Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1)

by Shelly Laurenston

  He wasn’t sure, but it looked like Neecy’s head just might blow off her body at any moment. Man, he’d pissed her off good, now hadn’t he? A woman who didn’t get angry was suddenly seething. And dammit if she wasn’t cute even pissed.

  “You lying sack of motherfuckin’ shit!” she bit out between clenched teeth. Of course, he could do without the name-calling.

  Yager glanced over his shoulder when his phone rang. “That must be Molinski. I gotta go.” He looked down into Neecy’s pretty face. “I’ll call you tonight, baby.”

  “No! You will not call me tonight!”

  Yager closed his front door. He couldn’t stop smiling. Because the woman had absolutely no idea what she’d gotten herself into.

  Neecy stared at the closed door. That tricky, Odin-loving bastard! If he thought he could walk all over her, he was insane.

  Neecy banged her fist against the door. “Open up, you lying prick!”

  This wasn’t over.

  Mike Molinski heard the yelling before the elevator doors opened. Although he would be eternally surprised to see who was behind it.

  “Open this door, you lying sack of shit!”

  Nice mouth on this one. Mike shook his head as he ambled down the hallway. He’d known girls like the Crows in his old neighborhood. Girls he learned never to turn his back on.

  Although Neecy Lawrence seemed much more dangerous than that. The quiet ones always were. While other neighborhood girls screamed and announced their plans, giving a person time to make a run for it, Neecy was all about the silent attack. Like one of those drug dealer-owned pit bulls with their vocal cords cut.

  As he got closer, she finally kicked the door, turned, and stormed past him. He watched her walk by, fascinated by a grown woman muttering to herself like a psychiatric patient.

  He wasn’t even sure she actually saw him until she got right next to him. Then those black eyes nailed him with one look. “What the fuck you lookin’ at?”

  Mike learned a long time ago never to answer that question.

  Instead he went to Yager’s door and stuck the key in the lock. As he opened it, he saw Neecy Lawrence step inside the elevator. As the doors slid closed, he could see her kicking the elevator walls.

  Stepping into Yager’s apartment, “Hey, Yager. You here?”

  “Bathroom.”

  Mike walked into Yager’s master bathroom to find his mentor soaking in a steaming-hot tub of water. “Feelin’ better?”

  “Much.”

  The man did look better. Calmer. Kind of happy. Yager never really looked happy. Polite. Friendly. When motivated, charming. But never happy. Until now.

  And he definitely looked satisfied.

  “I see you pissed Neecy Lawrence off.”

  Yager, his head back against the rim of the enormous tub, shrugged those massive shoulders. “Probably.”

  “That’s a major coup, pissing that cold female off.” Mike scratched his neck, walking back toward the door. “Of course, that’s what I was thinking before I noticed she was wearing the sweater I gave you two Christmases ago. You’ve been fucking her since yesterday, haven’t you?”

  Not bothering to wait for an answer, he headed toward the kitchen and a glass of orange juice as Yager angrily questioned Mr. and Mrs. Molinski’s marriage status when Mike was born.

  Chapter Eight

  Neecy pulled off her helmet and headed toward the house. She usually only used her sport bike in the summertime, but it hadn’t started snowing yet, and she needed the cold January air to control her almost overwhelming rage.

  He’d tricked her… but why? What exactly did he want from her? A repeat of last night? No way.

  Of course, as quickly as she thought “no way”, she remembered the feel of his mouth on her pussy and her entire body clenched with need.

  Damn him! He did this to her, and she would never, ever forgive him!

  She reached to open the front door, but someone snatched it open from the inside.

  Neecy looked into the sweet but always-expecting-the-worst face of Arri Chang—one of the most nervous Crows Neecy had ever known. Arri had already died once. What could she be worrying about now?

  “Hey, Arri.”

  “Where have you been?”

  To heaven. “In hell. Why?”

  “I’m just glad you’re here,” she sighed.

  Poor Arri. No matter what she did, she was having the hardest time fitting in with the other Crows. Neecy did her best to make her feel at home, but the rest was up to Arri and the girl was really struggling. Of course, it might help if her hair wasn’t fuchsia. She dyed that shoulder-length mess the oddest colors.

  “Lawrence,” Didi called from the living room. “Is that you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well get your big ass in here.”

  Big ass? Bitch.

  Neecy looked at Arri. “When we’re done here, I wanna talk to you for a few minutes.”

  “Why? What did I do?”

  Rubbing Arri’s shoulder, she chuckled. “Nothing. Calm down.”

  Arri braved a little smile as Neecy put her arm around her shoulders and walked with the kid into the living room. All the Jersey Crows were there and well into the middle of Didi’s meeting. Gee, nothing like waiting for their second-in-command.

  “So what did they look like?” Didi asked as Neecy dropped her backpack and shrugged out of her jacket.

  Delia’s crew looked at each other. “They were white guys,” Delia offered. “Just average white guys.”

  “How is that helpful to me?”

  Neecy looked around and suddenly noticed Rachel’s tightly bandaged shoulder; her pretty but pale face. The bandage not only locked her arm against her body, it covered her back. Which meant only one thing. Someone or something had wounded her wing. The only way to get a wing to heal on one of them or the Ravens was to keep it tucked inside their body for several days. Usually a few rune spells were enlisted as well, depending on how bad the wound. “What’s going on?”

  Didi nodded toward Rachel. “Hunters.”

  At that moment, Neecy felt raw, almost overwhelming hate well up in her system. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” she spit out between clenched teeth.

  “Hunters that hunt us… right?” Arri squeaked out.

  Didi glanced at Arri. Of all the Crows, for some unknown reason, Didi had very little patience for the pint-sized girl. But she answered her nonetheless. “Pretty much. Every few decades some asshole Hunters find out about our existence and decide to come after us. Usually the very wealthy and the very well-connected looking for new and more exciting prey.”

  “It must be something about having Crows wings over their fireplace that really gives these idiots hard-ons,” Janelle added.

  “Yeah.” Katie grinned. “Then they’re so shocked when we retaliate.”

  “I’ve heard some Crows from centuries ago would destroy whole villages and castles to prove they were not to be fucked with,” Didi finished.

  “Nice,” Janelle stated before biting into the apple she held in her hand.

  It seemed only Arri could sense Neecy’s rage based on the way she carefully inched away from her. Neecy hadn’t spoken because she couldn’t see straight. She felt like dog shit. She spent hours fucking Yager while one of her own was almost killed. Nope. She was lower than dog shit… Cat shit. She was cat shit.

  And she’d make the ones who did this to one of her sisters pay.

  Neecy stared at Rachel. “Are you gonna be okay?”

  “Yeah. One of the older Valkyries patched me up.” When the Original Seven were the only Valkyries, healing anything was the last thing on their minds, being brutal warriors in their own right. But when they grew bored after centuries of duty to their father, he began choosing mortal females to carry on the Valkyrie role. Not a problem, except they could get hurt and die. They taught themselves to heal, and when the Ravens and Crows came on the scene, they helped out when they could. Lately, though, it seemed
only the older, less nubile Valkyries were the ones with actual healing skills. The newest crop could barely put on bandages. And some of them outright passed out at the sight of blood. Losers.

  “Did they say anything to you, Rach?” Didi questioned.

  “Yeah. One of ‘em said, ‘Is it her?”’

  The Crows glanced at each other as Didi frowned and looked at Neecy. “Are you sure that’s what he said?” Didi pushed.

  “Yeah. That’s what he said.”

  “So.” Didi took over the room in that effortless way she had. “From now until we find out what’s going on, y’all fight in full teams. No pairs ‘cause a few of your teammates are out gettin’ a mani-pedi. Make sure y’all have your cells and please make sure they’re charged.” Some of the females looked embarrassed, knowing Didi spoke directly to them. “No fucking around on this, ladies. For some unknown reason they can see us. Maybe other gods are involved. I don’t know. But clearly this wasn’t a random attack. Until we know exactly what’s going on, I want all of you to play it smart and safe. Am I making myself clear?”

  Smiling and in unison, “Yes, Miss Didi.”

  That eyebrow peaked. “Smartasses.”

  Yager slammed Mike into the garage wall next to the training area. “You know what really pisses me off, though?”

  Tye swung at Mike, barely missing his head. “What?”

  “That after the great night we had, she walked away.” Mike tried to move but Yager grabbed him by the throat and shoved him back. “I mean… she is the most difficult woman I’ve ever dealt with.”

  Slamming his knee into Mike’s stomach, Tye muttered, “She’s a Crow. What do you expect?”

  “I expect her to admit she’s crazy about me so that we can move on to living together.”

  “Living together? With a Crow?” Grabbing Mike by the neck, Tye slammed him against the wall and then shoved him to the ground. “I guess it could work.”

  “It’ll work. I just don’t wanna wait twenty years for her to frickin’ figure it out.”

  A foot firmly planted against the back of Mike’s neck, Yager looked at the ten fourteen-year-old boys standing and watching them.

  Addressing the boys, he said, “And that’s how you push somebody in a corner and beat the shit out of ‘em. Any questions?” When no one answered, “Great. Break. Then we’ll get in a little weapons training.”

  The boys cheered as Tye turned to Yager. “Look, you knew going in that Neecy was kind of… ya know…”

  “Cold and unpleasant?” Mike asked from his spot under Yager’s big foot.

  In answer, Tye and Yager kicked him. “Shut up!”

  “That’s the thing, Tye,” Yager continued, ignoring Mike’s yelp of pain. “She’s not cold and unpleasant. Not really. She’s just cautious.”

  “Then you need to get past that. Any way you can. Be persistent.”

  “Yeah, but when does persistence turn to stalking?”

  “I think you’re already there, bro… ow!” Mike grabbed his kicked-in, bleeding nose and glared up at Tye. “You son of a bitch!”

  Ignoring him, Tye said, “Trust me. You’re not there yet. If you were, you’d have every Crow in a hundred-mile radius coming down on your head.”

  “They like me.”

  “Then use that to your advantage. Use them. They’d use us, if we let ‘em.”

  Yager chuckled. “We do let ‘em use us.”

  Tye shrugged. “Yeah, we do. But they’re all so fuckin’ cute. We can’t help ourselves.”

  Mike punched Yager’s boot. “Excuse me, Men With No Penises, but can I get up now?”

  “No!” they barked, then looked at each other and grinned.

  Didi sat behind her desk and stared at her second-in-command. “So, what exactly did you find out from Yager?”

  “Yager? Oh, yeah… um…”

  Didi rolled her eyes. Good goddess, she fucked him. The flushed cheeks, the stammering, the hickeys… you didn’t have to be Columbo to figure out the girl had spent most of the night with her ankles for earrings.

  “He said he didn’t know anything. You know those Ravens… just following orders.”

  “Did he tell you that before or after the first time he went down on you?”

  “Oh, it was before—” Neecy’s head snapped around and she glared at Didi. Lawrence, you dumbass. “We are so not having this conversation.”

  “Oh, we so are, Lawrence. Now spill.”

  “There’s nothing to tell.”

  Oh, really? “You do know that turtleneck is not covering up those hickeys.”

  Based on how big her eyes got, Didi guessed she was, in fact, unaware of that.

  Reaching into her drawer, Didi chastised, “I swear, Neecy, I don’t know how you get yourself into this shit.” She pulled out a hand mirror and shoved it across the desk.

  Neecy stared at her reflection, her mouth open in horror. Yager had bitten so high up on her neck, the turtleneck sweater he gave her to wear did nothing to hide them. Really, the woman would have to be in a burka for anyone not to see those marks. And Didi bet Yager knew exactly what he was doing.

  Apparently, Neecy felt the same way. “I’ll kill him! That motherfuckin’ son of a bitch…”

  Didi let her second-in-command rant. She couldn’t remember the last time Neecy allowed herself a good rant. It was good for her. Healthy.

  “I hate him! I absolutely hate him!” Those scary black eyes looked up at Didi. “And I blame you for this!”

  “Me? How am I at fault here? I send you over there to get information and you go down on the man like you’re on the Titanic.”

  “I did not!”

  “If I check your knees will I find rug burn?” The fact Neecy had to think about it gave Didi her answer. “Jesus, Neecy!”

  “What?”

  Giving her best mock glare, “Is this how I can expect you to handle political shit when I’m on vacation? By blowing Odin?”

  All at once, calm, collected Neecy returned. “That is not funny. And it wasn’t like that.”

  Didi shook her head. Poor Neecy. Always so serious. “I know, dumbass. I just don’t understand why you’re all upset. We’re Crows. Not nuns. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a healthy sexual appetite. If it were me, I would have walked through the front door doin’ the rumba.”

  “Wouldn’t Harry be upset if you slept with Yager?”

  “First off, I would never cheat on my husband… especially since he never got me killed because of his gambling problem.”

  “Ah. Well that’s a recommendation.”

  “And second, you uptight heifer, the last thing I would be doing with Wilhelm Yager is sleeping. Now let’s go. I want details… the more specific the better.”

  “I’m not giving you any details.”

  Didi leaned back in her chair. “I bet you can suck a golf ball out of a hose.”

  “Oh, that’s lovely.”

  Didi just couldn’t help herself. Neecy was the most fun of all the Crows to torture. Always so serious. Always so determined to fulfill her obligation to Skuld. Didi felt pretty confident the girl never had any fun whatsoever. Which wasn’t fair. Neecy had been through a lot in her past. It seemed only right she should get a chance to relax and have a good time just like the rest of them.

  And if that meant her friend needed to spend some quality time with one gorgeous hunk of winged male… well, dammit, that would just have to be.

  Neecy’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you looking at me that way?”

  “What way?”

  “Like you’re up to something.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. What the hell would I be up to?”

  Neecy pushed the chair away from the desk. “I’m out of here. I’ve gotta figure out who the hell is hunting us.”

  “Sit that ass down, missy.”

  Sighing, Neecy sat her ass down. “I’m not in the mood for this, Didi.”

  “Let’s make this clear, you will not be dealing with our
current Hunter situation.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “Because I said so.” Didi leaned back in her leather chair, putting her bare feet up on the highly polished wood of her desk. “Now—” she sighed, putting her hands behind her head, “—I want details. Start at the first kiss and work your way to the very last shudder.”

  “I am not having this conversation with you. So let it go.”

  A knock at the office door almost had Neecy breaking out in a jig. “Thank God… come in!”

  Arri stuck her head in. Her eyes locked with Neecy’s. “You said you wanted to see me.”

  “Yeah. Come on in, hon.”

  Arri glanced at Didi before moving into the room. Neecy gave Didi her hardest glare, which simply said, “Be nice to Arri or I kick your ass.” Didi really had a hard time with anyone that couldn’t keep up. And in her mind, poor little Arri couldn’t keep up.

  “Sit.”

  Arri sat down in the chair next to Neecy, glancing between her and Didi.

  Then, out of nowhere, Arri volunteered, “You’re throwing me out, aren’t you?”

  Neecy blinked. “What? No! Of course not.”

  “Not that it hasn’t crossed my mind, though.”

  Without taking her eyes off Arri, Neecy grabbed a box of tissues from Didi’s desk and chucked it at her.

  “Hon, it doesn’t work that way around here,” Neecy explained.

  “But I don’t contribute anything. I’ve been here two years and I’m not sure why… and no one else is either.”

  “Well, that’s about to change.”

  “It is?”

  “It is?” Didi barked. She sounded like a startled poodle.

  Focusing on Arri, Neecy said, “Skuld wants me to take you on our next hunt.”

  Arri’s frown was so deep, it looked painful. Add in the way she chewed on her bottom lip and you could almost smell the panic coming off her.

  Didi, however, was much more verbal. “Has she lost her ever-loving mind?”

  Unlike most goddesses, Skuld didn’t have a problem with her Daughters questioning her. She was the Goddess of Wisdom, among other things, after all. And she seemed quite happy when questions were asked, concerns raised. However, she didn’t appreciate out-and-out rudeness.