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

My jaw tightened, back straightening up so tightly that none of it touched the seat. Around the table, there were raised eyebrows and searching glances. Not good. “Yeah, well, Leo… You know what time it is, right, honey?” I said, kicking the back of his calf to bring him back to reality.

He blinked, nodding dumbly beside me. His mouth pulled thin, the expression on his face telling me that he was trying to hang onto every word. I nudged against him once more, prompting him to stand at the same time I did.

“Well, it’s been lovely talking to you, but, you know…” I trailed off, raising our interlinked hands for all to see. “The night awaits us.”

“That it does, Lyra,” Landon responded. He’d remember my name, I knew he would. And, even though he was currently on the outs with his cousin, someone else would hear my name soon as well. Would he even wait until I’d left the bar to contact Rowan? “One of my boys can see you to the door, make sure you two don’t get into any trouble.” Translation: One of my boys will see you to the door, make sure you don’t talk to anyone else and cause me any trouble.

“That’d be very nice of you, Landon,” I smiled innocently as the men beside us started to get up, making way for Leo and I.

“And Lyra,” Landon said as Leo and I finally managed to stumble out of the booth, Leo’s hand on the doorknob. “Maybe think twice about the kind of men that you bring to this sorta place, alright? Don’t bring a newly sheared sheep into the fields, if you get my drift. Not unless you’re willing to lose it.”

“Noted,” said Leo as he jerked open the door.

8

Avoidance

The cold air of the night stung as it hit my skin, stabbing deep under the surface like pins in a dress form. In the distance, I heard the low caw of a crow. I didn’t care; I couldn’t care; my mind was consumed the second we exited the front door, stepping into an alley on the other side of town from the park that we’d entered. No sooner had Leo’s foot escaped the tangle of vines than my hands were on his shoulders, shoving him fiercely against the wall in a way that made his chest heave and his eyes grow wide.

“Are you insane?” I snarled, glaring at him. My fingers dug into his shoulders, and I could have practically screamed at the man. “Leo, you don’t just say we’ve only known each other for a week, not in a place like that, not if we have to pretend to be lovers-- Which, by the way, I don’t even know how it came to that, it sure would have helped if you would have at least denied it instead of....” I faltered, sputtering, “whatever that was!”

“I just spoke,” Leo began to explain. “I mean, you saw her. She was heartbroken when he ignored her.”

“What Autumn does is none of your business,” I retorted. “You are my business, you made yourself my business.” I groaned, hand leaving his shoulder to grip the side of my jaw, panic setting in. “And now, he’s gonna call Rowan and tell him what a lovely, weird time he had with me and my strange boyfriend who I brought to the seediest bar in the whole city after only knowing him for a week--” Wider, if that was even possible, my eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as I realized something, hands flying from Leo to dig through the back pocket of my jeans as I searched frantically for my phone. “God, Rowan’s going to call me,” I breathed, the air not quite filling my lungs. Finally, my hand wrapped around my smartphone, pulling it out of my pocket and almost immediately winding my arm back to throw it and get rid of it.

“Whoa!” Leo lunged forward, grabbing my wrist. He was likely afraid of what me losing my main source of communication with him would mean. “Lyra, calm down!”

I took another ragged breath, my fingers losing grip on the phone. Unfortunately, Leo seemed to be one step ahead of me, catching the device before it could fall to the ground.

“Hey,” Leo spoke calmly, but the way he frantically shoved my phone into his front pocket told a different tale. “Lyra, you need to calm down,” his grip on my wrist loosened, the warm skin of his thumb rubbing a small, reassuring line across my veins. “You’re okay, Lyra. I promise you’re okay!”

“You can’t promise anything,” I shrieked, “you’re a human!”

Leo blinked, looking frantically side to side in case anyone was around to hear us. Thankfully, the alley was empty. “Lyra,” he tried again, his voice low and comforting. “Come on; you’re shivering, we have to get you home.”

“Home…?” My mind went blank. Oh god, he’d be there, wouldn’t he? Talking to Yvie and acting all upset. Rowan would be there and he’d take it all away; take my job and my apartment away; ruin it just like he’d ruined Magictown. Then he’d drag me back into this fucked up world, the one that I didn’t want to be a part of; the one that he’d only made more fucked up-- And he would say it’s all for the better, that it’s all because he cared about me.

Leo took in my expression, his face falling. Stooping down, he lowered himself to look me in the eyes, hand resting on my shoulder. Somehow, his touch dragged me back to reality, into those dark, almost black eyes. “You know what? I think I’ve been around here, Lyra,” Leo said.

“Yeah?” I squeaked.

“Yeah,” Leo assured, nodding his head. “I think I live around here, actually,” he nodded, his eyes not leaving mine.

“You do?” It was a lie, I could tell, but I wanted to believe it.

“Yeah,” he said, his hand beginning to coax me closer, likely