As he waited for Penelope and Gavin to arrive, Crow slid down the tree branch until he was laying on his back with his head leaning against the trunk. He dangled his leg lazily over the edge, tossing one dagger up and down in his hand to pass the time. It spun in the air, and he followed it with his eyes to catch it by the hilt when it came back down. Even though there were more patrols around than usual, he wasn’t concerned about being spotted when he was so high off the ground. The knights weren’t clever enough to look for a thief in a tree. It was unlikely that any of them would notice him as long as he stayed put, so he only needed to pay attention enough to notice when the others got to the meeting spot.

After a while, his patience was rewarded when he heard the sound of footsteps and idle talking below. Glancing down, he saw a small group of people step into view. He frowned. If he recalled correctly, he was only supposed to be working with Penelope and Gavin, but he counted three knights standing beneath his tree. It was either a different patrol of knights, or there was an unexpected third to join their little party.

Crow eyed them curiously, trying to figure out which guess was the right one. From his vantage point, it was difficult to see their faces, since all of them were wearing cloaks. He didn’t want to climb down unless he was certain it was Penelope’s patrol. Otherwise, he just might find himself in an unexpected fight, and the other knights would be alerted that he was seen in the area. He didn’t want to ruin their meeting place, and he especially didn’t want more knights crawling around Myrefall when he was going to be living in this village for the next week.

Fortunately—or perhaps, unfortunately—he heard the sound of a familiar voice speak up from the group.

“Are you sure he didn’t bail?” Crow recognized Gavin’s low-pitched voice. Below the tree, the tallest figure turned to one of the others, whom he guessed was Penelope. “Maybe he decided to save his own skin and get out before we figured out it was him.”

The thief rolled his eyes. It seemed like Gavin was still set on trying to convince Penelope that he was the one behind the brutal raid on their camp. The man was as stubborn as an ass. His eyes wandered to the dagger in his hand, and he smirked as an idea crossed his mind. [i]If he wants to think I’m so dangerous, then I’ll give him dangerous.[/i]

He looked back down at the knights and cocked back the blade in his hand. In the next moment, he threw it at a spot on the ground between Gavin’s feet. As the blade flashed in front of his face, the knight visibly jumped and hurried to draw his sword. He looked up into the tree to see where the dagger had come from.

As their eyes met, Crow laughed, hanging haphazardly from the tree branch he was laying on. “Oh, this is too easy,” he snickered, shooting the knight a feral grin.

“Is this a game to you?” Gavin growled, obviously not finding the situation as amusing as the thief did.

“No,” Crow shrugged carelessly and sat up. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have any fun with it.” Climbing to his feet, he made his way back down the tree. When he reached the ground, he dusted off his clothes and retrieved his dagger, which had embedded itself in the ground near Gavin’s feet. Returning the weapon to its sheath, he glanced at the third member of the group, still curious to find out who else Penelope had brought. He was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a familiar face.

“Well, look who it is,” he grinned at Olivia. “Long time no see.”

“Hey, Crow,” Olivia smirked at him in return, seeming amused by something. “Still up to no good, I see.”

“Naturally,” he shot her a wry wink and turned at last to Penelope, stepping over to press a brief kiss to her lips. “And hello to you, beautiful,” he smiled at her flirtatiously. “Ready to go hunt down a band of murderous thieves?”