Penelope’s tension didn’t slip past Crow. As he felt her stiffen against his side, he casted her a quick glance, frowning when he saw her studying Rikki with an unusual look in her eyes. The bitter edge to her voice confirmed his suspicion that Rikki’s actions were making her uncomfortable. He didn’t blame her. If Gavin had sauntered up like that to rub her shoulders, he would have been just as frustrated, if not more so. He needed to put an end to it before Rikki got it in her head that she had won somehow.

He turned back to the female thief, brushing her hands away. “I’m fine,” he said with a hint of warning in his tone. Narrowing his eyes at her slightly, he found it difficult to keep from tell her off right then and there. However, for the sake of not causing a scene, he managed to speak to her more civilly. “Don’t forget what I told you before,” he said curtly, in reference to their conversation the last time she had put her hands on him. “Nothing has changed.”

Rikki held his gaze for a moment before letting out a long exhale. She leaned down to whisper in his ear, “I still think you’re overreacting. Since when has a little favor ever killed anyone?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know what you’re doing,” he growled at her before going on more audibly and waving a dismissive hand: “Go and eat your lunch while you still have time left to do so.”

“Whatever you say,” she shrugged carelessly and ambled off, pointedly swinging her hips a bit more than she normally did as she made her way to a shady spot beneath a tree across from them.

Crow rolled his eyes and shifted a little closer to Penelope, wrapping one arm around her waist in a mildly possessive manner. “She just doesn’t know when to quit,” he muttered with a faint shake of his head, hoping his words would help to ease the discomfort he had seen in her eyes. Pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, he dug in his bag with his free hand to retrieve the lunch of dark bread that he had packed for himself the day before and lifted the loaf to his mouth to take a bite.

As he ate, he took a moment to glance over at Alistair and Olivia. Amongst the group, those two seemed to be the most relaxed. The knight had her back to a tree while the thief laid in the grass with his head on her lap, staring up at her with a wide grin as she fed him bits of her lunch. They looked like they were wrapped up in their own world.

Crow’s gaze drifted over to Gavin, and he froze. The knight was eyeing him with his usual suspicion, but there was something different about the look in his eyes this time. Feeling unnerved, the thief looked away again. Had Gavin figured out that his allegiances had changed somehow? He couldn’t see any way that he could have. After all, Jaxon had only approached him a few days ago. He hadn’t even had time to do anything to sabotage the group’s efforts to find the other thief.

[i]It’s probably nothing,[/i] he thought, trying to reassure himself as he rested his head against Penelope’s, seeking comfort in her touch. [i]I’m just being paranoid.[/i]