Shelly Laurenston - Shelly Laurenston

One of the Fates and Skuld’s sister, Urd maybe—Neecy didn’t know and she wasn’t about to ask—stepped out from behind the enormous World Tree and tossed a watering can at her sister. “Water it your damn self!”

Skuld’s barely concealed face turned frightening. No wonder many considered her a less-‐than-‐approachable god.

“Bitches.”

Skuld stood up. She was tall. Much taller than Neecy.

Neecy pushed herself to her feet as Skuld turned her back on her. Yager now stood behind her, naked as the day he was born. Unlike Neecy, who thankfully had on his MIT tank top that reached mid-‐thigh.

When Skuld turned back to face them she held an ax.

Great. More axes.

Neecy had never been a big ax fan when it came to her weapons, and now that she’d actually had one in her back, she’d like to avoid them. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem possible at the moment. She knew Skuld would only give it to her because she’d need it.

“This is a powerful weapon. One of the most powerful you’ll find.” Skuld ran her thumb along the edge. “You’ll need it for your Trial.”

She may not be an ax fan, but any weapon was better than no weapon. So when Skuld handed it to her, she took it gratefully.

“Any specific directions go along with this?”

“Now where would the fun be in that?”

Neecy sighed. “Of course.”

“But if you succeed at this Trial, you’ll become leader of the Jersey Gathering.”

Holding the weapon in her hand, Neecy felt the weight. It was heavy but filled with powerful Magick. She felt it running through her fingers. “And if I fail?”

“We’ll make sure to have a lovely funeral for you…with roses. I heard they were your favorite.”

Yager barely bit back his growl. “That’s not funny.”

Skuld chuckled. “Actually, it kind of is.”

Neecy took a few practice swings with her new ax. It was like she was born with it in her hand. “So what’s my Trial?”

“Destroy the Hunters. Especially their leader, Waldgrave. But I want them all, Denise. I want them weeping to Hella come dawn.”

Yager had no idea how he ended up here with Neecy, but he would be eternally grateful he did. He wouldn’t let her face this on her own. One or two Hunters…maybe. But all of them? With no wings and having just recovered from her last fight? No way would his woman be facing this alone.

Battle plans already filled his head. Ways of attack. Who should be on the team from both the Ravens and the Crows. Together, they’d make sure she’d pass this Trial.

Neecy swung the ax again, her muscles rippling under his tank top. Powerful runes covered the ax blade and its black handle.

“No Valhalla for them?” she asked.

“Sneaky bastards preying on my warriors? No. There’ll be no Valhalla for them.

No Valkyries to lead them home.”

Neecy nodded as her index finger slid across the runes on the ax. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask me anything as long as it’s not about your death…which may very well be today,” she said with a huge grin.

Man, give him Odin any day. This goddess was a bitch!

Neecy, however, seemed unimpressed and continued on. “What exactly was Didi’s trial?”

Shrugging, Skuld picked up her water can and doused the roots of the World Tree.

“She was to get a feather from one of Odin’s ravens. You know, his actual birds Huginn and Muninn. But I wasn’t very specific…so she drove over to Mountain Creek, met with one of the Elders, and politely asked him for one of his feathers.

Considering he couldn’t see past the woman’s breasts, he gave it over happily and got a date out of the bargain.” Skuld smiled. “Tricky little wench.”

Yeah, that sounded like Didi.

“You are running out of time, Denise. Do you accept this challenge?”

Neecy shrugged as Yager wrapped his arm around her waist. “Yeah. Sure. Why not?”

Skuld no longer looked at them as she diligently watered the tree. “I need a direct and clear ‘yes’ on this, Denise. Just like when you took my hand the first time.”

“Okay…yes. I accept.”

Didi picked up her white knight and was about to move it—and demolish Tye in the process—when she glanced up to find a naked Yager standing in the middle of the living room.

“Yo, Yager man.” Mike stated from the couch. “Put on some clothes.”

Yager ignored him as he spun in circles. Didi didn’t know Yager as well as Neecy now did, but she could sense the panic coming off the man.

“Where is she?”

Didi stood up as the other Crows and Ravens came into the living room. They’d been dressed and ready for battle for hours. She got the feeling Yager didn’t realize he and Neecy had been gone since the day before. That’s how Didi knew they’d gone to Asgaard to prepare for Neecy’s Trial.

Suddenly serious, Mike pushed off the couch. “Where’s who?”

Cold rage spread across Yager’s face. Through gritted teeth, “Neecy. Where the fuck is Neecy?”

Neecy landed hard in a crouching position. One knee slamming down first, one palm flat against cold stone, the other still gripping the weapon Skuld gave her.

She looked like a runner at the starting line.

She gave herself a moment to breathe and then she looked up. The Hunters all surrounded a blood-‐covered altar. An altar she was on.

Aw, shit.

Waldgrave stared at the woman he thought long dead. Dressed only in an enormous tank top, she looked as stunned as he about her sudden appearance during their religious rites of power. They’d been invoking the goddess in preparation of their final Hunt of the Crows. They hadn’t even gotten to the final sacrifice yet.

He found the Crow surprisingly attractive for such a butch female. He preferred his women pliable and fearful. This woman looked like she feared nothing, and that’s how she looked when he scouted her out in that store. He wanted to see the woman his goddess wanted dead so badly, and one look at that cold face and powerful body, and he knew she had to go. She’d do anything to protect her fellow warriors. Anything to keep his goddess from getting what She wanted.

And now he knew he’d been right about her. This would be no easy kill. He knew it as soon as she jumped to her big feet on the altar and took up a classic battle-‐ready pose.

The enormous but plain ax she held firmly in both hands, appeared unused. No nicks or marks marred its surface. Waldgrave would bet money she’d never fought with it before.

Smiling, he hefted his own ax. An ax awarded to him by his goddess. With a powerful move of his arms, he swung the ax over his head and brought it down on the solid stone altar.

An explosion of sound filled the room as half the altar crumbled in his ax’s wake.

“Fuck!” she snapped as the bit of altar she stood on fell away at her feet. She hit the ground in a cloud of dust.

Not willing to give her time to recover, Waldgrave swung his ax again, aiming for where he’d guess the female’s head would be. It came down in a perfect arc, and already he felt her defeat in his heart. But the clang of metal and an agonizing pain tearing up his arms showed him she still had no intention of being an easy kill.

The dust from the altar cleared and he saw the female had put up her own ax, blocking his. It should have crumbled like the altar. But now that she’d used it, he could see the glowing runes along both sides of the blade and on the black handle.

The bitch’s protector goddess had given her a weapon of great power, which annoyed him. This insignificant female was not his prize. She was simply in the way of his prize. He needed her gone so that the full-‐on assault on the rest of those women could begin. Without her, they would be lost. Without her, they’d never be able to protect the one he wanted.