Crooked Crows by Elena Lawson

Unknown: I’ll admit I had my doubts you were the same girl I saw near the railway tracks years ago, but tonight those doubts were erased. You are perfect.

I read the message for what must’ve been the twentieth time since I woke up Saturday morning to see it staining my phone screen. And now, Monday morning, the feeling of dread still lingered.

Four years ago near the train tracks in Lennox, I went full dark.

It consumed me, and I let it.

Those repressed, terrifying, powerful feelings took the wheel...and I killed a man.

This wasn’t Bri. It couldn’t be.

She couldn’t know that.

No one knew about that. No one was there.

It had to be a coincidence. I could remember walking along the tracks a handful of times back from downtown, anyone could’ve seen me. This didn’t mean anything. Right?

But then who was it? Why the anonymity?

The number that sent this message late Friday night wasn’t the same one that sent the others on Thursday, but the feel of them was the same. If they were sent by the same person, then why use two different numbers?

I could reply. Ask who it was. But my gut told me that would only be inviting even more messages from someone who was giving off major stalker vibes.

Ignore it and whoever it is will get bored and stop.

“Are you waiting for it to sprout legs and run away?” Becca asked, sweeping out of her bedroom fully dressed for the school day. The smell of her earthy body spray filling the room with her.

I blinked, glancing up from my phone and realizing how tightly I’d been holding it. Any tighter and I might’ve cracked the screen even more than it already was. “Oh,” I swallowed. “No. It’s just...I got this weird message on Friday.”

She cocked her head at me, and I lost my nerve, not wanting to give whoever this creep was the attention he or she so clearly wanted. Not wanting to give Becca even the tiniest clue as to the potential meaning of the message still trespassing on my phone’s drive. What would she think if she found out what I’d done?

“Never mind,” I shook my head, stuffing my phone down deep into the pocket of my jeans.

Her eyes narrowed for an instant before she seemed to decide not to press. “So,” she said, dropping onto the soft leather beside me on the couch with a snicker. “How excited are you for homeroom?”

I groaned, letting my head fall against the backrest with a roll of my eyes.

All weekend I’d been waiting for the Bri hammer to drop. Becca warned me that there would be retaliation, if not actual police involvement. Apparently Mr. Moore, the poor fucker who sired the queen bitch, didn’t take kindly to people touching his precious girl. Being more of a strait-laced sort of fellow, his retribution would likely come in the form of a lawsuit or some other legal bullshittery that I did not want to deal with.

Frankly, I’d rather he send a hired gun. I had a much better idea what to expect and how to handle that than I did a lawyer.

If he dragged police and shit into this there would be no way to keep it from getting back to Aunt Humphrey. Good-bye ticket to freedom.

“That excited, hey?”

“Why hasn’t she done anything yet?” I moaned.

Becca barked a laugh. “She must be cooking up something really special for you.”

I’d spent the weekend catching up on assignments for the most part, but I also spent a solid three hours doing recon on Bri. I now knew where she went to get her nails and hair done. Where she liked to shop and grab coffee. What type of car she drove and her license plate number—what kind of dumbass doesn’t at least blur that out for a social media photo?

I felt pretty confident that if she retaliated in any way not legally driven that I’d be ready to beat her right back, even if just the idea of wasting that kind of time on her was exhausting.

“Bri can be a cantankerous bitch, there’s no doubt about that,” Becca added as she got back up to pillage a handful of peanut M&M’s from the kitchen counter for her breakfast. “But if I were you, I’d be more worried about the Crows.”

The mere mention of them made me sneer. I hadn’t been able to find the blade Corvus lost in the lake. I searched for a solid fifteen minutes in the chilly lake water, digging through seaweed and litter, but it was gone. I had three more from the set, but that wasn’t the point. They were a gift from my dad. The last thing he ever bought me.

I now kept two on me at all times. If I’d learned anything from my run-ins with both Grey and Corvus last week, it was that one just wasn’t enough. At least, not for them.

“That asshole owes me a blade,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

Becca snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that. I can’t see Corvus James replacing your precious metals, babe.”

Oh, he’d replace it. Even if it wouldn’t be the same.

“Is that his last name?” I asked. “James? Why didn’t Diesel give him his last name when he adopted him?”

Becca shrugged. “None of them are St. Crows. They all kept their last names. People say it’s because Diesel only adopted them for his wife after she died. Because she always talked about wanting to give a few kids a better life.”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think it’s that. I’ve only seen him with them a couple times, but he definitely considers them his sons. I’m sure there’s some other reason.”

“Like?”

“Like maybe a don’t forget where you came from kind of thing? Or maybe he wanted them to have a choice about joining the gang. If they took the St. Crow name, they’d have big ass red targets painted on their backs. Using their given surnames adds a layer of anonymity.”

I lifted a brow. This girl was smarter than I gave her credit for. Damn.

Becca hopped up with a sigh. “I’m going to grab a water, want one?”

I shook my head, mulling over everything I knew thus far. At least one thing was for certain: Monday morning felt like a point of no return.

Bri told me she didn’t want me here. Corvus told me I should run.

If I wasn’t a stubborn ass with an ax to grind, I’d already be long gone. But their threats only made me dead set on staying. Nothing was going to ruin my chance at a ticket out of here. A ticket to a completely new life. One without gangs or worrying about casing the next job before I ran out of funds. Speaking of…

After a little jaunt into town with Becca to buy some new bedding and a couple incidentals, I was running dangerously low. I could ask Auntie dearest for an allowance, but honestly, I’d rather suck a goat.

I’d take the apartment in the city and college tuition when the time came, but for now, I’d do what I’d always done: take care of my damn self.

“Shit, we should head down,” Becca said, rushing to toss her phone back into her bedroom. “The bell’s going to ring any second.”

Sighing, I saw that she was right. At least I’d get to see the look on both Bri and Corvus’ faces when I deigned to show myself in homeroom this morning. It would be worth whatever came after.

I tossed my phone onto my bed and hurried to follow Becca out the door, making sure she locked it.

She split off from me as we reached the bottom of the stairs just in time for the bell. “See you at lunch!” she hollered, rushing to make it to her homeroom class before the tardy bell rang in three minutes.

I rushed across the atrium, knowing Mr. Harry Potter Glasses wouldn’t let me in if I was even a second late. And I was not missing my chance to rub it in their faces that I wasn’t going anywhere.

“Oh! Ava Jade, could you come here for a moment?”

My brows furrowed as I caught sight of a woman with a tight blonde bun sticking her head out of the office. She gestured for me to come to her, and I forced a face that wasn’t the death glare I wanted to give her.

“Sure,” I chimed as I hurried over, gauging how much time I had left to make it to class on time.

The woman held the door open, and I stepped into the quiet office, my nose wrinkling at a terrible vanilla musk scent that reminded me of something, but I couldn’t place it.

A secretary typed away on a computer behind the main desk, and a few staff members chatted lazily in the corridor beyond that.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said, catching me off guard.

“What?”

“Your, um, your father, was it? He recently passed?”

My jaw clenched. “What is this about?”

“I’m so sorry, I’m the Vice-Principal, Mrs. June. It seems our secretary misplaced your file—”

“I told you, Caroline, I didn’t misplace it. I wouldn’t—” The secretary paused mid-typing to huff.

“Yes, yes.” Mrs. June interrupted the secretary, waving off her words and earning herself an ugly face from the woman behind the desk. “Anyway, I seem to recall there being a request for you to see the counselor. I just wanted to let you know that she’s been away on vacation this week but that she should be back by next week to see you, all right? If you need anything in the meantime, my door is open, just ask Janice here, and she can buzz you back.”

Well fuck me. I really hoped this wasn’t some hidden stipulation of Aunt Humphry’s because that was a hell fucking no from me, thank you very much.

“You must be mistaken,” I said with my best apologetic smile. “I see a private counselor online.”

The lie rolled off my tongue like butter and the VP lapped it up, looking relieved to be off the hook. “Oh, that’s great. Well, if you find you need any more support, just let us know and we can try to set something up.”

I nodded. “Sure thing. I should probably…”

“Oh, yes. Go on. Don’t want to be late.”

“Fucking counseling?” I muttered to myself as the door shut behind me, and I rushed down the vacant hallway, shaking my head.

The last time a school forced me to see a counselor I lasted a full five minutes before vowing to never subject myself to that again. I mean, Dom went to therapy and she said it helped her and that was great and all, but when people asked me prying questions, my first instincts were to either stab or run.

The counselor at Lennox high was lucky I’d decided on the latter.

The bell rang just as my hand closed around the handle of the door, and I stepped through before it finished ringing.

“Cutting it a bit close, Miss Mason?” the teacher drawled, peering at me from the corner of his eye while he sat atop his desk, hands folded over a knee.

“Sorry, sir,” I bit out. “I was—”

“Don’t care,” he said with a strained smile, and I braced myself, my blood flooding with enough adrenaline to make me shiver as I turned my attention to the class, making my way slowly to my seat.

What was this?

I caught the briefest glimpse of Corvus’ smirk before he dropped it in favor of his trademark scowl. He was fucking pleased to see me. The bastard. He knew I wouldn’t run. His shoulders flexed beneath the leather of his jacket, making an audible creak.

Rook stared openly from beside his adoptive brother, leaning over his desk like he might launch an attack at any given second. His dark hair shadowing his even darker eyes. His knuckles popped as he cracked them into his palm one by one, the tattooed letters spelling his name moving like a wave.

Grey slouched back in his chair, running a thumb over his lower lip as his eyes scraped down the length of me inch by inch. He had his tattoos on display today in a short sleeve V-neck that showed off a lot of muscle I hadn’t paid proper attention to before. Not to mention, the bandage still in place over the cut that was no doubt crusting over into a good scar by now.

Their interest wasn’t missed, not by anyone in the class, but least of all by motherfucking Brianna Moore.

I took a good long look at her, sitting at the other end of the classroom, before I slid into the one vacant seat, directly in front of Corvus. Like he planned it that way. For all I knew, he did.

I smiled to myself as I set down my books and settled in to listen to the drone of the teacher prattle on about some shit that he prefaced by saying wouldn’t be on a test—which basically meant I didn’t care at all what he was saying. Good, because I was too busy replaying the epic visual of Bri in my head and biting my lip to keep from laughing.

No amount of makeup could hide the two black eyes, and man did she look absolutely ridiculous in that nose splint. I was surprised she came at all, though I had to assume it was to host her very own pity party.

But to sit all the way on the other side of the classroom? To not even give me a good glare when I came in?

Had I scared her that much?

Huh.

If a little threat was all it took, then I’d have done that to start with. Avoided this whole mess of bullshit drama.

“Find what you lost?” Corvus asked in a rumbling whisper behind me, and I wriggled in my seat, not liking what the sound of his voice was doing to me.

I really needed to get laid…

“You mean, what you lost, jackass?”

An intake of breath from someone nearby made me smile to myself.

“You owe me a new blade,” I reminded him when he didn’t reply, and got a pointed look from the teacher that I studiously ignored. I got what I came for, he could kick me out now for all I cared.

I missed the peace of detention with Ms. Wood.

Though, I really didn’t relish the thought of having to explain myself to my aunt again. Yeah, fuck that.

“Is that so?” came Corvus’ delayed reply, and I stiffened, feeling his fingers brush against my back and curl into my hair. For a heart stopping moment, I thought he might jerk my head back right there in the classroom, punish me for daring to speak like that to him. Right in front of everyone.

He might’ve even gotten away with it.

But he didn’t, and I let out a breath as his fingers retreated, shivering. Telling myself I’d have had his hand nailed to the table with six inches of sharpened steel if he tried it.

“Yeah,” I said, wetting my suddenly dry lips. “And it better be a nice one. The one you so rudely stripped me of was a gift.”

He grunted as though amused, and I sensed more than heard him sitting back in his chair, leaving the conversation only half finished. If he thought I was kidding, though, he was dead wrong.

Not wanting to incur the wrath of the teacher and earn myself another week of detention, I decided not to poke the bears any more than I already had. At least for today. Surprisingly, they seemed keen to just lounge in their chairs and stare at the back of my head.

I had to admit, it had me feeling a little...special?

No, maybe that wasn’t the right word.

Powerful.

Yeah, that was the one.

I’d hardly done anything to warrant it, but apparently speaking your mind and not letting bullies push you around was enough to make the notorious Crows sit up and take notice.

It’d be easier for me if they didn’t take notice. I knew that, but taunting them was kind of...dare I admit it?...fun. I hadn’t felt this alive since what happened to Dad. Maybe longer than that if I were being honest. Maybe all the way back to that night at the train tracks.

Run, the rational part of my brain demanded, at war with the dominant part that whispered to push them to their edges and see what they did when they fell.

Like a cat pawing a glass of water, nudging it to the edge of a countertop. Unable to help myself. Wanting to crouch down and peer over the edge to see the broken pieces after it fell. Tail flicking with satisfaction.

Stupid? Definitely.

Tempting as fuck? Hell yes.

I gathered my books and left before the teacher was through speaking at the end of class, not wanting to linger there with them barely a step behind me. Not trusting myself enough to not say anything more than I already had.

Be good, I reminded myself, mentally fighting those dominant urges. Just one fucking school year of this bullshit and I would be free, but only if I followed Female Hitler’s rules.

I got to the front atrium, almost to the stairs when I was jolted to a full and complete stop by his voice alone.

“Hey, Sparrow,” he said, his voice booming in the cavernous atrium, drawing a lot more attention than just mine.

I gritted my teeth as I turned to find him standing in the elevator, Rook and Grey behind him. Students scurried past the gaping metal doors as he thrust an arm out to hold them open.

They cast me worried and curious stares as they went.

“Join us,” Corvus said. Not a question. Not a command. But somehow both at the same time.

“I’m good,” I replied, sending him a beaming smile I hoped screamed fuck off as loudly as I was screaming it in my own head. “But you boys have fun in your little box of privilege. Wouldn’t want to spoil your VIP sausage fest with a street taco.”

Corvus lifted a brow as a dark grin pulled at his mouth. “It was good enough for you on Friday,” he said, and my lips parted but no sound came out as I choked on another sarcastic reply.

How had he found out? Who the fuck told him?

Reflexively, my gaze swept the atrium, hunting for the telltale red glow of surveillance camera lights. But I found none.

This was so fucking stupid.

Corvus stepped out of the elevator and Rook held the door as his brother crossed the floor to me. All six-foot five of him radiating the kind of smugness that only came from an overabundance of power.

The VP, Mrs. June, stepped out of the office for a moment but turned around the instant Corvus locked his eyes on her. He hadn’t even needed to say a word and she was gone. Closing the door behind her and averting her stare.

Maybe I’d underestimated these three just a smidge.

“Get in the elevator, Ava Jade.”

I clutched my books tighter to my chest, wondering how hard I’d need to swing them at his head to knock him off balance long enough to get away. If it would be worth the fallout afterward.

“Or what?”

Fuck!

I scolded myself as the air left my lungs, forced out by the pressure of his shoulder as he easily tossed me over it, scattering my books on the floor. I could’ve stopped him, I told myself, face heating.

“Put me the fuck down,” I snarled, pounding on his back, helplessly unable to reach the two blades strapped to both of my ankles in this position.

“Stop squirming,” he growled, locking me in place with his biceps and holding my legs down with his other arm. “Grab her books,” he said, and footsteps sounded on the parquet floor. I got an upside-down view of Grey collecting my books from the floor before he followed Corvus back to the elevator.

He all but threw me down as the elevator door shut, leaving me to wobble unsteadily for a second before I was able to find my footing, my face burning from all the blood rushing to my head.

Corvus jammed the emergency stop button, and I dove for my blades.

“Whoa,” Rook said from behind me, and I spun in the enclosed space, blade drawn. “No need for that. We just want to talk.”

The bell rang, signaling that I was now late for class. Great.

I pressed my back to the elevator wall, holding my blade out in case any of them dared come closer. “Don’t think I won’t use it,” I warned. “I can have the three of you on your asses and be halfway to Canada by morning.”

Rook pointed at me, giving Corvus a told you so look that made me think I was missing out on some private joke between them.

“I know you could use it,” Corvus replied, sliding his gaze stealthily to Grey and the arm I’d sliced open just a few days ago. “But I don’t think you will.”

Cocky fucker.

“What do you want?”

He lifted his brows as though affronted by my question. “It’s not what we want, Sparrow. It’s what we can give you.”

My face must have pinched up because his smugness intensified.

“Brianna Moore,” Grey explained. “You wonder why you weren’t hauled off by police Friday night? Why she hasn’t retaliated?”

I had to admit, I was wondering that, but the idea that they had anything to do with it just infuriated me even more.

“It’s because we paid her a visit before she returned home to daddy dearest,” Rook whispered huskily, his eyes gleaming with malice. “Saw to it that she wouldn’t speak a word about her little accident at the docks.”

“And why would you do that?”

It dawned on me as soon as the question left my lips: to bring me under their control.

They were offering me a life vest, a ticket out of the mess I made Friday night, but in exchange for what? I had to admit having queen bitch off my back permanently would make finishing out this year and getting my sweet, sweet freedom so much easier, but at what cost?

Corvus shrugged. “Call it a gesture of goodwill.”

“Everything has a price.”

He licked his lips. “Well, now that you mention it, there is one thing we all agreed would be a fair trade for our services.”

“And what’s that?” I spat.

Corvus’ icy blue eyes flicked to both of his brothers before settling back on me with his reply. “Your obedience. You fall in line. Do as you’re told. We say jump, you ask how high.”

Unable to help myself, I barked a laugh, so caught off guard that my hold loosened on the blade for just a second. Hot tears stung my eyes and I flicked one away before it could fall, sniffling at the absurdity of it all. “Oh my god,” I said once I settled down, seeing that none of them looked even the least bit joking. “You’re serious? You want me to be your little bitch girl, is that it? At your beck and call?”

Corvus’ brows drew together, his stare turning deadly instead of just spiteful, but he didn’t deny that was exactly what they were after. They hated that they didn’t control me. Couldn’t fucking stand it.

“That’s not exactly it,” Rook deadpanned, and I turned my blade on him, but that only perked him up. “But I’ll accept your full surrender if you’re offering. I’ve never tried Lennox pussy.”

He licked his lips, stepping forward until the tip of my blade was at his throat, just above the edge of a tattoo peeking out from beneath his black t-shirt. He pushed harder, until the freshly honed edge drew a droplet of crimson from his flesh.

My breath rushed out through parted lips, and my traitorous cunt throbbed beneath my jeans as Rook devoured me with a single look.

“We’ll keep the bitch at bay,” Corvus explained, placing his hand against the flat side of my blade to push it away from Rook’s throat before he could impale himself on it. “But in exchange, you will belong to us. You will do as you’re told.”

“I’m not a fucking possession. You can’t own me,” I scoffed.

“I can, and I will. Whether you agree to it or not. This way’s easier, Sparrow. Don’t fight it.”

He reached out a hand like he might try to smooth out the sour pucker tightening my lips, but I knocked it aside with a scowl.

“Hard pass,” I hissed. “I can handle my own shit. I don’t need your help.”

His smug look faltered and pure satisfaction raced through my veins, bringing a smile to my lips.

“Fine,” he seethed through a false smile. “Have it your way.”

Corvus jammed the emergency stop button again and the elevator completed its trip to the second floor. The doors pinged open as he stepped out of my path, but he stopped me before I could leave. His hand curled around my upper arm.

I let him have his moment of control, even though if I’d wanted to, I could’ve sliced his fingers clean off his palm.

“Don’t forget your books,” he said, and Grey passed them to Corvus, who held them out to me, releasing my arm. “Last chance, pretty bird. All you have to say is yes and you can be living on easy streets for the rest of senior year…”

I snatched my books, burying my blade between the pages as a student ducked her head and scooted past the open elevator door. “I’d rather die.”

Corvus nodded, pursing his lips as he pressed another button inside the elevator and the doors began to close before Grey slipped out.

“Walk you to class?” he offered with an entertained gleam in his eyes as the elevator whisked the other two away.

I groaned, frustrated heat licking up my back as I stormed away.

The sound of his muted laughter followed me to class.