All Hail (Queen Crow, #1)

by J. Bree

can’t help but look as the Jackal steps up to answer it. The thick tattooed lines on his face are stark against the olive complexion of his skin. Objectively, he’s an attractive man but the sadistic light behind his eyes makes it impossible to find him anything but disturbing. He looks exactly like the deranged psychopath Lips has described to me dozens of times.

“I think you’re too fucking good to die here for me. I think you waged war for your family from the moment you took a breath on this Earth and I think that you’ll do it to the end. I think that you saved Harley when the rest of us were too fucking scared to try. I think that I’m not worth the life of someone like that and if anything happens to you… fuck, just stab me. Either I die for you or I die after you, either way I’m dead.”

“You’re ruthless and you’re fierce. You’re unstoppable and you’re so fucking loyal that you won the Wolf’s friendship. The Jackal doesn’t fucking know who he’s messing with.”

Lips deserves that and so much more after what she sacrificed for us all.

She tried to die for us… succeeded too, only to have her brother save her. The Devil himself and possibly the most unlikely choice for a secret sibling, none of us were expecting the heads arriving to our doorstep to be from the criminal underworlds most feared and notorious killer.

“Why was Illi so happy? I thought he’d be sulking about you leaving him on babysitting duty.”

Lips grins and huffs under his breath. “Well, about that… he needs a little practice at babysitting… to prepare him.” It clicks before she finishes the sentence. “Johnny ’The Butcher’ Illium with a baby? That sounds… well, I was going to say strange but he’s probably the most qualified out of all of us to be a father.”

“I don’t want to meet them… yet. Can we just get all of their details and the dirty on them for now? I don’t really know if I want to know them all yet.”

Ash Beaumont is chivalry in the most arrogant and snarling package. I adore him.

I should have known Lips would tell them all. I roll my eyes at him. “She’s pregnant, not terminal, she won’t need all that much from him on a daily basis. You better hope none of you knock Lips up while you’re away if pregnancy is that foreign a concept to you.”

I’m not very fond of bikers. The Boar is very firmly on my shitlist for lying to Lips about their relation for so long. They were both members of the Twelve for years and not once did he bother to mention to her that not only did he know who her father was but that he was actually her uncle.

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.”

Harley doesn’t look like either of them. Where he’s all fair hair, blue eyes, and gold skin, his Irish cousins are dark hair, green eyes and roguish grins. Aodhan is just as tall as Harley and just as broad but without the muscle mass Harley put on in the last few years of hitting the gym hard to cope with the terror of Lips being in constant danger.

“Why not? You say you can’t, but why exactly can you not have a fun night out? The Jackal is dead, you’ll be with me and Jack the whole time, no one is going to so much as side-eye you. Fuck, half the Bay knows who you belong to anyway… no one touches the Wolf or her pack.”

Lots of people wear black so it’s not as though I’m doing anything wrong but I’m also trying very hard not to provoke anything from Atticus at the moment and showing up to the docks of the Bay at a party in his colors seems reckless. I do it anyway. “Holy shit. That’s a fucking dress.”

“I think he meant that you look like sex on heels and he’s a little fucking worried about taking you into the party like that. We’re going to be working overtime keeping hands the fuck off of you.”

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

“There she is! There’s the Ice Queen. I thought we lost her for a second, my cous...

Wish me luck, the Bay isn’t going to know what hit it. Aodhan chuckles at me and says, “You know they’ll turn around and come back for you, right? There’s no way they’ll let you go.” My phone buzzes and I hold my breath a little as I check it. Down at the docks? Illi is around, text him if you need anything. Have fun and remember to stab first. I love you.

Aodhan grins and I’m tempted to ruin his life. They’re both baiting me to convince me that this is a good idea. They want me angry and fighting back about going out so I enjoy my night but… I’m still on the fence about it. I wish I wanted to go out and drink and find some stupid man to spend the night with. I wish I wanted to act my age for a minute but really I just want to stay home and plan out how to take control of the Bay completely. How could drinking and sex compare to total world domination?

“Have you met Colt or Chance Graves? Or Grimm? They’ve all spent time here before and Illi has met Colt a few times. They’re all on my list.”

“Colt is… fuck, he’s not so bad. He’s a biker and the whole lot of them are fucking assholes but he’s got a line. He’s not like Grimm, he’s good enough I guess. Chance is another story.” Illi has said as much.

“Look, there’s something else you need to know about Grimm if you’re digging around in his shit. He’s trying everything he can to infiltrate the Unseen and take them out. He’s sure they put a hit out on him and he’s fucking insane about it.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time at the fishing dock, further up the coast. I’ve heard a lot over the years and the Demon’s like to hang out up there, it’s far enough away from the Unseen that they can party up there after they blow shit up. Well, one of the things I heard is that the Devil is stalking Grimm. He’s killed dozens of Demons, probably fucking hundreds over the years, and Grimm thinks the Unseen have paid him to do it.”

Nathaniel Morningstar Graves may be Lips’ brother but he’s also a threat to everyone who wishes to continue breathing. I have no doubt that he would kill me and my family without a second thought if he so much as suspects we have become a threat to his blood.

He sighs and stands up. “We can’t be friends anymore?” I scoff at him, the derision dripping from my tone. “I don’t want to be your friend. I have never wanted that and, frankly, I don’t think the Crow of Mounts Bay has friends. He has people that he cultivates alliances with, people that are useful to him. I am no one’s pawn, not even yours.”

I wait until we’re back at the front door before I reply to him. “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 scrap together the pieces of myself so I can just exist in peace? Great. The signature Blaise Morrison Pity Party has somehow infected me.

“Let me guess… you wanted a cleaver mobile for the crib? Blood spatter decals on the walls?”

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

It’s too sweet how much he loves his wife and I know for sure that it doesn’t matter how high his body count is, that child is going to be lov...

“Please don’t say Daddy around me again until the baby is here, I think my s...

Aodhan traces a finger down the back of my hand idly, like the touch of my skin is helping him think and I’m not sure I can take all of this casual touching. I don’t want it to stop, but I need to know what the hell we’re doing.

He could show up in his leather jacket and blood spattered jeans if he wanted to.

“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.”

“That was the exact look I was going for so my job here is done. The suit is perfect, by the way. You should wear one more often, catch your enemies unaware.”

“Welcome to the bigger pond, Floss. Take care not to be eaten alive.”

behind us. I glare at him but he ignores it. “Amanda Donnelley is not someone you own. She’s someone you court to get information from. You pay her, you owe her favors, you kill people at her request so she’ll open her books to you.”

“Is this your way of telling me you’ve been whoring yourself out to her to build your empire? I’m sorry to tell you that I’m not going to play that game. I don’t kneel for anyone.”

“You belong to the Wolf. So does your little psychotic guard dog.” I lean down to retrieve my drink and smirk at him. “We stand with Lips. We always have, being indicted 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.” Atticus stares at me for a moment and then steps back to motion at me to follow him, the look on his face expectant and demanding. When I glance back over at that Donnelley hag again he grabs my arm and tugs me to his side. A snarl rips out of Illi but I shake my head at him. “I’ll be fine, Illi. Have a drink, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“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 wasn’t lying to him about my virginity. Again I think that he might just turn around and leave but he doesn’t, he swoops down to kiss me deep and raw, biting at my lip like he’s trying to punish me. I can count on one hand the amount of times he’s kissed me too and none of those times were like this, this feels like a claiming and a branding, like he’s desperate to burn the touch of any other man right out of my body.

I arch an eyebrow at him. “I thought you didn’t care? I thought you were protecting me, not saving me for yourself? If you have regrets then it’s your responsibility to live with them. I have none

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.”

They’d come to take out the Jackal and his men too with the rest of the Unseen MC but from what Lips has told me they aren’t the blind followers that the Boar normally fills him MC with. She doesn’t know the specifics of why they don’t fully trust the Boar but it’s something to keep in mind.

“Roxas, if you don’t like members of the Twelve then why do you follow Lips around the Bay when she’s home keeping tabs for Illi? I’m pretty sure you have a Boar tramp stamp on your body somewhere, I’m just not invested enough to go looking.”

“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.” Roxas rolls his eyes and pushes away from the wall. “Fine, spoil my fucking fun. I’ve had a long week of hunting down fucking dealers in the Bay for you, the very least you could do is flirt a little.”

“You think you’re tough because you ride a bike? Hang out with your little friends? Or is it because your body count is so high? I wonder what would happen to you if some of those skeletons came back to bite you because you weren’t always as smart as you are now, were you? No, back before you lit your old identity on fire and started again in the Bay you were nothing but a little crackhead baby in the slums of New York. You thought I wouldn’t recognize the accent, you thought I wouldn’t make sure I knew everything about every last ally of my family? Please. You’re a worthless, poser biker who thinks killing a few men makes you brave. What happened to you as a child broke you and now you’re making it all with that patch of yours. Still, you’re trapped because you signed your life away to the Boar of all men. Pathetic. And how is your brother doing these days? Can he walk yet?”