Kera stood, wiping the blood from her nose, before charging Erin, ramming into her, and dropping them both to the ground.

Using her leg, Erin flipped Kera up and over. Erin went with her, using her knees to pin Kera’s forearms to the ground. Then Erin leaned in and spit right in Kera’s face.

That’s when Kera lost it.

Using her entire body and her newly developed strength, Kera rolled over with a roar until she was on top of Erin. She grabbed Erin by the hair, dragging her to her knees as Kera stood.

First Kera rammed her own knee into Erin’s face, more than once. Then she threw her to the ground and kicked her. When Erin was facedown, trying to crawl away, Kera picked her up by her T-shirt and flung her about ten feet away.

Cracking her neck, Kera began to walk toward Erin, watching the smaller redhead, covered in blood and developing bruises, pull herself up until she stood.

Erin lifted her left hand, clenching the fingers until the knuckles cracked.

Tessa pushed him forward. “You better get in there.” Then Tessa and the other Crows ran. Away.

Vig knew why, too. Almost every Crow had an extra gift. Some more dangerous than others. Like Erin’s gift.

And Vig only had seconds to move.

Kera saw Amsel flex her hand, like she wanted to pound Kera right into the ground.

Swinging her arms away from her body in a clear challenge, Kera yelled, “Come on, bitch! Bring it!”

That’s when it rolled from the redhead’s hand like a whip. Bright red-and-orange flame. Not only did it move like a whip, but that’s how Amsel treated it. She drew her arm back and the flame followed; then with a scream, she brought her arm forward and the flame whipped out at Kera. She watched it cut through the air, the tip aimed to cut right across her bare chest. Kera started to move, but she wasn’t fast enough.

But Vig was. He jumped in front of Kera with the round metal picnic table and held it up. The vicious flame cut right through the metal, leaving Vig with two distinct pieces.

“Fuck,” he gasped when he saw what Amsel’s power could do.

Amsel pulled back her arm again and Vig pushed Kera behind him, using his poor defenseless body to protect her.

“That is enough!” Chloe’s voice bellowed, cutting through all the bullshit.

She walked across the yard, dark eyes screaming with rage.

First, she focused on Amsel. “I know,” she said, her voice low, “that you didn’t just unleash that flame on a fellow Crow.”

“Chloe—”

“I know”—Chloe now screamed—“that you would never do something that despicable to one of your own!”

Amsel closed her fist and the flame vanished as quickly as it had come, her head dropping as she suddenly studied her feet.

“And you,” she snarled at Kera. “You attack a fellow Crow over a dude?”

“No, it was because—”

“Over a dude!”

Kera stopped talking. She had the feeling that Chloe didn’t want to hear it. Any of it. For her, there were no excuses. No legitimate reason why one Crow should or would ever attack another.

Sadly, Kera still didn’t feel that. She didn’t understand that. She didn’t know what these women were about or why she should feel the need to protect any of them. And, after this, she was sure she would never understand that feeling.

Chloe walked over to one of the deck chairs and grabbed a towel that hung from the back. She threw it at Kera. “Cover your tits, and both you bitches get inside and get your wounds taken care of. Now!”

Tessa and two other Crows that specialized in healing, helped dig glass out of Kera’s back, readjust Vig’s neck, and put Erin’s broken nose back into place. Cuts were cleaned up and salve smoothed on to help with healing. Ice packs were pressed against angry purple bruises, and aspirin was given to each to help with additional aches and pains.

It was all that was necessary for Crows and Ravens. If the fight she’d just witnessed had taken place with normal humans, they’d be in the hospital for a couple of days. Plus, wounds would have to be sewn, and they’d probably get something stronger than aspirin.

While the two Crows sat on the examination tables of the Healing Room, as they called it, and Vig slowly pulled his T-shirt back on, Tessa dismissed her two assistants.

Kera’s freshly unleashed wings sagged sadly from her back, and she still held a towel over her bare chest. Erin pressed an ice pack against her reset nose.

“So,” Tessa began, “what are we going to do with you two? You can’t go around fighting each other.” When neither spoke, Tessa pushed, “Well?”

“Put me on another team,” Kera said.

“What fucking team would have you?” Erin shot back. “You and your goddamn clipboards.”

“You mention my clipboard one more time—”

“Stop it!” Tessa snapped. “I mean seriously. What is wrong with you two?”

“She started this,” Kera barked.

“I was trying to help!”

“Well, don’t bother trying to help anymore. Next time you might get me killed!”

“Oh, get over yourself!”

Tessa slapped her hands together. “That is enough! Holy shit!” She let out a breath and tried to figure out what to do next. When nothing brilliant came to her team leader mind, Tessa decided to separate them for a while.

“Kera, just . . . go take a break. Away.”

Kera slipped off the exam table, heading to the door. But when Erin gave the slightest sneer, one side of her top lip lifting up, Kera immediately responded by giving her the finger.