"Me?" His dark brows shot up. "I'm better than you."
Yelena's lips twitched into a smile. "That's not hard."
Valentine sat up and ran his hands through his dark hair and over his face. Bandages covered his arms, and Yelena could see them through the open V of his shirt.
"You arehurt," she said, trying to keep her voice low and steady, afraid of frightening him away.
"It's nothing. I'll just... I need to go get Charlotte now you're awake," Valentine said, getting out of the chair. He gathered all the drawings quickly and headed for the door.
"Valentine?" Yelena said, making him halt, his hand resting on the door frame. "Thank you."
He didn't turn. "I couldn't leave a friend like that. Wearestill friends, aren't we?"
Yelena swallowed hard. "I really hope so."
Valentine knocked his knuckles on the stone. "I've got to find Charlotte. Don't go anywhere."
Yelena bit back a laugh. "Dick."
Valentine grinned over his shoulder, and then he was gone.
The dragon side of Yelena preened and said the one word that it had said every time Yelena had a chance to glance at that so rare smile of his.Mate.
Yelena wiped at her wet eyes and gave the same response she always did.We aren't like them. I don't think we wild ones mate the same way.
The dragon ignored her. It knew what it was. Whohewas. They were the opposite of each other and the same. He was the only one capable of handling what she had buried deep inside of her. Like she was the only one who could handle what was inside of him. They were matched even if they weren't mates.
Yelena had managed to compose herself by the time Charlotte appeared. She smiled with relief when she looked at Yelena.
"Thank the gods. I was starting to worry that you weren't going to wake up," she said in her crisp, no-nonsense way. Yelena loved Charlotte.
"Thank you for coming into Faerie to look after me," she replied.
Charlotte pushed her glasses up her nose. "You can thank Valentine for that. He wasn't going to let any of the healers anywhere near you," she said, and sat on the edge of the bed.
Yelena licked her dry lips. "Really? That's a bit silly. We have good healers here."
"But none that Valentine trusts. Especially not any that the feral dragon version of Val trusts. He wouldn't let you go until Taranis came to Ireland to get Reeve and me." Charlotte shook her head. "Stupid men. He got frostbite for it and was still hovering about like someone was going to jump out and assassinate you in your sleep."
Yelena blushed, and Charlotte was kind enough not to mention it. "How's Avallach?" she asked.
"Sore and grumpy. A few broken bones are healing, and he's got bad dehydration like you. Mostly, he is pissed off."
Yelena sniffed back her tears. "And Valentine's frostbite? I saw the bandages."
"He is healing and is also pissed off, but that could just be him. Everyone has been giving him some space. Emyr and Owain are a little in awe of him," Charlotte said, and got Yelena to sit up and put more pillows behind her. She helped her drink some water, and Yelena felt steadier.
"It's a hard thing to impress those two," Yelena commented.
"Apparently, Valentine went feral and shifted without warning. They couldn't stop him and couldn't control him. He turned the whole place you were being held into ashes," Charlotte said, a concerned note in her usual calm voice. "Even the stone somehow. Like a volcano had destroyed the lot."
"Magnificent," Yelena whispered, just imagining it.
Charlotte's brow rose. "That is one word for it."
"He scared the tar out of them, is what he did," Taranis said, standing in the doorway of her room.
Yelena beamed at him. "Hello, Master."
