Sweating and exhausted, he dropped on top of Kera, unable to find even the bit of strength needed to roll off her.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to mind, her arms reaching up and her hands smoothing down his shoulders. Like she was trying to soothe a restless stallion.

Maybe she was.

After several minutes, he was able to roll away from her. They lay next to each other on his bed, their panting finally turning to easy breaths.

“You never quite got off your jeans and boots,” she noted.

Vig glanced down and saw his jeans bunched at his ankles. “No. It was taking too long.”

“It was.”

“You hungry?” he asked.

“Oh my God . . . I’m starving.”

Vig sat up. “Eggs and bacon all right?”

“I don’t care.”

“Good. We eat,” he said, standing. “Then we fuck. Deal?”

Kera grinned. “Best deal I’ve had in years.”

“Skuld gave you a second life,” he reminded her.

“And yet eggs and bacon before more fucking”—she shrugged—“still better.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

After two hours of solid sleep, Erin woke up and made her way to the kitchen. The actresses with an early set call were already gone. As were the lawyers, doctors, and bankers. The rest of the Crows were either practicing yoga in the backyard, going off to spin class at the gym in town, or heading off to auditions. There were a few of her sisters who liked to play with trouble and would go down to the ocean to swim or get in a little surfing. That was playing with trouble because the Claws of Ran controlled the ocean and the Claws hated the Crows.

But whatever entertained them was up to her sisters. All Erin wanted to do was enjoy her orange juice and relax.

That’s exactly what she was doing when Chloe stumbled into the kitchen, dropping into a chair across from Erin and placing her head on the table.

“Are you okay?” Erin asked. “You look like shit.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind.”

“Up again yelling at your ex over the phone?”

“No.” Chloe pushed her hands through her hair. “Bad night. Too many dreams, which has been going on for weeks now.” She reached over and took Erin’s glass of orange juice out of her hand.

“Hey.”

Chloe finished the juice in one gulp and held the glass out, jerking it a bit to indicate she wanted more.

“I need my own apartment,” Erin complained.

“No one’s stopping you.” Chloe finished off another glass of juice, and said, “Heard the new girl let those witches go last night.”

“She did.”

“And you guys allowed it?”

“We did.”

“You know—”

“Before you go any further . . . she had good reason. Very sound logic on why we didn’t have to kill anyone.”

“And what if she’s wrong?”

“We’ll find out.”

“Why didn’t you go back and take care of it yourself?”

“Why are you so worried?”

“Leigh says—”

“If you start listening to Leigh, especially about Kera, we’re done with this conversation.”

“What if she’s right? What if the new girl can’t kill?”

“Do you know who Leigh heard that little tidbit from? Stieg Engstrom. The most useless of all the Ravens.”

“And then she left, right? The new girl didn’t hang with you guys after?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Where did she go?”

“She probably went to Rundstöm’s.”

Chloe frowned. “Why?”

“She likes him.”

“Why?”

“I can’t have this conversation with you.”

“I guess there’s no accounting for taste.”

Should Erin mention her leader’s incredibly unhealthy relationship with her ex? No. Probably not.

“What are you worried about, Chloe? Because I’m assuming there’s a reason you’re actually talking to me.”

“I’m just . . .” Chloe rubbed her forehead. “Do you dream, Erin?”

“No.”

Chloe slowly looked at her, dropping her hands to the table. “You never dream?”

“No.”

“Everybody dreams.”

“I don’t.”

“Has this been since your second life?”

“No. It’s been that way since I was a child.”

“That’s weird. And off-putting.”

“I’ve been told that. Usually by my grade school’s child psychologist, Mr. Jeffries, who I tormented because I was bored and he was stupid.”

“Well, I’ve been having these intense dreams. I’m not getting any sleep.”

“That’s sad, but I’m not sure what that has to do with the new girl.”

“I think it’s her fault.”

“How can it be her fault?” Erin asked. “You said you’ve been having these dreams for weeks now.”

“I said that?”

“Two seconds ago.”

“Oh.” Chloe glanced outside through the big picture window beside the table. “I still think it’s her fault.”

Erin didn’t bother to argue, she just watched three more of her sister-Crows stumble into the kitchen and drop down at the table. They looked as exhausted as Chloe.