“Yeah. I did. Then Odin showed up. Told him to fuck off, too.”

Katja laughed. “Odin was so mad.”

“I didn’t care. They left me to rot for sixteen years and suddenly they show up and act like I’m supposed to be grateful.”

“So what changed your mind?”

“They bought me a car. It was a really nice car.”

Kera patted his knee. “Of course.”

“What’s that tone?”

“Men are so easy. With the promise of a nice car or a pretty girl with a slutty side . . . you guys will happily hand your souls over to a god.”

“You handed your soul over to a god.”

“I had a knife in my chest and I was dying in an alleyway. It’s not like I had a lot of choices. Besides, I was worried about—” Kera stopped and looked around the room. “Where’s my dog?”

“Three Crows showed up and took her.”

Kera’s mouth dropped open. “And you let them?”

“They said they were going for a run and wanted her to go with them. They didn’t ask about you.” Stieg glanced at Kera. “I think they like the dog better than you.”

“Yeah,” Kera was forced to agree. “I think so, too.”

Vig didn’t mean to take so long getting food, but he’d had trouble deciding what to cook for Kera. Was she a sauce person? Did she like a lot of vegetables or was she more meat and potatoes? Should he get a good wine or go with a solid craft beer?

And now, as he walked up to his house, he realized what all that indecision had cost him. Privacy.

It was hard enough finding privacy when one was a Raven. The brothers tended to encroach whenever they felt like it. But that was one of the reasons Vig loved his house. He hadn’t really wanted to get an apartment or a house somewhere else. With his business, it helped to be easily found by the other Clans. Plus his sister was helping him set up an online business for the non-Clan, battle-re-creation types. And the Valkyries had territory near the Ravens. So it all worked out . . . except now.

Now it was not working out.

A metal table that Vig had created a few years back had been pulled out from his storage shed and several random chairs placed around it. Stieg and Siggy sat on either side of the table. Rolf sat at one end and Kera at the other. Someone had broken into Vig’s Swedish beer stash and his wheat crackers. Which was just a weird combination.

“Good. You’re back,” Siggy announced. “I hope you brought a lot of food. We’re starving.”

Vig stood at the table, glaring down at his Raven brothers. “I didn’t bring enough food for all of you because all of you are not invited.”

“That seems kind of bitchy.”

Vig kicked the table and itslammed into Siggy’s chest.

“Motherfu—”

“Shut up, Siggy,” Kat ordered, quickly walking around the table and grabbing Vig by the arm. “With me,” she ordered him.

Kat pulled him up the porch and into the house. “Let them stay,” she said.

“I don’t want to. This is my chance to—”

“No.”

“No what?”

“No, this isn’t your chance to nail your little Crow to the wall in an orgy of Viking sex.”

“But—”

“No.”

Vig put the bags down on the kitchen table. “Why not?”

“She’s been through a lot. All she needs right now is a friend.”

“Can’t we be friends and—”

“No. Besides, Vig, she just recently stopped wearing an ice pack on her crotch. Give the girl some time.”

“That’s fine. But why do I have to let the idiots stay?”

“Honestly? Because you’re too intense. Especially when you’re locked on a target. The guys distract her from . . . you.”

“Now you’re just hurting my feelings.”

Kat hugged Vig. “I know. And I’m not trying to. Just let the guys be the guys and you will look like the smart, quiet, deep-thinking one. She’ll like that. Siggy’s ability to balance stuff on his nose and Stieg’s talk of his car-stealing days will not lure this woman anywhere. She’s got a code, that one. She’s not straying from it.” She brushed her hand against Vig’s jaw. “Besides, any woman you spend more than five minutes with will need to get along with the Ravens.”

“How’s she doing with that?”

“So far, great. But ten years in the military, learning how to handle a bunch of horny, misogynistic American males probably helps. A lot.”

Dinner was simple but delicious. Just the way Kera liked it. Nothing too complicated with a lot of heavy sauces or too much seasoning. Instead, Vig went for chicken, lightly seasoned, green beans and potatoes, and a green salad with a vinaigrette dressing. Perfect and just what she needed after a shitty day.

And God, such a shitty day. But Vig and his Raven brothers—Kat had a date so she’d left while Vig was cooking—were trying to help. They understood how hard it must be not to be born into this life but to be dragged into it suddenly. Then expected to just “get it.” To just understand all that was going on and be okay with it.

It was a shame her “sisters” couldn’t quite grasp that. Especially since they’d all been through the same thing.

As the four of them chatted and the sun began to set, the activity picked up.