Page 155 of Valkyrie Unknown

I’d heard enough. “Azzie, release Zeke from the blood oath. Release yourself. Let me kill Finn.” The promise of blood and justice called to me.

Zeke clenched his jaw. “No.”

Azzie looked between Zeke and me, at Finn, then back at me. “No.”

“Sever the blood oath.” I didn’t understand why she was refusing.

Instead, she crouched and reached for her sneaker. “Watch Finn, would you?”

As if I would take my eyes off him.

Zeke mimicked Azzie’s actions, both of them removing the cufflinks from their shoes, and they stood at the same time.

Azzie let the accessory rest in her palm, her head cocked to one side, as if listening to something only she could hear.

What were they up to?

If I couldn’t kill Finn, I was going to restrain him. I grabbed one of his wrists, yanked it behind his back, and caught the other in the same hand.

“Watch it.”

I ignored his protest, and tightened my grip, while I used my other hand to undo and yank off my belt.

“How do we know he won’t just teleport away?” Zeke asked.

Azzie held out her hand, and he put his cufflink next to hers in her palm. “He can’t…” She trailed off with a frown. “Fuck.”

“I won’t,” Finn’s hard insistence came at the same time as my, “He won’t.”

“You told me you couldn’t.” Azzie finished the quiet statement with a scoff.

Finn rolled his eyes. “You watched me fucking do it. When I killed?—”

I yanked hard on his arms, and he grunted, bringing his taunt to an abrupt end. He wouldn’t leave Zeke—that was the only reason he was still here. How did I know that?

I wouldn’t leave Azzie. True, he wasn’t me, but there was a reason he was traveling with her rather than leaving her to let the test devour her. I moved to bind his wrists.

“Wait.” Azzie grabbed the end of the belt with the holes in the leather, but she didn’t take it from me. She hooked one cufflink through a hole, and then the other.

“Those are for protection.” Finn’s tone was mocking. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Zeke nodded at Azzie. “One’s a protection forher. Specifically.”

“And the other binds the wearer, reinforcing the spell,” Azzie said.

I’d missed so much about what she could do. “How do you know that?”

“I just know.” Hesitation laced Azzie’s reply.

“It told me,” Zeke added.

We had a lot to talk about when we got out of here. I jerked the belt tightly enough around Finn’s wrists to dig into the flesh. “How do we get out of here?”

Finn let out a long groan. “It’s a test. We’re all in here, but it’s for your precious potential. It’s built for Azzie to get us out, which is why she needs to be looking for an exit.”

“Can we gag him?” Why hadn’t I noticed before now that Azzie was already coming into her power?

Because if she was more than mortal, she was in more danger than ever.

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