Page 88 of Valkyrie Unknown

“This is idiotic.” Finn pushed away from the table. “It’s going to bite you in the ass.” He walked out of the room.

I’d talk to him in a minute. I looked at Azzie, waiting for an answer.

“It makes sense, I guess.” Davyn spoke before she could. “But if you go after Azzie…” He fixed me with a hard glare, and let the unspoken threat linger in the air.

“Prophecy-wise.” She amended his statement.

That wasn’t what he meant, but I wasn’t interested in his opinion. “Nothing you disagree with, Azzie.”

I was being an idiot. A horny, driven idiot.

“All right. We’ll stay.”

Her answer made everything all right, no matter how wrong things were.

Part3

Finn

Twenty-Four

Finn

Seven Months Later

Shops that claimedto sell magic baubles and information were a constant throughout history. It didn’t matter if said store was a stall in an alley market or was in the middle of a mall, whether it was run by someone who had no idea what real magic was or operated by an actual witch, they all tended to have a similar vibe. They all had crystals and potions and assorted trinkets.

I paused in the doorway of Enid’s store, taking in the rows of bookshelves, the giant pendulum in the middle of the room, and the single glass display filled with what looked like tubes of Chapstick.

“What are you doing?” Zeke nudged me forward.

Azzie stepped around me. “Being weird.”

I snorted. As if she was one to talk. “Are you certain we’re in the right place?”

“No.” Panic slipped into Azzie’s retort. “I don’t know what this is. Oh gods, I think I’m lost. Who are you?” She looked at me with panic in her eyes, then glanced at Zeke and her entire demeanor changed. “Who are you?” In a blink she was shy and demure.

He laughed. “Dork.”

“Takes one to know one.” She grinned.

Some days I thought it was a shame Azzie was easy to get along with. That she was sarcastic and witty and good company. If she wasn’t a threat to Zeke, I might form some sort of friendship with her.

Strong acquaintance, since she refused to use the wordfriend.

Not that I’d let any of that stop me from eliminating her to save the man I loved.

“Azzie.” The happy shout came from somewhere in the stacks, and the woman who emerged headed toward us with arms outstretched. She was only a few inches shorter than my six-four, and her dark blond hair was pulled into a low ponytail. Her glasses were almost as thick as my thumb, and she wasn’t much bigger round.

Azzie returned the hug with a brief but tight squeeze. “Hey, Enid.”

As they pulled apart, Enid slipped Azzie something, and Azzie shoved it in her front pocket without comment.

Curious.

It was fascinating to me that regardless of how much Azzie insisted she didn’t have friends, she bonded quickly with people when she liked them. I wasn’t complaining since her connection with Zeke bought me more time in the getting rid of her department.

There was one other customer in the store that I could see. A shorter woman with hair almost as pale as mine. She looked up from her book as we walked in, and continued to glance at us as we talked.

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