Page 57 of Queen Crow

He sent her the heads of her enemies. He answers all of her texts and phone calls and even though he doesn’t really seem to understand human emotions, he asks about how her day is going. Whatever his life looked like before, helping raise Poe has humanized him enough that I’m not worried about my safety.

As long as Lips loves me, I’m safe.

“Lips is out to dinner… with her brother. The same brother you said you wouldn’t put on the murder board downstairs because you’re sure about him.” Aodhan looks at me with a very appropriate amount of terror in his eyes. “Don’t fuck with me, Queenie.”

Atticus’ lip curls at him and he shoves the file at him. “She’s not. The Lynx was killed because she stepped out on the Wolf and her brother dealt with it.”

I can see the cogs turning in his brain, everything sliding together, and he’s turning a little bit green around the edges. “Lucy… she said she saw her aunt’s death. She saw him and that’s why she freaked out over Lips. Fuck me, fuck me, this is the worst fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

Atticus huffs. “I’m glad we can agree on the fact that the Devil is not an ally. He’s a serial killer, and he’s a danger to everyone who comes across him.”

This is getting out of hand. “He is Lips’ brother. She called him for help, and he came without question to fix the problem. When he found out she existed, he came and tore through the Bay for her. If you think for a second that you’re going to convince me to side against a Graves sibling, you are fuckingdreaming.”

“Avery—”

I cut him off, “It’s already done. The deal is signed, the payment waived, and your father is going to die screaming. Nothing else matters here. Now, are you joining us for dinner or not? I’ve made enough if you want to stay.”

Chapter Nineteen

It causes the biggest fight I hope I ever have with Aodhan, but I convince him to stay at the docks instead of joining us to meet with Nate.

I have no doubt that the Devil will already know that we’ve told another person about his identity; his access to Lips’ life and what happens in it is a little terrifying. I still haven’t figured out his methods.

Lips and I are driven down to meet with him and deal with Randy once and for all by Ash, who isn’t worried about meeting with Nate. I fuss with my outfit for an hour before we leave, mostly because I’m nervous about being around Nate again.

He really doesn’t like anyone but his sisters, and while I’ll argue in his favor with Atticus until the end of time, I’m still fucking terrified of him.

There’s also the fact that there’s no place I hate more in the world than the Vulture’s skin markets.

They’ve been abandoned for years at this point, but the building is still standing untouched. I think the entire Bay is leaving this cursed place be, letting all of the ghosts and bad karma lie because there’s nowhere else that saw the same amount of pain, suffering, and devastation as here.

All of the women and girls who were sold and traded through this building, it’s horrifying and incomprehensible.

I have to steel myself to walk in there, even with Lips at my side, and Ash’s jaw is so tight that I’m worried his teeth might crack under the pressure.

“I got him down here a few days ago… he’s a terrible prisoner. He really just hasn’t figured out how fucked he really is,” Lips murmurs to me, glancing over at Ash with a grimace.

I’m not worried.

If anything, I’m glad he’s acting that way. I’m going to enjoy watching him take in his own death, seeing the horror dawn on his disgusting face when it all finally clicks together in that arrogant brain of his.

I can’t wait.

Lips leads us through the building by memory alone, another thing that has Ash fuming, and when we make it down to the back rooms, the smells get even worse. I want to vomit, but this last year has strengthened my stomach a little. I can handle it just to get the victory of this moment.

The back rooms have cages lining one of the walls and jail-like cells, complete with bulletproof glass, for the extra valuable girls along the other. We stop in front of one of them to find Randy standing in the center, his nose broken and both of his eyes black.

I pull out a handkerchief from my purse to grab one of the chairs without actually touching it, dragging it over to perch on the seat and stare into the cell. He stares back at me like this is nothing to him. A slow smirk, something I've seen my brother give out a million times, stretches over my face.

"Oh, this will not do at all. I think we need to find you some chains."

Randy sneers at me "I will enjoy breaking you, slave."

Lips and Ash stay silent, sinking back until they’re against the far wall to watch how this is going to go down.

I raise my eyebrows at him, a smile flirting with the corners of my mouth, because he really has lost all sense of reality. “Randy, your sons are dead. The only reason you are still alive is because I wanted you to know the feeling of being trapped and having no control. I wanted you to know that now it’s you who is the slave.“

He scoffs and turns to face the wall, icing me out as though I’d care about this little show of his. “Your father should have dealt with you sooner. Spare the rod, ruin the slave.“