Page 31 of Queen Crow
Aodhan shifts to cover me fully, surprisingly sharing a look with Ash as they both watch Luca speak to Lips quietly. Blaise is grinding his teeth and Harley is vibrating with anger, but none of us can hear exactly what’s being said, only catching a glimpse of the savage look on Lips’ face as she gives him a curt nod before stalking back over to us.
“We’re done here. Let’s get out of here and find somewhere to grab a drink.”
I nod and step around Aodhan to link our arms together, knowing that this is a code for something else because we’re not the sort to hang around down here in the city without a reason. Harley stays where he is for a second, staring Luca down with all of the pent-up rage he’s had for him since day one. He might’ve held it all back for the greater good, but nothing triggers my cousin quite like someone staring too long at his little Mounty.
I’m very interested to know what’s going on here.
We make it to the cars and Harley throws Aodhan the keys to my Rolls Royce and stalks over to climb into the Escalade with his little foursome of debauchery. Jackson climbs into Luca’s car and they disappear down the dirt road until they’re nothing but tail lights.
We’re almost out of there after them, then Lucy steps up behind us, her motorcycle helmet in her hands already. We all pause for a second, the memories of Aodhan declaring his allegiance to Harley and killing his family in this exact spot drifting around us all. Lucy looks over to me, and then I watch as she draws herself up to face Lips as though she’s facing her worst nightmare.
What the hell is going on here?
“I have a gift for you… one that you’ll need to accept in person. I have it ready and waiting down at the docks near the Butcher’s warehouse. I wanted to give you a sign of my appreciation for giving me the opportunity to sit at the table of the Twelve when no one else would.”
Lips stares at her for a second, weighing her words and the look of her standing there shaking in her fucking boots. This can’t be the same girl who ripped out a man’s throat and felt his blood and life pour down her face and body only a few months ago.
“Sure. We’ll follow you out,” Lips says and then stands there until Lucy nods and walks over to her bike.
Are we about to walk into a trap?
She glances at me for a second and then turns to Ash, stepping up close to his body and murmuring, “I’m riding with Aves, meet us down there?”
He glances at Aodhan and then nods slowly. Harley slams his way into the Escalade, but Morrison walks over to join Lips in the backseat of the Rolls Royce, checking all of his guns on the way in an obvious retaliation to Ash’s snarking.
Aodhan shakes his head at them, but none of us say a word until the car is started and we’re following the lights of Lucy’s motorcycle down the road.
“We’re about to kill the newest member of the Twelve, aren’t we?” Blaise says with a smirk, reaching out to grab Lips’ hand across the seat.
I turn to shoot a look at him. “Probably, do you have a problem with that?”
He smirks at me, looking over at Lips with utter adoration. “I didn’t think we’d be signing up for another bullshit Game this soon, but why the fuck not?”
I roll my eyes at him, because he’s not the one organizing and attending them all so his opinion means nothing to me right now, but Lips is staring out of the window with a frown.
“What are you thinking, Lips? How are we doing this?” I say, and she hums under her breath a little.
“I can’t figure it out. She was a great choice for you guys, didn’t suck up or anything, but she proved herself. What is her deal with me? I’ve never met her, not that I can remember anyway. There has to be something and it’s fucking annoying to not know it… and have no time to figure it out.”
Aodhan pulls the car out onto the highway and checks his mirrors to be sure that the others are following us. “Right, so what’s the plan? It’s looking like one girl against the whole lot of us, but I’m sure this is an ambush.”
I scowl at the road ahead of us, my phone back in my hand as I drum my fingers against the screen. “It can’t be an ambush. She has no one, her family all hate her, and she has no real connections in the Bay. The few friends she has aren’t notable. It can’t be an ambush.”
Lips shrugs in the back. “She might’ve cut a deal with someone without us knowing. There’s a million fucking things it could be. We’re just going to have to go in expecting the worst. We’re all armed, covered in bulletproof vests, and we’re together. We’ll be fine.”
I don’t like walking into things unprepared like this, it feels like high school all over again, and I spend the rest of the drive on my phone looking for any signs that Lucy is about to throw a world of bloodshed and pain our way.
There’s nothing.
Lips taps away on her phone too, and if I didn’t already know that she’s keeping in touch with Ash and Harley about our plans, then Ash’s text with a list of demands to stay behind Morrison at all times is a dead giveaway.
Lucy drives past the turn off for Illi’s warehouse but takes the next street so we’re within spitting distance of him, Odie, and the baby. That makes me nervous as well for some reason, because if anything happens here, this close to them, I will rain hell down on every last Mounty in this stupid fucking city.
I share a look with Aodhan when he kills the engine and he murmurs, “Stay there. Let me and the other two check the place out first while you and Lips hang tight with Morrison.”
Lips raises an eyebrow at him and he smirks at her. “We both know Harley and Ash will back me on this plan, just let us have a look before you two go in there and destroy this girl.”
Ash pulls the Escalade in after us, and immediately he and Harley both get out, barely waiting for Aodhan before they stalk over to where Lucy is waiting. She glances at the car for a second and then shrugs, leading them into the old, rundown building.