All Hail (Queen Crow, #1)

by J. Bree

He huffs at me and snaps, “Like I’d ever risk our bloodline being passed down.”

I knew he’d fall for the Mounty girl, I just didn’t realize at the time that we all would.

“Ash isn’t the only one who breathes for you, Floss. I’d level fucking cities for you, any of us would. If you need some quiet then it’s yours, just… just don’t drown in it.”

You know I’m not going to leave anything to chance when it comes to you.”

Fuck, half the Bay knows who you belong to anyway… no one touches the Wolf or her pack.”

“Good. There’s no point going out if you’re not ruining someone’s life.”

Down at the docks? Illi is around, text him if you need anything. Have fun and remember to stab first. I love you. I refuse to get weepy over Lips trusting me. I refuse to cry over her finally feeling comfortable telling me she loves me, that we’re as close as blood these days, and the universe brought us together to start this rag-tag family. Great, maybe I will cry.

“Because I’m sick of seeing you hide away. You’re more powerful than anyone except the Wolf herself. Why are you hiding behind your brother when you could take the power for yourself? Come dance and forget about it all.”

I’ve lost my moral high ground and for someone who has based all of my actions on being better than others, this is fucking hard.

“Maybe you’re right, maybe I don’t have friends but you’re the one who chose to not be a part of my family. You wanted to give me up for the greater good so now you get to live with that choice. You don’t need to protect me and you definitely don’t get to tell me where I’m allowed to go. Goodbye, Atticus.”

Why is everyone I’m surrounded by in love and happy and complete while I’m desperately trying to scrape together the pieces of myself so I can just exist in peace?

I took D’Ardo’s head off just to be sure the little fuck couldn’t have some sort of Jesus-resurrection moment and fuck our lives up. If anyone could pull that shit off, it’d be him. The body was cleaned up by the Crow; you’ll probably find him stuffed somewhere in his basement like a fucking trophy.”

Beauty is pain.

I let a smirk take over my lips, one I’ve worn my whole life against pathetic men who question me. “I speak for the Wolf. She was very clear about her intentions to have me as a proxy while she was away on business. If you’d like to question this, I should warn you I have full control of her empire in her stead and I’m sure the Butcher would be very happy to deal with a washed-up, useless waste of space who shouldn’t be taking up a seat at this table any longer.”

I will never be caught off-guard again. I will never ever let some little forgotten piece of our pasts come back to kill us. If Lips has siblings out there, I will know each and every one of them. I’ll study them until I know exactly who they are and what threats they pose to her.

I huff out a laugh at him. “Why does everyone keep offering to kill people for me?”

“Something bad happened to you. I might not know what it was, but I can see that maybe you need some blood spilled in your name, and if that isn’t what you’re up to doing right now then it would be my fucking pleasure to do it for you. That’s what family is for, right, Queenie?”

“I’ve seen your dead body before. That’s not something I can so easily forget.” I freeze and my eyes dart away from the blood on the back of his hand to meet his. Cold steely gray, his gaze cuts through me until I find the last bit of my courage is sliced away and my tether to this moment is gone. “Never again, Avery.”

“Luca… I don’t want Atticus to know,” I whisper, and he nods. “I’ll take it to the grave, Avery. Chin up, if they ask why you’re crying remember how badly your feet hurt.”

“You speak to her like that again and I’ll fucking kill you. I don’t care who you belong to; I’ll take you the fuck out.”

The Butcher steps right up until he’s chest to chest with the Crow again. “Nah, that’s exactly how this works. The Wolf has made it clear that anyone who fucks with Avery is dead. Keep your inductees in line before I do.”

Because I don’t give a fuck who his boss is, that girl is family. She risked everything for the Wolf and that loyalty means a helluva lot more to me than some bullshit gangster club you’re in.”

I never gave a shit about power. Not until I saw the girl who wields it like a weapon.

“I’ll be billing the city for all of the damage here. Expect to see me again soon because I’ll have your job for this.” Illi scoffs. “I’ll have his fucking throat. Sleep tight, cunt, I know where you sleep.”

I definitely don’t lose my mind, but I go beyond the shallow anger at my house being messed up because those torn up clothes mean something to Lips. As a kid who struggled to clothe herself, who didn’t have anyone to love her or give her any sort of security, the clothes that her guys gave her mean something and Drummond has stomped all over it. I will salt the Earth.

“You never ask me for help. Lips does, and the guys do, but you never ask me for help so this is something big and it’s going to be complicated as fuck but whatever you need, I’ll do it.”

“Do you ever wear normal clothes? Like, shirts and sweatpants? You always look like you’re about to have dinner with a diplomat when shit goes down.”

“These are normal clothes for people who aren’t Mounty street urchins. You might want to raise your bar because I’m not lowering mine.” I ignore the flutters in my stomach at the low chuckle he gives me, his hand sliding slowly down the bare skin of my arm until his fingers thread through mine. “You raise a lot of things in me, Queenie, don’t worry about that.”

Illi tips his head to the side like he’s considering it. “Look, that might be exactly what we need here. Maybe you should call Lips and set something up with the psycho.”

“You can’t talk, Queenie, whispers are already starting on the streets about you. The Stag shouldn’t have paraded you around the party down at the docks if you didn’t want a name of your own. The Queen of Mounts Bay… has a ring to it.”

He grins at me and shrugs. “Hearts in jars on every surface, just so the kid knows what Daddy does to anyone who comes after the family.”

well, no one will want to rip the dress off of me but at least I’ll have them all fearing for their lives. I’m not sure which one I’d prefer.

“Wipe your chin, for fuck’s sake. I’ll call Ash to come kill you if you pop a tent in your pants right now. I’ll fucking do it, just for funsies, because I don’t wanna see that shit.” I level a savage glare at him but he grins and shrugs at me. “You look like you’re about to kill your husband for his oil fortune, Queenie.”

“Did I not just say I’ll call the cavalry home? Keep running your mouth about her and you’ll be waking up in the morning to Ash gouging your fucking eyes out with his bare hands. I’ve seen him kill, you know? I’ve seen just how Beaumont he really is when you fuck with one of his girls and there’s a reason I trusted him with the Wolf’s safety while they prance across the country.”

Now I’m fucking glad I saw you before you left… fuck me.” He says it like a prayer but I lean up into his space and enjoy the way he stops breathing. “If you’re here when I get home… maybe.”

There’s no way I can sleep with all of the planning and mind games and plotting happening in my head. No rest for the wicked.

He looks happy and tired and in love and so at peace with everything, and I’ve never been so fucking thankful to the little lost Mounty girl we tormented through freshman year.

“Lips has dibs on his death; she was very clear about what she has planned for him. We just need Blaise on board first.”

He’s a total sap for her voice and the day she sang in the chapel back at Hannaford, her raspy tones casting a spell over all three of her men like she was some sort of siren.

“Is there someone you can call about her? Fuck, I think she wants in you, Queenie. I’m not sure whether that was a sex thing or a blood thing but either way you’re on her radar.”

“We stand with Lips. We always have, being inducted just means that you know where my loyalty lies. If I gave a fuck about the validity of the politics of Mounts Bay, I’d join the Game but I’ll have a seat at any table I want.”

“I don’t want a man who will give me up the second things get hard. My life has been nothing but difficult so far, Crow. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon and I only accept people who would kill for me. Every member of my family would bleed and shed blood for me… you’ve only ever proven you’d leave me for my own good. That’s not what I want.”

“I killed for you long before your brother did. I was bleeding out the buyers your father auctioned you off to before you made it to middle school. You think I walked into the Game clean? My hands were dripping with the blood of men who wanted to destroy you, Avery. Don’t you ever tell me I gave you up; I have never given you up. I’ve tried to give you a good life, if you don’t want that then you’re mine. No more coming to meetings with the Butcher draped all over you, no more dancing in the Bay with the Stag. You have my full attention. What are you going to do with it?”

I do want him… but I’m not going to give up Aodhan for him. I’m not going to stop being who I am just to have him. I want more than that.

Stop hurting yourself over some motherfucker who doesn’t deserve you and don’t worry about something as stupid as me leaving. You think I don’t know you love him? You think that shit will scare me off? Queenie, nothing affects you and me except you and me. He’s not going to ruin this for us, get that through that gorgeous head of yours.”

“Is the green a statement today or a coincidence? Don’t break my heart here, Queenie.”

“You slept in my bed; I can wear your color today if I want to.” We hit the highway and he waits until we’re cruising at a steady clip before he runs a finger down the side seam of my jeans. “Not just my color.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the Queen of Mounts Bay. You’re looking all grown up these days. If you’re looking for a little taste of rough—“ Illi’s voice calls out from his workroom, “She’s had enough rough, shut your fucking mouth before I have to kill you. Same rules for Queenie as my girl and the kid, I’ll fucking gut you.”

There’s a small landing at the bottom of the stairs before the workroom where Illi leaves his jacket and cleans off before he goes upstairs to his wife. Odie once told me he’s meticulous about never going home to her dirty, and he’ll always have a long shower before he’ll so much as hold her hand after a bloody night of work. It’s very sweet and entirely the reason I think their relationship works.

Illi huffs. “No woman who has ever said she’s fine in the history of women was actually fine. Between the spit on your shoes and the idea of the Crow stooping to that level you’re done for the day. I’ll call the kid, let her know to call you later.”