Page 33 of Valkyrie Confused

I taste my burger. Best one I’ve had in my very long life. And the fries are loaded with bacon and cheddar.

Pan makes appreciative sounds while he digs in.

“Can’t you eat like an adult?” I tease.

“I eat like a hedonist. Which I am. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.” He pinches a fry from my plate, dips it in honey-mustard sauce and brings it to my lips.

I use my tongue to pull it in my mouth and let out an exaggerated moan.

“Better,” Pan says.

We eat and tease each other and exchange stories from the years we’ve been apart—like how I was drugged and woke up in a Russian circus, and how he and Hera made a deal that he could help himself to roses from her garden if he made sure Zeus didn’t fuck any more water nymphs.

It’s fun and easy, and there’s a lump in my throat that tastes of regret and longing.

By the time we’re done with our food, our plates are so clean, they won’t need to be washed.

Fenrir returns. “Everything okay? Would you like dessert? More wine?”

I pat my stomach. “It was excellent, but I don’t have room for anything else.” I point to Pan. “Just bring him the bill.”

Fenrir shakes his head. “Nah, this one’s on me. Athank youfor Pan’s help.”

Does he mean hooking them up with Olympian wine?

I don’t get to ask, because someone calls Fenrir’s name, and he leaves us with a quicksee you around.

Which I doubt.

“He’s a good one,” Pan says.

“Unlike me?”

He doesn’t answer immediately, and I don’t enjoy the wait. Why did I have to go and ask a question I won’t like the answer to?

He bats his eyelashes and leans in. “You—”

I don’t hear what he says next, because a scent I’ve been trained to pick up reaches my nostrils. A Valkyrie? Here? It’s not Scarlett, but I know this female. I look frantically from side to side. Can’t locate her.

But Tyr is here.

His smiling face flickers into view, and is then lost among the crowd. A heartbeat later, I spot him again. Catch a glimpse of long red hair beside him.

Pan grasps my arm above the elbow. “Are you all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Maybe I have. “Let’s get out of here.” If itisa Valkyrie, if Tyr has found a new one—it’s not someone new; it’s her—I’ll have to fight them and take her to Odin, and I don’t want to do that. Not tonight. Not here. Plausible deniability.

I head for the exit, not waiting to see if Pan follows.

He catches up and tangles his fingers with mine. A moment later, we’re at the back yard of the hotel, fresh air replacing the smells of meat, fries, alcohol, and desire.

And for the first time in my life, I’ve willingly overlooked Odin’s will.

“What just happened?” Pan asks.

I don’t want to talk. I want to feel. I cup his neck and crush my mouth to his. I’ve missed his lips. Missed his taste. Missed this connection—this conviction that I can pour all my darkness into him and he’ll turn it into light. I thrust my tongue into his mouth, to find his, and he sucks on it.

His body melts into mine for a heartbeat, before he pushes me back with both hands. “Who did you see back there?”

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