Page 67 of Valkyrie Unknown

“Things?” Were we still joking? It was hard to tell from Zeke’s tone.

Zeke nodded solemnly. “He’s never told me what, but there are a lot of pillows. With little holes in them. And they’re stiff.” One corner of his mouth tugged up.

The implication set in, and I made an exaggerated sour face. “Eww.”

His laugh was back, though it still sounded strained. “I have a safe that’s locked because it has dangerous things. Your door locks, coded to you, for the same reason.”

“Am I a dangerous thing?”

Zeke looked me over. “Most likely.” He didn’t sound concerned.

He programmed the lock to my fingerprints, and we finished the tour.

“Speaking of Finn, where did he go?” I may be giving Zeke far more trust than I should, but hisfrienddidn’t get the same pass. The god set me on edge.

“Around usually. How do you spend your evenings?” Zeke asked.

I go to bed early. I sleep a full eight hours. I should really get some rest now. All of that was a lie, but it would give me an excuse to hide in my room.

I didn’t want to call it a night.I scour the prophecies looking for any hint of what I should be doing next.

Nope. Didn’t like that either.

“We watch movies.” That was true too. Davyn had introduced me to some incredible, and some incredibly bad, titles.

“Do you have a favorite genre?” Zeke led us toward the lobby-turned-living-room again.

“Da— We— I love the movies from different eras.” Regardless of quality, they were all entertaining.

Zeke gave me a raised eyebrow look. “You’re going to have to tell me their name eventually. Unless you want me to guess.”

“She calls him Daddy.” Finn’s voice came from behind.

I whirled to see him leaning against the doorframe. If he could sneak up on me, if Zeke could, I needed to be more careful. “I don’t.” I might. It would certainly fluster Davyn. But now I probably never would, out of spite.

“Daddy Davyn,” Finn said.

There was my missing tension. “I never told you his name.”

“You didn’t have to. You said he was a Berserker. There aren’t many of those taking care of little girls, and you’re not a blond reincarnated Valkyrie.”

I bristled more than I wanted to at the phraselittle girl.

“Could we not with this again?” Zeke stepped between us.

My sword wouldn’t mind a taste of Finn’s blood. I swore I heard the musical hum from the other world.

“Her blade is still disappointed you weren’t the blood it drew.” Zeke gave Finn a pointed look.

How did he know—? Zeke had to be making that up.

“I know more than just Zeke’s prophecy,” Finn spoke through clenched teeth. “So yes, I know who you are, Azrael, and I know a lot about where the fates say you’re going. And I know who Davyn is.”

That made a painful amount of sense. The most straightforward and reasonable thing about this encounter.

Finn pushed away from the wall and strode past us. “And if he’s got you watching classic movies, he needs to move on. It doesn’t do anyone any good to linger in the past.”

“I’m certain that’s not what he’s doing.” I joined Zeke and we followed Finn the rest of the way into the room. Davyn had shown me how the story telling had changed over the decades, and while I didn’t appreciate some of the older titles like he did, seeing the differences was fascinating.

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