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Tyr frowned. “I’m aware of that. I’m sorry if anything I’ve said made you feel otherwise. That’s not my intention.”
I rubbed my temples. “All of this is a lot to take in. And I know you specifically sought me out because of a past we shared. But I also know how dangerous that can be, based on expectations. There is nothing that will guarantee I’ll see you the way I did back then.”
Even as the words left my mouth, a big part of me didn’t agree. Even before I’d been told the truth, I’d found myself drawn to him. But I also didn’t know whether that was because of the past and the magic that affected me, or if those feelings were really mine.
“Astrid, if you want me to leave, I will. I won’t cause you any pain or trouble. That will never be my intention.” I caught the pain in his words.
“I… don’t know what I want right now.” I chewed my lower lip. “Telling you to get lost doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know how to feel about you being here with expectations about me.”
Tyr reached out and lifted my chin. It was a strange feeling, expecting a hand and feeling the hard bone of what remained of his wrist. “Valkyrie, I have no expectations, only desires. The moment I met you, I knew I had to let go of everything I’d wanted to embrace who you are now. I willingly have done this. If you want to be my friend, I will accept this. If you want to be my lover again, I will gladly accept this. But I will never lay out the pressure of expectation for either.”
Gazing into his intense blue eyes, a lump formed in my throat, and heat sizzled my veins. I believed him. “You call me, Valkyrie, why? What is the true reason, not the one you gave me last time?”
He smiled. “Because that is what you are to me. I did not lie. You hold the power to soothe or enhance the rage of battle in my soul, then and now. You were never a true Valkyrie, but others saw what you could do.”
“The wingless Valkyrie…” I murmured, something pinging in the back of my mind.
“You remember?”
“Just that. Everything else is a blank.”
The corner of his lip tipped down, but he otherwise didn’t voice any disappointment I suspected he had. I still had no memories of us. I believed what he and Aya told me about my past together with him. But I still had nothing to compare it against yet. And that was what made me so confused about what I felt with him.
It was too fast for it to be my normal pace. But clearly, no memories influenced me. So why did I feel a draw to a man I didn’t quite know, but felt like I knew everything about?
My eyes flicked down to my phone, and my pulse skipped. The screen darkened just before I noticed the text from Aya. I scrambled to turn it back on and read the text.
We’re on our way.
My heart lurched. I typed a response faster than I swore I’d ever texted before.
Wait! I’m not ready. I’m talking with Tyr.
My heart dropped into my stomach where it twisted in a tight knot when I sent it, and I heard the tellingpingof a phone a little ways away from me in the woods.Shit.
“Too late, Astrid,” Aya said, appearing a moment later.
My lower lip caught in my teeth and I struggled against the urge to hunch my shoulders and wring my hands together. This whole meeting was going to be tough enough as it was. I didn’t want to deal with Tyr, too, once he found out what was actually happening.
Tyr flicked his attention between us, his brow knitted. “What’s too late? Valkyrie, why do you look like you’ve eaten something rancid?”
I took a quiet, calming breath and relaxed. “It’s nothing. Aya and I have something to do. We’ll see you later.”
“But what about Kirby?” he asked. “I thought she was going to—”
Tyr stopped dead when someone else approached from the woods. The newcomer was big and muscular, with dark-golden blond hair cropped tight above his ears. He wore torn jeans and a tight tank top, which showed off an intricate wolf tattoo that wrapped around his shoulder and arm. Runic tattoos littered the rest of his skin on other parts of his body. A few of them were broken up by the scars that marked his skin.Why am I surprised he’s fully clothed?
With him was a woman with a slim, athletically honed body. Her long golden hair trailed behind her, and her ice-blue eyes watched us with keen interest.Kirby…
“Fenrir,” Tyr snarled, his body tensing. “You’ve got a lot of fucking balls coming here.”
“Tyr, stop,” I said. I didn’t know where the strength came from, because I was fucking terrified out of my mind right now, but my voice did it.
Unfortunately, Tyr either didn’t hear or didn’t care, because he summoned an axe.
“I said, stop!” I threw my hand out, and tingling power suddenly exploded from my chest, bursting out.
Dirt and leaf litter kicked up. The trees and underbrush shook. Aya jumped back and shielded her face with her arms. Black wings sprouted from Kirby and she launched herself in front of Fenrir, using a sword to slice through the concussive magic.
