Erin took a deep breath, trying to control her growing annoyance. “You and the Marines are no longer an ‘us.’ You and the Crows are an ‘us.’ The Marines are a ‘them.’ And the sooner you learn that, the happier you’ll be.”

“I’m happy when things are organized.”

Erin threw up her hands. “Oh my God! I can’t reason with you.”

“Hey, hey,” a low voice said and Erin let out a sad, strangled cry that had nearby Crows appearing from everywhere to make sure everything was all right.

Watson stared at Erin. “What is wrong with you?”

“He creeped up on us.”

“Crept. He crept up on us.” Kera smiled up at Vig Rundstöm’s hulking figure standing behind her. “Where did you come from?”

“Depends who you ask, but for your purposes . . . I walked here.”

And when Kera chuckled at that ridiculous reply, Erin realized she might have an answer to her current problems. On many levels. But first . . . her immediate issue.

“What are you doing here, Raven?” Erin snarled.

“Be nice,” Kera ordered. Considering she hadn’t even been here forty-eight hours yet, she sure was confident about ordering people around.

“You want the Crows to be nice? Then get him off our territory.”

“He hasn’t done anything.”

Erin slowly stood and she leaned into Kera. “I said get him off our territory.”

Kera shoved her notepad back into her pocket and stepped into Erin. “Make me.”

“I can just go,” Rundstöm said quickly. “Yeah. I’ll just go.”

“Hold up, Vig,” Kera told him while her gaze still bored into Erin’s. “I’ll come with you.”

Kera took his arm and led him away, Vig glancing back at Erin, a deep frown on his face as his slow Viking mind turned, trying to figure out what the hell she was doing.

Once they were gone, Erin let out a sigh.

“What the hell was that about?” Alessandra asked.

“She had to go.”

“Aren’t you her mentor? Aren’t you supposed to be helping her?”

“She had a clipboard! There is no help for people who walk around with clipboards for absolutely no apparent reason!”

Alessandra went back to the tablet she was working on as Leigh stormed over, a beer now in her hand.

“You have to do something.”

“I know. I know.” Erin returned to her deck chair. “Trust me. I know.”

“Not only is she a menace,” Leigh went on, now good and panicked, “but she’s all eager and hopeful, ready to change everything with her focused energy and positive work ethic. We can’t have that, Amsel.”

“Are you done?”

“Except for the panic . . . yes.”

“Don’t panic. She just needs a job. And to get into battle.”

“We can’t bring her into battle without her wings. Even if she doesn’t know how to use them, the rule is she must have her wings.”

Erin shrugged and stretched out on her chair again. “Trust me. I’ll get her wings out.”

Her name was Simone Andrews and she was a douche.

Tessa had no idea what they’d done to that woman, but she’d had a hard-on for the Crows ever since she’d moved to her nearby Malibu home. She must be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers sending repeated, pain-in-the-ass legal documents just to fuck with them. And that’s all it was, because legally there was nothing the woman could do to get them out. They weren’t doing anything wrong. The legal sister-Crows made sure every t was crossed and every goddamn i dotted when it came to keeping their company running and their home base safe from the government. Especially the IRS, which scared them more than the rest of the federal government could even dream of. Because the IRS could fuck up their world.

Unlike the other Clans, the Crows didn’t have their people spread out through the upper echelons of the ruling parties of whatever country they lived in. Because of the kind of women who were chosen for the Crows by Skuld, the Crows were on their own. Like always.

But Tessa would have to be careful. Chloe’s temper was shorter than usual these days. She wasn’t getting enough rest. Or maybe that ex of hers was just making her life more miserable than usual. Whatever it was, Tessa couldn’t risk letting Chloe turn Simone Andrews into something she had to “deal with directly.” Because anytime Chloe dealt with something directly, someone usually ended up dead.

When it was a demon from hell using one of Skuld’s hair clips to drain the souls of the innocent—that was fine. When it was a crappy neighbor being a bitch—that was not fine.

So Tessa would manage the situation. Just like she was born to do. Manage. That’s why she was a nurse. That’s probably why Skuld had chosen her to be a Crow. That was probably why her strike team was made of the most difficult sister-Crows in California. Because Tessa managed shit.

It was her gift. It was her curse.

Thankfully, Tessa didn’t have to do this sort of thing alone. She had friends. Very good friends.

“I need you to keep an eye on this woman. Watch her. Closely.” She glanced at the crow sitting on her shoulder, the bird’s head twisting as it looked for danger in the area. “I need to know if she’s just a petty bitch who likes to fuck with people . . . or if it’s something more. Okay?”