“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.