Second Chance for the Barren Luna (Talia and Jason) novel Chapter 323

Talia’s POV

Robin set Annie down against the tunnel wall. He put his finger over his mouth to tell me not to speak before he stepped past me to face the dark.

The first rogue appeared, and Robin attacked before he even knew what was happening. The rogue fell with Robin’s blade in his throat. I never knew Robin could fight like that, but it sent a shock through me, and it made sense why my father always kept him so close.

“Take his armor,” Robin said, wiping the rogue’s blood on his leg.

“What?”

Robin stripped the rogue’s armor off his body and pushed them at me. I pulled the armored vest over my head. The blood from the rogue’s throat had already soaked through the front of it.

Robin covered his hand in blood and wiped it over my arms. I jerked away in disgust. “What are you doing?” I asked.

Robin grabbed me by the shoulder to keep me in place. “Stay still.” He continued smearing it on my arms and on my chest.

Robin turned to Annie and did the same. “Are you going to tell us why you’re covering us with blood?” I asked.

“We have to hide our scent. More rogues will come if they can still smell us,” Robin said. He picked up Annie, handed her to me, and led me a few steps forward to where the tunnel split in two.

“Take the left path. You’ll see a hatch. That will put you two miles south of Moonbrook’s eastern border. Run as soon as you reach the surface,” Robin said. “When the blood dries, they’ll be able to smell you again.”

“Why are you talking like you’re not coming with me?”

“Because I’m not.”

“Robin, no. That wasn’t the deal.”

“More will come. If I stay, I can hold them off long enough for you to reach the surface. This is the only way Annie gets out alive,” he said grimly. “It’s the only way Annie survives.”

“But Jason is going to kill you for betraying him.”

“Thanks for caring, Luna, but my life is a worthy price to pay if that means my daughter lives,” Robin said.

I wanted to argue, to promise I’d come back, or say there had to be another way. But the look on his face showed he had already accepted what was coming. I couldn’t answer at first. Then I heard footsteps behind us in the tunnel.

“I am coming back for you. As soon as I get her to safety, I am coming back,” I told him.

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