It was such a strange and random thing to do.

“She tears the flesh from your bones. It is most unpleasant.”

“Are you okay?” Leigh asked Kera.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

Annalisa moved in front of Kera and studied her neck. “He had a good grip on you. I’ll have to show you how to break a guy’s arm when he does that. I’ve got a great technique. Usually makes the bone pop out and everything,” she added with an off-putting smile.

A hand pressed against Kera’s back and she automatically reared away, only to see Vig pull his hand back.

He stared at her while Stieg stepped up beside him. He first looked at Vig, then Kera. When neither spoke, he tossed out, “So we thought you might need help moving furniture or whatever. That’s why we’re here.”

“Toss all of this out,” Leigh announced, motioning to Kera’s secondhand furniture.

“Hey.”

“You won’t need it at the Bird House,” she argued. “And when you are ready to get your own place, you’ll need new furniture. Real furniture.”

“This isn’t real furniture?”

“This is just . . . sad. A very sad world you once lived in.”

“But it’s so much fun now,” Kera said while stroking her neck where that man had gripped it.

“More fun than this!” Leigh snapped her fingers. “Put it out front with a sign that says FREE. Because you can’t charge for any of this. None of it. Ever.”

Annoyed, Kera went back to her room to get her clothes and get out.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Stieg watched his Raven brother drop a small couch onto the front stoop outside Kera’s old apartment building.

“Would you stop moping?” Stieg finally demanded. “She’ll get over it.”

“She didn’t want me touching her.”

“She’ll get over it. She has no choice. She’s lucky we got there when we did. Imagine if Jace had more time to rip into that guy? And the psycho redhead . . . who knows what she would have done. I’m surprised Kera stopped you from killing him. That redhead wouldn’t have stopped you.”

“You know the redhead’s name.”

“I choose not to use it because she bugs me.”

“Everything bugs you.”

“Yes.” Stieg tacked a sign that said FREE COUCH on the couch. “I hope she’s not all loving and kindness all the time.”

“Who? Erin?”

“Dear God, no. Kera. She won’t last five days if she’s all loving and kindness. Vikings don’t do loving and kindness.”

“I think she hates me now,” Vig sighed.

“God.” Stieg headed back to the apartment building. “You’re such a drama king.”

Stieg walked up the stairs, passing Leigh andAnnalisa. “You guys are taking her out on her first hunt tonight, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Stieg snorted. “Good luck with that.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t exactly see the bloodlust I saw when Maeve went on her first hunt. Remember how she put that guy’s head in a vise? Popped it like a grape, too.”

He shrugged and continued up the stairs. “Just sayin’.”

Erin finished her call with Tessa. She’d filled her in on The Silent coming to Kera’s apartment and what had gone down. That information would then be passed on to Chloe so she could deal with it.

Erin had to admit . . . she didn’t envy The Silent. Assholes they might be, but dealing with a pissed-off Chloe? Never a good thing. Never.

And lately Chloe had been more exhausted than usual. Maybe her latest book wasn’t going well or sales were down. Whatever it was, an exhausted, stressed-out Chloe was a pissed-off, dangerous Chloe.

Erin watched Kera bring out her packed duffel bag, her last and first name written on it.

Erin had never seen anyone pack up their life this quickly before. Especially not a woman. But after the drama of The Silent had died down, Kera had given everyone a job and sent them off to get things done, which they did. She really had the organizational thing down.

“You did something right back there.”

“Did I?” Kera asked, checking her apartment to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.

“Yeah. You called on us when you saw there was trouble. That’s what you do.”

“And they were The Silent . . . ?”

“Yeah. Real pieces of work, that bunch. You know what I noticed about most of the human Clans? They hate us. At first, I thought it was a race thing. But it’s not that. They just think we’re a bad idea. A dangerous idea. For we are the harbingers of death.” Erin took the ponytail holder she kept on her wrist and pulled her short hair off her neck and secured it in the holder. There was no A/C in this joint and she was melting. “I know for a fact that the Ravens and the Protectors were created because of us.”

Erin thought a moment, lowering her arms. “Wait. The Ravens were actually created specifically to deal with us, but when we kind of united, then Tyr created the Protectors to fight both Crows and Ravens. And that whole thing is fucked.”

“Why?”

“When the Protectors first came along they used to hunt down Crows. Hunt us down and kill us and our children. Nearly wiped us out, too. But the god Vidar doesn’t like things to be unbalanced. When the universe truly loses its balance, Ragnarok will come. And without us that would happen. So he gathered together men that he called The Silent to sort it out. Of course, they’re such self-righteous fucks they think they can do no wrong.”