“Yes, but I don’t want to go into it. And the problem now is I can’t get my wings back in. They’re just hanging there.”

“Oh, that’s an easy fix.”

She got Kera to her feet, turning her away from Vig. “Naughty Raven,” Yardley teased. “Trying to see.”

She placed her hands on Kera’s shoulders.

“Okay, first, you’ll pull your shoulders forward . . .” Yardley gently guided Kera’s shoulders forward. “Then you pull them back with a little snap.”

Kera snapped her shoulders back as if some three-star general had just walked into the hallway. Her wings retracted into her body and Kera grunted from the pain of it.

“I know, I know,” Yardley rushed to say. “It hurts. And it’ll hurt the first few times you use them. But before you know it,” she said with that smile, turning Kera to face her, “it’ll be like breathing. Just another part of you.”

Yardley moved her towel, revealing a T-shirt underneath. She handed it to Kera. “It’s a little damp, but should do.”

The movie star faced Vig. “Why don’t you get her out of here for a while? Give her time to breathe.”

Vig nodded. “Okay.” Looping his arm around Kera’s waist, he lifted her up and started to carry her down the hall, Brodie following behind them.

“I don’t mean carry her off like you just pillaged her village, Rundstöm.”

He stopped, glanced down at Kera. “You comfortable?”

“Surprisingly . . . yes. I am.”

“She’s comfortable,” he told Yardley before he continued on.

“You shouldn’t let him get used to that,” Yardley laughingly yelled. “He’ll just keep doing it!”

Erin stared straight ahead, refusing to look at Tessa’s face. She knew the expression she’d see. A cross between disappointment and disgust.

Erin hated that expression from her team leader. Mostly because she hated disappointing her. Although Erin had no idea why. She usually didn’t care how anyone felt about her. In fact, she prided herself on not caring. And the physical fight between her and Kera was no big deal. Crows got into it sometimes. Not usually with the new girls, but it still happened.

“I get why you did what you did, about the wings. I don’t get why you told her about the dog. That was just mean, Erin.”

“She made me mad.”

“What are you? A thirteen-year-old boy? And I thought no one made you mad.”

“She did.”

“Get over it. You’re her mentor and—”

“I’m not her mentor. Not anymore.”

“What? Did you think this little drama was going to get you out of this commitment?”

“Yes. As a matter of fact,I did think that.”

“Well, unthink it. You two are mentor and mentee and that’s not going to change.”

“Tessa—”

“No. I don’t want to hear it. She’s your responsibility. Deal with it.”

“What am I supposed to do with her? She hates me now.”

“Help her. That’s what mentors do.”

“Help her with what? She doesn’t think she needs help. She has all the answers. Remember?”

Yardley walked into the room, three members of her strike team behind her.

“You got into it with the new girl?” Yardley demanded. “You told her about her dog? Dude!”

“I’m out of here,” Erin stated, jumping off the exam table before immediately regretting jumping. Her entire face hurt. A sharp, vicious pain that ran from her nose through her entire head. That girl had a punch like a freight train.

“Everybody’s talking about it,” Yardley went on while Erin tried her best to get steady before attempting to walk. “The whole house is buzzing.”

“I don’t care.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll deal with it. Just leave me alone.”

“How can you deal with it? She’s gone.”

“What do you means she’s gone? Where did she go?”

“Rundstöm carried her away. Literally. It was cute in a Viking-tr ying-to-rescue-his-woman-from-a-crazed-redhead kind of way.”

Erin’s eyes narrowed and she started to walk toward Yardley but Tessa caught her by the waistband of her jeans and pulled her back.

“But,” Yardley went on, oblivious as always, “I think she needed to get out of here for a bit. Besides, he clearly likes her. And I think she likes him.”

“Of course, she likes him,” Erin stated, exasperated.

“Is this you trying to say that was also part of your grand scheme?” Tessa asked.

“It was. He got to see her tits, which are pretty decent for real ones. Now she gets some time with him so that he can ‘comfort’ her,” she said with air quotes.

“You mean like fuck her?” Yardley asked with that goddamn annoying perky voice.

“If that’s what they want.”

“Yeah,” Tessa announced, shaking her head. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?”

“You kicked her in the cunt. Trust me, the last thing that girl wants tonight is some Viking pounding away on top of her.”

With everyone staring at her and looking disgusted, Erin reminded them, “There’s always anal.”

That’s when they all walked away from her, leaving her alone in the room.