Page 61 of Valkyrie Unknown

“Two to three days?” Azzie said.

I nodded. “Are you staying in town?” Not that I expected her to tell me where.

Here.

The voice in my head was loud, and I wasn’t sure it was mine.

Who else’s would it be?

Right.

“That’s probably best.” Azzie’s tone was uncertain. “I came here right after I arrived, so I haven’t made arrangements yet.”

Unwrapping the handle was easy. Prying the grip off required more caution. Though the tip of the blade was broken, a faint hum ran through the wood and bone secured to the tang. There were runes on the metal that I could recreate, but the elven blood in the bone meant I couldn’t damage the grip. It was the irreplaceable bit.

“You could stay here.” What was I saying?

The look of shock Azzie wore made me think she was wondering the same thing. “What?”

“I have a separate space for clients.” As if that made my offer any better.

She furrowed her brow deeper. “I saw what you have. The house and the forge. No basement. No extra property.”

She’d taken that in amid a fight with an undead minion, and everything that came after?

“It’s a spare room. Sheets are clean.”

Her snort slipped out. “For now,” she muttered.

I couldn’t help my smirk. “Is that ayes?”

“I think it makes sense for us to keep an eye on each other. So yes.”

The relief that spilled through me at her agreement caught me off guard. She was staying. How was that a comforting thought?

I set about cleaning the hand grips. There was a fine line between removing the grime and removing anything else, which meant keeping most of my focus on my work. But I still wanted to talk to Azzie. “How long have you known?” About the prophecies. About magic and gods…

As she watched me, she swung her feet back and forth. Occasionally she’d catch a boot heel on a rung of the stool, then the lazy kick would resume.

The entire setup was deceptively normal.

“As long as I can remember. All of it. You?” she said.

I couldn’t fathom being raised with knowledge of a magical world. Then again, when Finn told me, so many pieces clicked into place and it felt right, as if part of me had always known. “Mom taught me I had a destiny, but not this kind. I didn’t learn about gods and prophecies and magic until after…”she passed.Years later and I still couldn’t say it out loud.

“Me too.” Azzie’s reply didn’t make sense. “Mom, I mean. She…” Azzie sighed. “When I was about twenty.”

Our lives ran in parallel there too. Seemed as though fate was a manipulative fucker. “How did you cope?”

“Poorly. Sex. You?”

“Same. But booze.” My hand slipped, and I scowled at the bone grips. No damage. Good. I didn’t want to follow this line of conversation.

She gave a hard shake of her head. “The guy in the bar who wanted a blowjob. Did he tell you about the magic shit?”

Better. I could do this. My focus on my work slithered back in. “That was him. How did you know where to find me today?” My clients tended to be tight-lipped about who and where I was.

“The friend who gave me the blades told me if I ever needed work done, I’d find my way to someone who could help me.”

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