Page 158 of Valkyrie Unknown

The moment the sound of the immediate explosion faded, before the aftermath cleared from the air, Kirby barked, “No more time. Disburse now. Good luck.”

Zeke and the brunette vanished,poof, despite his “Wait.” Davyn broke into a fast run next to Starkad, both of them moving as much like animals as humans as they wove through rubble and melted into shadows, to slip out onto the street.

I was supposed to be doing something. The half of my mind that knew what this was couldn’t grasp the thought. I should be fighting. Leaving with the other two winged women, who had just blinked out of sight.

Kirby and I were the only ones left.

“Stay safe,” she said to me, and turned on her toe.

“Wait.” My call was enough to stop her. “Where do you want me?” And where was?—

Whom?

Kirby glanced over her shoulder. “Hide.”

What? I’d trained to fight. “I can help.” I wouldn’t ask her permission, but she seemed to have a grasp of the logistics and the situation and acting against that could cause everyone harm.

Her shoulders sank and she gave me her full attention, though her pursed lips said she wasn’t happy about it. “We talked about this—you need to stay out of sight.”

“You were going to put me on recon before the explosion.” There wasn’t time for this discussion. The city had been evacuated—how did I know that, and why did I think Loki was responsible?—and the fight was here. “I’m going to act either way. If you give me a direction, you might not get in my way.” That conflicted feeling raged inside, split between almost grasping where I was, and knowing none of this was real.

The smoke that clogged the air and burned my eyes felt real enough.

Kirby raised her eyebrows. “You were there for the planning.”

No I wasn’t.There wasn’t time for the back and forth.

Her expression softened. “I get it—Your mom said you’d be powerful. You’re strong, but you can be hurt here in ways an immortal can’t be. This is the wrong time to pretend otherwise.” Her tone was almost apologetic.

That made the words hurt more than if she’d been sneering and derisive.

A nearby explosion shook the ground and rattled through me. Kirby gave me one last glance. “Don’t die. Davyn would be upset.” With that, her feet left the concrete and she flew in a low, straight line toward the nearest exit.

This wasn’t right. I felt more helpless than the day in Salt Lake. Another day that Kirby was apparently associated with.

I should make it a point to steer clear of her in the future.

Another projectile hit the building, the structure creaked and groaned, and a scream carried with the cacophony. I was already running toward the sound; feeling sorry for myself would wait.

As I sprinted over rubble and debris in the warehouse, then outside, the situation ticked through my mind. Based on what I’d seen with Davyn, I had the thoughts of both the me who had walked into the test, and a version who had lived whatever led to this point. I needed to fall into the mind of the latter without losing track of who I really was.

A faint whimper caught my attention, along with a movement out of the corner of my eye, and I changed direction to run toward three teenagers pressed against a building, with stone and splintered wood beams lying on the ground around them.

“Help him.” They were all dust covered, in oversized clothing that hid their size and shape, and the voice of the person who spoke creaked with exhaustion, making it impossible to identify gender or features. The speaker pointed to the person on the concrete who was the source of the whimpering.

Though the trio had taken shelter under an overcrop of brick, it wasn’t a big space, and a cinder block had landed on one of their legs, pinning the kid to the ground.

I told Kirby the city wasn’t fully evacuated.The thought came from nowhere, and was as real as any attached to one of my actual memories.That we needed to give people a couple more hours before we stormed in, guns blazing.

I gripped the beam and tugged up. It didn’t budge. Tension spilled through my muscles as I tensed my entire body and pushed everything into it I had. Might be nice if that magic Finn insisted I had chose now to make itself known.

With a grunt I tried harder.Move just a smidge. Enough for them to pull their friend out. Move you bastard. MOVE. I strained until my arms and back and legs burned.

Nothing.

“What’s in that fucking beam. Solid concrete?” I kicked it. The shock reverberated through my foot, but the obstruction didn’t budge.

The kid trapped under the beam whimpered and the pain splashed across their face was tangible. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t leave them here.

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