Page 7 of Valkyrie Unknown

He was blurry. No, that was just because I was lost in the past. With a few blinks to clear my eyes, I could see him fine. In all his sparkly, pretty?—

Stop. “Hey, Trouser Snake.”

He chuckled. “Excuse me?”

“I thought we were coming up with cute pet names for each other.” I gave him a sweet smile.

A lot of people drank heavily to escape their bad memories. I drank lightly, but never enough to lose control, and I fucked hard. The rush from sex erased my thoughts for a few minutes, but made it easier to regain my senses after.

And it filled a deep, empty hole inside that I hated to acknowledge was there.

Did I appreciate the humor in that pun? Only when I was in a good mood.

The Berserker stripper smiled broadly, baring his teeth. “You smell like ash and magic.”

Probably the elven daggers I had hidden away. “I bet you say that to all the girls.” I could flirt, but I wasn’t in the mood. The longer I sat here, the more pain gnawed at me, making my eyes ache and my head hurt.

“I don’t.” Did his voice shift to something more threatening and less seductive? “Only the ones who are heavily armed.”

He was observant. Tension coiled through me, but something was muting it. “Little ol’ me? Nah. I’m harmless.”

“Oh, I hope not.” His growl was back. “Because I’m looking for a fighter.”

What? I knew those words, but they were hard to process. Like I’d been drugged. But I didn’t have my drink yet. I looked at him; really met his gaze.

He leaned across the table and plucked the ears from my head. “It’s in the headband.” He snapped the kitty ears in half, separating them, and a shower of gold sparks burst free, floating in the air and vanishing.

“What?” This didn’t make sense. My mind was slipping away fast.

He held up his right hand, revealing a thin silver band around his pinky. “Magic ring.”

“Magic roofie?” My tongue felt heavy. He must’ve transferred the spell at the club when he tweaked the ears. “What the fuck?”

He shrugged.

The more my vision blurred, the more wicked he looked. Like a devil in wolf’s clothing. “Why would you tell me…?” Talking was hard. The headband was gone, but thedrugwas already in my system.

“Like I said, I like a fight. Do me a favor and don’t pass out yet. It’s not as much fun if you don’t remember this part of the conversation when you wake up in the cage.”

The cage?My laugh slipped out.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

“I’m a potential,” I mumbled. “It’s not like you can kill me.”

“I don’t want to kill you; I want to fight you,” he said. “That’s the entire reason you came to my town.”

Did he growl?

No, that sound didn’t come from a wolf. It was a bear. There was someone else with him.

Not with him. Picking him up by the shirt and tossing him across the room.

The new guy was big.Reallybig. Fill-the-camera-lens big. The thought would have made me laugh if I was capable. I wasn’t looking through a camera.

There are fates worse than death. Rayne’s voice from the past, her final words to me, echoed in my head, before my world went black.

Three

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