The Raven Four Books 1-3 - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,99
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 into 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 into 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, who are all 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 picks 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 ask. “Then what?”
Jax stuffs 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.”