“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.”