Page 147 of Valkyrie Unknown

This was so useless. Cyclical. Stupid. I just wanted Davyn back. Zeke. I wanted this entire house gone. I clenched the handle of the ax so hard my fingers ached. What did I need to do? What was I missing?

I could leave the room. If I didn't want to be in here, I could walk out the same way I came in—that was how doors worked. It would be nice if I could destroy the house as well, but until I knew Davyn and Zeke were safe, I'd settle for knowing this room, with the creepysomeone's watchingvibe, was gone.

"Let's go." I touched my senses enough to feel the same fuzzy spot in the room we'd walked in through, and with Finn next to me, stalked out.

Into a forest? As the door behind us vanished, the sounds of creaking wood and falling timbers echoed behind me. Fire crackled. Was that smoke?

The image of the entire room we'd been in, collapsing in on itself in flame, flickered in my mind, and I whirled toward the doorway.Closed.

I didn't really just destroy--

"Arrghhhh." The beastly shout—half growl, half-roar—filled the air.

"Where the fuck did you drop us?" Finn slid into a fighting stance.

The thunk of metal on wood and the clang of metal on metal spilled through the air. And the screams… So much rage and pain.

“No. Not this,” Finn muttered.

Not what? Dread pooled in my belly. What did we walk into?

“Sadhbh.” Finn’s voice was so soft, I barely heard it above the noise. He knelt next to a woman who sat half-reclined with her back to a tree. Black hair fell over her face, contrasting sharply with pale skin, and a dark spot had spread across her leather tunic, from her stomach to her chest.

She was hurt.

The shouting grew closer, and I whirled toward the sound of branches and underbrush being crushed by thundering footsteps. A creature who looked like a human turned wolf crashed into the clearing and charged us on all fours.

Berserker.

I side-stepped, swung, and brought the butt of the axe handle down against the small of his back. Adrenaline pushed instinct through my veins.

He turned, swinging a clawed and fur-covered hand at my chest. I sliced and caught his forearm, leaving a deep gash.

The wolf recoiled with a howl of pain, and lunged again. There was no time for thinking. I acted. Slicing him to the dirt, and already moving to the next attacker. This was different from fighting with my knives, but it felt natural. The ax was a part of me. Mind and body and weapon were one.

Attack. Block. Counter. Slice. Repeat.

“I could use some help here,” I shouted at Finn.

No response. A glance revealed he knelt on the forest floor, next to the woman.

Son of a?—

“Behind you,” she shouted, her voice pitching higher.

I whirled, but not in time to prevent the man in leather armor from swinging a broadsword at my neck.

It glanced off without a scratch, and he furrowed his brow.

I was back in the fight, pushing him away, until he fell like those before him. Until he vanished.

Where were the bodies? None of them had run away, but if they weren’t lying on the ground at my feet, I hadn’t killed them.

“We have to go.” Finn was talking to her. Focused onher. So much forthe man he loves.

This wasn’t the time for that train of thought.

“You can’t stop this Fionn. You know that. Save yourself. Take her. She’s not supposed to be here.”

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