Chapter Eight

Neecy pulled off her helmet and headed toward the house. She usually only used her sport bike in the summer time, but it hadn’t started snowing yet and she needed the cold January air to control her almost overwhelming rage.

He tricked her…but why? What exactly did he want from her? A repeat of last night? No way.

Of course, as quickly as she thought “no way,” she remembered the feel of his mouth on her pussy and her entire body clenched with need.

Damn him! He did this to her, and she would never, ever forgive him!

She reached to open the front door, but someone snatched it open from the inside.

Neecy looked into the sweet, but always-‐expecting-‐the-‐worst, face of Arri Chang—one of the most nervous Crows Neecy had ever known. Arri had already died once. What could she be worrying about now?

“Hey, Arri.”

“Where have you been?”

To heaven . “In hell. Why?”

“I’m just glad you’re here,” she sighed.

Poor Arri. No matter what she did, she was having the hardest time fitting in with the other Crows. Neecy did her best to make her feel at home, but the rest was up to Arri and the girl was really struggling. Of course, it might help if her hair wasn’t fuchsia. She dyed that shoulder-‐length mess the oddest colors.

“Lawrence,” Didi called from the living room. “Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well get your big ass in here.”

Big ass? Bitch.

Neecy looked at Arri. “When we’re done here, I wanna talk to you for a few minutes.”

“Why? What did I do?”

Rubbing Arri’s shoulder, she chuckled. “Nothing. Calm down.”

Arri braved a little smile as Neecy put her arm around her shoulders and walked with the kid into the living room. All the Jersey Crows were there and well into the middle of Didi’s meeting. Gee, nothing like waiting for their second in command.

“So what did they look like,” Didi asked as Neecy dropped her backpack and shrugged out of her jacket.

Delia’s crew looked at each other. “They were white guys,” Delia offered. “Just average white guys.”

“How is that helpful to me?”

Neecy looked around and suddenly noticed Rachel’s tightly bandaged shoulder; her pretty but pale face. The bandage not only locked her arm against her body, it covered her back. Which meant only one thing. Someone or something had wounded her wing. The only way to get a wing to heal on one of them or the Ravens was to keep it tucked inside their body for several days. Usually a few rune spells were enlisted as well, depending on how bad the wound. “What’s going on?”

Didi nodded toward Rachel. “Hunters.”

At that moment, Neecy felt raw almost overwhelming hate well up in her system. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” she spit out between clenched teeth.

“Hunters?” Arri squeaked out.

Didi glanced at Arri. Of all the Crows, for some unknown reason, Didi had very little patience for the pint-‐sized girl. “Every few decades some asshole Hunters find out about our existence and decide to come after us. Usually the very wealthy and the very well connected looking for new and more exciting prey.”

“It must be something about having Crows wings over their fireplace that really give these idiots hard-‐ons,” Janelle added.

“Yeah.” Katie grinned. “But they never expect retaliation from us.”

“I’ve heard some Crows from centuries ago would destroy whole villages and castles to prove they were not to be fucked with,” Didi finished.

“Nice,” Janelle stated before biting into the apple she held in her hand.

It seemed only Arri could sense Neecy’s rage based on the way she carefully inched away from her. Neecy hadn’t spoken because she couldn’t see straight.

She felt like dog shit. She spent hours fucking Yager while one of her own was almost killed. Nope. She was lower than dog shit…cat shit. She was cat shit.

And she’d make the ones who did this to one of her sisters pay.

Neecy stared at Rachel. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. One of the older Valkyries patched me up.” When the Original Seven were the only Valkyries, healing anything was the last thing on their minds. They were brutal warriors in their own right. But when they grew bored after centuries of duty to their father, he began choosing mortal females to carry on the Valkyrie role. Not a problem, except they could get hurt and die. They taught themselves to heal and when the Ravens and Crows came on the scene, they helped out when they could. Lately, though, it seemed only the older, less nubile, Valkyries were the ones with actual healing skills. The newest crop could barely put on bandages. And some of them outright passed out at the sight of blood.

Losers.

“Did they say anything to you, Rach?” Didi questioned.

“Yeah. One of ‘em said, ‘Is it her?’” The Crows glanced at each other as Didi frowned and looked at Neecy. “Are you sure that’s what he said?” Didi pushed.

“Yeah. That was what he definitely said.”

“So,” Didi took over the room in that effortless way she had. “From now until we find out what’s going on, no one goes on a hunt alone. Make sure y’all have your cells and please make sure they’re charged.” Some of the females looked embarrassed knowing Didi spoke directly to them. “No fucking around on this, ladies. For some unknown reason they can see us. Maybe other gods are involved. I don’t know. But clearly this wasn’t a random attack. Until we know exactly what’s going on, I want all of you to play it smart and safe. Am I making myself clear?”

Smiling and in unison, “Yes, Miss Didi.”

That eyebrow peaked up. “Smart asses.”

* * *

Yager slammed Mike into the garage wall next to the training area. “You know what really pisses me off, though?”

Tye swung at Mike, barely missing his head. “What?”

“That after the great night we had, she walked away.” Mike tried to move but Yager grabbed him by the throat and shoved him back. “I mean…she is the most difficult woman I’ve ever dealt with.”

Slamming his knee into Mike’s stomach, Tye muttered, “She’s a Crow. What do you expect?”

“I expect her to admit she’s crazy about me so that we can move on to living together.”

“Living together? With a Crow?” Grabbing Mike by the neck, Tye slammed him against the wall and then shoved him to the ground. “I guess it could work.”

“It’ll work. I just don’t wanna wait twenty years for her to frikin’ figure it out.”

A foot firmly planted against the back of Mike’s neck, Yager looked at the ten fourteen-‐year-‐old boys standing and watching them.

Addressing the boys, “And that’s how you push somebody in a corner and beat the shit out of ‘em. Any questions?” When no one answered, “Great. Break.

Then we’ll get in a little weapons training.”

The young boys cheered as Tye turned to Yager. “Look, you knew going in that Neecy was kind of…ya know…”

“Cold and unpleasant?” Mike asked from his spot under Yager’s big foot.

In answer, Tye and Yager kicked him. “Shut up!”

“That’s the thing, Tye,” Yager continued, ignoring Mike’s yelp of pain. “She’s not cold and unpleasant. Not really. She’s just cautious.”

“Then you need to get past that. Any way you can. Be persistent.”

“Yeah, but when does persistence turn to stalking?”

“I think you’re already there, Bro…ow!” Mike grabbed his kicked-‐in, bleeding nose and glared up at Tye. “You son of a bitch!”

Ignoring him, Tye said, “Trust me. You’re not there yet. If you were, you’d have every Crow in a hundred mile radius coming down on your head.”

“They like me.”

“Then use that to your advantage. Use them. They’d use us, if we let ‘em.”

Yager chuckled. “We do let ‘em use us.”

Tye shrugged. “Yeah, we do. But they’re all so fuckin’ cute. We can’t help ourselves.”

Mike punched Yager’s boot. “Excuse me, Men With No Penises, but can I get up now?”

“No!” they barked, then looked at each other and grinned.

* * *

Didi sat behind her desk and stared at her second in command. “So, what exactly did you find out from Yager?”

“Yager? Oh, yeah…um…”

Didi rolled her eyes. Good Goddess, she fucked him. The flush cheeks, the stammering, the hickies…you didn’t have to be Columbo to figure out the girl had spent most of the night with her ankles for earrings.

“He said he didn’t know anything. You know those Ravens…just following orders.”

“Did he tell you that before or after the first time he went down on you?”

“Oh, it was before…” Neecy’s head snapped around and she glared at Didi. Lawrence, you dumb ass. “We are so not having this conversation.”

“Oh, we so are, Lawrence. Now spill.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

Oh, really? “You do know that turtleneck is not covering up those hickies.”

Based on how big her eyes got, Didi guessed she was, in fact, unaware of that.

Reaching into her drawer, Didi chastised, “I swear, Neecy, I don’t know how you get yourself into this shit.” She pulled out a hand mirror and shoved it across the desk.

Neecy stared at her reflection, her mouth open in horror. Yager had bitten so high up on her neck, the turtleneck sweater he gave her to wear did nothing to hide them. Really, the woman would have to be in a burka for anyone to not see those marks. And Didi bet Yager knew exactly what he was doing.

Apparently, Neecy felt the same way. “I’ll kill him! That motherfuckin’, sonofabitch…”

Didi let her second-‐in-‐command rant. She couldn’t remember the last time Neecy allowed herself a good rant. It was good for her. Healthy.

“I hate him! I absolutely hate him!” Those scary black eyes looked up at Didi.

“And I blame you for this!”

“Me? How am I at fault here? I send you over there to get information and you go down on the man like you’re on the Titanic.”

“I did not!”

“If I check your knees will I find rug burn?”

The fact Neecy had to think about it gave Didi her answer. “Jesus, Neecy!”

“What?”

Giving her best mock glare, “Is this how I can expect you to handle political shit when I’m on vacation? By blowing Odin?”

All at once, calm, collected Neecy returned. “That is not funny. And it wasn’t like that.”

Didi shook her head. Poor Neecy. Always so serious. “I know, dumb ass. I just don’t understand why you’re all upset. We’re Crows. Not nuns. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a healthy sexual appetite. If it were me, I would have walked through the front door doin’ the Rumba.”

“Wouldn’t Harry be upset if you slept with Yager?”

Glaring, “First off, I would never cheat on my husband…especially since he never got me killed because of his gambling problem.”

“Ah. Well that’s a recommendation.”

“And second, you uptight heifer, the last thing I would be doing with Wilhelm Yager is sleeping. Now let’s go. I want details…the more specific the better.”

“I’m not giving you any details.”

Didi leaned back in her chair. “I bet you can suck a golf ball out of a hose.”

“Oh, that’s lovely.”

Didi just couldn’t help herself. Neecy was the most fun of all the Crows to torture. Always so serious. Always so determined to fulfill her obligation to Skuld. Didi felt pretty confident the girl never had any fun whatsoever. Which didn’t seem fair. Neecy had been through a lot in her past. It seemed only right she should get a chance to relax and have a good time just like the rest of them.

And if that meant her friend needed to spend some quality time with one gorgeous hunk of winged male…well, dammit, that would just have to be.

* * *

Neecy’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you looking at me that way?”

“What way?”

“Like you’re up to something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. What the hell would I be up to?”

Neecy pushed the chair back away from the desk. “I’m out of here. I’ve gotta figure out who the hell is hunting us.”

“Sit that ass down, missy.”

Sighing, Neecy sat her ass back down. “I’m not in the mood for this, Didi.”

“Let’s make this clear, you will not be dealing with our current Hunter situation.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I said so.” Didi leaned back in her leather chair, putting her bare feet up on the highly polished wood of her desk. “Now,” she sighed, putting her hands behind her head, “I want details. Start at the first kiss and work your way to the very last shudder.”

“I am not having this conversation with you. So let it go.”

A knock at the office door almost had Neecy breaking out in a jig. “Thank God… come in!”

Arri stuck her head in. Her eyes locked with Neecy’s. “You said you wanted to see me.”

“Yeah. Come on in, hon.”

Arri glanced at Didi before moving into the room. Neecy gave Didi her hardest glare, which simply said, “Be nice to Arri or I kick your ass.” Didi really had a hard time with anyone that couldn’t keep up. And in her mind, poor little Arri couldn’t keep up.

“Sit.”

Arri sat down in the chair next to Neecy, glancing between her and Didi.

Then, out of nowhere, she volunteered, “You’re throwing me out, aren’t you?”

Neecy blinked. “What? No! Of course not.”

“Not that it hasn’t crossed my mind, though.”

Without taking her eyes off Arri, Neecy grabbed a box of tissues from Didi’s desk and chucked it at her.

“Hon, it doesn’t work that way around here.”

“But I don’t contribute anything. I’ve been here two years and I’m not sure why…and no one else is either.”

“Well, that’s about to change.”

“It is?”

“It is?” Didi barked.

“Skuld wants me to take you on our next hunt.”

Arri’s frown was so deep, it looked painful. Add in the way she chewed on her bottom lip and you could almost smell the panic coming off her.

Didi, however, was much more verbal. “Has she lost her ever-loving mind?”

Unlike most goddesses, Skuld didn’t have a problem with her Daughters questioning her. She was the Goddess of Wisdom, among other things, after all.

And she seemed quite happy when questions were asked, concerns raised.

However, she didn’t appreciate out and out rudeness.

But, for some reason, Didi was one of the few who could get away with it. Skuld liked Didi. No one was quite sure why, though. Other than Didi was naturally charming. But Skuld seemed to hate charming since very few of the women she chose for her army were what one would call friendly much less charming.

Neecy stood up. “Come on, Arri.”

Didi’s feet dropped to the floor with a dangerous thud. “Wait a minute. We’re not done.”

“We are so done.” Neecy pushed Arri toward the door. “Go out back and meet me outside. I’ll be there in five.”

“Okay.” Christ, the girl sounded terrified.

Once Arri was gone, she turned back to Didi. “Could you at least try and be nice to her!”

“I am nice to her. I just don’t know why she’s here. And I seriously don’t know why you’re taking her out on a hunt.”

To be honest, Neecy didn’t know either. But Skuld made it clear this was what she wanted.

“Skuld has asked me to do this…I’m doing it. And you’re going to back off and let me…”

“Get yourself killed protecting her?” she cut in.

Sighing, Neecy headed toward the door. There was no talking to Didi once she made her mind up.

“And what about Yager?” Didi demanded as Neecy pulled the door open.

Neecy glanced at her from the doorway. “It was just sex, Didi. You of all people should understand that concept.”

Yelling through the door as Neecy closed it, “Just sex my ass, Lawrence!”

* * *

This was bad. Really, really bad. How was she supposed to do this? Everyone knew she was a mess. She could get Neecy killed and she’d never be able to live with herself if she did. Neecy cared about her. She knew that for a fact.

Arri rubbed her arms as Neecy came to stand beside her in the back garden. “I don’t want you to panic about this, sweetie. It’ll be okay.”

“I see auras.”

Neecy didn’t say anything right away. Instead, she scratched her head and stared off into the enormous backyard. Only a small part of the many acres of the Gathering’s land in the Tri-‐state area.

“You can do what?”

“I can see auras.”

Neecy nodded. “Um…so?”

Arri smiled. That’s why she loved Neecy. Direct and to the point. And a really funky purple she’d love to paint all over her bedroom wall.

“I’m not making fun of you, Arri,” she rushed to add.

“I know. I just think that’s why Skuld brought me here.”

“Why does it matter? So you can see auras. So?”

Arri’d been holding onto this for so long, it seemed only right to tell Neecy first.

So she did. In one big rush. “I can tell if someone’s sick. If they’re dying. If they’re lying. If they’re about to kill. If they already have. I can see if they’re plotting to take over the Kremlin. I can tell Didi doesn’t like me, but I don’t need to see her aura for that. But I knew Misty needed to see a doctor a few months ago. So I convinced her and they caught that infection before it got really bad.

And I knew Olivia was pregnant with a boy the day she conceived.”

Neecy took a step and Arri knew it was simply to steady herself.

“You’re serious.”

“Very.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?”

Arri walked off the patio and onto the hard, ice-‐covered ground. During the summer it was a beautiful lawn. “It’s a thing I’ve always had. It’s why my father…” She stopped, hating even mentioning the man.

Neecy took a deep breath. “It was why he killed you.”

A family adopted her and took her from her homeland when she was barely three. Weird enough being Korean among a bunch of Anglos, but the fact that her father was a religious zealot added to the bizarreness of her life. How many times had the kids in school called her “Carrie”? Heck, how many times had she felt like her?

When her father found out about her abilities, he’d drugged her breakfast, put her in his car, turned on the motor, and closed up the garage. He was doing fifteen to life for attempted murder. Funny thing was…he did murder her. There was nothing attempted about it. But Skuld came for her and she took her hand gladly.

The best part was the look on his face when the cops came to the house a few days later to arrest him and she was with them. Alive, well, and marked by a goddess.

“Yeah. He said I was evil. Everything about me was evil and unholy.”

“He’s a religious zealot, Arri. He doesn’t matter. We’re your sisters. We’re you’re family.”

She remembered when she met Neecy. One second she was taking Skuld’s hand and the next she woke up to find Neecy standing over her. “Welcome to the party, kid,” she’d said with a pretty smile. And her colors were so honest, so pure, Arri felt an immediate kinship to her.

“But you’re the only one that’s accepted me.”

“That’s not true…and Didi doesn’t count.”

“Yes she does. She leads the Crows. What she feels affects the rest of them.”

Neecy stood in front of her. “Then prove that you’re worth having here. Skuld would have never sent you here if we didn’t need you. She wouldn’t waste her time or ours. We both know that.”

As always, Neecy was right. And so soothing and calming. She always made Arri feel like she could do anything.

“Go on one hunt with me and the team. Just one. If it doesn’t work, we’ll never go there again and I’ll tell that to Skuld myself.”

Arri chewed her lip. A really bad habit she had, and Neecy picked up on it immediately.

Smiling, she teased, “You going to answer me, shithead, or just chew your lip off?”

Neecy was the only one who treated her like family. She joked with her. Teased her relentlessly. And Arri loved every minute of it.

Arri giggled. “Okay. You evil heifer.”

“Evil heifer, huh?” Neecy laughed. “Those are some mighty fightin’ words there, Arri.” Neecy hugged her and Arri felt her warmth and caring. It flowed around her like soft rain. She knew those outside the Gathering saw Neecy as cold and unapproachable. They were wrong. She was anything but cold and unapproachable.

“I wanna show you something. Look up.”

Arri pulled away from her mentor and looked up into the bare trees towering over them. That’s where they were. Where they always where when Neecy was at the house. There were hundreds. At least. They lurked constantly. Always at the ready for Neecy.

“They’re not going to dive bomb us or anything, are they?”

“Don’t be silly.”

Neecy motioned to one and a huge crow glided down from the trees and landed on her shoulder. The bird rubbed her head against Neecy’s cheek and the incredibly tall woman smiled.

“They’re my friends. They wouldn’t hurt anybody I cared about.”

Arri hid her smile. She didn’t want Neecy to know how much what she said meant to her. “She’s beautiful.”

“Yep.”

“When did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That you could call the crows?”

“About a week after I got here.” Neecy grinned at the memory. “I was back here and suddenly looked up and saw all these freakin’ birds in the trees. There had just been an Alfred Hitchcock marathon on channel nine or something the night before, so you know I freaked out big time. Anyway, I screeched like a banshee and they suddenly flew at me. I was only sixteen, so it never occurred to me to run. So I covered my head and screamed ‘stop.’ And they did.”

“And then you knew?”

“Pretty much.”

“It’s very cool. Your Gift.”

“So is yours.” Although Arri’s ability to see auras was not the Gift from Skuld.

Her ability to read people had been there since birth. The problem was…she had no idea what Skuld had given her as a Gift or if she’d given her one at all.

Still, she had no intention of telling that to Neecy. Instead, Arri would go out on the hunt. Get her Korean ass kicked and that would be it. Her only concern was not getting any of them killed in the process. If she could manage that, she’d be damn happy.

“It’s just weird,” Arri admitted. “Knowing more about people than I feel comfortable with. Probably the way Kerri feels about seeing glimpses of the future all the time. It can get overwhelming.”

“I understand.” Neecy put her arm around Arri’s shoulder. “But it’s still cool.

And you should be proud of it. Use it to your advantage.”

Arri nodded as she looked up at the trees. With all the birds that hung around, Arri thought there would be more bird droppings. But their cars, the backyard, the windows…none of them ever had any messes on their stuff. Like all the birds in the world knew who they were and respected them.

“So…you and Yager, huh?”

Neecy stiffened next to her. “How did you...”

“Anytime he’s around, you get these big fat swirls of pink in your color. And you’ve got it in spades at the moment. It’s really cute. They’re all extra swirly.”

“That’s bullshit, Arrianna. And we both know it.”

Smiling, “He’s crazy about you.”

“Shut up.”

“His colors change as soon as he sees you.”

“Shut. Up.”

“Not a little either. Big, fat swirls of color as soon as he knows you’re in the room.”

Growling, Neecy yanked her arm off Arri’s shoulders, causing her little bird friend to head back to the safety of the trees.

“Don’t worry,” Arri yelled at the woman’s retreating back. “They’re pretty colors!”

* * *

Didi handed Delia Kim a beer as she sat beside her on the big couch.

“Thanks. So what’s up?”

“I want you to track down the Hunters. Track ‘em down, so we can wipe ‘em out.”

Delia opened her bottle of beer using the corner of the coffee table. “No problem.

I’ll get started tonight.”

“Good.”

“Although I’m still trying to figure out how they saw us. Has Skuld said anything to you?”

“Not lately.” Didi sighed. “I can ask her…maybe in the next twenty years I’ll actually get an answer.”

“These Nordic gods sure are difficult.”

“That’s a nice way of saying bitchy.”

Delia stared at her beer bottle. “One question, though.”

Didi gulped down a swig of beer. “Shoot.”

“Shouldn’t Neecy be on this? This is the kind of stuff she lives for.”

“I know. That’s the problem. The woman has no life.”

“It has gotten kind of pathetic, hasn’t it? Ever since Mr. Tiny Penis Man dumped her about four months ago.”

“Try six months. And I knew that wouldn’t last. She was calling him Mr. Tiny Penis Man.” Didi took another gulp of beer and shook her head. “Right now I want her concentrating on more important things.”

Delia grinned. “Like Wilhelm Yager?”

“Exactly.”

“For a white boy, he’s not bad.”

“White, black, brown, or yellow, he’s perfect for Neecy. That’s all that matters.”

“Maybe. But this is Neecy we’re talking about. If it’s not about the Gathering or school, it doesn’t exist for her.”

Didi grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. “Trust me. Yager’ll make sure she knows he exists.”

* * *

Neecy stood in the middle of the mom-‐and-‐pop video store, staring blankly at the horror section. She already had three DVDs in her hand, but she’d completely forgotten what she was supposed to be doing.

Christ, forget what she was supposed to be doing? How about… what the fuck have I done?

To get involved, even for a day, with Yager was such a stupid move on her part.

A move she would have never made five or six years ago. But lately she’d been feeling restless and tense, she just didn’t know why. Like she was waiting for something.

Clearly what she needed more than anything…a solid slap to the back of the head like the nuns used to give her.

And what made all of this even worse…she still wanted him. Nice-‐guy Yager. She had no idea what to do with a nice guy. She definitely wasn’t a nice person. Far from it. Forget her first-‐life, Crows were simply not nice beings. When you did hits for gods, the last thing you could afford to be was nice. She learned that early on from her mentor Lorraine. She still had the scar from the ceremonial dagger shoved in her back, just missing her kidney. Her mentor saw it coming and didn’t stop it because she knew she needed to teach Neecy a lesson. And it was a lesson she never forgot—being nice gets you shived.

So she protected her own, trusted in her goddess, and went on about her day.

But Yager…Yager confused her. He’d been confusing her for a year now and the time she spent with him sure as hell didn’t help. The whole time she was with him, he’d treated her better than anyone had ever treated her and they never left his apartment.

“Are you just going to stand there or what?”

Neecy looked over at Janelle. “Shut up.”

“Yo, Neece.” Janelle tugged at her turtleneck sweater that still smelled of Yager.

“Are those hickies? Ow!” Janelle grabbed her nose, which Neecy had happily slammed with the DVDs. “What the fuck was that for?”

“For asking too many goddamn questions.”

Neecy stopped. Her entire body tensing. Someone was watching her. She spun around, her eyes searching every corner of the small store.

“You feel it, J?”

“Yeah.”

Janelle turned and stared off at the back entrance. But Neecy saw something out of the corner of her eye at the front of the store. A man, shorter than her. Grey hair. Enormous muscles over his entire body. She looked in the direction where she knew he stood, but she saw nothing. Still, she wouldn’t turn away. She kept staring at the same spot until finally she knew he’d gone. Afraid she could see him, probably.

“He’s gone.”

“He?”

“I think I saw him. I’m not sure.”

“What do ya wanna do?”

She shrugged. “Rent these movies, then go home, and tell Didi.”

Janelle glanced at the movie cases Neecy had in her hand. “No way, Neece. No way! We are not watching goddamn “Evil Dead” again!”

“Oh, get the fuck over it.”

* * *

Yager snuggled down deeper into his covers and smiled. Half asleep and half awake, he’d been thinking about Neecy Lawrence’s cranky, evil ass all night. He dreamed about her. Thought about her. He thought about her naked body pressed against his, her hard brown nipples burrowing into his chest. That soft little panting noise she made every time he entered her.

He wanted Neecy. All the time in every way possible.

“Having sweet dreams, baby doll?”

That deep male voice rumbled through Yager’s consciousness and he leaped out of bed, his fists up and ready, his back slamming up against the far wall.

“Jesus, Odin! I hate when you do that shit!”

Odin, the All-‐Father of Norse gods laughed as he stared at one of his Raven leaders. His back against the headboard, his long legs reaching to the end of Yager’s enormous bed, his big hands comfortably folded over his stomach. Christ, is the man wearing Armani?

“Sorry. Did I interrupt passionate dreams of Ms. Lawrence?”

Yager’s eyes narrowed as he relaxed his stance, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What do you want?”

“Is that anyway to greet your god and leader?”

“It’s the best you’ll get at three in the morning and when you mention Neecy to me.”

“You know you can do…”

“If you say I can do better, I’m going to lose my mind.”

“I think you already have.” Odin gave that indulgent smile he gave all humans.

“Foolish boy. Crows are not to be trifled with. They protect their own. If they think for a moment you’re merely toying with that girl…”

“But you know I’m not. That’s why you’re here. Afraid I’ll muddy up your Viking gene pool with our kids?”

One pale blue eye turned his way. Odin had given up his other eye centuries ago…eeesh. There had to be an easier way to gain wisdom. Yager found reading quite beneficial.

“I have nothing against the Crows, per se.”

“But…”

“But they’re not one of us. They’re not Vikings. They’re mutts. Skuld with her damn sense of humor.”

“They’re more Viking than any Valkyrie you’ve brought in here the last five years. Speaking of which…Morgan says she’s been trying to get in touch with you. She says you’re avoiding her.” Morgan was one of the older Valkyries. Very old school and very dear to Yager. She was the mother he never had once the Raven elders took him from his own family. It’s not that his family cut him off, Yager simply couldn’t deal with the fear in their eyes. Having a son with wings must be a little overwhelming. Well, that, and he just kept growing until he was about twenty-‐one.

“She’ll simply complain again.”

“You better pray she doesn’t call to the Original Seven.” Yager smiled. “You know they’ll make your life hell.”

“The pain a father has to go through.” Odin easily pulled himself off the bed and stood. There were not many men in the universe who were taller than Yager.

The few who were normally where in carnival sideshows or played starting center for the NBA. But at seven-‐eight, Odin made Yager feel downright tiny.

“I want all of you to live your life. But don’t forget who you are and what you represent.”

“I haven’t forgotten anything. And Neecy Lawrence is mine. So you might as well deal with it.” Yager grinned. “And if I were you…I wouldn’t just show up in our bed once she moves in. I can tell she’d hate that.”

Odin growled. “I blame Skuld for this,” he muttered as he headed toward the door. He passed by Yager and did what he always did. He playfully slammed Yager’s shoulder with his own. The first blow, like always, knocked Yager’s shoulder out of joint. But slamming into the wall quickly popped it back into place.

Yager knew one day the bones in his poor shoulder would be nothing but shattered pieces.

“By the way, I’ve heard rumors that Hunting Season has begun again. A new Hunter this time.”

Yager’s head snapped around to nail Odin to the spot. “What? I haven’t heard anything from the guys.”

“You’re not the only one with wings…”

Rage. Pure, simple, and white hot welled up in him. He didn’t move. He simply stared at Odin.

Odin shook his head. “Try and protect the Crows and they’ll crush you. I’m only telling you about this because once they start with Crows, they usually move on to the Ravens…if they can get past the Crows that is. And that’s a big if.”

Yager didn’t respond. Actually, he was unable to respond. He’d clenched his jaw way too hard.

“Foolish boy,” Odin muttered again. “Never get between a Crow and her prey. I just hope you know what you’re doing, Yager. Sometimes you’re way to nice.”

The god who could simply leave the room with a mere thought decided to use the door. As he pulled it open, he said, “Neecy Lawrence isn’t anything like she seems.”

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