22. Davyn
Twenty-Two
Davyn
I sat in our ruined apartment. Where else was I going to go without answers?
I glanced at my phone again, the did a double take. The fractured icons indicated one missed call that didn’t ring through, and one message. There were things about modern technology I’d never surrender and others I’d gladly do without.
I played the voicemail.
“Hey. Um, I’m still on vacation.” Azzie’s voice sated my bear, but not nearly enough. “Did you ever call the bookstore back? Hope you’re all right. See you soon.”
She sounded fine, but the message was nonsense. Why was she on vacation? What bookst?—
I was already pulling up Enid’s number and dealing. Why didn’t I call her sooner, regardless of prompting? Azzie spent a lot of time insisting they weren’t friends, but Enid was the only other person to whom I’d seen Azzie give any trust.
“Hello.” Enid’s greeting was pleasant, but not overly friendly.
“This is Davyn. Azzie’s friend.” I didn’t want to deal with formalities.
“Oh, Gods. Davyn.” With the simple phrase, her entire tone shifted. “I’m so glad you called. Are you all right? Where are you?”
My concern cranked to maximum. “I’m fine. I’m home. Where’s Azzie?”
“She’s okay, too. She keeps calling to ask if I’ve heard from you. With what happened there…”
For the first time in more than twenty-four hours, a trickle of relief flowed through me. “What did happen here?”
“I don’t know any more than the news is saying, but she was there when it went down. We decided it was safest for her to not stay. She didn’t want to write anything down, in case someone was looking for either of you, and her knife broke, so she’s been staying with someone who can repair it.”
The second half of that statement didn’t make sense. Azzie’s blades should be unbreakable. “Was she in a fight? You mean staying near the knife person, correct?”
“Not as far as I know. She said it broke, and she said she was staying with him.”
Definitely not right. “Where?”
“Shamrock Lakes, Indiana.”
I didn’t know where that was, beyond about a twenty-four hour drive. I could push through another night without sleep if I needed, but driving wouldn’t get me there fast enough. Nothing about this situation felt the way it should.
“Are you in contact with anyone who can give me a lift?” I had to ask, despite the answer always being the same when it came to Enid.
She gave an amused huff. “Azzie’s the only person I know well enough to ask for something like that.”
Fuck. I wouldn’t take my frustration out on Enid. “I’ll call someone for a lift. Thank you for passing the information on, you’re a doll.”
She giggled and hung up.
I’d have to come back for my car. It was in our parking spot and it would be safe there for now. Time to ask a favor. Only for her .
I called Freya, and I would pay whatever she was asking.
“Hey, stranger.” Aya’s greeting was bright. “Are you in jail again?”
I’d be amused by the assumption if my mind weren’t elsewhere. “Not for a while now. I do need to ask for something, though.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I need to get to Azzie immediately.” Under most other circumstances, I’d be more cautious with my desperation, but this wasn’t the time for a drawn out conversation.
“ Oh .” Her surprise was audible. “I didn’t realize you’d stayed with her.”
“As if you didn’t know.”
“I hoped. Do you know where she is?”
I growled. “Don’t you? You sent me to her three years ago.”
“No. A friend told me where both you and she were, back then.”
I’d never known Aya to be a liar, though everyone was when it suited their purposes. The idea of there being a third party behind this concerned me. “Who?”
“No one you need to be worried about. I give you my word. They’re not a threat to you or her.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that, but if this was an individual who could find me even when I was hidden with a ward, keeping my location or Azzie’s a secret did me no good. “I know where she is, yes. What will this cost me?”
“Nothing. Knowing you’re keeping each other safe is all I need.”
This was a bad idea. This was also my best option. “Do you realize how suspicious that sounds?”
“I do. It’s not my fault the truth makes you wary. Where are you and where are we going?”
Less than a minute later, I was standing in the comfortingly small town of Shamrock Lakes, Indiana. I knew which direction the forge was in before Aya vanished again, and headed there the instant she was gone.
The underlying scent of Draugar cranked my concern to new levels, but it didn’t seem as though any were currently active nearby. As I neared an old barn, the aroma of steel and ash grew more potent, and everything about Azzie lay underneath.
She wasn’t alone. There was a man here, who smelled like her. What the fuck?
“I wish I knew.” That was Azzie.
“It’s a good thing we made that blood oath.” That was a man’s voice, and the implication bothered me.
I roared as I stepped into the room. “You made a blood oath?”
It took a heartbeat to assess the situation and confirm there were only two of them. They’d been fighting the undead. And before that, fucking.
I was already sprinting across the room toward him. Gripping him by the throat, ready to rip it out.
“He’s not the enemy.” That was Azzie, behind me.
He was, though. I didn’t care that she had a casual sex life before I met her. I wouldn’t care if she was sleeping around now. However, she’d been here for days. There was a level of trust implied that wasn’t like her.
“Did you convince her of your lies before or after you fucked her?” I let the threat bleed from my question. It didn’t matter what his answer was—I’d kill him regardless.
He stared at me, wide-eyed and radiating fear.
This was a creature she chose to put her faith in? Even for a short while?
Another man appeared between me and my prey. I knew this one, but before I could process a name for the white-haired god, he slammed the insides of my elbows with his fists hard enough to knock my grip loose, and blinked the blacksmith out of my reach.
I whirled on the god, my rage growing, and a foot landed hard against the inside back of my knee, sending me stumbling.
The trick wasn’t new to me; Azzie used something similar when we sparred, though she couldn’t teleport. I held back when it came to her, and I wouldn’t do that here. I was already rolling into an exaggerated fall, to come up on my feet and swing at my attacker.
The god had vanished again.
Also not a new trick to me. One of Loki’s favorites. I let momentum carry me in a spin, elbow out, to knock the irritating god in the gut when he appeared behind me.
“ Davyn . Stop.” Azzie’s voice was hard.
I wasn’t interested in stopping.