Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1)

by Shelly Laurenston

  “I know, but these assholes sent us off on some bullshit hunt. I hate that. Behind you, baby.”

  Neecy spun on her heel, going low, and gutted the biker behind her. Just as quickly, she turned back to Yager.

  “Thanks.” She motioned to the dying man at her feet.

  “No problem. And your scumbag is getting away.”

  Neecy turned to find Lewis trying to get past Tye. “Dammit!” She flew at him, literally, her talons out. For a big guy he moved fast, backhanding her as soon as she was within reach. He was strong too, knocking Neecy right into the wall.

  Okay. Now she was pissed.

  Okay. Now Neecy was pissed. Yager could see it on her face. Man, but watching her slam into that wall hurt. He felt it as surely as if it had been him. Who was this guy anyway? Well, he’d have to die. He’d touched Neecy. No one touched his Neecy. No one but him.

  Yager, growling low, moved on the biker. But Neecy moved fast when pissed. She charged into the man, her hands around the scumbag’s throat, and slammed him into the opposite wall. Her legs up, her feet straddling his waist and planted firmly on the wall behind her prey. Her wings fluttered dangerously, ready to take her airborne in seconds.

  Yager almost smiled. She would rip this idiot apart and he couldn’t wait.

  “Neecy!” Katie yelled. “It’s Arri!”

  Neecy, her talons digging into Lewis’ throat to hold him in place, glanced over to see Arri surrounded by purple light. As rich and vibrant as anything Neecy had ever seen before. But she also saw two bikers moving on her fast. Mike couldn’t help her because he was the only thing keeping that door closed. And whatever was on the other side of it in. Still she knew Mike well enough to know he’d leave his post at the door before he let a woman get hurt. If she was going to move, she better do it now.

  “Yager! Get Arri!”

  Yager didn’t waste time with answering her, he just moved, Tye by his side. But four bikers got in their way and Neecy realized she’d have to release Lewis to protect Arri. She couldn’t let her get hurt.

  Shit. Can this get any worse?

  A wet-sounding growl caused Neecy’s head to snap around and she realized something was happening to Lewis. He was changing. Shifting. His eyes were a bright yellow. Like a dog’s.

  He was a motherfuckin’ Shifter. Oh, just great!

  Claws came up and grabbed her around the throat.

  Then she heard Arri’s squeal and Mike’s growl of anger. She tried to pull away from the Shifter, but he had her by the throat and wasn’t letting go.

  Then Neecy was flying. Actually, they all were. And she had only a moment to wonder “what the hell” when she hit the wall and everything went black.

  One second Tye was busy wrapping a chain around some idiot biker’s neck and the next he was airborne. He slammed into a pole, which killed his back but luckily didn’t touch his head. He watched as one of the Crows flew past him and right into ongoing traffic.

  “Shit!” He took off after her, diving on her and rolling them both out of the way of a speeding tractor-trailer.

  He landed on top of her and looked down into her very pretty face. Sharp cheekbones, adorable pug nose, and full lips. Eyelids fluttered open and amazing hazel eyes locked onto Tye’s. Whoa.

  Yeah. He’d been right. Janelle was seriously, blindingly hot.

  She stared up at him, a slight frown creasing her brows. “Um… what are you doing?”

  He smiled. “Daydreaming.”

  “Huh?”

  When did it start raining? Snowing, maybe. It was January. But rain? They didn’t forecast rain.

  “Oh God, Neecy! Please don’t be dead! God, please!”

  Neecy forced her eyes open as she heard Yager’s soothing voice. “It’s okay. She’s okay. Just a little stunned.”

  She saw Yager with his arm around Arri, and Arri hysterically crying into his neck. For the first time ever, Neecy wanted to rip the throat out of a fellow Crow who wasn’t Didi.

  Oh, my God. I’m jealous. Kill me now.

  Using his free hand, Yager ran his hand over Neecy’s cheek and smiled when he saw her eyes were open.

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Stop calling me that.” Neecy slowly pushed herself up on her elbows. “What happened?”

  Yager nodded at the sobbing girl in his arms. “You better ask her.”

  And then Neecy understood. Arri did this. It seemed like somehow she’d blown everything within a two-mile radius away from her.

  Neecy struggled to a sitting position. “Is everybody okay?”

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  “I’m so sorry!” Arri wailed as she threw herself into Neecy’s arms, knocking her back on her ass.

  Poor Arri, she’d hate herself in the morning over this. Not about what she’d done, but about the crying. Expending that much Magick abruptly led to extreme emotions. Some became mean, violent, loving, horny… and some became emotional messes. Like Arri.

  “Check on everybody for me, would ya, Yager?”

  “Yeah. Sure.”

  Neecy squeezed Arri as Yager stood up. “It’s okay, kid. Really,” she soothed.

  “I thought I killed you guys.”

  “Between you and me… you saved our ass. The one I was fighting was a Shifter. Which meant all his friends were, too. That would have turned real ugly, real quick.” Speaking of which, where the hell were those bastards? “Honey, what happened to the bikers?”

  Arri cried harder and held on to Neecy tighter. Glancing past the sobbing girl, she saw Janelle. The woman shook her head and made a slashing motion across her throat.

  Holy shit. Arri had taken them out. All of them it seemed, since none of the Crows or Ravens showed any sense of urgency or panic.

  “Um… let’s get you back to the house.”

  Neecy struggled to her feet, her arms still around Arri. All the girl needed was sleep. To get her energy back. She’d feel better and probably a little awkward come morning.

  “Neece, we need to get out of here.” Katie stood next to Janelle, one side of her face swollen from a fist.

  “Yeah.” They were lucky the cops hadn’t shown up yet, but that wouldn’t last. And Skuld and Odin only cloaked them but so much.

  Motioning to Janelle, Neecy ordered, “Check the door.”

  “Are you insane?” Janelle ran her fingers over her eyebrows. They’d almost been singed off the first time she opened that door. “I’d rather not start drawing these in.”

  With the tiniest of head moves, Janelle motioned to Mike. Neecy shrugged. Why not?

  “Mike. Could you check that door for us?”

  “Sure!”

  A sudden look of panic streaked across Yager’s face. “Mike! Wait!”

  But it was too late. Mike opened the door and glanced inside. “It’s a butcher shop… although I wouldn’t actually eat anything from here. I don’t think this place is up to code.”

  Yager let out an enormous breath. “Don’t ever do that again,” he muttered to her.

  Neecy worked hard not to laugh out loud as she hugged the still-crying Arri.

  “I’ll take her.” Janelle looped her arms around Arri’s waist, then she was gone. Neecy nodded to Katie and Connie, and the women followed after Janelle.

  A quick glance around the alley showed Neecy there were no bodies. Only the Ravens and Crows remained after Arri finished. Weird. There should be bodies. It looked like her birds would have to find dinner somewhere else tonight.

  “Here. This is what you wanted in the first place, right?”

  Neecy looked at Yager’s outstretched hand. Christ, his hands were big. Reaching out, Neecy took the enchanted Rhine Gold necklace from his palm.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem, Neecy.”

  She looked up into that oh-so-gorgeous face and steeled herself against the heat in that gaze. The way Yager looked at her—the way he always looked at her—drove her absolutely nuts. It made her entire body desperate to feel him ag
ainst her one more time.

  She noticed the blood on his cheek. “Yager… your face.”

  He frowned and touched the wound on his cheek. “Oh. That. It’s nothing.”

  “Bullshit.” She pulled his hand away so that he didn’t keep playing with it like a ten-year-old. “You need to get that taken care of before it gets infected.”

  Smiling, he gripped her hand in his, unwilling to let her go.

  Neecy could hear the wail of sirens, but she couldn’t move. Couldn’t unlock herself from that blistering gaze. And the way he smiled at her. It was such a sweet smile, she couldn’t help herself—she ended up smiling back.

  “Yager, man,” Mike said. “We gotta go.”

  After another moment, Yager finally released her hand. “Yeah. Okay. See ya, Neecy.”

  “Yeah. Sure.” Afraid of what she might say or do, Neecy closed her eyes, unfurled her wings, and took to the air.

  Chapter Eleven

  Neecy landed in the backyard and found Didi waiting for her. “You okay, kid?”

  Retracting her wings, Neecy took the sweatshirt Didi offered her. “Yeah. I’m fine. Where’s Arri?”

  “Janelle took her to her room.”

  “Okay.” Neecy pushed open the sliding back door and walked into the house. It was warm and she’d never felt so grateful. “I’m gonna go check on her, then I’ll be down to talk to you.”

  Didi followed behind her until they reached the stairs. “Okay.”

  “They were Shifters, Didi.”

  Sighing, Didi shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Neecy took care of the girls, but Didi had to deal with the political fallout of any fights with certain factions. The Shifters spent most of their time fighting their own, but they were fiercely protective of each other against the outside world. And they considered the Crows as outside as you could get.

  Neecy jogged up the stairs, greeting other sisters as she passed. She went to the third floor and stalked down the hall. Katie and Connie sat outside Arri’s room, probably waiting for Janelle.

  They’d put on warm clothes and Katie had an icepack over her face. Good thing they kept a healthy supply of those in the basement freezer.

  Nodding toward the bedroom door, Neecy asked, “Well?”

  “Janelle’s putting her to bed.” Connie didn’t whisper but she did keep her voice low.

  “You two okay?”

  Connie nodded as Connie’s girlfriend, Fran, brushed past Neecy. She handed both Katie and Connie hot coffee and sat on the floor next to Connie, putting her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

  “My face hurts and my boys are working late shifts.” Katie had the nerve to pout.

  “I’m sorry your slaves are busy being cops and helping others when they could be running your bath, rubbing your tiny feet, and following your orders under fear of not being allowed to come.”

  Connie and Fran burst out laughing as Katie glared at her. “Jealous bitch.”

  Neecy winked and moved to the door. Gently pushing it open, she stepped inside. Janelle was just pulling the covers over Arri.

  “How is she?” Neecy whispered.

  “Don’t bother whispering. She’s out cold.”

  “Good. She needs the sleep.”

  Janelle came around the bed. “Well, now we know why Skuld wanted her out there.”

  “What the fuck happened anyway? I didn’t see any bodies.”

  “You wanna know what happened?” Janelle gave a short laugh that had absolutely no humor in it. “Our little Arri ripped open a doorway, pushed all the Crows and Ravens out of the way, and threw all of those bikers in there. Then she sealed up the hole and shut the doorway to hell. And she pretty much did all that at the same goddamn time.”

  Neecy looked at Arri, so small under those covers, and back at Janelle. “What?”

  “You heard me. I’ve never seen anything like it, Neece. Never.”

  After a moment of pure shock, Neecy grinned. She couldn’t help herself. “Still worried about her coming out with us now?”

  Janelle snorted as she headed toward the door. “What? Are you high? I say we make sure she goes out with us until we all retire.”

  Walking around the bed, Neecy stared down at Arri. Tears still clung to her long black lashes, but she was definitely asleep. Neecy felt an overwhelming tenderness for her friend. She’d been through so much, and the other Crows had never really accepted her. Maybe now they would. Or at least fear her enough to give her more respect.

  Leaning down, Neecy kissed the top of the girl’s head.

  And if they didn’t give Arri more respect, Neecy would start kicking the shit out of people.

  Neecy fell face-first onto her bed. She really wanted to go back to her apartment, but she wanted to be here when Arri woke up.

  She definitely didn’t want Didi getting to her first. Who knew what she’d say to her? What Neecy learned quickly was that Didi had no patience. None. A lovely woman, with delightful Southern values, but you better be able to keep the fuck up or she would leave your ass behind in a New York minute.

  And since they had much work to do before Arri would be a truly effective part of the team, she didn’t want Didi scaring her with one of her “speeches”.

  Already naked, Neecy lay there debating whether it was worth reaching over to turn out her light when her cell phone rang.

  She rolled her eyes. She had no doubt who the hell was on the other end of that phone. The question was did she answer?

  Growling, she reached down and yanked the phone from her jeans.

  She flipped it open. “Yeah?”

  “Just wanted to make sure you got home okay.”

  Christ, that voice! “Yes, Yager. I got home just fine.”

  He chuckled low. “Man, you’re testy tonight.”

  “I don’t get testy. I do, however, get annoyed.”

  “Why?”

  “Look, I don’t know what you think we’re doing, but it’s not what you think it is.”

  There was a pause, and she could easily imagine him with that confused frown he sometimes got when stuff didn’t make sense to him. That adorable but misleading frown that originally had her believing Yager was another big, dumb Viking.

  Dumb, her ass.

  “Please feel free to repeat that, Professor. ‘Cause you lost me.”

  “What I’m saying is, I don’t need you checking up on me to make sure I got home okay. That’s what boyfriends and husbands do, and you ain’t either.”

  “What if I wanna be?”

  “Then I’d say you need to get out there and find yourself a nice girl. I’ve heard online dating is popular.”

  “Neecy, you’ve been in serious relationships before.”

  “Sure was. How do ya think I got shot?”

  Yager sighed in frustration. “Don’t pull that shit on me. You’ve had other relationships since then that didn’t end in gun play.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “So what’s the difference? Why do I get the special Lawrence rejection?”

  This was where things got complicated. How could she tell him he was the one man who could actually get to her? Make her vulnerable. Sure, she’d had good, steady boyfriends who always remembered anniversaries and birthdays, and knew exactly how to make her come without too much effort.

  And she’d never loved one of them.

  When those relationships inevitably ended, she shrugged and moved on. Nothing ugly or complicated. Boyfriend of the Moment would go off and find himself a nice girl who actually loved him. Neecy went off and found another good, steady Boyfriend of the Moment. Perfect.

  But as Neecy didn’t lie to people, she refused to lie to herself. Yager would be messy and complicated. There’d be fights and discussions on money and whether they wanted to see the Joneses on Saturday night.

  She’d fall in love with Wilhelm Yager, which meant she’d be vulnerable. And when that asshole pulled the trigger, she’d sworn she would never be that way
again.

  When Neecy didn’t answer his question, Yager growled. “What do you want, Neecy?”

  Frowning, Neecy turned over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. “I want what you’d never be able to give me.”

  “Which is?”

  “A completely sexual relationship void of drama and emotions and the usual bullshit. Just two people getting together on occasion to fuck.”

  The pause that followed her declaration went on for so long, Neecy thought he’d hung up or the connection lost. She looked at her phone several times to see if she still had him.

  Finally, “Are you naked?”

  Neecy squeezed her eyes shut. She spoke and it was like the man didn’t hear a word she said. “Did you even hear what I said?”

  “Yeah. I heard you. Are you naked?”

  She sighed. “Yes, Yager. I’m naked. I just got out of the shower.”

  “Mhhmm. I love how you smell when you’re just showered.”

  Neecy locked her knees together. “Look, Yager, I’ve gotta—”

  “Put your hand between your legs.”

  Suddenly she wasn’t as dead tired as she thought. “No, Yager.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m not in my apartment. I’m in a house full of women, a few of them under eighteen, and I’m not doing this here.”

  “Damn.” He sounded so despondent. “Well, are you going home tonight?”

  Neecy forced herself to frown to keep from laughing. “No. I’ve gotta be here for Arri.”

  “How she doin’?”

  “Sleeping. But fine.”

  “Good. So we really can’t have phone sex?”

  “No.”

  “Damn.”

  She took a deep breath and again forced herself not to laugh. “Look, Yager, I’m not the girl for you. You’re looking for someone more—”

  “Like you?”

  “No.”

  “Yes.” He said it so simply. Like she was his slow-witted cousin or something.

  “What is your obsession with me?” If she could find out maybe she could convince him otherwise.

  “You mean other than the fact that I think you’re hot and sexy and downright amazing?”