Page 66 of Valkyrie Unknown

“Fucking idiots.” Finn shook his head and walked out of the building.

“I like him.” I didn’t try to hide my sarcasm.

Zeke rolled his eyes. “Give him a chance. He doesn’t want to see me hurt.”

I knew someone like that. Speaking of, “If I’m staying here, I need to let Da— My… guy know where to find me.” That didn’t sound awkward at all. “I’ll go make a call, you go tell Finn… something?”

“Tell your Da-Guy I’m not the fighter you are. If he attacks me when he meets me, that could be bad.” There was a hint of teasing in his voice.

“I’ll do what I can.”

I wandered outside, in the opposite direction of Zeke, and called Davyn. I wasn’t surprised when there was no answer, but that didn’t stop the disappointment from slipping in. I called Enid next, to let her know that her lead worked out, and that Davyn could find me here when he was ready.

“Be careful,” Enid said before I hung up.

“I will.” I pocketed my phone and leaned against the nearest wall. It was quiet here. The occasional car in the background, and a distant voice once in a while, and that was the only sound. I held my hand in front of my face and the smudge of dried blood glared at me.

What was I doing? The idea of staying here felt good, and that terrified me. I’d just made a blood oath with a man I barely knew. Which may or may not be more dangerous than fucking him a few hours before that.

Memories of Ulf rushed into my head. I hadn’t thought of him in the nearly three years since we left him behind, but I’d made a series of mistakes there, each of which could’ve been fatal.

Seeking out the prophecies hadn’t panned out better than hiding from them. Given the destruction I left in Salt Lake City, I was already in the negative for the damage I’d caused.

Zeke was the one part of this that had me the most out of sorts. The way I was reacting to him wasn’t like me. One decision after another that made no sense. I’d finally found another piece of the prophecy puzzle in Salt Lake, and it was horrifying, and then him… This was nothing like I expected.

I couldn’t hide from my destiny and I couldn’t chase it down. What was I supposed to do?

“There you are.” Zeke’s voice cut through the thoughts, and my mind instantly stilled.

All except for that one bit telling me this was idiotic. “Hey.”

“Are you all right?” He joined me.

I pushed the doubts aside. I was here. It was going to take three days to get my knife back, and Davyn should be here before then. “I’m good. Is everything else?”

“Yeah.” He furrowed his brow. “Well, no. But it will be. Finn will be nice for me, and you’ll win him over with your charming personality.”

My loud laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “You’ve grossly misinterpreted how personable I am.”

Zeke smirked. “I’m comfortable with my assessment. Come on. I’ll show you where you’re staying.”

As we moved through the place, the layout struck me as odd. Not so much like a place that was meant to be lived in, but it reminded me more of a business. A kitchen with a large space for eating, and a lot of cupboards, but no real place to cook, and a living room down a long hall, with a single door on one wall, and no windows.

“The layout here is unusual.” I wouldn’t saybad, but it made me curious.

His chuckle came easily. “It used to be an office building. A guild hall for a local blacksmithing group. They closed, and it was available when I was looking to buy, so I converted the offices to rooms and… voila.” Zeke gestured broadly.

“That’s convenient.”

A shadow clouded his expression. “Sure. An appropriate property coming up for sale right when I had life insurance money to—” He clenched his jaw.

In other words, right as he lost someone important. The perfect anything still sucked ass if getting it atthe right timewas because of death. I didn’t know what to say besides, “I get it.” How many more random, shitty things did we have in common?

He gave his head a hard shake. “You room.” He headed in a direction that took us as far from the forge and his room as possible. “This is where my clients stay when they want to be close. You have privacy if you want it, but if you want to mingle, you have full access to the house, the kitchen, and anywhere that isn’t locked.”

“Should I stay away from the secret door markeddo not enterwith the loud music coming from inside?” I tried to push some teasing into my question. To lighten the mood.

“You probably should. Finn does things in there.”

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