Free House of Ravens by Keary Taylor

but I don’t know, he seems to kind of get it. We
both know we’re a part of this, but are just a little…”
    “ Removed?” I fill in for
him. “You both still are fine standing on your own two feet.” I’d
asked Cameron to be Ian’s friend, and he sure is trying, but so far
it’s Danny that Ian seems to connect best with.
    “ That’s a good way of
putting it, I guess,” Ian says. He rubs a hand over the back of his
head, looking a little uncomfortable. He’s trying, so, so hard, but
that doesn’t mean this is easy for him, or that he’s one hundred
percent on board with every aspect of House life.
    “ Well, if Leigh doesn’t
stop looking at you like you’re a piece of candy, I’m going to have
to rip her heart from her chest,” I say as I raise an eyebrow,
remembering how she kept looking him up and down last night at
dinner.
    “ So violent when you’re
jealous,” he teases, instantly turning on me. His arms fold around
my waist, backing me into a wall, and setting his lips to the
hollow at the base of my throat. All the electricity surges to my
lower belly, and I can’t seem to help it when my eyes slide closed
and my head falls back, letting him take control of me.
    “ It’s a new thing I’ve
discovered about myself since you came into the picture,” I say
absentmindedly. He shifts his lips from my neck to my own lips,
growing more gentle and tender, considering we’re standing here,
just outside of the kitchen, for all to see.
    “ I like it on you,” he
whispers, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.
    “ Alivia,” a voice from
behind Ian says, with the clearing of a throat.
    I look over Ian’s shoulder to find Rath
standing there, looking rather uncomfortable.
    “ Sorry,” I say, immediately
untangling myself from Ian, though I keep hold of one of his hands.
“I, uh-”
    Rath shakes his head, clearly conveying he
has nothing to say to what we were doing. Awkward. “I just wanted
to let you know that the first deposit was made into your account
this morning. From King Cyrus.”
    Just the mention of his name sends a drop of
ice into my stomach. Memories flood back. Of my punishment in the
strip club. Of him beheading Jasmine. Of him torturing and branding
those I love.
    “ There was also a letter
from his treasury,” Rath says, extending it out for me to see. It’s
a yellowed piece of paper, folded and sealed with red wax with the
King’s crest on it. It says very little. Just that, with the
reestablishment of the House of Conrath, we will begin receiving
monthly deposits in the amount of one million dollars, in exchange
for our services of keeping the peace in our region.
    “ Wow,” I breathe. I still
can’t believe so many aspects of my new life.
    Ian gives a low whistle. “That sure is
something.”
    Yeah, it is.
    “ Well, it is appreciated,”
I say as I hand the letter back to Rath. “It’s going to be
expensive, supporting this many House members now.”
    Rath nods, and I can see the relief there on
his face. My father left me a lot of money. But now that we have
twenty people to support, that would drain the funds incredibly
quickly.
    “ I’ll talk to you later,”
Ian says as he presses a kiss to my temple. “I’m going to go see
Lula.”
    “ How is she doing?” I ask
as I follow him to the garage where his black utility van has been
moved.
    “ Not good,” he breathes
with a sad expression. “Her lungs keep filling with fluid. If it
gets much worse, they’ll move her to the hospital. When it gets to
that point, at this age, they usually don’t recover.”
    “ I’m sorry, Ian,” I offer,
touching his arm gently.
    He only nods. “I’ll be back in a few
hours.”
    “ Okay.” He walks through
the door and closes it behind him.
    “ Alivia.”
    I turn to see Markov crossing the hallway to
join at my side. “May I speak to you?”
    “ Of course,” I say. He
hands over a stack of mail to me. On the top, I find another post
card, this one from Indiana.