CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEENBrandt Lindgren watched the Holde’s Maids working on Singvlad Voll, one of the men he’d sent out today to investigate the new Crow. Even if the Crow hadn’t been alone, two or three Crows were no match for even one of the mighty Silent. But it never occurred to him that the Ravens might also be there.The Ravens had no honor. No remorse. No souls. And if they were connected to the Crows yet again . . . that could be a real problem.“Will he live?” Brandt asked the hag working on his comrade.“He will. But his recovery will take time.” She shook her head. “They stomped him into the ground.”“Do what you can.”“Of course.”Brandt left Voll’s apartment. His driver opened the door and Brandt slid into the backseat.The drive to his mansion was short, because all The Silent lived within ten miles of each other. His assistant met him at the door, taking his briefcase and handing over a newspaper.Without a word, Brandt walked down the hall toward his office. As he walked, Embla stepped in beside him.“This did not go well,” he told her.“I know. Oveson had the Crows distracted, but the Ravens . . . we never expected them.”“I’m sure.”Brandt walked into his office, threw his paper on the desk, turned, and stopped.A Crow lounged in the high-backed leather chair across from him, her booted feet up on his desk.Chloe Wong. Horrid bitch.She smiled at him but Brandt wasn’t fooled.Embla eased into the room, her gaze locked on the other female. She sat in a chair placed against the wall, her cowl hiding her face and probably the fear it revealed.“Hello, Brandt,” Chloe purred. “How’s Voll’s face?” 

The fighting outfit of the Crows was kind of . . . uninteresting. Black jeans, black racing-T tank top, steel-toed boots. Although some of the more glamorous Crows liked to have designer versions of these boots with three- to six-inch heels. Where they found Louboutin versions of those steel-toed boots, however, Kera had no idea. They were cute, though.Kera tied the leather holster that held the two blades Vig had made for her around her ankle. Then she stood and stretched her shoulders. It was what she always did when she was about to get to work. Even doing her taxes. Only this time, her wings shot out, sending her flying back over her bed and into the wall.“Fuck me!”She heard a snort and glared over the bed at Brodie. “Are you laughing at me?”The traitor suddenly found her paws interesting and began licking them.Kera walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She tried to go through, but her wings, still fully extended, wouldn’t let her pass. She tried going through several other ways but nothing worked. Taking in a breath and letting it out, she closed her eyes and pulled her shoulders back. Her wings retracted and Kera made her way out into the hall.“Brodie Hawaii!” one of the Crows sang out, and Brodie shot past Kera and disappeared down the stairs.“I love you, too!” Kera sarcastically called out to her dog. Where was the loyalty?Kera’s team waited for her at the end of the hall by Amsel’s room.They were her “Strike Team” as the Crows called the individual fight units. Kera’s Strike Team included Erin, Jace, Annalisa, Leigh, Alessandra Esporza, whom Kera had only barely met about an hour ago, the positive-she-was-coming-down-with-something Maeve, and Tessa, their team leader.“You guys ready?” Tessa asked.Everyone except Kera nodded.“Okay. Great. Let’s go.”Kera watched the women begin to walk off. “Wait a minute,” Kera said. “We don’t get a briefing?”Tessa gazed at her. “A briefing about what?”“About our assignment? About what’s expected from us? About our attack plan? All those need to be addressed.”“Okay.” Tessa looked around at the women. “I expect all of you to go in there and kill, kill, kill. Everybody ready now? Let’s go!”“Wait!” Kera took a breath. “I don’t know how to fly.”Tessa’s eyes widened a bit before she shifted her gaze to Erin. “You didn’t teach her how to fly?”“No. But we got her a new phone. It’s a sassy red.”Tessa clasped her hands together, pressed them against her nose, and closed her eyes.After a brief moment of silence, she said, “All right. Come with me.”Kera followed Tessa to another hallway and all the way to the end. Tessa opened a door and went up a set of stairs. Kera followed until she found herself on the roof of the Bird House.Tessa stood next to Kera, gently placing her hand on her shoulder. “Okay. First things first . . . unleash your wings for me.”Kera did, wincing a bit at the pain.“Good. Excellent.” Tessa’s hand moved to her back right beneath her neck. “Now, lesson number one—”And that’s when Tessa shoved Kera. Hard. Sending her flying out over the roof.Kera screamed, arms and legs flailing, as she saw the ground rushing up to meet her. But then hands grabbed her arms and she was yanked up.Panting, she hung between Leigh and Jace.“You could at least move your wings,” Erin complained, effortlessly flying behind them. “So the girls don’t have to work so hard. Don’t you think about anyone but yourself?”“I hate all of you!”“If this is annoying you, we could let go.”“Don’t you dare!”“Then maybe tell us you hate us after we land.” Erin circled them. “Which is just basic military logic in my opinion.” 

Chloe stared at Brandt Lindgren. He was a handsome, older man. In his seventies. And, as a leader of The Silent, a true peacemaker.That’s what they were known for. Many of their best people worked for the UN, and Lindgren himself had been secretly involved in hundreds of negotiations over the decades between all sorts of world leaders. From presidents to kings to tyrants to dictators. Of course, these important men didn’t know that Brandt Lindgren was the leader of The Silent. They didn’t need to know.Still, The Silent, after centuries, still loathed the Crows, Ravens, and Protectors. They saw the Ravens as dangerous thugs. The Protectors as intelligent bullies. And the Crows as useless whores.It amazed Chloe that these men who willingly dealt with the most brutal, vile tyrants in the world wouldn’t deign to speak to a Crow because her Clan was considered unworthy.And yet . . . this was one of the first times that Chloe could ever remember The Silent—without warning—coming directly to one of the Crows as they had with Kera, which was why Chloe was here.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 to Brandt’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.