Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1)

by Shelly Laurenston

  She chuckled. “Anything else?”

  “Don’t be late. I really, really need to see you. And then I need to fuck you.”

  Neecy leaned against the desk. It was the only thing preventing her from dropping to the floor. Well at least she wasn’t the only one this out of control. She’d hate that.

  “Miss me, did you?”

  “Yeah, baby. I missed you. More than I could ever say.”

  Running her hand through her short hair, Neecy begged, “Stop, Yager.”

  “Nope. Won’t ever stop. Not with you, baby. See you tonight.”

  Then he hung up and Neecy dropped the phone back into its cradle.

  “Was that her?”

  Will, his feet up on his coffee table, his hands behind his head, simply smiled.

  Morgan sat down next to one of her many “sons”. Although, she secretly admitted, Will was her favorite.

  “I won’t see you all weekend, will I?”

  His smile grew wider and Morgan jabbed him with her elbow. “Get control of yourself, boy.”

  “And what you wanna bet she’s going to want to have one of her ‘conversations’.” Will accented that with lovely air quotes before putting his hands back behind his head.

  “Poor thing has no idea what she’s gotten herself into with you, does she?”

  “Not a clue.”

  Morgan had been a Valkyrie since she was eighteen. She’d known Ravens for more than thirty years and the one thing she could say about all of them—they were the most determined sons of bitches on the planet. Tough, loyal, warrior alpha males. It took a while for them to find “the one”, but once they did… Christ, they didn’t give up until they got her.

  Her husband of twenty-seven years was an Elder Raven. And even with her sagging ass and tits, her disturbing loss of height, and the grey overtaking her once light brown hair, the man couldn’t seem to keep his goddamn hands off her. And she would be forever grateful.

  At one time, she’d hoped Will would find himself a nice little Valkyrie to take as his own. But she understood why he’d found a Crow. They both had wings and they were both fierce fighters. Plus, the Valkyries just weren’t what they once were. None could fight or train the boys to fight. In fact, buxom strippers were a bit of a distraction to teen boys. Actually, they were a distraction to anything with testosterone.

  Really, at fifty-four, Morgan should be able to retire. Except that none of these new bitches had learned any adequate healing skills beyond bandaging basic wounds and wrapping up sprained or twisted ankles or wrists. Not impressive.

  But she’d damn near hit a wall with Odin and his bullshit. The two of them had a long history and Morgan was pretty sure she found the next crop of Valkyries who could bring them back to their former glory. Still, first things first. And that meant getting Will Yager happy and settled with his vicious little Crow. She didn’t know much about Denise Lawrence but Didi respected her and Morgan respected Didi. So that made Morgan feel better. Because what she didn’t need was some little twat coming along and breaking her Will’s heart.

  She’d stab the little bitch in the face before she let that happen.

  “I’m out of here, Will. I can’t stand the level of mooning I’m witnessing at the moment.”

  Will looked at her blankly. “What?”

  Oh, he was really lost. That little girl wouldn’t even know what hit her.

  Arri was halfway down the walkway, thinking she was home free, when Janelle’s voice stopped her.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Arri-girl? Alone?”

  Cringing, Arri turned to face the bigger woman. Janelle wasn’t as tall as Neecy—who was?—but she was more curvy. And definitely meaner. She’d love to have a body like Janelle’s. All lush and womanly. Unlike Arri’s. Every day Arri wondered what it was like to have tits that actually needed a bra.

  Trailing right behind Janelle was Katie. Crap. Just perfect.

  “I’m going to the bus stop, then I’m heading into the City.”

  Janelle looked truly stunned while Katie merely smirked. “Are you nuts?” Janelle snapped. “It’s not remotely safe out there for any of us, but especially not for you.”

  “Why especially not for me?”

  “Come on, Arri, be real. If someone is trying to snatch Crows, you’re a prime candidate. You can’t fight for shit. Your Magick skills are off the charts. And you can do that aura thing.”

  Arri opened her mouth to argue but realized she couldn’t. Everything Janelle said was true. “I’m a mess. I know.”

  “I never said that. And that’s not what I meant. I meant you’re powerful, but until you learn to truly control it, you’re vulnerable.”

  “But I really have to go.”

  Janelle frowned. “Where?”

  “A comic book store.”

  “Arri, come on! There’s tons of comic book stores around here.”

  “This one is expecting me.”

  Janelle’s frown deepened dramatically. “Why are they expecting you?”

  Arri scratched her head and kicked the gravel at her feet. “Um… they’re expecting me for a signing.”

  Blinking in surprise, “You? You draw comic books?”

  “Uh… yeah.”

  “Under what name? ‘Cause I know it ain’t under Arri Chang.” After she’d helped to convict her father of attempted murder, she changed her last name back to the one on her Korean birth certificate. She didn’t change her first name, though. She loved it.

  “I write under Arrianna Days.”

  Janelle stepped back as Katie spun around to stare at her.

  “You’re Arrianna Days?” Katie demanded. “Who writes Viking Eternal? That Arrianna Days?”

  Arri didn’t expect Janelle and Katie to know that. A lot of the Crows were into anime. But American comic books didn’t seem like the Crows’ thing and Arri never bothered telling them about her side career. Mostly because none of them seemed to care what she did as long as she stayed out of their way. So that’s what she did. She stayed up in her room and worked on her books day and night. The Crows didn’t even miss her.

  She nodded. “Yeah. That’s me.”

  “Holy shit! I gotta tell Rachel and Sophie!”

  Arri grabbed Janelle’s arm before she could run off. “No!”

  “Why?”

  Arri looked at the ground again.

  “Christ, Arri. You really need to get over the shy thing… it’s gettin’ old.”

  “I’m working on it.”

  When neither Janelle nor Katie said anything else, she looked up at them. “Please don’t tell anybody.”

  “Okay. Okay.” Janelle dug out a set of keys and cell phone from her baggy jeans. She tossed the phone to Katie. “Let ‘em know where we’re going.”

  “Huh? Wait. Where are we going?” Arri asked, confused.

  “To your signing. You can’t miss that and we’re not letting you go on your own.”

  “And,” Katie added as she speed-dialed the other Crows, “we better get a first edition of issue one—signed.”

  Arri grinned as she followed Janelle and Katie to the car.

  Neecy leaned out her apartment window, her hands gripping the window frame. Her index finger tapped restlessly against the metal. Where the hell was that cabbie?

  If she missed this train there would be hell to pay.

  The vibration of her cell phone against her hip made her cringe. Probably Yager. She bet he thought she would bail out of this at the last minute. Hence the no-sex rule for the entire week. Still, they needed to get some things straight and it wasn’t like she was heading toward Africa. It was Long Island, so it only felt a million miles away.

  She pulled her phone out of its holster and frowned at the number on caller ID. Flipping it open, “Delia?”

  “Neece…” Delia’s voice faded and returned. Neecy could barely hear her fellow team leader. But snatches of things kept hitting her. “Your team” and “problem”.

&nb
sp; Neecy straightened up, thoughts of a wild-sex weekend wiped out in seconds. “What? What problem?

  “Arri… trouble. Janelle…”

  “Where, Dee?”

  “Village. Sharky’s Comics.”

  Neecy had no idea why Arri and possibly Janelle were at a comic book store, but she didn’t care. She knew where Sharky’s was and all she needed to hear was Arri’s name. Slamming the phone shut, Neecy shoved it back into its holster and tore off her jacket and sweater, leaving just her requisite tank top, jeans, and boots. She stepped through her open window, spread her wings, and took to the air.

  Janelle and Katie looked at each other and just as quickly turned away. They had to or they’d explode into laughter. Janelle had never seen anything like it. A line of young boys and men stretched out the door of the big shop. All of them there to see and talk to Arri. Painfully shy, painfully weird Arri.

  She signed everything they put in front of her except body parts. And when it looked like one guy was going for his johnson, Janelle moved on him so quick, she scared the guy right out of the store. After that, the rest of them watched her warily. Suddenly she became Arrianna Days’ bodyguard. Typical.

  Everyone always expected the big girl to protect the tiny woman. No one ever tried to protect her.

  She’d do this for Arri, though. She realized she liked the kid more than she thought. Little Long Island princess that Arri was, she was still a good person. And Janelle tried really hard not to compare other people’s lives against hers. Especially those she considered the rich ones. Although her family lived in the “wrong” neighborhood and struggled to make ends meet, they still loved each other in their own way. Her father’s past did eventually catch up with them all, but not because he was still in the life, but because he’d left it behind at the request of his wife.

  The one thing Janelle knew that a lot of these rich kids didn’t—her family did love her.

  Katie motioned to her. “How much longer?” she mouthed at her.

  Janelle shrugged and looked at the enormous line still snaking out the door. She sighed. It looked like she was going to be bodyguard chick for a little while longer.

  Neecy destroyed a kneecap with one brutal kick while she used one of her blades to slash the throat of the man behind her.

  When she landed behind Sharky’s shop, she didn’t find Arri or Janelle or any other Crow. But before she could even figure out why Delia would send her here for no reason, they’d come out of the shadows. Hunters. Big, older white men who moved around her like a lion they found on the African plains.

  A setup. A really good one. They must have been recording the Crows’ cell calls for months. And it took nothing to clone a phone number to fool her caller ID. And she’d bet money that Janelle and Arri were around this store somewhere in case Neecy called back at the house to check. A freakin’ brilliant plan, but considering her past life as a drug dealer, she still should have known better.

  There were a lot of them. Fifteen by her count. A lot, even for her. But now she was pissed. She’d had plans this weekend and they pretty much consisted of having Wilhelm Yager inside her until her eight a.m. Monday morning class. Knowing these assholes got between her and what she, at the moment, considered her cock, only enraged her beyond anything she’d felt before.

  Without even turning around, she grabbed another one coming up behind her. He would have screamed, she guessed, if her talons hadn’t torn through his throat.

  She ripped through the men, tearing them apart from groin to neck. A blade in one hand and her talons unleashed on the other. One of them actually had a spear, which she got off him easily and proceeded to impale him with. That was kind of cool, but she was too pissed to even enjoy it.

  Now, as she yanked the throat out of the man with the shattered knee, she was down to two. And she planned to get rid of them as quickly as possible, catch the first train she could get out of Grand Central and get to Yager. She knew him. He’d think she stood him up. Changed her mind.

  That thought kicked her rage up a notch as she grabbed one of the two and slammed his head into the alley wall—a lot—until it was no more than a pulpy mess.

  When she realized she couldn’t do any more damage to him, she released what was left of him and turned to the last man. He backed up. She saw the fear in his eyes, but it didn’t stop her. Nothing would stop her.

  She extended her wings and flew at him, but hands she didn’t know were there grabbed hold of her wings and flung her across the alley.

  Another had been hiding, waiting for the right moment to kick her ass. It was times like this she wished she had a Shifter’s sense of smell. She bet nothing ever snuck up on them.

  Neecy landed hard against the dirty concrete, grunting as her body hit the ground. Growling, she scrambled to her feet, but a boot in the back shoved her down.

  She fought to get out from under the heavy weight on her back, looking behind her in time to see the ax blade swing at her.

  “No!”

  But it was too late. The blade, glowing with powerful runes, slammed into the part of her wing connecting it to her back, nearly severing it completely. Pain arced through her as blood flew. An artery severed, Neecy knew she only had minutes left… if that much.

  The man raised the ax again and she looked into his face. Christ, some average motherfucker was taking out Neecy Lawrence. Well, she’d never hear the end of this in Valhalla.

  Grinning, he lifted the ax that would split her spine in half.

  And that’s when they attacked. She didn’t call them this time. Too stunned by the sudden turn of events, she didn’t even think about calling them.

  They landed on her attacker with a viciousness she’d never witnessed before. It took them seconds to rip him apart and move on the other one who’d been scrambling for the exit out of the alley.

  As blood filled her mouth and her crows surrounded her to escort her to Valhalla, Neecy only had one regret…

  Until Yager made it to Valhalla himself, he would always think she stood him up.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “She totally stood you up.”

  Tye grabbed hold of Yager’s shoulders before he could rip the little pissant apart.

  “She didn’t stand me up,” Yager growled between clenched teeth.

  “Was she at the station?”

  Yager stared at Mike, in the middle of his living room, and wondered what it would be like to tear one of the bastard kid’s arms off and beat him to death with it. Why the hell were these two even out on the Island? Knowing Mike, he probably had a bet with Tye that Neecy wouldn’t show up. It looked like he won that bet.

  “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!” Mike argued. “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,” Didi laughed.

  Janelle sat on the edge of the couch. “Katie told Delia we were hittin’ a comic book store.”

  “Well, as usual, no one tells me anything.”

  “You got my shit?” Rachel asked, her 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 comics.

  “Yes!” Rachel cheered. She waved the thing at Sherri. “I got Vikings Eternal,” she sang 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 Jersey 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.