Page 56 of Valkyrie Unknown

“Does it matter?”

I raised my brows. “I promise you want me to have an eye for detail if you’re going to trust me with your goods. Are we leaving or bantering?”

“We can do both.” She made a show of looking around again. “But we’re leaving unless your forge is in the kitchen.”

“Gabby,” I shouted. “Can we get a to-go box?”

A sighed. “I told her I wouldn’t need one. Now you’re going to make me look bad.”

“Not at all. You still look incredible.” What was I doing? Having a fuck-ton of fun.

Especially when the comment earned me another blush. I grabbed my wallet, but she was already setting cash on the counter. She pushed my wallet hand down, with a grip strong enough to pin me in place, unless I wanted to throw us both off-balance.

She leaned in, mouth near my ear and breath tantalizing against my skin. “I don’t fuck for cash either.”

I had no idea how much of the conversation she considered innuendo and flirting, and how much was actual business, butGodthis was going to be fun.

It only took a moment for Gabby to box up the food, then A and I were on our way. She carried her milkshake in a to-go cup, and I had the bag with a Styrofoam box in it. The route to my house and forge took us through side and back streets. We weren’t hidden from the world, but we weren’t out in the open either. No reason to give the people in this small town a reason to talk about the fact that there was a new woman around and I was with her.

Both mortal and immortal rumors led to unwanted attention.

The pressure in the air around us shifted. It wasn’t a strong change, but I’d had the grips on the gun long enough, been carrying it this way long enough, that I felt the magic even when I wasn’t touching the weapon.

A’s step faltered. She felt it too.

Something growled, accompanied by the sound of running footsteps. A flash of movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.

“Duck,” she shouted.

I was already moving. I knew what she was going to say. How?

A threw her milkshake, and I heard the messy splat as it hit a body.

“I hope you know how to use that thing, and not on me,” she muttered, as she darted past me, dagger in one hand, smaller, curved blade in the other. The latter had an elven hilt, and she was attacking a decaying-looking body that had melting pink ice cream dripping from its face.

“What the fuck is that?” I took several steps back, drawing my weapon and pulling back the hammer at the same time.

“Draugar.”

Undead. Here, by itself, in the middle of nowhere? I’d seen a lot of odd creatures since meeting Finn, and learned about even more of them, but this was the first time one had attacked me.

A knew what she was doing with her blades, but the Draugar’s reach was longer than hers, which kept her from getting close enough to do real damage.

Please let this be like zombie movies.I leveled my sights at its head, and A dropped low without me saying a word. I squeezed the trigger.

The creature fell to the ground, but kept moving and reaching for A. I hit it in the elbow next, stopping the arm nearest her. She didn’t hesitate to slice her knife across its throat, severing its head from its body.

Like that, the creature evaporated in a cloud of thick ash.

Disgusting, but also a neat trick.

Reality caught up quickly. Holy fuck, we’d just fought an undead beast. I’d panic later. Right now, we needed to get off the street, in case there were more out here. “Are you hurt?” I asked A.

She sheathed her weapons. “Not sure. I can run, if that’s what you want to know.”

It was. “Follow me.” I cut a new path toward my place, all back alleys, while adrenaline slammed through my veins. My workshop was a stand-alone building at the back of a large piece of property, and I had my apartment in a small corner of the converted garage. I let us in quickly, and locked the heavy steel door behind us, closing us off from any threat.

Pulse hammering in my ears, I turned to A. “Are you all right?”

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