Jax watched her for a moment, eyes flicking to the can and then back to her. He scoffed, and then grinned. “You’re kind of a grouch, Robin.”
“Probably because she’s been shut up with pencil dick,” Sonny said, lumbering over to the window and glancing outside.
Robin wrapped her arms around herself and glanced around the cabin, looking for any excuse to leave the room. The fire had gone down, and it was colder now. A shiver raced across her shoulders.
She glanced down the dark hallway and made up her mind. “I’ll be right back.” Robin rose, taking a few steps around Jax, who was blocking her way.
He sprung up and walked in front of her. “Where ya’ going?”
Robin set her jaw and let out a frustrated breath. “To get firewood.”
“Might be dangerous,” he crooned.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I might need to come with you,” he said, setting his arm on her shoulders and pulling her close.
Robin jammed her elbow into his side and tried to shove him back. He wavered, absorbing the impact and smiling even wider.
“You know,” Sonny said from behind her, “My brother used to say that when girls hit you, it means they like you.”
Robin was now sandwiched between Jax and Sonny, with the couch to one side of her, and a slim walkway around them leading to the front door. She felt her heartbeat tick upward, adrenaline creeping in.
“Leave me alone,” she said firmly.
“That’s no way to show gratitude,” Jax said. “I was offering my help. Besides, if you’re cold, we can warm up together.”
She bristled at the way his eyes were raking over her. Robin tried to step around him, but he blocked her again.
Behind her, Sonny pushed her shoulder, and she staggered forward. Jax put his arm around her, pulling her towards the couch.
“Hey!” she snapped, yanking against his arm. It didn’t seem to do much.
“I’m cold too,” he said with a laugh.
Sonny laughed too, and tossed the beer can onto the pile, looking out the window again with an eager smile.
Jax pulled Robin over to the couch and collapsed, taking her down with him. The old frame gave a loud creak at the impact. She shoved him, hard, trying to get away.
“Let. Me. Go!” she yelled.
That made Jax laugh even louder.
He wrapped both arms around her, pinning her to the couch, and then pulled his leg over hers. “How about we snuggle to keep warm?”
Robin felt her anger mount, and she twisted, letting out a cry of frustration. She couldn’t get her arms up to attack him, but she did have enough range to do one thing.
She wiggled her hand to the side, reaching the inside of her belt and pulling off the knife she’d stolen from Reykon’s jacket and hidden in her waistband. She fumbled with it, trying to flip it open. Jax was squeezing, enjoying the way she squirmed under him.
“Stop!” Robin yelled.
“Oh, what’s the big-”
She finally jammed the knife into his arm, and he bucked back, wincing.
This move had gotten Sonny’s attention, and he turned from the window.
“She stabbed me!” Jax said.
For a moment, she was afraid that he would be enraged, and attack her. Instead, a wide smile broke out on his face.
Sonny had taken notice and stepped forward, now directly behind her. “Damn,” he remarked.
Jax yanked the knife out and threw it on the ground. Robin watched in horror as the bleeding first began, then slowed, then stopped. A gash was still left on his arm, but it had clotted far too quickly. Her eyes widened.
Jax looked at her, now, the humor gone. “That wasn’t very nice…”
Just as he took a step towards her, the lights in the cabin cut out and they were covered in darkness.
Reykon
He cut the generator power and peered through the woods. He’d been able to see through the window, nearly shaking with rage as he watched the two wolves gang up on Robin.
He took a step forward, then felt the skin on the back of his neck prickle.
His hand rested on his weapon, the reassuring weight of it in his palm. Someone watched him from the trees. He was pretty sure he knew who it was.
“You’re working with the wolves?” he called out. There was no point in trying to conceal his position; if she was here, she had eyes on him.
Lucidia Draxos stepped out of the darkness and into the clearing, about ten feet away from him. She had a weapon as well. He figured it would be a throwing piece.
He had a few of those, himself.
But he also had no interest in harming his own blood. They each had a job to do, a master to report to. The lines of the Great Houses only stretched to vampires, and strongbloods were just caught wherever the vampires landed; they had no rivalries of their own.
“Reykon,” she said in a tight voice.
“Good job with the surprise party,” he remarked, watching her with keen eyes. “I didn’t see it coming at all.”
“That was the idea.”
“Well, here we are,” Reykon put out. “What’s your move?”
“I can’t let you take her.” Her words were absolute, unwavering.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t let you have her.”
Lucidia took a side step, circling him in the clearing. “She’s special, Reykon.”
“That’s why Magnus Demonte wants her. That’s why he sent me to retrieve her. I wish it were another way, I really do, but-”
“No, you know this is different,” she insisted with surprising anger.
Reykon was curious. Lucidia Draxos had always been a rock; the paradigm of cool headedness, a never failing, always faithful soldier. Now, it was as though she’d completely unraveled.
“What happened to you?” Reykon asked.
Lucidia stiffened. “She happened.”
“You haven’t met her.”
“She’s changing me. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why. I should have been able to kill her then, and I should be able to kill her now, but-”
“I won’t let you kill her.”
Lucidia’s gaze was piercing, burning into his. “That. That need to protect her. You feel it too.”
“I feel the need to obey my
