The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,54
meet at the same place? Get dinner early? I can be there in an hour.
Jenna held up her phone. “Ingvar can meet at Howler’s in an hour. You good with that?”
“Yes. Now, please, answer my question.”
Jenna typed fast. Sounds good. See you there!
Then she looked at Titus and trusted that he would keep her secrets. “Leif Guddersen. He was in the class ahead of me at battle camp. Very powerful berserker, but also very full of himself. At first, he was the kind of guy everyone wanted to be best friends with. Big man on campus, you know?”
Titus nodded. “I know the type.”
“But as we entered service, it became clear he thought a lot of his abilities. And what they should bring him.”
She shook her head, remembering. “He wasn’t content to fight the battles he was assigned to. He wanted personal glory beyond the promise of Valhalla. He wanted fame and fortune and the spoils of battle he had no right to. He got this attitude that he was owed something just for being him.”
“Sounds like a great guy.”
Jenna slanted her eyes at Titus. “He was a problem, to be sure. A thorn in the side of the gods. A berserker gone bad is not a good look for them. And despite warnings, he persisted in seeking to make a name for himself by whatever means necessary. They couldn’t let it go. My time in service was nearly up. I guess maybe because of that, I drew the short straw, as it were. I was assigned to take care of him.”
Titus’s brows went up. “I can guess what ‘take care of him’ meant. But why you?”
She nodded. “I was the ranking officer in my division. I was a couple months away from leaving the service. And I was… That is, I am…” She glanced at him. He would keep her secrets, wouldn’t he?
“What?”
She had no choice but to tell him the full truth. “This isn’t information I’m authorized to speak about, so you need to take this to your grave. Not even Tessa knows this, although she may suspect. I don’t think my parents know either. Ingvar knows, but we were in the same unit and actually worked as a team for a while. Still, she wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“And you’re sharing it with me?”
“I am. Partly because you deserve to know what’s going on here. We’re in this together. But also partly because that chapter of my life is behind me. Doesn’t mean I still won’t get in trouble for speaking about these things. I never thought I’d have to talk about it again, really. But now it seems impossible to explain what I think is going on without telling you everything.”
“I won’t say a word.” There was nothing but sincerity in his eyes.
She took a breath, the confession weighing heavy on her. “I’m also a fell maiden. A kind of special ops valkyrie. We’re a small group specifically chosen by Freya to wield life or death on the battlefield. Not just collect souls but decide whether or not a soul should be collected or given a second chance. That was one of the main reasons I was chosen to deal with Leif. And that green stone in my sword?”
“The one you told me is glass?”
“It’s not glass.”
“I figured that much. So what is it?”
“It’s a resurrection stone. It’s meant to allow me to save the life of a worthy soldier on the battlefield, but if Leif could take possession of it, his body would become corporeal again. He’d essentially regain his life.”
A curse slipped from Titus’s mouth before he could stop it. “No wonder he’s hunting you down. He reached for your sword in the attic.”
“I’m sure it’s what he wants. The very fact that he’s become a wraith proves he refuses to take his mortal rest.”
“How did he find you?”
She looked at Titus. “He knows I’m the one who took his life. I’m sure it just took him this long to gain enough strength to hunt me down here.”
“And he’s gaining strength because…”
“He’s close to his target. That’s empowering him.”
“The resurrection stone?”
She nodded. “And me.”
“But how can he get the stone if it’s in your sword? How can he even lay hands on your sword after what you showed me?”
“He’s a berserker. Valkyries and berserkers can handle each other’s swords for a short amount of time. Say, long enough to hand a weapon back to a comrade. Or take the fallen one’s soul back to Valhalla.”