Page 5 of Queen Crow

Aodhan is.

Atticus is, just the second he comes back to me and wakes up.

Is this what growing up feels like? Because part of me doesn’t want it, I never want to lose any part of him because we’ve only known safety together, but part of me knows that this was the whole point of staying in Mounts Bay while they travelled together.

We needed to find out who we are as adults, without hiding in each other.

“Floss, whatever has happened, I’ll fix it. I’ll kill him right now and we’ll destroy any evidence of the tape.”

I press my hands against his chest to push him away, the tears pooling in my eyes at his soft tones; his gentleness and need to protect me always brings down my guard, but I can’t get lost in that right now. “Whatever you think you saw in that tape, Ash… it wasn’t what actually happened.”

His eyes narrow at me and I take another step toward Aodhan, preparing to throw myself between them if I need to.

Aodhan immediately moves to my side, coming back within arm’s reach of Ash and his rage again.

Lips senses the same danger as I do and stalks back over to us, holding out her hand to Ash. "Show it to me. I really don't want to watch it, but Avery told me what really happened; I'll prove to you that it's not what you think it is."

I would rather die than watch it, but I also really, really don't want Lips seeing it either. "Can we just forget about the tape?"

"Only if you agree that O'Cronin dies," Ash snarls at me, and Aodhan instantly slides in front of me again.

"Don't talk to her like that. Brother or not, I'm not fucking standing for it."

Lips’ face clears and her eyes flick to mine. He's already won her over, but I can see the approval shining through her face at the move. She's never been someone to stand behind others, but when her guys all made their obsession for her clear, they'd also protected her as much as they could. It was their love language from the moment they'd found each other, so she has an appreciation for it that others might not.

Ash doesn't feel the same way. "Move the fuck away from her before I choke the life out of you."

Aodhan doesn't move and he doesn't raise his voice, his tone as clear and steady as it's always been. "I'm not going to let you destroy your sister right now, no matter how angry you are. I know what it must look like and so I'm not going to get pissed at you for going for my throat, because she's your sister, but I'm not going to let you take that shit out on her. Stop and take a breath. Let Lips watch the fucking tape and find out who's messed with it, because I went into that room to die for her. She was in control the whole time; if you can't wrap your head around that, then that's a you problem. She doesn't owe you an explanation, be grateful you're getting one."

The adrenaline sucks out of my body all at once, the knife forgotten at my bare feet as I lean forward and press my forehead against his back. I squeeze my eyes shut for just a second, letting him hold me up for a moment.

I'm exhausted.

Atticus is in the hospital with a hole the size of my fist in his chest. The Twelve are still sizing us all up and looking for an opportunity to strike at our family. There's the Graves kids to find and protect, Amanda Donnelley to sort out, and Randy and Holden Crawford.

Bingley's corpse is still leaking on the ground at our feet.

Tears fill my eyes and then the door at the end of the hallway opens and Luca walks through, armed to the teeth and with blood splattered all over himself as though he took on the entire group of intruders on his own. His eyes flick over the entire scene, including the hand prints around Aodhan's throat and the bloodied mess of my legs.

"Avery, are you okay? The house is clear."

We discover that Luca's voice is also a trigger for Ash's seething rage, whatever moment of quiet that Aodhan's words had forced him into now completely gone as he turns on Atticus' second with a snarl. "Where the fuck were you? Wherethe fuckis Crawford? I’ll kill him too. Forcing Avery to stay in this fucking mausoleum and then leaving her to fend for herself againstyourenemies? I will fucking destroy you—"

Lips side-steps back around him to push herself against his chest, making it clear that she's not about to let him fight his way through all of the anger in him tonight.

It’s going to be a long night.

Luca ignores him completely, his eyes dropping down to Bingley before they snap back to me. “Are you hurt? Do you need first aid?”

A watery sounding sob bursts out of my throat. “Well, after a night of being rescued from the Collector’s son, watching Atticus take a bullet to the chest for me that I’m sure will kill him, and killing Bingley myself after an attack... Ash seeing a director’s cut of the Jackal’s tape might be the thing that pushes me over the fucking edge.”

It’s very clear to me that Ash knew very little of what has been happening with me in the last few days because he turns to stare at Lips like she’s stuck a knife in his back, and I immediately wish I could take back those words.

Too late now.

Luca immediately tries to back me up, his first mistake is thinking that Ash has a rational bone left in his body today. “Amanda Donelley sent him the edited version? Fuck. I’ve seen it. I saw the original; it’s not what it looks like. I was also there—"

Lips isn't quick enough to stop Ash from launching himself at Luca, taking him to the ground and reminding everyone that he is in fact the son of Joseph Beaumont Sr, no matter how different he may seem. Luca doesn't have time to reach for a weapon or even get his hands up, and no matter how much he struggles, he can't dislodge Ash.