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

magic in their bloodline. Or at least, I think they ain’t got any. He thinks he’s real tough now that he’s got them, too good to hang around places like this.” He withdrew the cigar from his mouth, tapping it against the edge of the table so clumps of ash fell against the oak wood. “You know, he threatened Curly, called him out even though Rowan’s about as burly as a sheet of paper. I thought the brat was dead then and there; it was raining so hard that nothing was standing in Curly’s way. But then… I don’t know how he did it.”

“How he did what?” I asked, my eyebrows narrowing, alarm bells ringing in the back of my mind.

Landon looked back to his lighter, then back to me. For a moment, it seemed like he was weighing whether or not to tell me. Likely, your cousin’s ex-girlfriend wasn’t the first choice when it came to talking about events that should not be spread around. Even Autumn’s insistent elbowing didn’t urge him forward; it appeared we had reached a brick wall. But then his eyes traveled to Leo, and that was his mistake.

I didn’t want to look at Leo; in fact, I’d tried to avoid it as I was smashed against him. But there was something about him, and maybe it was the hint of the determined frown I saw out of the corner of my eye. With one look at Leo, Landon felt like he had to speak.

And so he did, even though his throat had grown hoarse and his voice was strained. “You know how sometimes when you’re out in the rain and you just try to make it go, you can get a flicker like you get with a lighter? It wasn’t like that, not that time, not any time since then. I’d heard rumors before, but I’d not thought they were true, not anymore. You know, I was just standing there waiting to back him up, scrape him off the sidewalk if Rowan took a fall. But he didn’t need me. He got that god damn stick out, and I thought, what the fuck are you doing? It’s gonna be useless.” Landon grimaced, his eyes showing a flash of memory. “And then just like that, it happened, more than I’d ever fucking seen. One minute Curly’s there, and the next minute he’s halfway across the fucking alley. Damn near broke his back as he hit the wall. I ain’t ever seen anything like it, not in this lifetime.” Landon shook his head, his eyes following the grain of the wood on the table. “So I told him, you know, you get your ass out of here, I don’t give a shit what you do. Get gone and don’t come back, cause when Curly wakes up, whatever fucking circus trick you did is gonna make you wind up dead. And you know what he did? The fucker laughed.” His nose wrinkled, fingers pressing the end of the cigar hard into the table. “And he ain’t the only one who has been acting fucking weird.”

“What do you mean, weird?” Leo countered.

“Well, you been around here, you fucking know,” Landon replied. He leaned back in the booth, spreading his arms and legs like if he took up more space, then he could stop whatever information he knew from leaking out of the gaps. “You got two eyes, pretty boy, figure it out, even the normies have.”

“You said I was a square,” Leo said. “Jokes on you, I am. I don’t have a clue what’s going on, but you?”

Landon ignored him, turning to me with knitted brows. “You been here before, ain’t you? Why are you bringing these fancy boys round these parts?”

“Listen, I--” I began.

“There’s more like him,” Leo concluded, looking at both me and Landon. “There are more people doing magic in the rain.”

“I didn’t say there’s more people doing magic in the rain,” Landon grumbled, twisting his cigarette. “I said there’s more people doing weird shit. Do you think I’d go into the Green Man if suddenly everyone and their mother is doing magic left and right with no repercussions? I’m no idiot, I know better. You should too. Don’t sound so fucking excited about this shit.” Finally, he was done with his cigar, flicking it to the side as he leaned forward on the table, declaring, “It’s a fluke, you ever heard of one? Weird shit happens all the time. What I’m saying is there’s more sellouts, more people lining their goddamn pockets and hanging out with the rich, just like him. I mean, look at Marley Macabee, walking around with Pat Lobdel like she owns the place, something isn’t right there. And the way she’s been lately… The girl practically coughed up a god damn lung the other day in this room, and there ain’t no reason for it,” he proclaimed, eyeing the man beside him’s box once more, his fingers aching for another cigar. “You shouldn’t be concerned, you’re weird as shit too.”

Weird didn’t begin to cover it. Beside me, Leo’s lips were moving soundlessly, repeating the name Marley Macabee like a prayer. My eyes widened, drifting down to my lap because then, at the very least, I could pretend not to have seen him. Marley Macabee… I knew her, not well. A better option than the formerly mentioned person, however.

“How long you two been seeing each other?” Landon asked, his eyes narrowing at the strange display.

“A week,” Leo offered mechanically, the tapping of his fingers on his thighs signaling that his mind was elsewhere. His honesty was amusing, but this wasn’t exactly the time for it.

Across the way, Autumn’s mouth fell.

“Love at first sight,” I supplemented, my arm wrapping around Leo’s, fingers threading through his as I provided an uneasy smile. “Can you blame me?”

Awkwardly, as if he weren’t the one with heavy sweat dripping down his forehead and piglike nose, Landon stated, “Yeah, well, love is blind.” My fingers tightened