Page 14 of Valkyrie Unknown

He did the same, giving me the other cup. “I’d like to drink with you too.”

I took the offering and met his gaze. With a barely visible nod, we raised the drinks to our lips, and I chugged half of mine in a single swallow.

My gag returned, and I struggled to hold it back. A deep spark of satisfaction ran through me, as I glimpsed him reacting in a similar way.

“You have to finish it.” Davyn’s voice was strained.

Fuck himfor making me do this.

At least that was my own thought. I downed the rest and tried to swallow past the grit. I couldn’t do it. I dropped the cup and raced for the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet before I was retching.

Similar sounds echoed from the other room.

This wassodisgusting, especially mixed with the flavor of alcohol-free girly drinks, repeating on me.So sogross. It was an eternity before I emptied the contents of my stomach.

“Drink this.” Davyn’s voice came from next to me, and he handed me a new cup.

This one was plastic and filled with water.

“Thank you.” I took it and sipped the beautifully boring, flavorless liquid. When I could stand, he also had a damp washcloth waiting for me.

I didn’t care how I looked. I washed up and listened to his footsteps fade away as he walked into the other room.

When I was finally done, I looked into the mirror. The woman who stared back was a mess. My red hair was coming loose from my braid, and my light makeup was smeared. The dark circles under my eyes and the patchy spots on my pale cheeks made me look so weak. So mortal.

The rage was gone.Thank the gods for that.

I took a few minutes to redo my braid, then re-joined Davyn in the main room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed closest to the door, which put him between me and the exit, but it wasn’t as if there was any other place for him to be.

“Better?” he asked.

I nodded. “Thank you.” The magical urge to fight was gone, but I still didn’t like the situation. I was trapped with a man I didn’t know, aside from his name and the fact that he’d broken my arm when I was eleven. “I still want to know why you’re here.”

“There are people who are working hard to make the prophecies happen.”

“FU.” I wasn’t telling him off. The Followers of Urd had approached me a few times when I was younger. Until Mom got good at hiding us from everyone.

“Probably, but not in this case. Aya—Freya—isn’t one of them. Since you and I are supposedly intertwined, she sent me to you.”

“Like that? Without your permission?” I shouldn’t be surprised. Iwasn’tsurprised. Too many gods thought they knew what was best. “That checks out.”

He let out a dry laugh. “Like that. I’m sorry for your loss. Your mother was a kind woman.”

A fresh wave of grief spilled through me, carried on the exhaustion of the night. “Don’t. Don’t pretend you care. Don’t pretend you knew us.” The words came out with more bitterness than I intended.

“I didn’t know you. I’m surprised you even remember me.”

“A girl never forgets her first time.” It was a tasteless joke, but the shock that spread across Davyn’s face was worth it.

“Excuse me?”

I smirked. “You think you’re the only one? I’ve had so many broken bones and gotten so many scars from training.” I pulled up my left shirt sleeve, exposing a long, pale mark that would be visible even at a distance. “First time I fucked up throwing knives.” I tugged up my right pant leg, showing off a knot in my shin. “First broken leg.”

Davyn chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“Excuse me?”

“If we’re comparing scars, I will outlast you in ways you can’t imagine.”

---