Crow’s lip curved upward in a pleased smile when Gavin gave in to their request to stop for lunch. He wasn’t hungry enough that he felt compelled to take a break at that moment like Olivia did, but any opportunity to undermine Penelope’s ex suitor went by well with him. It was especially fulfilling now, since he had so many other voices on his side with the addition of the two thieves. So, feeling content, he followed after the knight as he led them over to the clearing that Olivia had indicated.

When Penelope leaned in to whisper to him about Gavin’s loss of control, he nodded. “It’s about time,” he murmured back to her, casting her a wry smirk. As she went on to say that they shouldn’t abuse their newfound power, he just shrugged. “That all depends on how well he cooperates with the rest of us,” he said simply. “If he doesn’t give me a reason to retaliate, I won’t run his authority into the ground.”

When they reached the clearing, Crow shrugged his bag off his shoulders and stretched his arms over his head to loosen his back. Even though they hadn’t traveled particularly far yet, he wanted to keep himself from getting as stiff as he had during their last trip. Granted, most of his tenseness that time had been due to poor sleep and stress, but he still felt like it was worth taking the extra precaution.

Once he felt decently stretched out, he located Penelope beneath a nearby tree and stepped over to sit beside her. He noticed that Gavin also settled down nearby, but he ignored the him. If the knight wanted to torture himself by watching the woman that he loved be with another man, then the thief wasn’t going to stop him. Instead, he closed his eyes and leaned contentedly against her side. In that moment, he could almost forget about everything that he had been worrying about and lose himself in the warmth of her presence, but unfortunately, his peace was short-lived.

Crow blinked his eyes open again as he suddenly felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He looked up to see Rikki leaning over him with a friendly smile. “You looked tense,” she explained with a shrug before he had a chance to question what she was doing. “I figured you could use a massage.” She turned to shoot Penelope a sly wink. “You seem like you could use one too. If you want, I can give you one after I’m done with Crow here.” Her smile widened into a foxlike grin. “I’m very good.”