Page 2 of Queen Crow

She pauses, as close to a reaction as I’ll ever get from her, and then she slowly shakes her head at me. Her eyes are calm and steady on mine, and I want to strangle her for this moment.

Fuck it, she’s dead anyway, I might as well find out how deep her loyalties lie. “Six, but I’ll have your word that you will never tell the Jackal about her.”

She instantly freezes.

I’m expecting her to grab her phone and call her psychopath friend, the man who is singlehandedly attempting to murder me at every opportunity. The man who loves nothing more than beingthe Jackal,running all of the drugs and destroying as many lives as he possibly can.

I need to get Avery the fuck away from them all.

The Wolf looks me over in that slow, assessing way of hers and whatever she sees is enough to make her decision, taking a single step forward. I shift my own stance, just enough that I’m ready if she launches herself at me, and instantly her eyes narrow.

The mood in the room gets malevolent.

Her words, when they come, are a low rasp, saying the last thing I’m expecting from her, “You’re in love with her, aren’t you, Atticus?”

We never use our names, not ever.

“I told you, I’ll—“ I start, but she cuts me off.

“She’s not for sale. Not to you, not to Matteo, not to anyone. Either admit you’re here because you have real, genuine feelings for her, or leave. And to be perfectly clear, there isnothingI wouldn’t do to keep her safe. I’ll risk the Twelve if I have to.”

It’s a declaration of more than friendship, of a loyalty that runs deeper than just some schoolyard bullshit.

My eyes swing down to land on Avery because this has to be a play, some tactic to use her as a pawn against me, but again, that betrayal in her eyes cuts me to fucking ribbons.

I’m a second away from pulling a gun and killing the Wolf for messing with her head and turning her against me when Avery says, “The Wolf is my family, Atticus. I’m not leaving with you.”

Family.

Avery has never had family before.

From the moment Alice was murdered in that fucking mausoleum of Senior’s, she’s had Ash and no one else. Even I have had to keep myself at arm’s length from her for years, just to keep her safe from my family and her father.

Ash doesn’t react to her claiming the Wolf as her family, and he’s the most protective, possessive brother I’ve ever met.

Maybe I won’t kill the girl.

It’s a risk to Avery’s safety, but she’s already made her choice for now.

I turn to face the Wolf again. “You can’t let Matteo know about her, or what she means to me. He’ll fucking destroy her. It’s bad enough she’s with you.”

It’s as though all of the fight has been sucked out of me and I sink down in the armchair in the corner of the room, rubbing my hands over my face.

When will the mind games and careful moves end? When will I have Avery safe, alive, andmine?

“You don’t need to explain to me what that man does to innocent girls when he has an agenda,” the Wolf whispers, and it hits me once again that she’s Avery’s age. She’s a teenage girl, orphaned and alone and without someone like me watching over her.

All she’s had is the Jackal.

The self-loathing that happens when the black-hearted Crow slips away from me sets in, a dark chuckle slipping out of me. “I guess I should remember that better than anyone. I was there when he snapped your leg with his bare hands. What were you, twelve years old?”

Morrison takes her hand and tugs her into his body, trying to comfort her for trauma from long ago. His closeness to her is confusing because with the way Ash trusts her, I would’ve guessed they were dating.

She clears her throat. “Thirteen. I was thirteen and I had just won the Game. He told me he wanted to teach me how to deal with pain, but really, he was trying to break me in. Nothing he hates more than a female he can’t break.”

And yet he doesn’t hate her. “Well, he didn’t break you, did he? Here you stand with two Beaumonts and the richest kid in the country. You’ve inducted the heir to the O’Cronin family into your fold, and let’s not forget the Butcher. I’d wagerthiswasn’t Matteo’s plan.”

She chuckles and sits on the couch, pulling Morrison down with her, and Avery moves over to them immediately. Ash is slower to move over to them but when he does, he slips his hand to rest on the Wolf’s thigh.