Neecy blinked. Several times. “Yager…”
“I want to see you tomorrow.”
“No. No dating. No relationship.”
“Fine. Then just sex.”
“Forget it, Yager. You could never do that and we both know it.”
“You’re not even going to give me a chance?”
“No. I’m not.” Because she couldn’t afford to.
“You’re breakin’ my heart.”
Neecy rolled her eyes. “I am not.”
“Neecy…”
“Goodbye, Yager.”
She ended the connection and shut off her phone.
Delia slapped Janelle’s leg. “Ow!”
“Oh, stop whining, ya big baby. We go through this every time. You insist I braid your hair and then you freakin’ whine and complain the entire time.”
“Cause you make ‘em too damn tight. That hair is actually attached to my scalp, ya know!”
“If I don’t make ‘em tight, they won’t even last two days, much less a week.”
Janelle went back to braiding Delia’s dark brown hair while Katie, curled up in one of Janelle’s favorite chairs, quietly read a book on knots. Janelle wasn’t going to even ask.
Her cell phone rang and both Katie and Delia smiled.
“J, you actually have ‘Danny Boy’ as your phone ring?” Delia giggled.
“I like that song.” She released Delia’s hair and scooped up her cell phone. She frowned at her Caller ID and looked at Katie. “It’s Yager.”
“Ooh. Neecy problems.” She sat up straight in the chair, her book forgotten.
“Answer, answer, answer.”
Chuckling, Janelle flipped open her phone. “This is Janelle.”
“Hey, Janelle. This is Yager.”
Working hard not to laugh, she covered the mouthpiece. “Oh, my God. He sounds so depressed.”
“That bitch. You know she probably just dogged him.” Katie motioned to the phone. “Find out what’s going on.”
Clearing her throat, she went back to her phone. “Hey, Yager. What’s up?”
“Remember at the party, you said you’d help if I needed it?”
She did? Damn Alabama Crows. No more grain alcohol for her. “Um…sure.” She shrugged at Katie. “What d’ya need?”
“She’s breaking my heart, and she doesn’t care.”
“Of course, she cares. That’s why she’s breaking your heart.”
“She says she doesn’t want a relationship.”
Janelle frowned. “Then what does she want?”
“Sex, but no relationship.”
Janelle snorted. “She’s kidding right? I mean…Neece don’t do sex with no relationship.”
Although only hearing one side of the conversation, Delia and Katie still covered their mouths to keep their hysterical laughter quiet.
Janelle waved at them, since she could still hear Katie’s giggles through her hand.
“Well, she says that’s what she wants.”
Rolling her eyes, “Then just tell her that’s what you’ll do.”
“I tried. She saw right through me.”
“Christ, youse two are pathetic.”
Katie glared at her across the room and whispered, “Be nice! That shitty accent we’ve tried to beat out of you is making an appearance, which means you’re getting testy.”
Covering her phone again, Janelle snapped, “Oh, look who’s talking! She of the knots!”
“I know we are,” Yager continued, unaware of Janelle’s multiple conversations.
“But she won’t let me in. Got any ideas?”
With a sigh, “Hold on a sec.” She lowered the phone as she covered the mouthpiece. “She’s blockin’ him. And he’s out of ideas.”
Katie threw up her hands. “At this rate, she’s going to die a bitter old maid. Just like you.”
Janelle nodded, then her head snapped up. “Huh?”
Delia, sitting on Janelle’s bedroom floor, with Janelle’s legs on either side of her so she could do her hair, patted her on the ankle. “Ask him if he’s going to that Valkyrie party tomorrow.”
“Yager. You going to that Valkyrie party tomorrow?”
“I’d rather remove my eyelids. I’m sending Mike.”
Janelle laughed. “Okay.” Covering the phone. “He’d rather remove his eyelids.”
Katie grinned. “I’m liking him more and more.”
“Tell him to go.” Delia turned her head to look at Janelle over her shoulder.
“Are you sure? I’d hate for him to go for no reason.”
“Trust me. But you bitches have to go yourselves.”
“Are you high?” Katie snapped.
“I’d rather eat glass.”
“Hey!” Delia growled. “My team has had to go to those goddamn Valkyrie parties with Didi every year for the last four years because you cunts wouldn’t go. Well, now you’re fuckin’ going!”
“Hey, cunts is a little harsh, ya know.”
“There are speeches, honey. I’ve sat through Valkyrie speeches and Odin grabbed my tits last year. You’re just lucky I didn’t sneak in and cut your throats in your sleep!”
“Christ, such a drama queen.” Janelle went back to her phone. “Yager. Go to the party.”
“Really?”
“Trust me. We’ll be there and we’ll drag her ass with us, if we have to bring her in a garbage bag.”
There was a long pause, then, “She’ll still be alive, right, J? If you have to do that.”
“Of course, she will!” Janelle snapped. “Don’t make me crazy, Yager!”
“Okay. Okay.” He chuckled. “Thanks a lot, Janelle.”
She took a deep breath and smiled. “No problem. But I better be a goddamn bridesmaid at your wedding.”
“You got it. And if she fights me on it, you’ll move over to my side and hang with Tye and Mike. But no more putting Mike in headlocks.”
“We both know the little bastard always deserves them,” she joked, even as she felt a little shudder pass through her. Not about Mike. Like siblings, they’d been torturing each other for years. No, it was the mention of Tye that got her. She could still feel Tye’s body laying on top of hers and see that glossy black hair spilling over those bright blue eyes…
She shook her head. “Look. Gotta go. See ya tomorrow.”
She flipped the phone closed.
“So what’s the plan, Dee?”
“It’s vicious. And involves Didi.”
Katie giggled in a most unholy way as she grabbed her knot book off the floor and again got comfortable in Janelle’s chair. “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”
Chapter Twelve
“Those Ravens are becoming a problem.”
Waldgrave sighed as he stared off into his backyard, his big arms folded over his even bigger chest. “How long did it take them?”
“To take out the decoy and get to the Crows? Less than an hour.”
Taking a deep breath to dispel the overwhelming desire to start killing things, he looked at the disciple standing next to him. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, should we?”
“You didn’t think She’d make it easy on us, did you, sir?”
He finally chuckled. “You’re right.” Still, the Ravens were a serious problem.
And, unlike the Crows, their god still cloaked them. They were impossible to track, so he had no idea where the hell any of them lived. Plus, they could be right on top of him and Waldgrave wouldn’t know it until they had their hands around his throat.
Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to face off against Odin himself if he fucked with his pets.
“Sir?”
“Forget them for now. Our prey is the Gathering. Focus on them. We need to get rid of that female and soon. Understand?”