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“Yes.” Kaleb had no choice but to agree with Shaw’s assessment. “Although.”He glanced at his watch. “Given the time difference between this Pocket Realmand the Conflict Realm, if we hurry, we might catch the end of her coronationceremony.”
Shaking her head, Shaw fisted her hands, grimacing as severalblisters burst. “I’m booked in for a battle today.”
“Of course. Your first official one since your knee injury.”
“Yes, under medical supervision, just to test things out, but theGoddess willing I should be back full time on the killing fields by nextmonth.”
Okay, this wasn’t awkward at all. Problem was, Kaleb had so manythings he wanted to say, and yet, he knew he couldn’t say a damn one of them.Shaw was closing in on her dream of returning to battle full time. That waswhere all her focus was at. “Good luck with that. It looks like you and I haveofficially ended our agreement. You threw one kickass baby shower. And Isurvived long enough to oust a traitor and hand off the crown.”
“Yes.” Shaw reclaimed a couple of her knives. Wiping theblades on the nearest soft furnishings to get rid of any lingering blood,poison or gore before she stored them away in various hidden sheaths.
A tall glass display armoire over the far side of the room chosethat moment to crash forward, losing a war with gravity after taking a hitearlier from the exploding chandelier. Destroying a chair and a dainty writingdesk as it collapsed.
“What are you going to do with this place now?” Shaw surveyed thevast amount of damage.
“Burn it?”
“Seems a waste of a Pocket Realm and all this space. Bartius musthave been loaded to have had this built.”
“You know…” Kaleb laughed, dimple deepening. “I’m going to havespin a tale about his death. How about we make him a hero, and create a legacyhere in his name? This would make an awesome holiday retreat for theBerserkers. Plenty of room for several ping pong tables once all this crap isbinned.”
“Bonus, it would piss off both Doctor Agl and at least one, if notmore of your former political advisors.”
“Exactly… and think of the parties they could hold here. ThatValkyrie / Berserker Christmas mixer for one.”
“Sounds like you’re going to be very busy in the next few months.”No chance of her accidentally bumping into him, which was good, great even. Aclean break. That’s exactly what they needed. A Valkyrie had no business tyingherself to a Conflict Demon. Okay, yes, it had worked for Stephanie, but Galenwas in love with her. Kaleb didn’t consider Shaw anything more than a convenientbed buddy.
He certainly hadn’t hinted at anything more, and it was beyondludicrous to think he had any actual feelings for Shaw.
“You know me, I’m good at multi-tasking. Plenty of time for workand fun. Speaking of which…”
Oh Freyja, Shaw’s gut tightened, red hot spikes needling her, thehorndog was about to wax lyrical about getting back in the random flirting andfucking game. And she so did not want to hear it, think about it, or imaginehim between the sheets with some gorgeous supermodel. Grrrr. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Shaw so needed to get out of here. Killing Kaleb would make herfeel better for a split second she was sure, but in the long run… the EarthlyPlane would be a poorer, dimmer place without Kaleb in it.
The Portals here had been keyed to Bartius, but with him dead themagic was now available to anyone who knew the symbol co-ordinates of thePortal gate they wanted to travel to. Shaw palmed one of her knives, holding itup. “Um… nice working with you.”
“You too… Shaw… wait.” But with five intricated swishes of herknife in the air Shaw had opened a Portal and disappeared, just like that.
Fuck. That hadn’t gone as Kaleb had planned or hoped. He’d wantedto ask her out on a date. Which sounded kind of lame now that he thought aboutit. Shaw herself had said Valkyries don’t date.
Sighing, Kaleb glanced around the room, surveying the damage andthe remains of Bartius and the clone. Where had the old Demon’s head gotten to?He’d better make sure the clean-up crew hunted it down. Lucifer, and wouldn’tthey be raking in the money. Cleaning up this place? Getting rid of that fishysmell? It was going to cost him a bomb.
But money couldn’t solve every problem. How was he going to winShaw’s heart? Legends harped on about the brave and heroic winning the fairmaiden’s heart through mighty deeds. But Shaw was already a hero, he had nochance of upstaging her, even if he had a wish to try.
Damn, the only times he ever seemed to provoke an emotionalreaction from Shaw was when she was irritated by him. Hmmm, but at least thatwas an emotion, a foothold. Okay then, he would tap into his innate talents. Hewould scheme, plan and he would plot. Somehow, someway, Kaleb needed to turnirritation into love. Become a rash Shaw couldn’t cure. An itch she couldn’tscratch. A heartworm no pill could eradicate.
Lord Lucifer save him, he was a Demon in love and he wouldirritate one gorgeous Valkyrie into loving him back, even if it… she killedhim.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The world had clearly fallen off its axis and the Earthly Realmdescended into madness. There was no other explanation for all the random…weirdness suddenly going on in Shaw Bengala’s life.
If she was forced at knife point to declare when all the insanitybegan, it would be the moment she returned from her first medically supervisedbattle to test her knee injury.
The battle had gone to plan. It had been a relief, as she sunkinto the familiar rhythm, beheading, chopping off limbs (with halberds she’dtemporarily leased) with an ease and dexterity, that thankfully showcased she’dlost none of her bloodthirsty edge following a year working at Headquarters.
If anything, it felt like she might have upped her game. Been morefocused. More ruthless and aware of time constraints.
