Page 136 of Valkyrie Unknown

He’s not real. The newcomer meant Davyn. The Berserker who’d just given me incredible orgasms. The fact that two of us were still naked was the least of my concerns.

Why wasn’t Davyn attacking? Pinning Finn to the wall like he had when Davyn found me at?—

Where?

Zeke’s. Who was Zeke?

“Why come for her first?” Davyn’s question didn’t make any sense.

“She’s the one I found first,” Finn said.

“You know that’s not how this works.”

What the fuck was Davyn talking about? My head ached with the question, my brain hammering in my skull. The pain was enough to make my eyes water and my thoughts flex and stretch until they were distorted. Like two different images overlapping.

“The man I love needs her,” Finn said.

Wait. Love?

Finn clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow. A knife with a blade at least twelve inches long appeared in his hand. He vanished from where he stood, and reappeared on the other side of the bed, next to Davyn.

Finn drew the dagger across Davyn’s throat, cutting deep.

No. No, no, no. Davyn. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. Finn hadn’t just?—

Finn killed Davyn.

No hesitation. No provocation. No remorse.

Red clouded my thoughts, and all that mattered was retaliation. I was going to fucking kill Finn in return.

Thirty-Six

Finn

There was nothing here.

Regardless of the direction I turned, I saw nothing. Heard and smelled nothing. If I licked my hand, I didn’t feel my tongue on my skin or taste sweat and salt.

It was as if someone had stripped me of my senses, and set me adrift. I could move my legs and feet, but they didn’t meet solid ground. Was I walking? Floating? Standing still?

I had no idea. No concept of the passage of time beyond being able to count in my mind. The entire experience would become maddening if I existed in it for too long.

My toes met something, and my feet rested on solid ground. As a soft glow of light grew brighter in front of me, I winced until my eyes adjusted. When I dared look, when I was able to focus, I made out the shape of a woman.

Tania’s blond hair flowed in loose waves around her shoulders now, rather than being pulled into a messy bun. Instead of an apron, blouse, and trousers, she wore overalls with nothing underneath. She gave me a knowing smile I didn’t doubt had seduced thousands over the centuries.

“Fionn, Fionn, Fionn.” She clucked as she strolled toward me, hips swaying. “What are you doing to me?”

Excuse me? This washerrealm. I should be grateful I wasn’t surrounded by my biggest fear or desire. That I wasn’t trapped in a fantasy or a nightmare of my mind’s own making. That didn’t make me any happier to be here. “What amIdoing toyou?The test was supposed to be for the woman. Did you at least leave my companions alone?”

Zeke was still in her bakery, wasn’t he? With Davyn? I may not like the big bear, but he wouldn’t hurt Zeke unless Azzie was in trouble.

Was she? Fear gripped my heart. I needed to get back to Zeke.

Tania shook her head. As she moved, a hint of breast teased through the side of her outfit. The denim should be shapeless, but she made it look good.

From a purely intellectual perspective. She had to know this shape didn’t make her my ideal.

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