“She stood you up, Bro. You need to face it.”
Tye stepped between them. “Back off, Mike.”
“Neecy isn’t like that.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Come on, dude!”
Tye sighed. “She’s a Crow. She probably had to work.”
“You’re not helping! You’re letting him keep this delusion!”
Yager almost had his hands around the kid’s throat when Tye pushed him back.
“Wait. Wait!” Tye looked up. “What’s that noise?”
Yager worked to control his breathing and his desire to kick the living shit out of Molinski, but once he did, he heard it too.
“It sounds like…wings.”
Yager pulled away from Tye and walked to the French doors leading to his backyard. He’d just pushed the doors open when Mike grabbed his arm.
“Forget it, Yager. She probably sent those goddamn birds to rip you apart.”
And that’s when they descended. They looked like a black tornado, spinning, swirling in the moonlit yard.
“Holy shit,” Tye breathed.
Then they lifted and left Neecy lying there.
“Jesus!”
Yager reached her first, kneeling down beside her. “Neecy?”
Tye had his fingers against her throat. “There’s a pulse. But it’s faint.”
Yager pushed her hair out of her face. “Call Morgan. Speed-‐dial three.”
Tye ran back into the house as Mike rested back on his haunches.
“God, Yager. Her wing. It’s like someone hacked through it.”
But Yager didn’t want to hear that right now. He didn’t give a shit about her wing. All he cared about was keeping her alive.
“Neecy? Can you hear me, baby?”
She muttered something he couldn’t make out and moved her fingers the tiniest bit. It was just enough to show Yager she was still fighting as only Neecy Lawrence could.
“We need to get her inside.” He looked at Mike. “Then we need to call the Crows.”
Didi looked up from the television as Arri, Janelle, and Katie walked into the living room. It was a quiet night. No job from their goddess, so they’d all decided to watch movies. As usual, they ended up watching “Aliens”…again. They simply couldn’t get enough of Vasquez. Any chick who kicked that much ass was an honorary Crow.
“Where have you bitches been?” Didi snapped.
Katie threw herself into one of the recliners. “Oh that’s very nice.”
“I’m just trying to get into the New Jersey spirit.”
Janelle sat on the edge of the couch. “Katie told Delia we were hittin’ a comic bookstore.”
“Well, as usual, no one tells me anything.”
“You got my shit?” Rachel asked. Arm no longer bandaged; her body nearly back to normal.
Janelle tossed the paper bag to her. She caught it with both hands and pulled out some comic.
“Yes!” Rachel cheered. She waved the thing at Sherri. “I got Vikings Eternal,” she sung to her. Then she stuck her tongue out at the woman. In response, Sherri gave her the finger.
It amazed Didi that the majority of the women in the Tri-‐state Gathering were, in fact, over ten years old. Cause they didn’t act like it.
Giggling, Rachel looked at the comic. “Oh, my God!” she barked out suddenly.
She looked at Janelle. “How the fuck did you get it signed?”
Didi reared back as Sherri leaped over her to get a look at some stupid signature.
Janelle shrugged. “They had a few just lyin’ around.”
Didi watched Arri turn beet red and wondered what the hell was wrong with her when the phone rang. Delia, having recently gotten involved with a fireman, made a mad dash over her sisters and the couch to reach the phone. Both crashed to the floor and the Crows stared at her for a moment, then turned back to the current conversation.
“Why does our sweet Arri look like she’s been up to something?” Didi asked.
Arri blinked in surprise. “Me? What? No!”
Janelle rolled her eyes. “Smooth, Arri. Very smooth.”
Didi settled into the couch, ready to torture the little goody two shoes when Delia stood up, the phone against her ear. One look at her face and a bolt of fear snaked up Didi’s spine.
“What, Dee?”
“It’s Tye.” Didi frowned. Delia looked like she was about to cry and she never cried. Even when she got her hand stuck in the toilet that time.
“What’s he want?”
She swallowed. “It’s Neece, Didi.”
Mike watched as Morgan finished re-‐attaching Neecy’s wing. She’d used black thread and surrounded the bed with powerful runes and three other older Valkyries. All four had made it to Yager’s house in record time, which was good.
If it hadn’t been so cold out, Neecy probably wouldn’t have lasted this long.
As Morgan continued to work on Neecy’s wing, the other three Valkyries chanted in the old language. The entire time Yager watched; his face hard and expressionless. Mike had never seen him like that. Not even in battle. And he prayed he never saw him like that again.
Morgan cut the black thread she’d used on Neecy’s wing and tied a knot.
“Okay, boys,” she barked over the chanting. “Now the hard part. I’ve gotta get her wing back in. It’ll need time to heal inside her body.” She looked at Yager.
“But she’s a Crow. She’s gonna fight like all hell when that pain kicks in. So I’m gonna need you to hold her down.”
Mike stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”
“No.” Yager shook his head. “I’ll do it.”
“Both of you will do it.”
Leaning over the bed, Yager grasped Neecy’s shoulders. He glanced at Morgan and nodded. “Do it.”
The older woman straddled Neecy’s body. “Get her legs, Mike.”
Wishing he were anywhere but here, Mike took firm hold of Neecy’s ankles, pushing them into the firm mattress.
“Okay.” Morgan took a deep breath. “Here we go.”
She lifted the wing and bent it, angling it into Neecy’s body. As soon as she bent it, Neecy moved and screamed, desperately trying to pull out of Yager’s grasp.
Mike looked up to see the strain on Yager’s face. The absolute pain. Not physical but just as damaging.
“Hold her tight! I’ve almost got it.”
It must have suddenly hurt worse, because Neecy began to fight harder. Morgan hadn’t been kidding. Crows really put up a fight. Even half dead and barely conscious.
Mike didn’t know how much longer Yager could keep this up, knowing how much pain Neecy was in.
“Just a little more…”
On the verge of telling Morgan to get her ancient ass into gear, he almost dropped in relief when she shouted, “Got it!”
She chanted over the wound and Neecy’s skin closed over the wing and she stopped struggling. In fact, she stopped moving all together.
Morgan blew grey-‐brown hair out of her face. “Okay. I just need to stitch up this wound near her wing and bandage her up.” She slid off Neecy, motioning her Valkyrie sisters away with a wave of her hand. “I’ll be able to tell you more once she actually wakes up.”
Yager released Neecy’s shoulders and stood up. “You mean if she wakes up.”
Morgan sighed and briefly glanced at Mike before turning back to Yager. “Don’t get maudlin on me, Will. The fight that Crow just put up…she’ll wake. I just don’t know when. And her wing…well, that we’ll just have to see. But I know how you guys are about your wings. So let’s hope for the best.” She cracked her neck.
“After I’m done bandaging her up, I’ll need a break…”
“I’ll watch her.” Yager grabbed a chair and put it down next to the bed. “I won’t leave her until she wakes up.”