Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1)

by Shelly Laurenston

  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 and he spit out 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.

  Chapter Twenty

  Waldgrave stared at the woman he thought long dead. Dressed only in an enormous tank top, she looked as stunned as him 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.

  With a vicious snarl, she pushed forward, throwing Waldgrave away from her. She sprang to her feet and swung her ax, once, twice. One acolyte lost his head, the second she split from one hip to the other.

  The other Hunters backed away from her, circling her and Waldgrave. Her eyes strayed to the big picture windows of the ballroom. Then to the doors.

  “Going to run, little girl?”

  She acted like she didn’t hear him, her body turning away from him to see all the exits. Then he heard her muttered reply.

  “Crows don’t run.”

  He barely brought his ax up in time as the crazy bitch spun and swung her weapon, aiming for his head.

  Bobby Anders hefted his M-16 in his arms and sighed. Goddammit, he was cold. Exactly how long was he supposed to stand here anyway? Ever since his fellow brothers took out that one Crow, Waldgrave made sure to have sentries on duty at all times. At first, Bobby was all for it. It made complete sense. But a week later and nothing. Nothing but nearly frostbitten fingers and toes and a good old-fashioned cold.

  Yet something was going on. A battle cry from within the house caused half of the sentries to charge back inside. Bobby wouldn’t leave his post, though. He was there to ensure no one attacked from the outside and that’s exactly what he would do.

  But, he realized, no matter how ready he thought he was or how fast with his weapon he might be, he would have never seen this one coming.

  Enormous didn’t really do the man justice. And for someone his size, especially with those wings stretching big, black, and ominous from his back, he shouldn’t be able to move so fast. But the man moved like lightning. One second Bobby stood all alone and the next the big man easily snatched the weapon from his grip.

  Still, the hands attached to the chain wrapping around his neck… those were female.

  So was the voice in his ear. “Say goodnight, sunshine.”

  Tye grinned as Janelle released the chain and allowed the Hunter to drop to her feet like a sack of garbage. She’d snapped his neck the way some people break a candy bar in half. And she made Tye so hard he physically hurt.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to focus on his little lust muffin. The rest of the Crows and Ravens were silently dropping from the sky, taking out the sentries quickly and quietly. Like the birds themselves, Crows and Ravens were crafty. Why go in screaming and announcing their presence when they could sneak in and kill everyone efficiently? It wasn’t logical.

  And Tye was all about logic.

  The little one landed behind Janelle, nearly falling on her ass as her feet touched solid ground. Tye cringed. Man, what a clumsy little thing. But he found her entertaining because she hated Mike so much. It was like watching big-league wrestling. Personally, he put his money on the runt.

  Yager landed beside Tye. There were a lot of things in this universe Tye didn’t much like. And the look on Yager’s face at the moment was absolutely at the top of his list.

  Following behind his leader, he shook his head. Anything not Raven or Crow would not be getting out of here alive tonight.

  How any goddess in her right mind could think putting these psychopaths on her ass was a fair Trial, she’d never know. And now that Neecy knew who was truly behind this—who truly wante
d her dead—that made this whole thing much more disturbing. She saw the rune on the altar. She knew who these Hunters belonged to. And Skuld was right. A war was coming—a war among gods. And their warriors were merely pawns.

  But at this point, Neecy no longer cared about any of that. They could deal with everything else later. Her only goal at the moment was to kill Waldgrave and keep her girls safe. She sensed that without their leader, the rest of the Hunters would be easy pickings for the Crows and Ravens.

  And she knew the two Clans were coming. She knew Yager was already here. She could feel his presence like a physical touch.

  Neecy studied Waldgrave. She’d seen this man before. In the video store. And even though she’d only seen him for a brief second, the details were completely accurate. A big, wide man, Waldgrave had muscles on top of muscles bulging under his clothes. But she was a bit taller than him and she knew she was faster.

  She swung the ax again, aiming for his head. For a moment, Waldgrave was startled but he recovered quickly, blocking her move. He twisted his blade to pull her off balance.

  Neecy rolled with it, ending up on the other side of Waldgrave, but with her ax still in her hands. She jumped to her feet and immediately swung again. Again, Waldgrave blocked her, but Neecy moved in close and slammed her foot in his groin. He grimaced and although he didn’t double over in pain like most men would, Waldgrave still lost enough momentum for Neecy to pull her ax away and swing. Unfortunately, the weapon had turned in her hands and the blunt end of her ax slammed against Waldgrave’s head. But there was enough force behind the move to knock him off balance.

  Waldgrave landed facedown. Quickly, Neecy walked over to him and planted her foot in his back, keeping him down. She swung the ax over her head, but before she could split his skull in two, Waldgrave spit out a spell that threw her back and across the room, slamming into several slow-moving Hunters.

  Waldgrave smoothly got to his feet. “Did you really think my goddess was going to let some abomination of Skuld’s stop me?”

  Neecy pulled herself up, her eyes glued on the man walking toward her.

  “She wants you gone and it’s my job to ensure that you go.”

  Gripping the handle of her ax tight, Neecy felt the power move through it. She knew the runes on it. Knew what they could do. In fact, she knew exactly what she had to do.

  But before she could move, glass shattered, a Hunter’s carcass tossed through one of the enormous windows.

  Janelle grinned at her… and waved. Crazy fuckin’ female.

  Yager stepped through the window, his beautiful face rigid with anger.

  Well, no one not Crow or Raven is gettin’ outta here tonight.

  “Perfect.” Waldgrave leered at her as the Crows and Ravens followed Yager into the room. “All the players in one place.”

  He turned to his men. “Kill them all. Get the girl.”

  Neecy didn’t wait for him to turn back to her. Crows didn’t give a “fighting chance” or a “head start”. They were Crows. Mean. Smart. And brutal.

  She lifted her ax and swung, her muscles screaming from the effort. Waldgrave turned in time to see the blade flying toward him. He raised his own ax, but he wasn’t fast enough. Not fast enough to stop a Crow.

  Neecy cleaved his head in two and never made a sound.

  Yager watched Neecy Lawrence, dressed only in his tank top and covered in dirt and blood, bury her ax in a Hunter’s head.

  Another Hunter ran toward him. Without turning to face him, Yager snatched him up, wrapping his hand around the idiot’s throat and squeezing until he crushed every bone in his neck. He dropped the body at his feet and looked up at the rest of the Hunters.

  He didn’t know what they saw on his face, but they ran.

  Neecy walked toward him, her eyes never leaving his, as she softly spoke to the two warrior Clans.

  “None of them leave this house alive. None.”

  “Yes!” Mike and Janelle cheered at the same time. Then both groups were moving and destroying.

  Standing in front of him now, Neecy stared at him. She had fresh cuts and bruises on her bare arms and legs, but he didn’t know from what. He didn’t care.

  “How did you guys get here so fast?”

  “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 cannon 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 slammed 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 to
uch 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. In 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’.”