The City of Crows by Bethany Lovejoy (novels in english .txt) 📗

city, he made no move to greet me, forcing me to fight back the temptation to push him off. Still, he knew I was there, he’d expected me.

“Lyra,” he croaked, hands tucked into his trouser pockets, face avoiding mine. It was all the confirmation I needed. He was there, he was always there. This was him admitting it, admitting that the crows on the line, on my windowsill, watching me at every turn were him. “You finally realized.”

“Where’s Leo,” I spat, all feelings of tiredness forgotten. This was it; this was my last hope. My ex-boyfriend standing on a rooftop, brooding.

“Leo, Leo, Leo,” he said with a sigh, finally turning his head to look at me. “That’s all you talk about these days,” mock exasperation colored his tone. A hint of a smirk played upon his lips as he kicked back from the edge, turning on his heel to look at me. “Really, Lyra, did you ever care about me this much?”

“I don’t give a shit about you,” I told him, storming forward so that I could stand in front of him. “You’re a big, dumb bird.” I wasn’t afraid anymore, not now, not ever again. All this time, I’d been scared. But here he was, a coward hiding in plain sight, now looking for pity. To hell with him, to hell with his lies; to hell with this city of crows. My hands shoved him backward with a grunt, my face ferocious. “Where. Is. Leo?”

“Lyra, you know it’s not meant to be him. It’s supposed to be you and I, we’re—”

“I don’t care,” I yelled, body vibrating with rage. “I don’t care what you, the woman at the crossroads, or anyone else says. I don’t care about true love, and I don’t care about the man or however many faces he has. I want Leo, I need Leo.” My hands once again flew to his shoulder, shoving him closer to the edge, “Give him back!”

Rowan caught my forearms before I could push again, his voice calm in the face of my storm, “Lyra, I don’t have him.” He threw my arms down, eyes cold, “If I had him, don’t you think he would be with me? Besides, it’s not me who he would be dealing with. It’s a shame you didn’t go instead, perhaps he would have made you more agreeable,” his tone suggested something else, something I didn’t care to know.

“Rowan,” I warned him, my voice heavy. A million things could be inferred from my tone, but I hoped that what came across the loudest was the fact that I genuinely needed his help, and was capable of forcing him if it came down to it. Rowan was the type of person to underestimate others, however, in his mind, he was king. That was what made him such easy prey for the seedy underworld.

“Your phone,” he said, his voice far too prideful, as if he felt he had the upper hand. He withdrew my phone from his back pocket, offering it to me but then quickly tearing it away before I could grab it. “That’s the most I can give you. Leo was so insistent that you got it back after all of this, and I promised him that I’d try my best. Really intriguing stuff on there though. It’s no wonder he unlocked it so easily, your passcode’s pathetic, far too easy for a man to remember.”

I held out my hand, waiting for him to hand me my phone with an unamused expression.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he said, as the weight rested in my hands, “I took the liberty of deleting a few of your more…sumptuous texts. Wouldn’t want you to be sad, reading through Leo’s final message, would I?” He said with far too much humor in his voice.

Taunting would do him no good.

“Don’t be sad, Lyra,” Rowan continued, backing away from me with a grin. His heels approached the edge of the roof once more, yet his body still faced me; watching and waiting for any reaction I would give him. “If he’s feeling any bit as cruel as he was with me, soon you’ll forget these feelings. Actually, if you’re lucky, you’ll forget all of it. There will be no more Leo in your head. And then I’ll be here, ready to take care of you, just the way things should be.” A chuckle resounded as he spread out his arms, a simple shake unfurling feathers from seemingly nowhere. “You and me, Lyra.” I knew then that he was going to leave.

Gone, Rowan would be gone, and with him, all that he knew. Any chance of finding Leo, leaving with him.

His chest rose and fell, ribcage seeming to move with every breath as he allowed himself to fall backwards, his body plummeting towards the earth. I had five seconds to make a decision, but I made it in one. The small bits of gravel left on the cement crunched as I moved forward, feet flying faster than my mind could process.

One moment, I was on the roof. The next moment? Plummeting through the sky. And yet, I wouldn’t have been Lydia Wynne’s daughter if I fell to my death.

My chin collided with bone, stomach slamming into long legs. My arms, far too desperately, clutched onto his torso. A scream cut short ravaged my lungs, my eyes clenched shut and my jaw tightened in determination. For a moment, the fear of falling, of being pushed away and plummeting to my death ravaged me. But then a groan, a low and annoyed groan, came from beneath me. Well defined arms pulled me in up against his chest. With his fingers tightened around my shoulders, the wind slowed.

“Are you insane?” An aggravated voice demanded to know, paying no heed to the deliriously happy look on my face. If anything, he should have been glad, it would likely be the last time I would make such an expression at him.

Far below, the lights and