Page 28 of Valkyrie Unknown

We reached the edge of town, and turned down a side street, toward the main strip. There were people out and about now. Traffic. Noise. The abandoned feeling from last night had faded, but it was still far from hectic.

“If you’re going to be a nomadandchoosy about your coffee, you need a much better idea of where your journey is taking you.” That was my first bit of training. The important part most people didn’t think about.

“I’m not a nomad,” Azzie said. “I’m a domesticated girl who likes to vanish in large crowds and prefers sugar in her drinks and isn’t looking to use her leftover coffee to summon demons.”

For someone who implied they didn’t have a destination, she walked with a great deal of certainty. This path took us toward the casinos, and I wasn’t comfortable with that. “I promise you, any incubus worth his tail wouldn’t touch the shit they have in the truck-stop café.”

“See? That’s my point.” Azzie almost sounded smug. “Besides, you saidnot here, and if we’re picking a destination anyway, we might as well make a wish list.”

Smart decision, unless we didn’t have the luxury of being that picky. The towns were few and far between out here, and the cities even more so, if we were on foot. “I don’t know that good coffee is worth the cost of calling someone to blink us to a new place.” If this was what Aya charged for bailing me out, I didn’t want to know her fee if I asked her to be our taxi.

Besides, I wanted to keep us off any god’s radar if possible.

Azzie let out a heavy sigh that sounded exaggerated. “Fine. You’re Sensei now, so we’ll do it your way. Tell me where we’re going.”

“Then what?You’llblink us there?”

She paused and closed her eyes. Her hand fell to the holster on her hip, and she rested her palm on the knife’s handle. “I thought we’d use a fae door.”

We would do what? I knew what she was talking about but didn’t expect it to be an option. The fae realm was a different plane of existence, which could be accessed through gates they created. Centuries ago, someone had figured out that, if a door was enchanted correctly and the person using it had the right power and knowledge, they could step through one door, pass briefly through the fae realm, and step out another enchanted door somewhere else in the world.

“Do you know where one is?” I didn’t try to hide my surprise and disbelief.

She gave me a puzzled look, and we were walking again. “What? Like it’s a big deal?”

“It is. Yes.” It wasn’t as if the fae realm overlapped this plane, so a door there could lead anywhere here, and this door magic took advantage of that. However, one had to know where to find the gates and have the power to make them lead to the desired destination.

Azzie shrugged. “The blades were enchanted by… someone I used to know.” That sadness was back, but vanished in a heartbeat. “They give me access to some magics. Light healing—very light, not shoulder stab-wounds that are meant to bleed out—and discovering and using fae gates. Far safer than a woman hitchhiking across the country.”

“Safer for the people who might pick you up and piss you off,” I said.

“You thought I was good?” She sounded pleased.

Goodbrought cockiness with it. I didn’t doubt she could hold her own against a lot of people, but that didn’t mean she was at a point where she could stop learning. Even I wasn’t at that point. “I think you have potential.”

Azzie rolled her eyes and led us up a street that took us closer to the busy part of town. “Careful. You wouldn’t want to make my ego too big.”

“I wouldn’t want to give you a sense of confidence that gets you killed.”

The conversation shifted to our immediate next steps. I was happy to go back to where I’d been. Despite the heat, it hosted open spaces which would allow us to train without an audience.

“Didn’t you say Freya sent you here?” Azzie asked. “And she found youthere?”

That was a fair question. If Aya knew where I’d been, she might not be the only one. “We could travel.” Fae gates were rarely an option for me, and I liked the idea of going some other place in the world without needing to sneak on a boat or owe a god. “Northern Europe is nice this time of year. Australia. New Zealand.” Someplace where the heat wasn’t north of ninety all the time.

“Are you taking advantage of my access to doors, to go on vacation?” Azzie teased.

“I’m simply suggesting we don’t limit our imagination.”

“I don’t speak any other modern languages—I had a hard enough time with Elvish and Donsk Tunga. The moment I open my mouth, I stand out in most places that aren’t here, even some places that are here, and if that lands me with any authorities, I don’t have a passport.”

Aside from the fact that most fae would be furious to hear her refer to their language asElvish— “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“Let’s just say I’ve been a few places in my search for answers, and I don’t know any goddesses who will bail me out of jail.”

“That’s got to be one Hel of a story.” I’d ask her about it later, in a less crowded environment. For now, we needed to decide where we were going, and the decision needed to be hers. Loki knew me too well for anything else. “My car is in Idaho. Pick a place, we’ll go grab the car, and we’ll turn it into a training road trip.”

We approached a casino, and the din around us grew louder, the scents in the air more pungent.

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