The Raven (The Raven Four Series Book 2)

by Jessica Sorensen

  Part of me wants to back out, but I’ve never been one for backing out.

  When Jax hesitates, Hunter chuckles under his breath and mutters something incoherently. Jax must hear him, though, and gives Hunter a chilling look.

  “Stop with the jokes,” he warns harshly.

  Hunter just rolls his eyes then shoves the sleeves of his shirt up, rest his arms on the table, and looks at me in all seriousness. “Jax is right. We’re not going to hurt you. The oath is actually pretty simple. We’re all just gonna tell you some rules and you agree to abide by them.”

  “There’s also a task,” Jax adds, causing Hunter to forcefully smash his lips together.

  I eye them over suspiciously. “What kind of task?”

  They’ve all grown a bit tense. Or, well, Hunter has. Zay isn’t even looking at me, dazing off toward the counter. Jax just appears as indifferent as always.

  Jax’s lips part, but then the woman that Hunter spoke to earlier approaches our table with a round tray balanced in her hand and interrupts him.

  She has grey hair that’s pulled back in a braid and is wearing square-framed glasses, jeans, and a T-shirt. If she wasn’t carrying food, I’d assume it was just someone here to talk to the guys, but because she is, I’m guessing she’s the waitress. I just don’t get why she’s not wearing a uniform.

  “Here ya go, bosses,” she greets the guys as she sets the tray on the table beside ours. On the tray are several plates with various breakfast foods. She proceeds to put them on the table in front of us, humming along with the old school tune faintly playing from the jukebox.

  “Thanks, Mable,” Hunter tells her with a charming grin.

  She grins back as she slides a plate containing a chocolate chip waffle in front of him. “You’re welcome, honey. I put a little extra chocolate chips in there for ya, just the way you like it.”

  Hunter rubs his hands together as he grins at the plate. “You’re seriously the best.”

  “You just say that ’cause I bring you food,” Mable remarks as she places a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Jax. “And for you, Mr. Grumpy Pants, I put extra cheese in your eggs. Maybe that’ll get you to smile. Probably not, though.”

  Jax glances up at her then does something completely wild.

  He smiles. Like a real fucking smile.

  “Thanks,” he tells her as he picks up a fork.

  I gape at the scene, literally having no idea what to do with the exchange.

  Mable notices my reaction and laughs. “Jax smiling is a crazy sight to behold, isn’t it?”

  I give an exaggerated nod. “It’s like seeing a unicorn or something.”

  Hunter smiles cleverly at me as he reaches for the syrup. “Look, I did make that happen for you.”

  I roll my eyes, ignoring the grumbling of my stomach. “Unless Jax has a horn hidden somewhere on his body, he’s not an actual unicorn.”

  A wicked grin spreads across Hunter’s face. “Well, he doesn’t technically have a horn, but he has a big c—”

  “That’s enough.” Jax’s smile is no longer visible as he picks up his fork. “That’ll be all, Mable.”

  Mable rolls her eyes as she sets down a plate of pancakes in front of Zay, who shockingly also smiles at her. Then he dives in, stuffing his mouth with food.

  “Don’t try to dismiss me, Mr. Grumpy Pants,” Mable scolds Jax, wagging her finger at him. “You can try to act scary, but I’ve known you since you were a baby, and I can still remember the time you shit your pants because you were too damn scared to walk to the bathroom by yourself.”

  I press my lips together as a laugh bubbles up my throat, but a snort still escapes me.

  Jax’s cold gaze slices in to me, his lips parting, but Mable places a hand over his mouth, silencing him in a similar way he’s done to me multiple times.

  “Don’t you dare disrespect her,” she warns Jax then looks at me. “Since these boys have no manners, I guess I’ll just introduce myself. I’m Mable. I used to be their nanny. Now I run their diner. Although, I sometimes still have to keep an eye on them since they clearly haven’t learned any manners yet, even though I’ve tried to teach them many times.”

  I can’t help smiling. “I’m Ravenlee.”

  “Ravenlee,” she muses with a smile. “That’s a really pretty name.”

  “Thanks.” I fiddle with the leather band on my wrist as she momentarily assesses me.

  “So, how did you end up with these hooligans?” she asks curiously as she places some glasses of orange juice in front of everyone.

  I glimpse around at Hunter, Jax, and Zay, all of who are looking at me warily. I wonder what they’d do if I told her the truth. Part of me is curious to find out, to see if she scolds them. But I decide to let them off the hook.

  I flash the guys a grin as I recline back. “I’m new to Honeyton,” I tell her. “And they’re being kind enough to show me the ropes of this lovely little town.”

  She chuckles as she picks up the last plate on her tray. “I like your attempt to bullshit me, Ravenlee, but I’ve known these boys long enough to know the word kind is never applied to them.” She sets the plate down in front of me.

  I glance down at the waffle, eggs, and sausage, my mouth instantly salivating. But, as hungry as I am, I can’t pay for this food.

  “Um, I didn’t order anything,” I tell her, moving to hand her back the plate.

  “I ordered it for you.” Hunter reaches across the table and swats my hand away from the plate before I can pick it up. “If you don’t like what’s on it, we can order you something different. But I think you should at least try the waffle.” He grins at Mable. “Mable makes the best waffles.”

  “I make the best everything,” she quips, scooping up the tray. “I need to go fill in another order. If you guys need anything else, get off your asses and get it yourselves.” She walks off toward the counter.

  “She’s funny,” I remark with a small smile.

  “She is. And kind of crazy,” Hunter replies, picking up a fork. “Which is why we like her so much. Even Jax has a soft spot for her.”

  Jax shakes his head as he shovels a bite of eggs into his mouth, but he doesn’t argue. Instead, he looks at me. “We need to get you to take the oath so we can finish our breakfast and get to school.” He scoops up another forkful of eggs. “We’re going to tell you the rules, and afterward, you need to agree to them. Then we’ll give you the task to complete. After that, you’ll officially be part of our circle.”

  “And what if I don’t want to agree with one of the rules or this task?” I question. “Then what?”

  Jax lifts a shoulder while stuffing the forkful of eggs into his mouth. “Then you can get up, walk out of here, and forget your time with us. Although, I stress, if you run your mouth about anything you’ve heard us talk about, we’ll have to punish you.”

  “You don’t need to worry about me talkin’,” I tell him. “I’m not Dixie May. And besides, I’m not much for making friends.”

  He studies me for an unnerving beat. “We’ll see. But, just know what happens if you don’t accept the oath, because I don’t fuck around.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I will punish you if you talk about us with anyone, which just happens to be the first rule of the oath: what happens in the circle, stays in the circle.”

  “That one doesn’t seem so bad,” I inform him, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and trying to ignore the mouthwatering scent of the waffle.

  “So, you’re agreeing to it?” Jax double-checks as he picks up a slice of bacon.

  I nod. “Sure.”

  “Good.” He bites off a chunk of bacon. “Hunter, you’re up.”

  Hunter nods, looking at me. “I’m gonna tell you the next rule, but while I do, eat up.”

  “I’m not hungry,” I lie, my stomach churning in protest.

  “Liar.” He pushes the plate closer to me. “Your stomach’s been grumbling all morning.”

  I resist a
sigh. “Look, I appreciate it, but I’m not gonna eat food I can’t pay for.”

  Hunter’s mouth tugs up into a half-grin. “You don’t have to pay for it.”

  I push the plate toward him. “I already told you that I’m not a charity case.”

  “This isn’t charity.” Hunter shoves the plate back at me. “We own the diner, so we eat for free.”

  I tuck my hands to the side, refusing to touch the food. “Yeah, but I don’t own the diner.”

  “Oh, for the love of God, I can’t take this stubbornness anymore,” Zay grumbles then reaches over with his fork and cuts into the waffle.

  I expect him to take a bite, which is why he catches me off guard when he moves the fork toward my lips and stuffs it into my mouth. A protest works its way up my throat, but then the taste of the waffle touches my taste buds and …

  “Holy shit! This is so, so good,” I moan as I chew.

  Smirking, Zay sets the fork down on my plate. “Maybe you should start listening to us more.”

  “She definitely should,” Hunter agrees as he dives into his own waffle. “Which brings us to rule number two: you’re to always listen to what the other circle members have to say, even if you don’t want to hear it.”

  “It doesn’t mean I always have to do what you tell me to do, though, right?” I ask as I reach for the bottle of syrup. “Because I can’t agree to that.”

  Strands of Hunter’s blond hair fall into his eyes as he shakes his head. “Nah. But sometimes you might have to back us up, even if you don’t want to.”

  I consider what he’s saying. Can I do that? I think so … “Okay.”

  Hunter gives me a pleased grin. “Good. Now take another bite of your waffle.”

  “Is this your attempt at being bossy?” I quip with an arch of my brow.

  He grins back at me. “Yeah. How’d I do?”

  I stuff another bite of waffle into my mouth. “Good enough to get me to eat. Although, that might be because these waffles are so freakin’ yummy.”

  He chuckles then shoves a mouthful of waffle into his mouth before glancing at Zay. “You’re up, brother.”

  I twist in the seat to face Zay who’s looking at me with his arms crossed, his jaw working as he chews.

  “Rule number three,” he states. “You will always have our backs, even when you don’t agree with us. But you’ll always support us, even when shit hits the fan, which it will.”

  Again, that doesn’t seem so bad. “All right.”

  A flicker of surprise sparks in his eyes, probably because I’m being agreeable. But the look fades as he goes back to eating.

  “And rule number four and the last rule,” Jax says, drawing my attention to him. “You’ll never stab us in the back. Ever.”

  “Okay.” Again, these rules don’t sound that bad. “Is that it?”

  Jax nods but then wavers. “Well, and the one I set yesterday about everyone remaining friends.”

  “Okay,” I repeat, kinda surprised about how easy the rules are.

  Honestly, with how big of a deal they were making it out to be, I thought they were going to be way more intense.

  Jax nibbles on his lip ring, his gaze dissecting me. “Now, for the task.”

  “Aw, yes, the task,” I remark, stabbing my fork into a sausage. “If this task is anything like the rules, I should be fine with it. Although, I have to say, you guys really overhyped the rules. Seriously, it’s a bit anticlimactic.”

  Jax’s lips slightly twitch, either with annoyance or amusement—I can’t tell. My guess is the latter.

  “The task is simple in theory. Though, I’m a bit doubtful you’ll be able to pull it off,” he taunts, probably trying to get a rise out of me. And it works.

  “I can pull off anything if I want to.” I flash him a cocky grin.

  He barely smiles, as if almost pleased with my response. “I guess we’ll find out.”

  “I guess we will,” I reply haughtily. Then I realize he hasn’t even told me what they want me to do. “Wait. What am I supposed to do?”

  Jax’s smirk is all cruelness. “We need you to seduce someone for us.”

  I blink at him. “Come again?”

  His smirk turns even crueler. “There’s a guy named Porter Aversonly. He’s the nephew of one of the bosses of another mafia family. A while ago, our bosses gave us the task of befriending him in order to get some information about his family. However, Porter is a complicated guy.”

  “Which basically means he’s a douchebag,” Hunter says as brushes strands of his hair out of his eyes. “I’ve been trying to make friends with him for a while. I even joined the basketball team that he’s on, but Porter’s too cautious a guy. He’s an asshole for sure, but he also knows to keep his guard up around members of other families.”

  “You’re on the basketball team?” I question, raising my brows as I give him a once-over.

  “What?” he asks with hilarity. “Don’t I look like a jock?”

  I snort a laugh. “Fuck no. And if you did, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

  “Why? You got something against jocks?” he questions with his brow cocked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

  I shrug, nibbling on my sausage. “I know it’s kinda stereotyping, but from past experiences, jocks are jerks. Plain and simple.”

  “So you try to avoid them,” Hunter scrubs his hand across his jawline musingly. “And yet, you’re sitting here with three of the most dangerous guys in town, one of which may or may not be a psychopath.” He gives a not so subtle nod in Jax’s direction.

  Jax doesn’t remark on Hunter’s comment. He simply focuses on me. “So, do you accept the task? Or are you too afraid?” he taunts. Again, I think he’s trying to get a rise out of me.

  I chew on my bottom lip. “I’m not afraid, but I really doubt I’m going to be able to seduce a jock and get him to spill all his secrets. And what info am I even supposed to be getting from him? I mean, what do your bosses want to know?”

  “They want to know why the Aversonly family has been so fucking quiet,” Zay explains then takes a sip of his orange juice. He winces when he puts the glass back down onto the table and his arm bumps against the corner of the napkin dispenser. I wonder why. “It’s not like any of the families to ever be quiet, so it’s an anomaly.”

  “It’s a warning is what it is,” Hunter mumbles as he pours more syrup onto his waffle. “They’re up to something. Something that’s probably going to fuck the rest of the families in the ass.”

  “This family stuff is sorta confusing,” I interrupt as I grab a napkin from the dispenser. “And wouldn’t my lack of knowledge be a problem when trying to seduce a guy who’s part of this whole mafia families’ thing?

  Hunter shakes his head as he sets the bottle of syrup down on the table. “Porter won’t give a shit about that. All he’s gonna care about is that you’re gorgeous and easy.”

  “But I’m not—” I start to protest, but Jax talks over me.

  “We need to explain more about the families to her,” he says to no one in particular. “We need to take a day to do that … Maybe tomorrow.”

  “But there’s school tomorrow,” I point out, wiping some syrup off my fingers. “And while I’m okay with ditching occasionally, it’ll only be my third day here. And I missed half the day yesterday, thanks to you guys being crazy. And now I’m already tardy this morning.”

  “Both of those things will be excused.” Hunter winks at me then crosses his fingers. “Remember, me and Mrs. M are like this.”

  “Who’s Mrs. M?” I ask in confusion.

  “The secretary you were talking to when the fates finally decided to like me.” Hunter’s smile is as bright as the neon signs hanging around the diner.

  I’m still not sure following him. “Why’d the fates start liking you then?”

  He wets his lips with his tongue then nibbles on his bottom, hesitating. “Because it was the day I met you.”

  Zay releases a loud e
xhale. “Don’t start with this fate shit again.”

  “No way,” Hunter starts, but Jax talks over him.

  “Both of you don’t start,” he warns then looks at me with his hands overlapped in front of him. “Now, do you accept the terms of the oath or not?”

  I scratch my scars. “It’s not that the task scares me or anything. I just really don’t see myself being able to seduce anyone, let alone some douchebag jock. And I’m not gonna sleep with him. I may be a daredevil with some stuff but prostituting myself is where I draw the line.”

  “Actually, it wouldn’t be prostitution since we’re not paying you,” Hunter points out, and I roll my eyes at him. But he only grins. “And we don’t want you to sleep with him. We just want you to fuck with his head a bit and make him think you’re going to.”

  “I think you’re overestimating my ability to charm someone over,” I stress. “That’s more Dixie May’s thing. I usually rub people the wrong way. You guys should know that already since I managed to piss you all off the first day I met you.”

  “Actually, you just pissed Zay off,” Hunter reminds me. “And honestly, I think he was more shocked at your defiance than pissed off.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Zay mutters as he wipes his fingers off on a napkin. “But I do think she might be able to pull it off with a little bit of training.”

  “Dude, I’m not a dog,” I tell him as I pop a chunk of sausage into my mouth.

  “I’m not saying you are,” Zay replies, tugging at the sleeves of his shirt. “But you’re gonna have to learn to be more cooperative if you want this to work.”

  “Why would I want this to work, though?” I question. “I mean, all that’s really in it for me is that I get to become part of you guys’ circle. Which, according to you, offers me protection. But honestly, the only threat I’ve seen so far is you guys.”

  “Which mean, if you’re not in our circle, we’re a threat to you,” Jax stresses as he finishes up the last of his eggs. “Something you should consider before making your decision.”

  “Is that a threat?” I ask, carrying his gaze.

  He shrugs. “You already know enough about us to know that we’re a threat to anyone outside of our circle.”