The Unleashing

  “Why?”

  “It’s what we do. And other Clans will ask you how you died anyway, so you might as well get used to telling the story.”

  “Because it’s so much fun reliving one’s death.”

  “You’re not reliving it. You can’t.” Erin smirked. “You died.”

  Erin unbuckled her seat belt. “You’re just telling a story about a girl you used to know.”

  She stepped out of the SUV and Kera released her seat belt. “Are you going to come in with us?” she asked Jace, who was the only one left in the vehicle. “Or stay out here and bake in the heat?”

  There was a pause, then Jace asked, “Will I have to talk? Erin always tries to make me talk.”

  “Talk if you want to talk. I just don’t need to know how you died.”

  “Okay.” And she sounded rather perky.

  Kera got out of the vehicle, closing the door behind her. She met Jace as she slipped out of the backseat.

  She was a tall girl, curvy, with curly brown hair that reached to the middle of her back, and dark blue eyes.

  “It’s weird,” Kera said as they walked up the stairs to her third-floor apartment. “I think I’m going to miss this place. I don’t know why. There were three shootings down the street the first two weeks I lived here. Some drunk guy tried to break in to my place one night because he thought his girlfriend still lived here. And I’m positive there’s a dogfighting ring in this neighborhood because I found Brodie a couple of blocks over tied to an engine block. But the building manager and his wife are really nice and they watched out for me and Brodie.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Yeah. I’ve always found that no matter how tough the neighborhood, there’s always good people around. You just have to be smart and trust your instincts.”

  Kera stopped on the second flight, put her hand to her upper chest. She could feel her heart racing.

  “Great. My anxiety is acting up again.”

  “Your anxiety?”

  “Yeah. I get panic attacks sometimes. I think I’m worried about tonight. I don’t even know how to fly yet. Do you know how to fly?”

  “Well—”

  “Of course you know how to fly. I’m the only idiot who doesn’t know how to fly.”

  “That doesn’t make you an id—”

  “I’m not going to know how to fly and I’m going to die days after being brought back. That’s embarrassing. It’s like being the first kicked off some reality competition show. You don’t want to be the first one kicked off. No one wants that.”

  “I . . . I think you’re panicking.”

  “You’re right.” Kera briefly closed her eyes, took in a breath, let it out. “You’re absolutely right. I need to calm down. I need to calm down.”

  When Kera felt more in control of herself, she continued up to her apartment and found the others waiting outside for her.

  “Can we pick this up?” Leigh asked. “I can’t express how bored I am.”

  Annalisa smiled. “I just want to get into your apartment and see what it tells me.”

  “Personally,” Erin announced, “I’m digging this gang-riddled neighborhood you picked for your home. Were you planning to clean the place up like in Walking Tall?”

  “I went where I could afford.”

  “That is so sad.”

  Kera didn’t have her keys but she kept a spare one under the raggedy hall carpet. “You, of course, mean it’s so sad that as a vet, and someone who fought for my country, I can’t afford decent housing, right?”

  Erin shrugged. “Okay. Sure.”

  Kera sighed and opened the door. That’s when Mrs. Vallejandro came out of her apartment at the end of the hall. As she rushed down toward Kera, her eyes were filled with tears.

  “Kera? Oh Kera!”

  “Mrs. Vallejandro? What’s wrong?”

  The older woman put her arms around Kera, hugging her. “The police came here. They thought you were kidnapped!”

  “What?”

  “They found blood outside the coffee shop you work at and the other workers, they heard screams. But when they got outside, you were gone.”

  Kera cringed. She’d completely forgotten about . . . everybody.

  “Everyone was so worried!”

  Kera doubted that. Mrs. Vallejandro and her handyman husband had probably been worried about her. But the wanna-be assholes at the coffee shop? No. Kera doubted they were worried about anyone but themselves. And, of course, their “careers.”

  “I’m so sorry you were worried about me. But I’m fine. I’m fine. I just . . . I got hurt. And I went to get my, uh, wounds taken care of. But see? All better now. I promise.”

  “I should call the police. I should tell them you’re back.”

  Kera was nodding at Mrs. Vallejandro’s suggestion when someone punched her in the back.

  “No!” Kera said, going from nodding her head to shaking it. “That’s not necessary,” she said, much more calmly. “I can talk to them. Did they leave a card?”

  Mrs. Vallejandro’s shrewd eyes sized up the women with Kera and it was clear she didn’t exactly like what she was seeing.

  “Are you sure everything is all right, Kera?”

  “I’m fine, Mrs. V. These ladies are my new . . . coworkers.” She gestured to the other Crows with a flip of her hand. “They’re here to help me get a few of my things. I guess this is my one week notice. I’m going to be moving out.”

  “A weekly rental?” Leigh scoffed. “Quite a class establishment you’ve been living in, Watson.”

  Not wanting Mrs. V to be insulted—she and her husband did the best they could to keep this place decent, which was all Kera had really needed—Kera reached back and pushed Leigh. But she was still getting used to her new and improved strength and she sent the woman flying through her partially open front door.

  Erin, Annalisa, and Jace just watched her go; they didn’t even try to help.

  The best part, though, was the way Mrs. V smirked.

  “Anyway, don’t worry about giving my deposit back or anything. I’m sure there are things you’ll have to fix in my place once I’m gone.”

  “I hate to see you go, Kera. You were one of my best tenants.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. V.” Kera hugged the older woman before going into her old apartment. She couldn’t exactly say she’d miss living here. Although the Vallejandros went out of their way to keep the place clean and vermin—human and rat—free, there were always problems. Electrical problems. Bad plumbing. Weak flooring. Problem after problem. Not because of the Vallejandros but because of the slum lord who owned the joint.

  Erin walked into the middle of Kera’s pretty sizable apartment and nodded. “This isn’t as horrifying as I thought it would be.”

  “Uh . . . thanks?”

  “My place in Jersey City wasn’t much better. My mother begged me to move back home.” Erin snorted. “Guess I should have listened to her.”

  Leigh was brushing paint chips out of her hair. Kera had sent her into the wall, leaving a Leigh-sized dent in it. To Kera’s surprise, Leigh didn’t complain about the push. She did, however, complain about the cheapness of the paint that was now in her hair.

  “Oh my God! This paint is so cheap. Get it off me. Get it off me!”

  Annalisa went to Leigh to help and Kera went to a cabinet where she’d stored her disassembled moving boxes. She grabbed a few, opened them up, shook off the dust, and put them on the table. “I guess I won’t need my plates and glasses, huh?”

  “All you need are some clothes and pictures, I guess.” Erin looked around. “I expected this place to be smaller.”

  “I paid a little extra, but I got a nice-sized place and I’m near the building manager, which is always good unless you’re up to something.”

  Kera stood there a moment, not knowing what to do. Then she simply decided to do what she always did best. Organize.

  “Erin, why don’t you and Annalisa pull all my pictures off that w
all and put them in this box. And Leigh, could you use this box and get all the stuff out of the medicine cabinet? I’ll go into my bedroom and get my clothes.”

  With everyone given a task, Kera reassembled another empty box and went into her bedroom.

  She placed the box on the bed and pulled her old, battered duffel out. She zipped that open and spread it out on her mattress.

  Hands on hips, Kera quickly figured out the most expeditious way to tackle the packing and, with a plan in mind, she turned toward her closet.

  That’s when she saw him. He was just standing there. How she’d missed him before, Kera didn’t know. He was tall with shoulder-length blond and gray hair. Eyes green. And very strong. There were muscles on top of muscles under his long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans.

  He said nothing as he gazed at Kera with those green eyes, until finally he put his forefinger to his lips. He wanted her silence.

  Kera nodded in agreement . . . then she screamed out, “Erinnnnnnnn!”

  Erin dropped the box she held in her hand and ran toward the bedroom. She’d just reached the door when a fist slammed into her stomach, sending her colliding into Annalisa, who’d been right behind her.

  They both hit the ground and Erin looked up into the face of Notto Oveson. One of The Silent. A Clan of the god Vidar.

  Grinning, Oveson shook his head. He wouldn’t speak to Erin because she and the other Crows were not considered worthy enough to hear his voice. But the beauty of being in a Viking Clan was that words were not really necessary.

  Erin jumped to her feet and charged Oveson. He swung at her and she twisted to the side, forcing him to turn his upper body to keep Erin in sight. The move allowed Annalisa to scramble over to him and ram her fist into Oveson’s cock. He doubled over in pain and Erin smashed her fist into the back of his neck.

  He dropped to his knees and Erin looked up in time to see Leigh tossing her a pair of scissors from the bathroom. Erin lifted the scissors over Oveson’s neck, but just as she was bringing it down, Oveson roared and the power of that sound sent the three women flipping across the apartment in three different directions.

  Yeah. Erin always forgot. The Silent might not speak to those they considered unworthy, but that didn’t mean they didn’t roar.

  The man picked Kera up by the throat and lifted her off the floor. Kera tried kicking him in the chest, but he held her so far away that she could only tap at him with the tips of her feet. She gripped his wrist with her hands and tried to twist him off that way. But he only squeezed her throat tighter.

  “Who are you, girl?” asked a female voice that sounded like it’d had way too many cigarettes over the years.

  Kera couldn’t turn her head to look but someone walked around them to face her. “Someone” because Kera couldn’t see who with that gray cowl covering the face and a long gray robe covering the body.

  “What’s your place in this world?” that female voice went on. “Where are you in the Balance?” A clawed hand reached out for Kera. “Show me what ya got, girl.”

  Kera watched in horror as the hand reached for her. But before those claws could press against her skin, there was a snarl at the door. Kera moved her eyes and saw that it was Jace standing there. Her entire body shook as she stared at the three of them.

  At first, Kera thought the kid was shaking out of fear, and she wished she could speak to tell the girl to run. But then Jace lifted her gaze and Kera realized her eyes were blood-red and the veins in her arms and neck were swollen and pulsating.

  Kera had seen this before. Fellow Marines with steroid rage just before they lost it in a bar and started beating the hell out of some Navy guys who pissed them off.

  That’s how Jace looked. Like she was about to explode.

  Then she did.

  She screamed and charged into the room, right into the man holding Kera. They all went down to the floor, Jace on top of the man, her arms swinging wildly as her talons cut his face and throat again and again, while she screamed. And kept screaming.

  Panicked, Kera made her way over to her bed and the gun she had under her pillow. She had it out and a round in the chamber when she saw the woman in the cowl suddenly create a blank space in Kera’s bedroom and disappear.

  Kera blinked, then refocused her attention on the man on the floor. Jace still had him pinned, her crazed attack keeping him from doing more than attempting to cover his face and throat. But when Jace raised one hand above his chest, her talons growing a little longer, her scream tearing across the room, the man finally moved, shoving the smaller woman off.

  He stood and that’s when Kera raised her legally registered . 9mm Glock. She was about to pull the trigger when Vig’s voice stopped her.

  “Kera. No.”

  At first, Kera thought that voice was in her head, but Vig stood in the doorway. He walked in and Siggy and Stieg followed him, Stieg holding on to another man she didn’t recognize. He had his hand over the man’s mouth and was dragging him along beside him.

  Panting, her finger itching to pull the trigger, Kera kept her eyes on Vig.

  “We don’t use guns,” he reminded her. “Especially on a fellow Clan.”

  His voice was so calm. He was so calm. Kera let that calmness wash over her. And, with great effort, she lowered her weapon and removed her finger from the trigger.

  Vig nodded at her, gave a soft smile, and then like lightning he moved. So fast, he was like a blur. A blur that moved across the room, picked up the man who’d attacked Kera, and threw him into the wall.

  The man opened his mouth but Vig grabbed his jaw and yanked, instantly dislocating it from the rest of his face. Then Vig slammed him into the wall three more times, before tossing him to the floor. That’s when Siggy and Stieg began kicking and stomping the man. Vig eventually joined in.

  Horrified, Kera watched until she saw Vig raise his foot over the man’s fucked-up face. She knew that when he brought that foot down, he’d kill him.

  She couldn’t be responsible for that.

  “Vig, no!”

  Vig and the Ravens stopped and looked over, Vig’s eyes calmly blinking at her as he waited.

  “Please don’t. They . . . they were just asking who I was. They were trying to find out who I was. That was all. Don’t . . . just don’t . . . okay?”

  Vig glanced at Stieg, then Siggy. Both men shrugged and Vig stepped away from the man bleeding on the floor.

  “Just let them go. Please.”

  Vig motioned to Stieg and he lifted the man he held in his arms and shoved him away.

  The man went to his comrade and put his arms around him. With only a glare at Vig, they were suddenly gone.

  Kera, still panting, lowered her head. She couldn’t express how much she didn’t want to see that man stomped to death in her apartment. Even if she was leaving here forever. She just didn’t want that memory in her head.

  She looked up and reared back a bit when she found Vig right beside her. He frowned, but before she had to deal with that, she suddenly remembered Jace and the others.

  “Jace!” she called out, scrambling off the bed. “Jace?”

  She raced into the other room to find Jace on her knees, sobbing, while Erin basically spooned her from behind. She was talking to her, but Kera couldn’t make out what she said.

  Leigh grabbed Kera’s arm. “Don’t worry.” She pulled Kera back. “Erin knows how to talk her down.”

  “Talk her down from what? What was that?”

  “Jace’s gift from Skuld. Pure rage. She’s our berserker.”

  “I hate fighting her,” Siggy complained as he leaned against the wall and pulled out a piece of beef jerky from his back jean pocket.

  It was such a strange and random thing to do.

  “She tears the flesh from your bones. It is most unpleasant.”

  “Are you okay?” Leigh asked Kera.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  Annalisa moved in front of Kera and studied her neck. “He had a good grip on you
. I’ll have to show you how to break a guy’s arm when he does that. I’ve got a great technique. Usually makes the bone pop out and everything,” she added with an off-putting smile.

  A hand pressed against Kera’s back and she automatically reared away, only to see Vig pull his hand back.

  He stared at her while Stieg stepped up beside him. He first looked at Vig, then Kera. When neither spoke, he tossed out, “So we thought you might need help moving furniture or whatever. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Toss all of this out,” Leigh announced, motioning to Kera’s secondhand furniture.

  “Hey.”

  “You won’t need it at the Bird House,” she argued. “And when you are ready to get your own place, you’ll need new furniture. Real furniture.”

  “This isn’t real furniture?”

  “This is just . . . sad. A very sad world you once lived in.”

  “But it’s so much fun now,” Kera said while stroking her neck where that man had gripped it.

  “More fun than this!” Leigh snapped her fingers. “Put it out front with a sign that says FREE. Because you can’t charge for any of this. None of it. Ever.”

  Annoyed, Kera went back to her room to get her clothes and get out.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Stieg watched his Raven brother drop a small couch onto the front stoop outside Kera’s old apartment building.

  “Would you stop moping?” Stieg finally demanded. “She’ll get over it.”

  “She didn’t want me touching her.”

  “She’ll get over it. She has no choice. She’s lucky we got there when we did. Imagine if Jace had more time to rip into that guy? And the psycho redhead . . . who knows what she would have done. I’m surprised Kera stopped you from killing him. That redhead wouldn’t have stopped you.”

  “You know the redhead’s name.”

  “I choose not to use it because she bugs me.”

  “Everything bugs you.”

  “Yes.” Stieg tacked a sign that said FREE COUCH on the couch. “I hope she’s not all loving and kindness all the time.”