Tye was right. Yager was not going to bother trying to figure Neecy Lawrence out. No more playing this game on her terms.
This bullshit was over as of now.
“Now, hold still.”
“Ow!”
Katie stepped back from Neecy. “I didn’t touch you yet.”
“I’m projecting into the future.”
Arri, her eyes still red from crying, turned to Janelle. “See?”
Disgusted, Janelle walked over to the kitchen counter on the other side of the room. She slid onto the countertop, taking the cup of coffee Delia handed her.
“So what happens now?” she asked before sipping her coffee.
Neecy shrugged as she leaned away from Katie and her mercurochrome. “Got me.”
“Didi says she’s out of here soon.” Katie sighed and leaned back. “Would you stop acting like a child, so I can clean off these scrapes?”
“So you’ll be taking over, right, Neece? I mean you survived and everything.”
Neecy looked around the Bird House kitchen at the warriors ready to call her their leader. Which seemed really strange, considering how she was dressed.
Her thermal underwear, under aqua blue Snoopy pajama bottoms from Fran, a pink Hello Kitty sweatshirt from Katie, fuzzy green bunny slippers from Janelle, and a purple knit ski cap from Arri, which for some unknown reason had droopy knit balls hanging from the top that kept tickling her nose.
She didn’t look like a leader. She looked like the crazy lady in her old neighborhood who used to say Moses was in her bathtub drinking a forty ounce.
“I don’t know. I mean, I guess. It’s hard to tell with Skuld. I somehow doubt she’ll show up to tell me or anything.”
“Well, whatever you do make sure you have a big supply of porn on hand.”
Neecy looked at Delia. “Huh?”
“Penthouse Forum is her favorite.”
“No, no, she likes Penthouse Variations.”
“Whatever. She’s a Penthouse fan. Just keep that in mind.”
“So you’re telling me the powerful goddess we worship and serve likes amputee sex?”
Katie shook her head as she finally cleaned out a light wound on Neecy’s neck.
“Nah. She likes the bondage.”
“And she loves ass play.”
Delia chuckled. “There’s nothin’ like a good corn-‐holin’.”
“Okay. I’m done.” Neecy pushed Katie away as she chuckled at her idiot sisters.
“I’m going to bed. I’m exhausted and still freezing.”
Janelle put down her coffee mug. “What about Yager, Neece?”
She shrugged. “I love him.”
“Yeah. We got that part. But what are you going to do?”
“I need some time. Lots of life changes in the past couple of weeks.”
Delia, busily cutting up apples and cheese, tossed over her shoulder. “He’s not going to wait forever, ya know.”
Neecy brushed her bangs and fuzzy little balls off her forehead. “I never asked him to.”
“Your colors meld together so beautifully,” Arri burst out as fresh tears began flowing again. “He’s so in love with you!” she finished on a wail.
Janelle’s head fell back. “Oh, my God! How long are we going to have to put up with the sobbing?”
Arri turned so fast in her chair she startled everyone as she pointed one small finger at Janelle. “Hey! You open a portal to Helheim and see how you do!” Then she burst into another round of tears.
Rolling her eyes, Neecy stood up and gently pulled Arri out of her chair. “Okay.
That’s it, ‘Tear-‐Leen.’ Let’s get you to bed so you can get some sleep. Otherwise you’re gonna drown us all.”
Crying too hysterically to answer, Arri simply nodded and allowed Neecy to steer her to the kitchen door. But before they reached it, Connie’s voice stopped her.
“Look, Neece. I say this as the one woman here who never cares if you have a dick in you or not…”
Neecy turned to Connie. “Uh…okay.”
“But you need to face a cold hard fact.”
“Which is?”
“The Gathering will never in this lifetime be as nice to you as Wilhelm Yager. In fact, we’ll probably go out of our way to make your life hell because that’s what we do. So if I were your dumb ass, I’d grab that shit with both hands.”
Neecy took in a deep breath. Calmly, with none of the emotion she’d been feeling the past week living with Yager, “Ya done?”
Connie glanced around the room and the other Crows nodded. “Yeah. We’re done.”
“Good. Now listen up. What I do with Yager is my own goddamn business. You little cunts try and get into the middle of it and I’ll squash you bitches like flies.
Are we clear?” she asked with a warm smile.
“Yeah.” Janelle gave a surprised chuckled. “We’re clear.”
“Wonderful. Good night.”
Chapter Twenty-‐Two Her first day back at school was surprisingly uneventful. But that could have been because she didn’t have to kill a single person with an ax or have anyone sent through a portal to hell.
A good number of her students actually looked glad to see her back, and when she wasn’t in class she was in her office talking to all her PhD and masters candidates.
She didn’t bother going to her apartment. She had a full night of work ahead of her. So she went back to the Bird House, changed into her standard fighting clothes, and headed out with her crew. They had a full slate this freezing cold January night.
The first three scumbags they dealt with were just idiots. They hadn’t used their items yet so, luckily for them, their blood wasn’t necessary. But for fun the Crows scared the living shit out of them.
The last one of the night, however, was a real piece of work. He’d not only opened a doorway by sacrificing some junkie he found, he’d enhanced his strength. He put up quite a fight, too. No Ravens showed up to “help out.” And Neecy was confident she didn’t need them, even when she ended up in the alleyway Dumpster. Yet she couldn’t shake the disappointment of not seeing Yager.
After she dug herself out of the Dumpster, she’d decimated the man with the help of her crows, leaving barely enough to toss into the doorway Arri pulled open.
Once it was sealed, the team surrounded her.
“Wanna come out with us?” Janelle asked as she slid her blades back into her boots and covered up the weapons with her jeans. “We’re hittin’ a club or two tonight before it starts snowing.”
A blizzard was supposed to be heading their way and Neecy had to admit she was looking forward to a few snow days. No school!
“Nah. I’m exhausted. I’ve been lounging at Yager’s too long. It’s weakened me.”
Connie smiled. “The Ravens may be at one of these clubs. Tye was the one who told me about ‘em.”
“Then I’m definitely not going. I’ve got a lot to think about tonight. Don’t need any distractions.” Especially those Yager-‐type distractions.
It had only been a day since she last saw Yager, but she missed him. No, tonight she was going to make a decision and stick with it. And tomorrow, she’d talk to Yager.
Then she’d fuck the living hell out of him.
“Okay.” Connie spread her wings. “See ya later.” She took off, Katie right behind her.
Arri gave an adorable little wave and followed. The doorway she’d opened this night didn’t require much power and Arri didn’t even sniffle when she was done.
Janelle bumped Neecy with her shoulder. “See ya, Big Wing.”
“Stop calling me that.” Before she could take off, Neecy grabbed Janelle’s arm.
“And watch out for her.”
“Who? Arri?”
“Yeah.”
“You think she needs it?”
“The girl’s got more power than is humanely possible and she has no idea how to really use it yet. Not fully. So we need to watch out for her. Remember, it wasn’t me they wanted, J.”