41 Chapter 41:

〰 Proximo 〰

"We're at a... Casino?" Hrudra questions, confused at why we were here when I smiled and pressed a kiss on the side of her head.

Her copper hair was tied off in a loose bun at the back of her head as her light grey dress fluttered around her in a girly way, I was still trying to get used to being this girly. Though it was a lot harder than I thought.

She was a commander of the Valkyrie. My commander...

However, this girly side of her was unexpected and I was growing to love the good girl act. She may believe she is a peacemaker, but she is defiantly the fire starter in this relationship.

I wonder if Odin is laughing her ass off at the sight of her wearing a dress.

"There's someone here who you used to know. He is very special to you despite how jealous I am." I grumble making her gentle laugh flow and soften my tense muscles. Her smile radiated as I smiled back forgetting the burn of jealousy I felt.

It'd been tough times for both of us when we first met Claus. Claus had given Hrudra sanctuary when all things had gone to hell. I was glad for his loyalty for Hrudra though I would admit that I hated how comfortable she is with the man.

We knew he was no match for me, but his kindness had made Hrudra fancy him. That and the fact that she loved to gamble.

"I think I remember coming to a casino. Was this the one I am thinking of?" She asks me when I shrugged and grasped her hand while walking in.

As petty as I am, I was going to show every god damn person from the Lore that Hrudra was mine. I may be possessive, but Hrudra is a hundred percent worse than I am when I am in the space with a woman we don't know or trust.

"Could be. Do you remember anything else concerning the casino?" I ask her while security guards around the casino watched us carefully.

They all seemed to know and trust us, though I knew that Hrudra's past was still a horrifying one to everyone. Despite what she looked like, they all knew what she was capable of and were frightened to speak out of line when around her.

Which was funny considering that she couldn't hurt a bug without her memory full.

"I remember we had sex before I left and handed your clothes out to some guy." She admits with a cheery tone which sounded strange with the words she was saying.

In the last few days, she's been remembering lots of things and telling me what she's been recalling. I knew she's recalled a lot more than what she was saying but by the way, she blushed when I asked what else she remembered, I knew that it was nothing to worry about.

Hrudra was an open book even after dying the way she did.

She was also as horny as before maybe even more so. I was happy we strayed away from the group when we did before this blood moon was giving us the excuse to stop every few hours to settle our burning needs.

I had a theory about how much we both needed the comfort of being together so much. That was because we'd been deprived of each other for so long that all that missing time was starting to get to us fueling our insatiable need.

Not that I minded having sex with her this much. I missed her a lot during those months that we were apart.

"Yep. That's exactly what happened. You're remembering a lot more recently. Is it because of-"

"My dear! Proximo! What a pleasant surprise!" Claus yells, interrupting us when I frowned and glanced over at the stubby short man wobbling over to us. His energetic smile making Hrudra smile widely, her eyes sparkling as if she remembered Claus making me study her closer.

"Hello! I was told that we knew each other. I'm Hrudra." She introduces, holding her hand out when Claus chuckled and shook her hand.

"Claus, my dear. We met about a year ago when I beat you in poker." He admits to her as she gaped at him in shock before turning to me.

"Is that true, Proximo?" She asks with a cute tilt of her head while I nodded with a gentle smile and ran a hand down her back.

"I watched it happen," I confess to her when she crossed her arms with a confident smile.

"Then I challenge you both to a game!"

〰 Hrudra 〰

"It's okay if you lose, Hrudra. Just admit your looses." Proximo chuckles, taking my chips into his pile when I huffed and crossed my arms. I had a bit of chips left, but not many. Not enough to beat both of them, but enough to stay alive until they kill each other off.

"Stop this. I won't lose." I shrug, letting the dealer hand out cards.

"My dear. Don't worry. We won't kick you from the game. You could always take some of my chips if you wish." Claus says with a taunting smile that seemed to irritate me more than feel thankful.

"I'm fine! Let's continue." I wave away making the men laugh and peek at their hand. I had an ace of heart and a ten of spades which was not a fairly bad hand but I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk my chips to bluff.

Claus rose the pot as I folded and crossed my arms with a pout. The men laughed at that and continued to bet while I watched everything unfold in front of me.

They continued playing and chatting making me zone out a bit and recall the memory I had when coming here the first time I was here. This place felt safe and secure to me, but I couldn't remember much only that Proximo and I were not on good terms.

Even then, I didn't want to know why I hated him so much.

I could feel my anger and wrath through the memories that involved him in my earlier memories. I tried to search for the answers but I couldn't comprehend my past self. Maybe it was because I cared for him and saw nothing bad about mates anymore.

But Freya and Odin didn't only take my memories away... They took away my self-hatred as well.

I wasn't sure whether to be angry about that or not.

"I win." Claus laughs when Proximo sighed and rested a hand on my thigh bringing me from my thoughts.

"Seems so. As fun as this was, I believe it is time for us to get some rest. We just wanted to see if any memories would arise from seeing you." Proximo tells Claus while I smiled softly and nodded.

"I remember some, but not much more than before," I admit to the men before we stood up from the table.

"I have something that may help you remember. A certain seer gave it to me." Claus points out when we entered into a somewhat familiar elevator as Proximo snarled angrily.

"We can't trust that man. He foresaw what happened to Hrudra." Proximo growls angrily making me look at him in confusion.

"That's why I didn't say anything beforehand. I would have questioned him more but..." Claus sighed, pressing the highest floor on the elevator keys while Proximo tucked me into the crook of his arm.

"But what." He retorts as I rested my head on his chest and peered up at him.

"Who are you guys talking about? If there's a way for my memory to be recovered, then why are we questioning the method?" I question them when they shared a look before Proximo smiled down at me softly.

"Hrudra. Love. Don't worry about it. Claus and I are just gonna speak about a prisoner that was contained here. I'll meet you in a little while." He tells Claus before steering us out of the elevator and down a hallway.

Was he treating me like a little kid or something?

Did he see me too weak to know the truth or something? Just because I lost my memories and wore dresses didn't mean I was incapable of understanding what was happening. These men didn't think I could handle the truth and that's what made me want to know what happened even more.

"Take the last room to the right! It's open to any of my guests!" Claus yelled to us when Proximo followed his directions and opened the door for me to enter. I walked into the room with him behind before spinning around and expecting answers.

"Well? Who are you guys talking about?" I question him as he sat me down on the bed and smiled down at me with a strange look.

"It's no one important. We once trusted him, but he allowed you to get hurt. He foresaw your future and did nothing to stop it. Claus had kept him here and interrogated him for information, but now the man is gone." He vaguely told me, running a hand down the side of my face before letting his hand fall away. "Stay here. I just need to see if I can find the man before he hurts anyone else. Alright?" His smile seemed forced making my heart clench a bit and reach out to hug him.

"Okay. Just don't be long." I mumble, sighing deeply into his chest and pulling away from him. I knew he was still keeping a lot of information from me, but I knew in my heart that I could trust him.

Though I wasn't going to say I enjoyed being left in the dark.

"Promise." He pressed a sweet kiss to my cheek when leaving the room and softly closing it behind him.

I sighed again, falling back onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling. I knew I was safe here and I knew that I could trust both of the men out there, but I just wanted information on what even happened to me.

Mira's daughter had told me that I exchanged my life for hers so she could survive. Though I couldn't understand why or how I even got in that situation.

How did I die?

Where did I die?

Who killed Mira's daughter?

How did I exchange our lives?

The more I thought about it, the more questions that seemed to spring into my head and the most infuriating part was that no one was willing to answer any of my questions. Had someone told them not to tell me anything until I recovered more memories?

Why was everyone treating me like a weak little girl?

"Hello, Hrudra." I shot out of bed, spying a man in a chair in the corner of the room. The man was hidden before a dark shadow but I could see his pale face and long brown hair tangled on top of his head.

I slowly got off the bed, stalking over to the door when he pulled something out of his pocket and smiled crazily at me.

"You want answers." He stated shocking me as my hand held onto the doorknob. His eyes zeroed in on the object in his hand before he lifted it up to his mouth and put what looked like a cigarette in his mouth. "I can give them to you. If you don't alert them." He promises and patted at his pockets, most likely looking for a lighter.

I stared at the man, noticing a few bruises and marks smeared on his face telling me this was the man that Proximo and Claus were talking about. Although I wasn't trusting of the man, I wanted answers more than anything and he was offering to give them to me.

Also, this man didn't seem violent at all and Proximo assured me that I could fight if I truly had to. My fight with Khole only gave me the confidence to let the door-knob go and take a step toward the man in the corner of my room.

"Make a move and I will kill you."