Page 55 of Valkyrie Confused

It will be a disappointment for Odin.

It will be dangerous for her.

Holding on to her sword and using it to fight while flying are two entirely different things. Besides, the training Pan and I are providing is tailored to her human strength. How much will it help when she ascends?

We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I look from Pan to Scarlett and speak with confidence I don’t feel. “Listen. I truly believe The AllFather knows best. He’ll help Scarlett find her true place.” I take her hand and gaze into her eyes, hating the reluctance I see in them. “Please trust me.”

She nods, but Pan scowls, the expression foreign on his face. “Have you seen any of those Valkyries that you've reunited with the AllFather? Do they hang out around his throne? Exercise at Asgard Fitness together?”

“I haven’t brought him any others. Scarlett is the first I located.”

“Are you his only scout?” he asks.

“I don’t know.” I don’t know much, do I?

Pan won’t drop the subject. “What do you really know about his intentions? Have you ever asked?”

No, because, until now, I never cared to find out.

As if he reads the answer in my eyes, he says, “What’s stopping you now?”

“Now? We’re training. We don’t want to mess with Scarlett’s writing schedule.” I force out a halfhearted chuckle.

Pan doesn’t crack a smile. “You owe me.”

This again? “I thought my giving you time settled my debt.”

“I’d think your life was worth more than that.”

What on earth is he on about?

I snort. “I owed you for breaking your flute. You never saved my life.”

Pan works his jaw. “Odin came to me.”

“What? When?”

“Before I asked you to choose between me and destiny. He believed you put our relationship above your loyalty to him, and he was determined to end you. I convinced him otherwise, and your choice that night proved me right.”

I narrow my eyes. “And if I’d chosen you?”

He snorts. “You’d never turn your back on him.” He drops his gaze. “But if you had, I was prepared to fight and die by your side.” He says this with such vehemence, there’s no doubting him.

He would have died by my side. Whereas I left him behind.

Screw training.

I cup the nape of his neck and crush my mouth to his. We’ve kissed a lot since the night he took me to NEON. Kissed a lot more when we were together, lifetimes ago. Yet none of the kisses we’ve shared has been as fervent, as passionate, as all-consuming as this.

He clutches at my hair, my shirt, my arms. Seeking purchase. Burrowing closer.

I feel it too—this need to lose myself inside him. I twist my hand in the back of his T-shirt and pull hard enough to rip it off him as he makes mine vanish. Flesh rubs against flesh, as teeth clash and tongues dance together.

“Ahem.” Scarlett actually says the word, doesn’t just clear her throat. “Not that I’m not enjoying this and all, but maybe you could zap me back to my place before you take things any further?”

Pan breaks away, eyes hooded and fingers circling my wrist. He holds out his other hand to her, and when she takes it, blinks us all to his room.

---