Read Online Novak Raven (Harper's Mountains Book 4) by T. S. Joyce - Free Book Online

Please.”
    “No! No, no, no,” she murmured, her face crumpling. Was the moisture on her cheeks rain or tears? She didn’t know, nor did she care. He was being mean again. The council had nothing to do with her feelings for Weston. Nothing at all. She was born to bait him? Avery covered her face with her hands to hide from him because now she knew why he was staring at her. He was trying to gauge if she was putting on a show, and she hated this. She wanted to tell him to fuck off again. She wanted to spit in his face or maybe slap him with her fingers clawed.
    But something horrifying was happening in her chest right now. Such a sick feeling of rightness slid over her as she really considered what he’d just said.
    Did her mother have her to be a lure for Weston? Was that the reason for her existence? Her father hadn’t ever given a single, solitary shit about her, especially when her broken raven had got him stripped of his rank. But mom was different. She loved her. She had her because she wanted a baby to care for…right?
    “Can I borrow your phone?” she asked, her voice trembling like the raindrop-battered leaves around them.
    Without a word, Weston pulled his phone out of his back pocket and laid it in her outstretched palm. She dialed home from memory and waited the three rings it took Mom to pick up.
    “Hello?” It was hard to hear because there was so much talking in the background—men’s murmured voices.
    “Mom, it’s me.”
    Immediately, Mom’s voice dipped to a whisper. “Avery, this isn’t a good time.”
    “Is the council at your house?”
    “What?” A beat of silence, then, “How did you know? Are you back in The Hollow?” Mom was probably at the window, peeking through the blinds.
    “I need to ask you something.”
    “I can’t really talk right now. Your father, he’s… I can’t talk.”
    “That’s fine, then just answer my question yes or no, okay?”
    Mom didn’t answer, but that was fine.
    “Am I bait for the Novak Raven?”
    More silence.
    “Mom? You owe me this. Just tell me. Am I bait for the Novak Raven?”
    “Y-yes,” Mom stuttered out. Her voice had gone all soft.
    In that moment, Avery’s heart broke. She’d thought this thing with Weston, this innate instinct to be close to him, was her own doing. It was her heart latching onto a man she cared for, but it wasn’t just her in this. How much of her feelings were from manipulation from the people who were supposed to protect her? From the people who were supposed to love her?
    “How long?” she whispered.
    Mom’s breath was hitching, as though she was about to sob.
    “Please tell me,” Avery begged, needing to know. “How long have I been the lure?”
    “For always.”
    Avery gasped and hung up the phone, handed it to Weston in a rush so she didn’t have to touch the damn thing anymore. This couldn’t be happening. But then, a hundred things made sense at once. Dad always taking secret meetings. Mom’s relieved smile whenever Avery had brought up Weston’s name throughout the years. The constant encouragement to rekindle a relationship with him. The council asking her questions about the Novak Raven when she was younger. So many meetings to interview her. The feeling that she didn’t belong, like she was just an object. So many times she’d been pulled from school, or from her life, for meetings with the council. She’d thought it was because of her broken raven, so they could make sure she was progressing like she was supposed to, but now that she looked back, it was so obvious. Her meetings always ended with discussions about the Novak Raven. And she’d answered because she’d trusted her people. She’d trusted them to have her best interest in mind, and honestly, it felt good to openly talk about how much she liked Weston. How much she respected him. Bond, bond, bond. She’d grown up thinking she’d bonded to him just through letters, but maybe that was just what the council had told her.