Yelena, that's for damn sure."
Valentine forced his jaw to unclench. "I suppose that if he couldn't get to you, then Yelena would be his next weakest spot."
"She's not a weak spot. She's the strongest warrior he has, despite the innocence she sometimes projects. It makes me wonder how the hell she got taken in the first place," Quinn replied. Valentine had wondered that too. A hundred warriors, evenfaewarriors, were no match for two dragons. She tugged at his arm. "Come on, they look like they have finished their heart-to-heart."
They made their way downstairs, loud enough that Taranis and Cosimo were warned they were coming. Valentine accepted the hug from his father and tried not to worry about him.
"Try and get some sleep, old man. You're looking stressed," Valentine said, patting him on the back.
Cosimo frowned at him. "Maybe stop stressing me out then. Take care of yourself. Listen to the knights and don't do anything too reckless."
"I'll try," Valentine replied. That was about as much of a promise as he could make. He had fought for control his whole life, and now it was unraveling.
Perhaps Faeriewouldbe a better place for him when he finally lost what precious control he had left. The other dragons would be able to control him if he were in danger of hurting anyone. Better they do it than his family, who would hesitate to put him down. The knights wouldn't.
Valentine didn't hear the rest of the goodbyes, too lost in his own spiralling thoughts. He couldn't stop seeing that cursed cage hanging over the battlements. He pushed his power down as it burned his fingertips.
