Page 12 of Valkyrie Unknown

No. I could talk through this. “Whatever made me pass out.” My tongue felt like lead, and I struggled not to clench my jaw and snarl. I pushed past all the feelings, to find words. “He encarc— encor— enchanted my headband. With a touch. With his ring. Said he liked a fight.”

Davyn wasn’t a threat. I could see that. Iknewthat. His posture was casual, rather than threatening, and he used the toe of his boot to nudge my knife toward me.

He’s more dangerous with his bare hands. Now you fight. Now you’re in trouble.

He turned his attention to the small tray at the far end of the dresser, where the coffee maker sat.

He’s distracted. Attack.

“There’s a voice in your head right now,” he said. “Telling you to attack me. Filling you with rage.”

Shut him up. He’ll hurt you. He’ll make you suffer.

I clenched my fist and dug my nails into my palm, focusing on that pain. “Why would you say that?”

“Lucky guess. I can make it stop.”

He’ll hurt you. He’ll destroy you.

That last one wasn’t true. Not literally, anyway. The prophecies didn’t say he would be my downfall. “What is this?” I pushed the words through gritted teeth.

“I cannot be certain, but if I’m right, it’s how we were guaranteed a fight when we took prisoners,” Davyn was calm. “We all had talismans. We could all do it.”

“We?”

“Odin’s Berserkers. But the one you were talking to tonight wasn’t one of us. He’s a younger wolf.”

The talking is to distract you. Attack while he thinks he has the upper hand.

No. His words were forcing me to think. “There are younger Berserkers?” I reached deep for my training. The educational parts, not the fighting parts. “I thought only Odin could?—”

He will kill you. He’ll use you first.

“Some of those who survived had families. Magic is strong, even when breeding with humans. You should know that. You’re half-goddess.”

“I’m all goddess.” Or I would be. As soon as I ascended. Or however that worked. I was piecing together the rest of his words. “So you put people to sleep, took them prisoner, and when they woke up, they fought?”

Davyn nodded. “We’re drawn to the fight. We feed on it.”

A lot of them were sadists in the bedroom— “So you have magic roofies to make assault more exciting?” Nausea rose in my throat, and the rage was back full force. I’d kill him with my bare hands if he’d done this to others.

Yes. It’s the only way to stay safe.

“No,” Davyn said. “Some did. I wish I could deny that. I never did, and I didn’t realize the magic was still shared. But the wolf said he wanted to fight you in the arena. That was why you were here.”

“No. I was here for a bachelorette party.” I’d heard of the fighting pit. I’d been tempted, but not today. I needed to get rid of the voice chantingkillin my thoughts, and it wasn’t as if I was sticking around. When I took off my protective wards, it was to force becoming a goddess. It was for my enemies to find me so I could stop hiding.

Davyn wasn’t an enemy. He was nothing to me.

Kill. Fight. Kill. Fight.

“How do I make it stop?” I asked.

“You can wait it out, or you can give it what it wants.”

I flexed my fingers and reached for the knife on the nightstand. “I kill you?”

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

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