The Ruthless (Queen Crow #2) - J. Bree Page 0,3

but I was this close to calling Ash and making him wait on the line with me like some sort of security blanket. That would have been the stupidest idea possible but calling him when I’m worried or, frankly, terrified is my default. He’s always the first person on my mind, followed very closely by Harley and Lips.

He’ll always be the other half of my soul, the person I shared a womb with, and the brother who took on the world to keep me safe. Nothing will ever change that.

His photo was on that wall.

I think I could have handled it if it was only Lips’ photo up there. It makes sense for Atticus to be looking into her, while he’s not a member of the family she’s still a threat on the board to him, but to find Ash there? Harley too?

I’m not sure there’s an explanation that he could ever give me that would be able to explain this away. I’m not sure I can ever trust him again… those fragile foundations we’d built up after I found out he was the Crow smashed to pieces all over again.

I can’t fucking do this.

I stumble a little over my own feet as I walk out of the tunnel opening at the edges of the trees, lucky that I’m wearing flat shoes for once in my life, and Jack lurches toward me with something close to horror in his eyes.

“Fuck, Avery, what the fuck happened to you? Are you hurt? Fuck, I need to call mo rí.”

I have no clue who Maury is but I just want to get the hell out of here. “It’s—I’m fine. Did Aodhan say… can I stay with you until he’s back?”

I feel pathetic falling over my words like this, but I don’t think I realized how shaken I was until I saw Jack.

He helps me into the car, buckling me in when my hands shake too much to do it myself. When he’s back behind the wheel and weaving his way through traffic, he calls Aodhan through the car’s Bluetooth.

“She’s white as a fucking ghost and shaking like a leaf; where the hell am I taking her? Home?”

I can hear Illi’s voice in the background, snarling at someone, but now that Jack is here, I’ve become too numb to really focus on it. It’s as though the adrenaline has seeped out of me and now I’m a shaking shell of myself again.

How the hell has Lips lived like this all her life?

Aodhan covers the mouthpiece and answers something back, then says back down the line, “Take her back to my loft; the Butcher has backup heading to the city now. Put her on the phone.”

I need to keep myself together so they don’t go charging into Atticus’ fortress-like mansion before I can figure out what the hell is going on, so I swallow around the dryness in my mouth so my voice comes out without the panicked and breathy quality that I’d used before. “I’m here. Honestly, I’m fine to go home until you’re back.”

“No. No, whatever the fuck that asshole has done means he doesn’t get to fucking know where you are. No one knows about the loft so you’ll be safe there until I can get to you.”

His voice clear and vibrating with rage, Illi calls out, “Listen to him, kid. Get your ass somewhere safe because I’m ready to fucking bleed half the city out after this goddamn night. Whatever that fuck, the Crow, has done has moved him from my shit-list to my to-kill list.”

I swallow because those words should terrify me but… if that board really is his, and who else could it belong to, then I’ll have to vote on whether he lives or dies.

If he’s targeting Ash, he can’t live.

I might not be able to live with myself for voting against him, but I also couldn’t live knowing I’d saved his life for him to then kill my twin.

“I’ll go to the loft. I’ll stay there until we know what’s going on with… everything.”

Jack nods, his eyes still on the traffic in front of us, and Aodhan murmurs something reassuring down the line again. “Call the Wolf. Stay on the line with her while you wait for me; she’s been pissed and ready for an update for hours.”

I agree and Jack hangs up. My fingers are numb where they’re curled so tightly around my own phone, barely registering it buzzing in my hand with messages from my