The Raven Four Books 1-3 - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,65
She’s wearing a black dress, a lot of sparkly jewelry, and her hair is done up like she’s going someplace fancy. She’s also not alone.
The sad boy with the scar trails in behind her, the boy everyone keeps referring to as Kid. He looks even sadder than before, which doesn’t even seem possible.
As the woman with the red hair walks toward me, she assesses me with a curious look on her face, like I’m some weird creature she’s never seen before.
“So, you’re the little girl everyone’s been fussing over?” She stops in front of me and tilts her head. “Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. You don’t even look like her. Makes me wonder if you’re really hers or if he was just bullshitting everyone. He does have a reputation for being a liar.”
“So do you, Diane,” the boy says with a shake of his head.
Her lips twitch in annoyance. “You little shit …” She trails off, putting on a sugary sweet smile. “You know what? Say whatever you want about me. At least I’m not a monster.”
The kid smashes his lips together, his gaze shifting to me, and I swear I see remorse in his eyes.
“What’s going on?” I speak. “Who are you guys? And where’s my dad?”
The woman’s attention returns to me, the smile still on her face. “What’s going on is that you’re about to pay your whore of a mother’s debt.”
Anger burns under my skin as I curl my hand into a fist. “Don’t call my mother that!”
The woman smirks at the sight of my balled-up fist. “Are you seriously thinking about hitting me? You’re just a kid—”
I step forward and punch her in the stomach.
She grunts, her face contorting in pain. “You little brat,” she seethes then starts to storm toward me.
“Diane,” Kid calls out. “If you touch her, the bosses are gonna be pissed off.”
She slams to a halt, breathing furiously as she glares at me then at Kid. “Fuck off,” she spats but doesn’t move toward me again.
Bosses? What does that mean?
I’m about to ask when the woman suddenly relaxes, the tension leaving her body.
“You know what? I don’t need to listen to this shit. I was told to bring you here and nothing more.” She turns, her heels clicking against the marble floor as she starts to leave. “You know what to do,” she says as she passes Kid, and he visibly tenses.
Smirking, she strolls out of the room and shuts the door behind her.
Silence stretches between us as Kid just stands there with his hands balled into fists and his gaze fastened on the floor.
Finally, I can’t take the silence anymore. “Your name’s Kid, right?” I ask.
Shaking his head, he looks up at me. “No.”
“Oh.” I’m so confused. “But everyone keeps calling you that?”
“I know,” he says flatly.
“Why do they call you that if it’s not your name?”
He shrugs, not saying a word, just staring at me.
The silence is making me uncomfortable, so I try to think of something to say to him.
“Well, my name’s Ravenlee,” I tell him. “But almost everyone calls me Raven.”
He studies me for a moment. “I have a pet raven.”
“Really?” I ask, stepping toward him. “How the heck did you get one of those for a pet?”
He lifts a shoulder. “I caught it.”
“That’s really cool. Is it here? Maybe you can show it to me.”
He shakes his head. “It’s at my house.”
“This isn’t your house?” I ask, and he shakes his head. “Whose is it?”
He frowns. “The boss’s.”
“Who the heck is that?”
He seems to grow nervous, scratching the back of his neck. “No one you want to know.”
“Oh.” I pause. “Do you know why I’m here?”
He swallows hard, not answering me. It grows quiet again, and that sad look returns to his face.
Honestly, the only time he didn’t look sad was when he was talking about his pet raven.
“Um … What’s your raven’s name?” I ask, hoping he’ll relax again and maybe tell me why the heck I’m at this house.
He lifts a shoulder. “I haven’t named it.”
“Well, you should,” I say. “Every pet needs a name.”
“Giving names to things make us weak,” he mutters automatically.
“No way,” I disagree, stepping toward him. “Naming things is really fun, especially pets, because you can name them just about anything. Like this one time I named this stray cat Cat. Although, he wasn’t really my pet. He just wandered into my backyard sometimes.”