"No more secrets, Val," Cosimo said softly while his other sons carried on.
Valentine couldn't promise that. "I really did think it was my fault. I was only trying to protect the family."
"And that was never your job. It was mine," Cosimo growled. "I failed you boys after Lisa's death. I fucked you all up more than her death ever did."
"That's not true. You lost your mate," Reeve said, silencing Apollo and Bas. "If something happened to Charlotte, I don't think I'd be able to live with myself."
"Don't say that," Cosimo snapped. "You think I would be able to handle losing any of you? This family has had enough death and loss of mates. Yes, it was horrible, and I lost my fucking mind, but I was also a father and should have been there for you."
"You couldn't even be there for yourself, Dad," Valentine said, and his father flinched. "We were all old enough to take care of each other and Reeve. None of us resents what happened then. We didn't know how to help you, but we didn't blame you."
"Bloody hell, I'm going to start crying again," Cosimo complained. "I am sorry, boys. No one could have helped me understand any of it, and I'm so grateful that you all have Taranis and the other dragons to help you if something happens to me."
"Nothing is happening to you," Apollo said, poorly hiding his panic. He shut his mouth for a second before mischief sprang in his golden eyes. "Except maybe finding another mate."
"You are still old enough to get grounded," Cosimo warned, making the rest of them laugh.
"He's right, Dad. You might have another one out there like Taranis and his dragons said," Bas argued, making Cosimo curse in Italian.
"Boys, I love you and the fact that you all have found your mates, but I'm too old to be dealing with that kind of nonsense. My dragon will cause a shift when it is ready to. I don't need, or want, another mate," he said firmly. "If I wanted to remarry, I would have done so by now. I tried dating. It was terrible. Dragon or not, sometimes there is only one person out there for us."
Valentine raised a brow. "When did you try to date?"
"None of your business. It wasn't for me. I'm happy being a bachelor," Cosimo said sternly.
"You are now, but what if you come across someone you really like again?" Apollo argued. "You know we wouldn't care, don't you? You deserve to have someone, too."
Cosimo got up. "And that's enough of this conversation for me."
"Dad, we are being serious," Reeve said, crossing his arms. "We wouldn't care if you wanted to remarry or mate or whatever. We know it wouldn't mean you loved Mom any less, but she wouldn't want you to be alone either."
Cosimo let out a tired sigh. "Thank you for your opinions, but I'm content with how my life is now. I'm not lonely. I'm happy. Now, I suggest we all get some sleep."
"Ah, huh, way to deflect the conversation, now it's about you," Valentine teased, but got to his feet too. He felt lightheaded, like a massive weight had finally been lifted from him.
"Val, a final piece of advice?" Cosimo said, making him pause. "Don't wait too long to tell Yelena that she is your mate. This fight with Midir is going to be horrible and messy before it is over. Don't go into another fight with it weighing on your heart."
Valentine hugged him. "Thanks, Dad. I love you."
"I love you, too." Cosimo held him tighter. "Don't ever hurt yourself like that again, or I'll be tempted to kill you myself. I have never once thought that the family madness would claim you."
"I'm starting to think there was never a family madness," Valentine replied and let him go. "Maybe it was just their dragons all along."
Cosimo's face fell. "Gods, you could be right. Something for us to look into when this mess with Midir is over."
"Count me in," Valentine replied, and he smiled his first unguarded smile in decades. He turned to Bas, his plan taking a better shape in his head. "Hold on, baby brother. I have some questions I need to ask you."
34
Yelena didn't like leaving Valentine, as much as she knew it was one fight he had to face alone.
Lachlan and Bridget were good company, but it didn't take Yelena long to tire of people and make her excuses to slip away. It wasn't that she didn't like them. She adored all of them. It wasn't their fault that her mind needed space and quiet to think.
Yelena went back to her tower, stripped out of her uncomfortable clothes, and put on a long silk robe. She lay on one of her couches and turned the melted silver token around in her fingers, studying it and probing it with her magic.
It was the token that had been found in Afon's rooms, and if she concentrated, it still held the slightest echo of Midir's magic infused into the metal. It was of a different make to the ones found around the city, and she wondered just how long Afon had been betraying them. She had done her best to stay out of politics over the decades, but now, she regretted not keeping a closer eye on the lords.
Mate, her dragon keened.
