The Unleashing

  Kera loosened her grip on Vig’s hair and reached back to touch the piece. “I think it’s already healed.”

  “It probably has.” Vig continued to stroke Kera’s hair, spreading the strands across his leg. “By Odin, I want to fuck you.”

  “Subtle as Thor’s hammer,” she teased.

  “Never said I was subtle. Ravens aren’t subtle.”

  “Good. Then I can be direct. We can’t fuck.”

  “Why?”

  “No protection, unless you brought some in your pockets.”

  “Can’t bring anything but what we’re wearing and edge weapons.”

  “Because why go to Asgard if you can’t bring your favorite sword?”

  “Exactly.” Vig slid his hand under her chin, rubbing his thumb against her neck. “But there are all sorts of safe things we can do.”

  “Why, young man! I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m a very nice girl.”

  “Nice? Definitely. Good? Very.”

  Kera laughed out loud and Vig lifted Kera up by her shoulders, maneuvering her around until he had her straddled across his lap. “Kera, I’m a descendant of Vikings and I’ve not only had an entire day of my own battles, but I’ve watched you kick ass from here to Vanaheim.”

  Kera put her arms around his shoulders and wrapped her fingers in his hair. “Your point?”

  “My point is that I’m harder than I’ve ever been. You can’t expect me to just ignore that until we get back to my house.”

  “Are you saying it’s my job to take care of you?”

  “I’m saying it’s our job to take care of each other.”

  “Out here? In front of everybody?”

  “Who’s everybody?”

  “I saw an owl. I know I saw an owl.”

  Vig leaned in and kissed her neck. “Don’t you want to get out of these clothes?” he asked her softly against her ear. “Just for a little while.”

  He licked a line up her neck to her ear, nibbled on the lobe. “Imagine all the things we can do with our hands alone.”

  “You sure you’ll respect me in the morning?”

  “I have to, otherwise you’ll just beat me to death with one of those damn hammers.”

  “You have no idea how true that is.”

  Vig slid his hands down around Kera’s waist and grabbed hold of her tank top. He lifted it, easing it off her body, his eyes locked with hers.

  Kera brought her arms over her head so he could get the shirt off without tearing it and she reached for her bra herself. She tossed that aside and leaned into Vig, kissing under his chin and across his jaw. But when she finally pressed her lips against his, it was like something snapped between them.

  Something hot and uncontrollable.

  Kera grabbed hold of Vig’s white tank top and yanked it over his head, throwing it off to the side. Vig reached for Kera’s jeans. He yanked them down to her thighs, along with her panties, and slid his hand between her legs. He pushed two fingers inside her and they both gasped, Vig shocked by how hot and wet she already was.

  He buried his fingers as deep as they could go and pressed his thumb against her clit. Kera gripped his hand with her own and panted out, “Wait. Wait.”

  She pulled away from him and stood, pushing her jeans and panties all the way down and kicking them aside.

  Vig already had his jeans down by his ankles when she grabbed the ends and pulled. She pushed him down onto his back and turned, lowering her body over his face.

  Vig reached up and grabbed her hips, bringing her pussy down until it was pressed tight against his mouth. He slid his tongue inside Kera, and he heard her groan deep and long. Then he felt her hands on his cock as she stretched her body out over his.

  She stroked him first, getting him harder until, much to his eternal happiness, her tongue slid around the tip and, after a brief pause, she swallowed him whole.

  Now he groaned. Nothing had ever felt more amazing than Kera’s mouth on his cock, sucking and licking him while her hands gently squeezed his balls.

  Even better was her pussy pulsating against his mouth as he moved his tongue from deep inside her pussy to her clit, stroking it with the tip again and again before burying his tongue back inside her.

  Now they were both groaning and gasping against each other, Vig unsure he could hold on much longer. Especially when he felt the tip of his cock hit the back of her throat.

  Knowing he was moments from losing it, he gripped her clit gently between his teeth and stroked it with his tongue until her entire body began to shake and her legs gripped his head. It was like being caught in a delicious vise.

  When he heard her cry out against him and her entire body tensed, Vig stopped trying to hold himself back. He just let go, praying she was okay with him coming in her mouth. Unable to stop himself even if he wanted to. And he really didn’t want to.

  But as her hips writhed against his face, she gripped his legs harder with her hands and again took all of him in her mouth so that he was coming directly into her throat.

  His hips jerked against her several times before she’d drained him completely and Kera finally pulled back.

  She rolled off and they lay stretched out next to each other panting and sweaty.

  After several minutes, Vig lifted his head a bit and asked Kera, “You’re not asleep, are you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Okay. Because we’re not done.”

  “Okay.”

  Vig smiled because that was the best answer he could have hoped for. Especially since they had hours before sunrise, when they had to return to the real world. Vig didn’t intend to waste a second of their time together.

  He placed his hand against her thigh and began to inch his way right back up to—

  “Found ’em!”

  Vig closed his eyes. “In the name of Odin, no,” he growled. “No, no, no!”

  But he already knew his alone time with Kera was over even before she squealed and crawled over him to get her clothes.

  Vig looked up and saw the Crows and Ravens making their way toward the lake.

  “This isn’t happening,” he said.

  “Much to my horror,” Kera said, pulling on her tank top and reaching for her jeans, “it is. Now get dressed!”

  “There’s the boy!” one of Vig’s great-great uncles cheered loudly. “All sweaty and his face covered in that Crow.”

  Kera let out a mortified squeak.

  “Do you need to spit, dear?” one of the British Crows asked her, the sister-Crows laughing in response.

  Vig stood and pulled on his jeans, doing his best to ignore his kin and the Crows.

  As the large group made their way down to Vig and Kera, Vig grabbed Kera’s hand and looked deep into her eyes. “We have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “Then why do I feel shame?”

  “Probably raised a good Catholic,” another Crow said. “Took me years to get rid of me own shame.”

  “Here,” another Crow said, shoving a horn filled with ale in Kera’s hand. “Drink this. That’ll help with any shame you may be feeling.”

  Someone started a pit fire as Vig went to the lake and washed his face since he didn’t want to hear about that until this night was over.

  By the time he returned to Kera’s side, nearly everyone had their own horn or mug of ale, one of his cousins handing him one as well.

  He sat down by Kera and pulled her close when she tried to move away. “Oh no you don’t.”

  “I’m mortified.”

  “Of course you are. But you’re still with me.”

  “Do you know any songs, Crow?” one of Vig’s ancestors asked Kera.

  “No,” Kera lied. Of course she knew songs, but Vig would guess she wasn’t about to start singing with this group.

  “Then we will teach you old songs of our forefathers.”

  Vig rolled his eyes. Gods, not the singing. He hated the singing!

  “Get us started, Ludvig.”

  “What?
” Vig shook his head. “No.”

  “Come! Sing the songs of your ancestors!”

  “Understand, cousin, I will kill you if you force me to.”

  “Och! Foolish boy! That’s how you woo a woman. Especially a Crow. You sing to them.”

  To prove that point, his cousin slapped a passing Crow on the ass before pulling her into his lap and humming to her, which was when the Crow punched Vig’s ancestor in the throat before snapping his neck.

  His body fell backward and the Crow stood. She raised her hands up. “Yes! Let’s all sing to the new Crow.”

  “Don’t worry,” Vig told Kera about his cousin. “He’ll be back tomorrow.”

  “Oh . . . good.”

  “You don’t really care, do you?”

  “Not really.”

  “Drink your ale,” Vig said. “It’ll help.”

  Kera took a long swig of the ale just as the Crows began to sing the “Immigrant Song” from Led Zeppelin, causing Kera to spit out her ale.

  “Yeah,” Vig said after taking a swig of his own. “They’re all big Zeppelin fans,” he told her just as his kin joined in, all of them knowing the words to the song by heart.

  Kera wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Now that I’m thinking about it . . . that shouldn’t really shock me.”

  Brianna continued to walk and wait and seethe. What was she doing? How had she let her life get like this?

  She thought back on the promises that Simone Andrews had made to her. Promises she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.

  True, she had to make some kind of blood commitment under the next full moon, but who cared if it got her what she wanted? She knew an agent who joined a sex cult when she graduated from college because it had some of the top agents as its members . . . and because she was really hot. Now she ran her own division in Betty’s company.

  Brianna wouldn’t even have to do that much. These people thought they could bring some god or something into the world. Of course, she didn’t believe any of that. Who would? What did matter was that all of Simone’s friends were either Hollywood players or the friends of Hollywood players. People who could get Brianna exactly what she wanted. Power. So if these idiots wanted to believe they could bring some ancient god into the world that was their business. In the end, all Brianna cared about was that she’d get the kind of contacts who could make her more powerful than Betty could ever dream.

  And then Brianna would crush that bitch.

  “Are you done?” Brianna asked the stupid Polish lowland sheepdog . . . which was basically a small sheepdog. Because Betty couldn’t just have a dog. She had to have a purebred mini-version of a normal dog.

  Feeling the humiliation to her toes, Brianna used a baggy to pick up the animal’s disgusting shit and tossed it in the nearest trash. Then she took the dog back up to her office.

  She took off its leash, and it ran right into Betty’s office, where the stupid animal was greeted with cooing and kissing sounds.

  A dog. She treated the dog better than she treated Brianna.

  Finally fed up, Brianna marched into Betty’s office.

  “I think we need to talk,” Brianna announced.

  Still petting her dog, his front paws on her leg, Betty replied, “Yeah, we do. I’ve been thinking about it and I think it’s time to prom—”

  “Look,” Brianna cut in before Betty could finish and possibly give her something else stupid to do, “you either give me the goddamn promotion that I deserve, or . . . or I’m taking a better offer.”

  Betty slowly lifted her eyes from her dog. Brianna readied herself to duck if Betty threw another water bottle at her.

  Leaning back in her chair, Betty said, “You better take that better offer then. I don’t want to hold you back.”

  “You’d let me go?”

  “I don’t want to get in your way, Brianna. There’s a wide, wonderful world out there. Go to it. Don’t let me stop you.”

  “Betty!” a woman called from out in the hall and a few seconds later several of Betty’s old friends from her rehab—the lesbians—strutted in. They were older women, about Betty’s age. But so loud. And rowdy for middle-aged females about to be old enough for AARP.

  “Hey, bitches,” Betty called back. She stood up, her dog running to also greet her friends. “I got us reservations at that Korean barbeque in West L.A.”

  “Yumm. Big hunks of perfectly seasoned meat! Let’s go, ladies!”

  Betty walked to the door, her stupid mutt running along beside her. She stopped and patted Brianna’s arm.

  “Good luck, sweetie.”

  Then she was gone and all Brianna could think about was how she was going to destroy Betty Lieberman if it was the last thing she ever did.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Tessa walked up to the nurses’ desk and knocked on it. The nurse looked up and smiled.

  “Tessa!”

  “Hey, girl. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Fine.”

  Tessa waved at a few of the other on-duty nurses before leaning over the desk and whispering, “Think I can get in to talk to that guy?”

  Her friend nodded. “Sure. He’s awake now and talking.” She whispered something to the other nurse, then led Tessa to the private investigator’s room. Tessa was still determined to find out what he was doing spying for that bitch Simone Andrews. Even if she had to wring it out of his scrawny neck.

  But as soon as Tessa walked into the ICU, she knew something was wrong. His heart rate abruptly increased and he began to seize. But the seizure . . . it was like something was lifting his chest off the bed¸ the rest of his body turning awkwardly. It was as if he was trying to throw someone off.

  Tessa’s friend called a “Code Blue” and Tessa stood back so that the team could work, but she felt something strange under her foot and looked down to see she was standing on straw.

  Straw in a hospital room?

  The private investigator screamed out and Tessa watched him fight something off. Something that she couldn’t see.

  Something that wouldn’t let her see.

  Tessa felt her own heart rate suddenly increase, and she dropped to the floor, looking under the beds.

  “What are you doing?” her friend asked.

  “I . . . uh . . .” Tessa stood. “Nothing.”

  “Hon, you have to go.”

  “I understand. Thanks.”

  Tessa waited until she was out of the hospital and by her car before she pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket. Chloe picked up immediately.

  “Hey,” Tessa said, “I think we have a really big problem.”

  The Crows watched as Kera drew the runes in the dirt. They all took a moment to study them before admitting, “No, dear. Don’t know what that is.”

  “And you saw this near a sacrifice, you say?”

  “The runes surrounded a blood-covered altar that had jewelry trapped under it.”

  “Jewelry?”

  “Gold and diamonds and other very expensive stones.”

  Aditi glanced back at the Ravens. “Do any of you recognize these drawings?”

  The Ravens looked over what Kera had drawn and shook their heads.

  “Doesn’t look familiar to my eyes.”

  “Where did you see this?”

  “At the site of multiple sacrifices,” Kera replied.

  “Multiple?”

  “As in many.”

  The Raven’s eyes narrowed a bit. “I know what multiple means. I was raised in England in the 1800s.”

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  “That,” another Raven pointed out, “looks like something from before our time. When all the gods still lived.”

  “Maybe it comes from the Vanir. They have their own runes in Vanaheim.”

  “We think they’re trying to raise something,” Vig said.

  “No.” One of the Crows shook her head. “This isn’t to raise something that’s been dead. This is to pull something into this world from another.
”

  “From Helheim?”

  “No. Something buried far away. Farther than Hel’s court. I would—”

  The Crow stopped talking and looked up at the sky.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Move back,” the Crow ordered. “All of you move back!”

  Kera scrambled back as the air and ground around them exploded, and they were suddenly surrounded by hawks and falcons, circling and diving until they merged together into a raging ball of birds that eventually formed a beautiful woman.

  She was tall and blond in bright silver armor, a cape of birds’ feathers billowing behind her.

  She stood by the runes that Kera had drawn, her gaze locked on them. When she looked up, the Ravens went down on one knee before her, their heads bowed. The Crows didn’t. But they did give her space.

  A whole lot of space.

  “Who drew these,” the woman asked. But when no one answered her, she bellowed, “Who drew these?”

  The crows in the trees flew off and the ground shook beneath their feet from the power of her yell.

  “I did,” Kera said.

  Bright eyes that flashed between a deep human blue and a harsh yellow like the eyes of a bird of prey suddenly locked on Kera.

  “You’re not dead.”

  “No.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Training.”

  The woman pointed at the ground. “Why would you draw this?”

  “I . . .” Kera cleared her throat and tried again. “I wanted to know if anyone recognized it.”

  “Why?”

  “We found it at a sacrificial altar. One filled with diamonds and rubies and—”

  “Gold?”

  “Yes. There was gold. It was like an offering. Those who can see, I guess you’d call it, reacted strongly to the runes, but they didn’t know what they meant.”

  “Did you see this here? On these lands?”

  “No. In a cave. In Catalina. In California.”

  The woman looked off, her hand brushing against her bare neck, then back at Kera. She studied her for a long time before asking, “Who are you?”

  “I’m Kera Watson.”