Page 11 of Queen Crow

If one of those is poison, there’s no saving him. If the dose is off, he’s gone. There’s a thousand different ways he could be taken from me now and even with this security camera feed, there’s no stopping it.

“He’s going to be okay, Aves. You and Luca have vetted, cross-vetted, and terrorized every person around him right now. If they can’t keep him alive then, well, no one can. You’ve done right by him,” Lips whispers, her fingers threading through mine.

Tears well up in my eyes because it doesn’t matter if she’s right, he’s still in that bed because of me, and dying isn’t an option here.

Right.

Distraction.

“Tell me something. Anything. Something small about the tour that will distract me enough that I won’t self-destruct.”

She hums under her breath quietly, a habit she picked up from me, and then smiles softly. “I’ve never seen the guys relax that much or be that happy. They all still fought like crazy and were absolute assholes over the littlest things but… Ash was so calm and relaxed. He was really fucking happy, Aves. If we can get the Bay under our thumb and wipe out the bullshit again, you’re not even going to recognize them anymore.”

I want that. Desperately. I want us all to be happy.

A text message flashes on the screen from Aodhan, telling me he’s heading back here a little after midnight, and Lips smirks at the smile on my face.

“He’s worth the tantrum from Ash. We both knew he was going to be a nightmare no matter who you ended up with. But at least with Aodhan, we know it’s all worth it.”

He is.

But so is Atticus.

* * *

Two days later, Harley and Morrison arrive home to Ash as a full-blown alcoholic and Lips being her own version of a nervous wreck about it. It’s hard to pick out, because she’s so quiet about it, but she stops eating and sleeping, spending most of her time on her phone or following me around, making sure I’m not about to throw myself off of the roof over Atticus.

The moment the alarm sounds to say there’s a vehicle in the driveway, it feels as though the entire house takes a deep breath.

I buzz them in, swiping the bourbon from Ash and shoving him toward the front foyer, just in time to see Lips rip the door open and stalk down the front steps like a woman on a mission.

I then have to look away from the make out session in my driveway so I don’t lose my lunch.

“They’re like this all the fucking time, aren’t they? It’s like watching horny teenagers go at it, fucking gross,” Noah whines, and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from pointing out that they are in fact horny teenagers who fought and bled for the right to live.

They’ve earned this, and he can shut the fuck up about it before I slit his throat over it.

I also don’t point out that his utter obsession with my brother is both obvious and disturbing. He’s been a creepy little fuck, following him around all day and begging for attention. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t his sister’s boyfriend, his sister who has taken him in and protected him from whatever the fuck is going on with him.

He should not be chasing after her boyfriend.

When Harley finally lets Lips go, only for her to be swept up into Morrison’s arms and pushed back against a bus like it’s been six months since they saw each other and not five days, he stalks over to me and pulls me into a bone-crushing hug of my own.

“What the fuck have you gotten into, Floss?” he murmurs against my hair, and I almost break. Almost.

I will not cry.

I will not cry, god-fucking-dammit.

“Your fucking cousin is what she’s gotten into, and I’m still not sure he’s going to survive,” Ash snaps, and Harley pulls back from me to look over Ash.

“You’ve been a complete fucking nightmare, haven’t you? You’ll never learn, asshole.”

Ash scoffs at him and turns on his heel, stalking back into the house and I’m assuming he’s heading straight for the alcohol. Noah trails after him and I curse under my breath about it.

Harley keeps his arm around me, reluctant to let me go, and my stomach drops at having to face this all over again.

"Please tell me you haven't seen it," I whisper, and he huffs at me.