Free Relentless by Suzanne Cox

assumed led to the dorms. “Myles hopes he’ll be asked to join the Einherjar this summer.  They’re the front line of defense against the Fenryrians who want to kill humans. And like I said before, if you keep working like you are now, they’ll ask you to join the Valkyries in a year or two.”
    I nodded, not particularly impressed, not even sure if I’d be doing this in a year or two. I was more worried about getting to Key Westtomorrow. We came to a fork in the path, and Brynna stopped.
    “If you stay on this path”—she pointed to the one on the right—“you’ll go straight back to the dorm. A few other paths branch off it, but just stay straight, and you won’t get lost. I’m going over to the instructors’ housing. That’s where my parents are staying. I’m supposed to eat with them tonight. You can come if you want.”
    I wiped my gritty palms on my shorts again. “I think I’ll go on and get a bath. I’ve got sand all over me still.”
    “Yeah, me, too. But I’ve got clothes at their house, so I can bathe there before I eat.”
    “All right, I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Brynna gave a quick wave then disappeared around a curve in the other trail. I started along the trail she had pointed out. It was getting dark out, and some night bird chirped, along with other nighttime creatures I couldn’t identify. After several minutes of walking, I could make out the glowing lights from the television room through the trees ahead. At the next fork, I turned away from the dorm and kept walking. If I could find a quiet place, which shouldn’t be hard, I could phone Eric. He wasn’t expecting me to call. We’d already made plans to see each other tomorrow. But it wouldn’t hurt to surprise him. Focusing on that and lost in thought, I didn’t immediately notice the body that appeared in front of me, and I slammed into it full force. It was like a mountain and didn’t budge. Shadows fell across Myles’ face as he frowned down at me.
    “What are you doing out here?”
    My breath caught, and I hoped I could come up with a plausible story because in the past I hadn’t been very good at lying to Myles.
    “I was with Brynna, and she showed me the Valkyrie house, then she went to her parent’s cottage.”
    “And where were you going? The dorm is the other way.”
    I chewed my lip briefly. “I…uh…had a bracelet on this morning, but I think it came off in the sword-fighting class, and I went back to see if I could find it. My mom gave it to me for Christmas last year, and I don’t want to lose it.”
    “And you thought you’d find it at night with no flashlight?”
    “Well, I might. The moon is pretty bright. What do you care what I’m doing? What are you doing walking around in the dark, Mr. Inquisitor?”
    “I was walking with Lana. I let her go inside first.”
    I didn’t have a good response to that. So he and Lana had slipped out to take a walk.  It was pretty difficult to find a moment alone here. Wasn’t I trying to sneak off to call Eric?  Not that I’d be telling Myles that.
    I turned in the direction of the dorm.
    “Giving up on hunting for that bracelet?”
    “I’ll do it tomorrow before we go to Key West.”
    He walked beside me, the leaves on the side of the path raking against him as we went.
    “Brynna says you may get invited to join some elite fighting werewolf group of guys.”
    He didn’t answer, and I glanced over at him. He was staring ahead, oblivious to what I’d said.
    “Myles, did you hear me?” I bumped him with my elbow.
    “What…? Oh yeah, the Einherjar.  I’ve been hoping I’ll get invited, but it’s difficult to belong. You have to have talent.”
    “Like you don’t.”
    “Sometimes they want to be sure you’re loyal to the pack, dedicated to the Lycernians.”
    “Well, you’re definitely all that. I can’t imagine why they haven’t asked you already….” He was staring straight ahead as my voice trailed off. I remembered now, the