Page 22 of Valkyrie Unknown

If I did this with her, if I protected her, if I helped her get what she wanted, maybe I finally would be.

“So he comes to you, says,Hey, I know where my target is again, mostly.But I’m supposedly hidden now. In theory, he can’t see me. Unless he follows you, and you lead him to me.”

I was both pleased that she followed the same logic path I had, and annoyed that it made so much sense and I’d done it regardless. “You were hidden every other time he found you, and he’ll do it again. I’m here to back you up since I caused the problem.” I faltered in my footsteps and sniffed the air. Now that we were away from town, and its scents were gone, one stood out distinctly.Berserker.The one from last night. “Where are we going?”

She kept walking. “There’s someone here who has experience with potentials and unlocking their power.”

I caught up to her in a few short strides, as we approached a large box of a building. There were no vehicles outside and no windows. In fact, a single door at the top of three steps seemed the only way in.

That, and the stench of Berserker, sweat, and blood that rolled off every inch of the property, set my teeth on edge. The last two were weak, as if the scents were older. I paused again, several meters back. “We need to leave. Potentials realizing their power doesn’t work this way.”

“It might. I won’t know unless I try.”

“This isn’t safe.” For her or me. The scents called to my bear, and I was ready for a fight. Any fight, as long as it was better than the one last night.

“My associate wouldn’t have sent me without due diligence. No one asked you to join me.” She glanced back at me, then walked up the steps.

Before I could stop her, she pressed a button by the steel door.

“Yeah?” A voice came from nowhere.

Azzie looked up toward a black glass dome above her head. “I’m looking for strength.”

I was out of view of the camera, but close enough to reach her in a single leap if needed.

The door opened, and the Berserker from last night stepped onto the stoop next to her. His eyes grew wide when he saw her.

I was already lunging toward them, and she was reaching for her knives.

“No mortals in the cage?—”

I cut him off when I wrapped a hand around his throat and lifted him off the ground.

“What the fuck did you do with the person who owns this place?” Azzie demanded.

I was impressed she hadn’t flinched, and I knew the answer to her question. I could smell it. “He owns it,” I said.

“I do.” The wolf’s words were strained, and his face was elongating into a snout, as he partially shifted. “The woman said she was here for strength.”

“What cage?” Azzie asked.

I squeezed his throat tighter. “You’re not immortal either.”

“She asked for this, Davyn.” The multiple rings he wore glittered in the sunlight, as he dug wolfen claws into my arm, puncturing the flesh and drawing blood.

The pain was incidental. I bared my teeth and let my fangs grow out. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours. And she didn’t ask for this.” Azzie was here to unlock powers promised in the prophecy, while he was talking about a fighting cage. The same thing he mentioned last night.

“I’m Ulf.” His cough echoed through my palm. “My grandfather told stories about you—the bear with the scar from his ear to his shoulder. The woman said she was here for strength. That means she wants to fight.”

He was still a threat, but I loosened my grip to set him on his feet and kept my hand at his throat.

“That is what I told him.” Azzie’s posture was tense, but she radiated calm. As with last night, her adrenaline and fear were hidden.Impressive. “I was told I should come here and ask for strength.”

“Mortals don’t fight in the cage.” Ulf repeated. He looked ready to break free ofmycaging stance and attack. “The person I talked to didn’t say you were a potential. You smell like magic. Magic creatures come to town and say they’re looking for strength because they want a fight. That’s what I was setting you up for last night.”

His words didn’t make sense. Rather, he sounded like he was full of shit, and fumbling for a way to justify previous lies rather than spitting out the truth.

Azzie didn’t look convinced. “I didn’t ask for strength last night. I was at a club with my friends.”

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