Page 139 of Valkyrie Unknown

That made me even madder. The only thing I feared was losing my family again. Losingher. Not the potential god, but the companion I'd gotten to know. Azzie’s ferocity. Her kindness and determination.

I stalked in a circle around Tania, studying her. She would know where I was even if she couldn’t see me, but could I distract her?

"When I vanish, you'll be free to roam." She stood still, back to me.

I rushed, and passed through her again, stopping myself short before I ran into a wall.

"They're all trying to get to the exit." She continued as if nothing had happened. "You need to find them, because you all brought something in I couldn't have accounted for, and can't stop."

"What is it?" My curiosity wasn't enough to calm me, but it did make me pause.

She shook her head. "I can't say."

"Can't or won't?" I wouldn’t play word-nuance-soup with her.

"Can't."

The answer caught me off-guard. I could stand here and ponder what kind of thing we could have with us that a siren wouldn't account for, but it wouldn't get me anywhere.

Instead, I shot out a hand and gripped her by the throat. Satisfaction rippled through me when I made contact, and I let a hungry smile out at her shock. "If anything happens to Azzie, I'll tear you limb from limb." My voice was as much growl as words. "I'll find your sisters, and treat them to the same fate, and I'll make sure you survive long enough to see your world crumble. If you take her from me, I'll return the favor in volumes you cannot fathom."

Tania faded again, and my fist closed around nothing. "I know," she said. "Godspeed, Berserker."

She was gone, and so was the room. I stood in a wild clearing behind a Victorian style farmhouse.

Before my surroundings finished coming into view, I was sprinting toward the back door.

The entire time I'd know Azzie, I'd only seen her show fear a few times. Whatever her greatest one was, I wouldn't let it consume her. I wouldn't lose my family again.

Thirty-Eight

Azzie

Rage burst from me,and the confusion inside shattered. I reached from my sword. A wooden shaft met my palm instead. I didn’t care that it was the ax from Loki instead of my katana. “I’ll fucking kill you for that.” I was already charging Finn.

Zeke would understand.Zeke. Loki. Finn. The ax.

How did I forget all of that?

The onslaught of thoughts made me stumble on the mattress, and I landed on my knees. I pressed my ax under Finn’s chin.

He could blink out of sight, why was he still here?

He had his hands in the air, and his knife was gone. He pointed one finger toward my legs.

Because I had stumbled in the spot where Davyn had been.Hadbeen. His body was gone. There was no blood. No trace of another being. The sheets were cool and unwrinkled against my shins.

I still felt his hands on my body, but reality was back. Davyn and I didn’t have that kind of intimacy, but we were much closer than the man I’d just spent the last several hours with.Wasit hours, or was that an illusion too?

“That wasn’t Davyn.” Finn pushed the head of my ax down and took a step back.

I was dressed again. My clothes had reappeared, and my memories were my own. This was the siren’s test. Talk about one hell of a mindfuck.

“Are you with me now?” Finn’s question penetrated the remaining haze in my mind and chased the lingering clouds away “Do you remember what’s going on?”

We ate good food. We paid with our fears. I passed out and woke up with Loki in the room. Was he real? Why was the ax from him the only weapon I could reach? “I thought the trial was for me only.”

“As did I,” Finn said.

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