Page 53 of Crooked Crows (Boys of Briar Hall 1)

Corv couldn’t whip his head to me fast enough, his accusing stare fixed on me. “And you let that happen?”

My mouth popped open. “Should I not have?”

“We gave her an out this morning,” he said. “Made a deal. She isours.”

“She didn’t agree,” Rook corrected him. “In fact, I’m pretty sure she said she’d rather die.”

“And we’re just going to let her get away with refusing us?” Corvus demanded, his slanted eyes cutting between Rook and me. “Have you gone soft there, Rookie?”

Rook frowned, back to looking like his usual bored self. Exhausted with Corvus’ antics.

He wouldn’t rise to the bait. He rarely did.

When I made no reply, Corvus fell back in his chair and pressed his lips into a tight line, his disappointment clear as he let his eyes track back to Ava Jade. She was still locked in conversation with the senior prick, smiling in a sultry way that told me she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

When Josh rose to say his goodbye’s, he remained slightly hunched, angling his body away from Ava Jade. Hiding the chub in his pants.

Becca immediately descended upon Ava Jade, leaning far over the table with wide, glimmering eyes, demanding details.

Corvus’ chair screeched against the linoleum floor as he shoved back and stood, following Josh Richardson from the cafeteria, without another word.

I letthe murdery lyrics of Primal Ethos’Fuckfacedrive me onward, using the unfiltered rage searing through my veins as fuel for the cruel pace I was forcing my body to endure. My sneakers pounded the blacktop and the chill of the evening licked at the warm sweat on my arms and chest. Stoking the fire inside.

Downtown Thorn Valley wasn’t much to look at. Especially not at ten on a Monday night. All the shops running along either side of the historic city center were shuttered for the night. Their wide windows dark,come back tomorrowsigns hanging in doorways. The only lights still on that I could see were from a small cafe at the end of the block, and the low lights from the Valley-Mart I’d already passed four blocks before.

The hill from town to Briar Hall was the only chunk of this route not alive with at least some public activity, and I was delaying the return trip.

Fucking asshole.

Whoever sent that text was ruining my only escape. I’d been running down the hill and through town since Saturday. Only using a short arm of the trail behind Briar Hall in emergencies of frustration to blow off some steam between classes before my lid could pop.

It wasn’t that I was afraid, at least, not really. It just creeped me out. Whoever was sending these messages was clearly watching me. They knew I liked to go for runs. They were at the docks during the party Friday night. For all I knew they’dbeenwatching me all this time, though something told me that wasn’t the case. That coming here somehow triggered this. This person was from Thorn Valley, but had seen me in Lennox years before. I was on their turf now.

Running alone in the dark through the trees, where no one except maybe the Crows might hear me scream just didn’t have the appeal it did a few days ago. It irked me that someone could be out there, where I couldn’t see them, fucking jerking off behind a tree or some shit.

Gross.

I vacillated between wanting to avoid it at all costs and going on a fucking hunting trip to find the bastard and carve his eyeballs out. I might still go on that hunting trip, but maybe best to let everything else die down first.

I held no illusions that my refusal of Corvus’ idiotic offer meant that my ‘protection’ from Brianna Moore and her wealthy father had been terminated. It was only a matter of time now before she launched her attack.

Corvus.

Fucking Corvus.

And the rest of them.

Smug bastards. As if they thought I would actually agree to...to be their plaything. To kneel like a peasant at their gilded feet and open wide for them to use my mouth like a fucking cum dumpster. I’m sure they would love that. They were probably getting off on just theideaof breaking me. Corvus for sure.

The worst part was that for the briefest second, I actually considered it.

My littleproblemwith Brianna would evaporate. No legal problems. No cops. No retaliation. No more issues with teachers. No more detentions. Not while I was under their protection. Fuck, I’d even get laid.

I bet they were good, too. I bet...

Don’t go there, Ava Jade. You are not for sale.

Besides, Josh would do.

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