“Yeah. I guess.”

“Good. Vig would have been whiny if you’d died on his couch.” He changed the channel on the TV with the remote in his hand.

“Dude, I was watching that,” Siggy complained from the other side of Kera.

“I’m not watching an entire show on people selling stuff to pawn stores. How is that even a show?”

“It’s full of raw emotion and true life.”

“It’s about selling their shit to pawn stores. I used to live that life. No thank you.”

Kera rolled over to her other side so she faced away from the inside of the couch. “Nice TV.”

“Thank you. Vig did not appreciate it nearly as much.”

She glanced up at Stieg. “He didn’t want a TV?”

“ No. ”

“Why did you buy him one then?”

“Because we wanted a TV. All he does is sit around and read or whittle. I mean, who fuckin’ whittles in this day and age?”

“He wants to learn woodworking,” Siggy countered.

“Then learn it while watching TV. There’s just some things a man needs. TV, video games, and beer.”

“Is that really all a man needs?”

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

“Are you awake?” a woman asked, leaning over the back of the couch so she could see Kera’s face.

“Oh.” Kera blinked at the woman staring at her. “I thought I dreamed you.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard that before.”

“This is Kat. She’s a Valkyrie and Vig’s sister,” Stieg said before continuing to change the channels, much to Siggy’s annoyance. “And because she’s a Valkyrie, it always feels like you’re dreaming when you see her.”

“You’re Vig’s sister?”

“Yeah.” She came around the couch and crouched in front of Kera, studying her eyes.

Kera stared at her for a moment before announcing, “You are perfect looking.”

“Awww. Thank you!”

“I wouldn’t call her perfect—owwww!” Stieg rubbed the side of his head. “Especially when she hits like a dude!”

“You only feel that way because both sides of her face are symmetrical.” Siggy reached across both women to get the remote but Stieg punched his hand away. “But that doesn’t actually make her face perfect. Not even close.”

“It’s comments like those that ensure that when you die, I’m going to drag your sorry carcasses back to Valhalla from the back of my horse.” She stood, placing her hands on her hips. “Okay, so a note about being a Crow. Do not, in any way, shape, or form, mix drugs and alcohol. Your metabolism and DNA changes make your body a healing wonder and the firstthing your body will attempt to do when you mix drugs and liquor is expel anything like that from your system so it can get back to the process of fixing you.”

“But my crotch hurt so bad.”

Both Stieg and Siggy looked down at Kera, their eyes wide, but Katja quickly explained, “She got in a fight.”

“Amsel twat-kicked me.”

Stieg snorted. “Yeah. I’ve gone a few rounds with her. She’s a nasty little fighter. Lucky for me . . . so am I.”

“Aspirin or Tylenol should work just fine for you after a battle or a street fight with a nasty redhead. It’ll tide you over until your body heals itself. Anything more severe, like lacerations or open wounds, I’m assuming your Clan’s own healers can take care of. Or you can always call in Holde’s Maids. Their Clan has the best healers. But they are bitchy.”

“Hags.”

“You’re saying that just because they’re old women who heal others?” Kera asked Stieg.

“No. Because they’re hags. They even call themselves hags. Even the young ones. It’s weird.”

“They like causing pain,” Siggy added. “Especially to the Crows.”

“Why the Crows?” Kera asked, placing her feet on the floor and sitting up. “What did they do? Why does everybody hate them?”

The two Ravens and one Valkyrie stared at Kera.

“What?” she finally asked.

“Why do you keep saying ‘them’ and ‘they’?” Katja asked. “When you should be saying ‘we’ and ‘us’?”

“I just got kicked in the twat by one of them. I don’t think they count me as part of the gang.”

“Stieg used to fight everybody when he got here.” Siggy reached across Kera to again try to get the remote, and again was rebuffed by Stieg’s fist. “He was a total asshole.”

“And you were all rich douche bags.”

Katja patted Stieg on the shoulder. “He was kind of rough when he got here.”

“Because that’s where I was raised. In the rough part of town.”

“How did you get here?” Kera asked.

“First I was in foster homes in the Valley, but I kept getting bigger . . . and bigger. And then I topped six-four but I was only thirteen, so no one really wanted to take me in.”

“Because you were tall?”

“Because I was six-four, two hundred and thirty-pounds. All of it muscle and bad attitude.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. So I went to a group home and then a couple of Raven Elders showed up when I was about sixteen.”

Siggy smirked. “He told them to fuck off.”