3. Davyn
Three
Davyn
I’d been in Elko once before, in 1987. There was a gas station, a motel, and a school bus parked in a field at the edge of town. There were more buildings now, but the place still smelled like booze, sex, and isolation.
There was also an underlying cloud of Berserker wolves, as in more than one . Not that this was some sort of supernatural movie, where I had a feud with them. However, there weren’t nearly as many of us as in the past. Packs were dotted around the world, but in a place this devoid of magic and life, I wouldn’t expect to find any making the space their home.
Sure, I’d set up a temporary place for myself in a similar environment, but I didn’t plan on staying long, and this scent wove into everything, as if the Berserkers had been here for a long time. Decades rather than months.
It didn’t matter. I wasn’t here to pick any fights, as much as I liked the sound of that. Instead, I’d found myself in a place called the B of course I had to make sure she stayed safe.
Her mother sent her to martial-arts classes. Local dojos and gyms. When I approached Azzie at eleven, letting her make the decision to train with me, I thought she’d be stronger. She hadn’t been learning from qualified people, but she had a knack for the fight.
This is for you. To keep you safe . The leatherwork on this sheath was delicate and beautiful. Easy enough to weave a new strap through and tuck the small crystal off to the side. Out of the way, where it could keep her hidden again without obstructing the functionality of the original object.
There was a knock at the door, and I frowned. I set the enchanted holster next to the knife and went to answer.
A police officer. Fuck . I hid my surprise and concern. “May I help you?” No reason to be rude.
“How are you this evening?” he asked.
I was in the second to last place I wanted to be, concerned about a woman I should have been done with more than a decade ago. “I’m all right.”
“Were you at the bar a little while ago?”
Someone called them about Azzie after all. Unless that baby Berserker went to them. I doubted that. He’d crawled back to his cave. “I was.”
“Are you in town for long?”
“Just passing through.” As much as I was almost always itching for a fight, I didn’t hold any animosity toward most local law enforcement. I was an enforcer once. I could have been Azzie’s when she ascended. “This is a stopping point, and I’m going in the morning.”
Despite being in the middle of nowhere, lights from casinos and brothels polluted the darkness. They were small spots in the vast nothing, but they hid the stars. Made it impossible to determine my location at a glance.
“Hmm…” He stayed more than two meters back. Not so far it made conversation difficult, but not so close another human could lunge without giving him time to react. “What’s your name, sir? Do you have any ID?”
“Davyn Liefson.” I patted my pockets and glanced over my shoulder. “ID’s not on me.”
The faint stench of apprehension that radiated from him grew stronger. His hand hovered near his hip, fingers stretching toward his taser, then closer to his gun. None of it was overt. Subtle movements. Discreet, like the beading sweat on his upper lip.
He tried to look past me, but my body filled enough of the doorframe to make that difficult. “Is she with you now?” he asked.
The unconscious woman on my bed? She was. How would he react if I told him I was her savior, not the attacker? “She is. She had too much to drink, and I brought her here to sleep it off.”
“Can you wake her?” His grip was closer to the taser.
Waking her might be hard, depending on what was used to put her to sleep. The officer’s taser wouldn’t take me down. The gun wouldn’t either, but I hoped he didn’t have to learn either truth tonight.
“I’m up.” Azzie’s voice came from behind me, clear and sweet.
I breathed a silent sigh of relief, at the same time the officer let out his own long exhale. He tried to look past me again. “Are you all right, miss?”
“I am.” Azzie stepped up beside me, and I moved to make more room.
I’d rather have both people in sight at the same time, while also feeling the policeman calm as his pulse slowly eased away from racing.
“Can you tell me your name?” His full attention was on Azzie now.
She handed him a plastic card. “My friends call me Azzie .”
The office looked between the ID, her, and me, and then back at the ID. “ Azrael is an unusual name.” His posture wasn’t so defensive now.
“Mom was an unusual woman.” Despite Azzie’s neutral tone, a hint of sadness slipped in.
Was . She’d passed away. Was that why Azzie was visible to magic after all this time?
He returned her ID. “What brings you to Elko?”
“I’m here for a friend’s bachelorette party.” Azzie leaned against the door, pulling it from my hand and holding it open.
Everything about her posture and scent was casual. Cool.
That might be reassuring if there weren’t a man at the door who had multiple projectile weapons and was questioning us. Was she oblivious to the danger or this good at hiding her fear?
“And you brought your… Him?” The officer held Azzie’s license between his thumb and index finger and tapped the edge on his other palm, as he nodded at me.
“He’s a friend.” Her voice was too light. “If he stepped out of the shadows, wouldn’t you think twice about messing with the group of drunk out-of-town girls?”
“I would. Are your friends around?”
“They’re staying in a different hotel,” Azzie said. “I dropped them off a few hours ago. I can give you their names and numbers if you need.”
“And you’re all right? Some of the patrons at a nearby bar said there might be trouble.” The officer handed her back her ID.
Azzie took it and slipped it into her back pocket. “Perfectly fine. I did drink something that didn’t agree with me, but gosh, I’m so glad Davyn has my back.”
“I see. Well, stay out of trouble, both of you. Have a good night.” The officer took one step back, and then another, before finally walking away.
“You too,” I called after him, then closed and locked the door. I turned to the room; to Azzie.
She pressed the tip of her knife to my throat. “Why the fuck are you here?” Her pleasant shell was gone, and anger bled from her voice.
I wouldn’t be worried about the blade—I could heal from most wounds near-instantly—but magical weapons were different. This one wouldn’t even let me hold it. I wouldn’t assume I was safe from the knife cutting me. “You said you remembered me. You told him my name.”
“I didn’t ask who you are. I asked why you’re here. Why the fuck are you back after all this time? No one asked you to find me.”
Technically, Freya did, but I doubted that would make Azzie feel any better. Despite my not wanting to be here, this stranger was intriguing as fuck.