Page 70 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal

“So you can eat her?”

“I am well sated.”

Thordis grinned.

Deagan’s abs disappeared, then his well-defined chest, when he finished with his shirt.The top three buttons he left undone.“Do you need me to say please?”

“I do like it when you beg.”

“Oh my God.”I held up my hand.“Just stop.Give us ten minutes.Or you can go home.I’m…” My brow furrowed as I looked toward the not-there window like I’d be able to see her vehicle parked on the curb.“How did you get here?”

“Uber.”

I waited for her to say she was joking or to at least expand upon her one-word answer.She didn’t.“Was an Uber just coincidentally sitting in The Rain’s parking lot?”

“Of course not.”She spoke as ifIwere the crazy one.“I tracked you.”

“How?”I asked.

“With a tracker.”She might as well have added aduh.

“Where is it?”I demanded.

“Where’s what?”

I gritted my teeth.“The tracker.”

“If I tell you, you’ll get rid of it.”

“Yes.”

“Then I couldn’t track you.”

I used to get Thordis and Phedre mixed up, mostly because they intentionally tried to confuse me, but also because they were so similar, both weird, violent, and kind of woo-woo.Now it was clear Thordis was the craziest of the two.

“That’s the point,” I said.

“It’s likely best the tracker remains,” Deagan said.“You are the last Rain, and you’ve made many enemies.”

“Not that many,” I said.I understood their point; I just didn’t want to admit it was valid.“Can we take care of your emergency now?”

“Yes!Of course.Thordis.”He faced the Valkyrie.“Wait outside.”

Thordis stood.“Fine.But if you harm her, I will pull your entrails from your gut and feed them to you for dinner.”

He looked affronted.“Please don’t.You would stain my shirt.”

Thordis laughed, kissed him on the cheek as she passed, then headed to the garage.

“Now then,” Deagan said.“Follow me.We are behind schedule.”

Not my fault, I thought, trailing Deagan to the hall, then into a room, the master suite judging by its size and the fact that the king-sized bed was now very rumpled.The bed faced a flat-screen TV mounted above a polished dresser.A comfortable-looking white chair sat in one corner, Thordis’s boots resting beside it, and in another corner, the coat Deagan had worn here was hooked on a tall stand with three others, each one so dramatic, it looked like he’d raided a theater’s costume closet.

“Close the door.”He made his way to the bed and knelt beside it.

I closed the door but remained right next to it, not wanting to go anywhere near his little love nest.

“I’ve been maintaining this secret for centuries.You, Ms.Rain, are the only other soul I will share it with.”