The City of Crows by Bethany Lovejoy (great books to read .txt) 📕

to stoop to talk to him, even when he was at a far more even playing field like a table. He had an upturned nose, a curled up lip, and unfortunately small eyes that only seemed to get smaller behind the lenses of his cokebottle glasses. He didn’t look like he belonged anywhere near a girl like Autumn. Landon looked like he’d stepped in something foul and was expecting someone else to pick it up. With his greased back black hair and the deep caverns pitted in the skin on his face however, one could argue that he was the foul thing. But Autumn? Autumn looked at him different than that. Love, love was a far too blinding force.

“Right, well, you tell me again when I care a bit more, huh, honey?” Love made you deaf too.

I’d never been her largest fan, but I couldn’t help but feel myself soften for Autumn. Even Leo spared her a pitying glance; she was annoying but, she didn’t deserve to be treated badly. That was the dangerous thing about love; you put up with way too much for it. I didn’t get it anymore but, I used to.

“She’s right, though,” Leo chimed in, his voice cutting through the conversation of the table if only to validate her. It was strange but not unfamiliar; when a man talked, all seemed to listen. With a simple sentence, Leo brought the attention back to Autumn. “About us being head over heels, madly in love,” he clarified, and I shot him an unamused glance. “I mean, Lyra? I’m just crazy about her. Met her one day and then it felt like she had my whole future in her hands.”

The joke wasn’t lost, I held back a laugh as the whole table went silent. I thought that we’d be done then, just an awkward statement and people would move on. Surprisingly, that’s not what happened. Instead, Landon spoke.

“You said Lyra Wynne, right?” Landon asked Autumn, who eagerly nodded in turn. “Rowan’s girl.”

“I’m not Rowan’s girl,” I interrupted before the conversation could move any further. “New boyfriend, new me,” I said, though I really didn’t care to. It was terms that they could understand, though.

“Yeah, yeah,” Landon replied, greedily reaching towards one of the silver cigar boxes that his neighbor had opened beside him. He twisted a cigar between his fingers as if toying with the idea of picking it up. “Good on you,” he said decidedly, plucking the fat roll from out of the box. His companion sighed but did not argue, likely not wanting to cause a scene. “You got a good job, boy? Good life? Nice bloodline? Ain’t heard of the last name before, but if you got that, then that’s all you need.” He snapped his fingers, a flame climbing up from the surface of his thumb. “You watch yourself with her, you want to treat this one right.”

“Right,” Leo nodded, confusion coating his features. “I mean, that’s the plan. No worries there.” He half-smiled, voicing a joke that no one else was in on. “Good job, though? Huh.” Mumbling under his breath, he turned to me, “Do witches consider art to be a good job?” I held back my laugh, Leo’s voice suggested he was serious.

“I’m serious,” Landon said with a snort, raising the cigar to his lips. “Real pedigree on this one, her mother’s just about as famous as it gets. Real treat too, if you ever meet her.” He snorted, and I couldn’t help but snort as well. My mother was anything but a treat. Not a bad person but, not one you wanted to meet either. “Of course, she’s not the one to worry about. Fucking Rowan.”

“Rowan,” Autumn agreed beside him with a tone of exasperation, much too ladylike for nasty f-bombs. My eyes flickered up to her, my head brushing against Leo’s arm as I tilted it to the side. “She doesn’t know, honey,” Autumn raised her voice once more. “It’s funny, I just keep forgetting that she’s been gone so long. Spending time with you, Lyra, well, it feels like you’ve always been here,” she explained.

“She should count her fucking blessings in that,” Landon scowled.

Autumn’s elbow jerked sharply into his side, prodding the man forward. Whatever he knew, she wanted me to know as well. Landon didn’t disappoint.

“In my opinion, he’s been real funny recently. Real shady. You got out at a good time; a pretty little thing like you doesn’t need to get messed up in any of this shit. Right, Leo?” He nodded at the man beside me, taking a fat cigar and biting it between his stained teeth. “Square like him, it’s better for you. Just gotta learn to stop taking him to all of your old date spots. Not the best idea if you get my drift.”

Leo opened his mouth to protest but then, looking at his cream-colored sweater and khaki brown pants, thought it better to close it.

The long-limbed man beside Leo, I think I’d heard someone call him Auden, perked up in interest, leaning over the table. “Yeah, I heard about that. What has that guy been up to? The guys seemed to be real worried when he shows up these days, they don’t want to deal with a guy like him. Shame, he used to be such a cute kid.”

I blinked, surprised that anyone would engage further. Beside me, Leo let out a muttered, “oh, so that’s who he is--” that I quickly cut him off by hitting my shoulder against his. People didn’t often talk of Rowan, at least, not around me. Not anymore.

“He’s hanging with a higher crowd now, I’m afraid,” Landon scoffed in a sort of brush off tone of voice. However, when he noticed the way that the others’ curious eyes took him in, he sighed, knowing that he couldn’t just leave it at that. “The Richie rich folks and uppersiders, you know, the ones from the good neighborhoods with nice family names and not a drop of