She had no problem pretending these people didn’t exist, but they’d gone too far. Much too far.

“That was kind of brazen of your people, Brandt,” Chloe told the older man. “Just showing up to interrogate the new girl. But it makes me wonder why she bothers you so much.”

“You need to leave, Crow,” the old woman said. “You’re not welcome here.”

Chloe pointed at The Silents’ Seer, Embla. “Don’t think, for a moment, that because you’re a woman, I won’t tear the flesh from your bones.” Chloe leaned in a bit and whispered, “Because we both know I will.”

She shifted her gaze to Brandt. “You need to start talking to me, old man.” She lifted her hands. “It’s dark out. And my sister-Crows are free to roam. And we both know what damage they can do when they’re cranky.”

Brandt stared at Chloe a long moment but said nothing. “Go,” Embla ordered. “Go before I—”

Chloe’s blade shot across the room and tacked the edge of the old woman’s cowl against the wall behind her.

“And no,” Chloe said, “I didn’t miss.” She smiled. “I never miss.”

“Something’s coming,” Brandt finally said.

“Oh?”

“Something that hasn’t been dealt with . . . by any of us. By any of us on this human plane.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

“Brandt—”

“I don’t know. I was hoping that if Embla could look into her soul, we might be able to find out.”

“You could have asked. You should have.” Chloe leaned back in her chair. “What makes you think Kera Watson knows anything? That she’s part of anything? She’s the new girl. Her wings just came out.”

“We don’t know. But we had to find out.”

Chloe leaned back in her chair. “You’re so full of shit.”

“If she was a problem, we had to know. The balance must be kept.”

“Then keep it. We’re not trying to fuck with it. It’s not like any of us are trying to start Ragnarok. I’ve got a book coming out in two months and a spread in Vanity Fair. The last thing I want is the end of the world.”

“Then you and your winged brethren better find out what’s slowly but surely invading our world.”

“Why can’t you?”

“That’s not our job. But murdering. Killing. Destruction. That’s what you people do.”

Chloe stood and walked over to Embla, yanking her blade from the wall behind the woman. She slid it back into the sheath tied to her ankle.

“You know, Brandt . . . normally I’d be insulted by all that. Except that it’s absolutely true!” Chloe moved toBrandt’s side. She placed her hands on the arms of his chair and leaned in until they were barely inches apart.

“We are death, Brandt. We are destruction. And we enjoy every fucking second of it. Keep that in mind, the next time you and your Silent decide to come after one of my girls.”

Chloe stood straight, kissed the tip of her finger, and pressed it against Brandt’s cheek. Then Chloe unleashed her talon and slashed it down Brandt’s face.

He didn’t make a sound.

She walked around Brandt’s desk. “Oh, and by the way. The only reason Voll is still breathing . . . is because of that destructive, murdering Crow you’re so worried about.”

She walked out of the office with a wave. “’Night, everyone!”

Chloe moved down the hall and went out the back door in the kitchen to Brandt’s substantial yard. There, the majority of The Silent waited for her.

Chloe smiled. “Hello, gentlemen.”

She knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to combine their power, open a hole in this world that would lead to another, and send Chloe screaming into it.

But they wouldn’t.

A whistle caught their attention and The Silent looked up . . . to see the trees above filled with Chloe’s sister-Crows. Waiting.

Chloe gave The Silent a fingertip wave of good-bye. “Gentlemen.”

Then she unleashed her wings and took to the air with her sister-Crows behind her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Leigh and Jace landed and released the new girl, who started swinging at pretty much everybody, missed everybody, then went and vomited in a clump of trees.

That was two times Erin had been forced to watch this woman throw up. Was that a medical problem? Should Kera see a doctor?

Once Kera was all vomited out, Tessa handed her a bandanna from her back pocket to wipe her mouth.

“You okay?”

“Fuck off.”

“Calm down. Letting Leigh and Jace carry you was the easiest way to get you here.”

Kera stepped in close to Tessa. “Could they not have carried me from the ground in the same manner, rather than you throwing me off a building and hoping they caught me?”

“Probably. But this was more fun.” She held up a small tin canister. “Mint?”

Kera snatched the tin, took two mints, and threw it back at Tessa.

Erin didn’t know why Kera was so pissed. It wasn’t like they’d flown her all the way to the Valley or something. In fact, they were still in Malibu at Solstice Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. They were barely in the air ten minutes. So why she was freaking out, Erin didn’t know.

Tessa motioned everyone to come close. “This should be an easy job. We’re after a necklace held by thirteen women. Easy-peasy.”