Page 122 of Valkyrie Unknown

No, but the odds were high. “I know that the person I loved asked me to keep her secret, and she meant more to me than Kirby ever did.”

“I get it.” Azzie’s words were so soft I wasn’t certain I heard them or if I had imagined them.

Zeke pushed back his chair. “I don’t think I do. You mean you’ve never questioned if you made the right decision, keeping the information to yourself?”

“I question a lot of decisions I’ve made, as we all do.” However, I’d learned something important over the centuries. “If I were to spend all my time dwelling on regrets, itwoulddrive me mad. As it will you.” I focused on Zeke. “It was the decision I made at the time, and I believed in my reasons for doing so. I traded a life fate would have taken regardless, for a promise made out of love.”

The fact that Zeke looked away didn’t reassure me. Regardless of how he saw the situation, I wouldn’t hesitate to make a similar decision again. For him. About Azzie. He was my heart now, and no one would take him from this world.

Thirty-Two

Azzie

After Salt Lake,I swore we wouldn’t put down roots again. ThatIwouldn’t. Now I was sitting on a couch in the living room of the house I’d shared with Davyn for the last seven months.

Zeke was next to me, and my back was to him, resting against his arm. It might look standoffish to someone who didn’t know us, but it was comfortable and comforting, as much as the silence between us was.

The two of us spent more time at his place than here because Davyn was always nearby here. He didn’t trust Zeke, and he didn’t try to hide it. He was always in hearing range, which meant that he’d know what we were saying.

That wasn’t why Zeke and I were quiet, though.

He was thinking about what Finn had said, about choosing to hide certain information that might have saved a life.

I knew something Zeke didn’t—something none of them did—so I was just as bad. I wasn’t keeping it a secret to be cruel, but I hadn’t decided how to share the information Kirby gave me before we parted ways.

That she was responsible for the destruction in Salt Lake.

In all my travels, the nameKirbyhad come up a few times. Not in relation to me, but as part of conversations. When people talked about prophecies and death and rebirth. Davyn had even mentioned her, along with the other Valkyries.

If I didn’t get this thought out of my head, it would drive me insane, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. “This new information about Finn, is it that different than anything else about their past?”

With my question, Zeke’s arm stiffened against my back.

I waited a moment for his response, and continued. “Think about it. The only thing I really know about Davyn’s past is that Berserkers are fighters and killers.”

When people mentioned Kirby, they talked about how strong she was. They said that about Valkyries in general. I struggled to reconcile that with what I needed to say, and instead I was hiding the words under babble.

“He’s always been there for you. Davyn, I mean.” Zeke’s voice was tight. Most of the time he rolled with my poorly introduced thoughts, but I could tell when they rubbed him wrong.

I could be likeher, a younger me, the one who adored the winged warrior maidens, demanded I acknowledge the thought.I could’ve attended battles, and seen brave warriors to the next life, in Valhalla.

No. Because I was one of those warriors. Not a side note, and not a woman who hid in buildings and watched people through scopes before approaching them. I collaborated with the people around me, rather than commanding, and I didn’t expect loyalty when I hadn’t earned it.

Where did that last thought come from?

“Not always.” My retort to Zeke’s assumption slipped out. Davyn wasn’t there when I was growing up, after he broke my arm. When theValkyrieshowed up in Salt Lake?—

That wasn’t fair. I’d made him leave, and he couldn’t be by my side every minute of every day. It would drive us both mad.

“You know what I mean,” Zeke said.

I did. “You know who was in Salt Lake?” I needed to spit it out. “Kirby.”

“What?” Zeke jerked forward and I fell back, finding myself staring up at his confusion.

I heard the shuffle of footsteps on linoleum, and the faintest creak of floorboards, as Davyn paused in the doorway to the living room just out of sight. He moved quietly, especially for his size, but he couldn’t sneak up on me.

Zeke offered me a hand, and I sat again, this time sideways on the cushion, with my legs crossed, facing him. He twisted halfway to see me as well.

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