Shelly Laurenston - Shelly Laurenston

“Fast? It took us over an hour. Wind was against us.”

She smiled as she stepped closer to him. “Skuld helping us out?”

“Or Odin. You know how he is.”

She glanced around. “Where’s Arri?”

He gently pushed her bangs off her face. “Outside with Tye. Doing me a favor.”

Neecy’s brow peaked up. “A favor?”

Chapter Twenty-‐One They all stood behind Arri as she chanted. On her knees, her eyes closed.

Neecy was freezing in the blanket they’d given her. She wanted to go home, get warm. At this rate she’d catch a cold or the flu. But she wouldn’t rush Arri, not when the girl worked some powerful Magick over Karl Waldgrave’s family mansion.

Waldgrave’s house gave a sickening lurch. Followed by another sound, like a canon shot, and suddenly the house folded in on itself, sucked through a big enough doorway only Arri had the power to open. With the house went any bodies of the Hunters as well as those who might still live but had successfully hidden from the two Clans.

It took less than thirty seconds for the house and its occupants, living and dead, to disappear through the doorway Arri created. In the end, all that remained was burnt grass where the house once stood.

Then little Arri Chang burst into tears.

Mike turned toward Yager, his face desperate. “Yager, man. She’s fuckin’ cryin’ again!”

Neecy motioned to Katie and Connie. “Get her. And let’s make it quick. I’m catchin’ my death here.”

As if to emphasize the point, Neecy’s head flew back, then forward, a huge sneeze bursting out of her.

And just like that…she was airborne. Her wings snapped out and she flew back twenty feet, slamming into the trunk of an ancient tree.

Connie pulled Arri to her feet as Katie laughed.

“Well,” Didi offered dryly, “she got her wings back.”

Neecy pushed herself to her feet. “That’s it. I’m now officially done for the night.”

She walked back to the warriors. “We’re out of here. I’m freezing. I’m exhausted. And, is it my imagination…” She glanced at her enormous black and purple wings. “Or are my wings inordinately large?”

“They are bigger.” Katie walked around her. “I could be wrong, hon. But I think Morgan gave you Raven’s wings.”

Neecy let out a huge sigh. “Typical.”

“They’re bigger than Yager’s,” Janelle added.

Katie looked at Yager. “Does that make you feel inadequate?”

“Katie!” Neecy pushed the woman’s shoulder, then motioned to the rest of the Gathering. “It’ll be dawn soon, Crows. Move out.”

Wait a minute. She was leaving…him!

Yager grabbed her arm. “Neecy?”

Neecy turned toward him and rewarded him with a warm smile. Going up on her toes she leaned in and kissed him.

“Later.” She kissed him again. “I promise.”

Neecy and the Gathering took off as Neecy’s birds descended on the remains of those not taken with the house. The Hunters they’d dealt with before making it inside. The birds would wipe away any evidence the Hunters even existed.

“You ready, Bro?” Tye stood next to him. “Like she said, it’ll be dawn soon.”

Yager shook his head. “I don’t get it, Tye. I don’t get her.”

His friend smiled as he patted him on the back. “And don’t even try. She’s a Crow.”

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.”