I roll my shoulder. “Sure.”
Maybe she expected my pride to be pricked; her brow lifts, and she gives me a slow once-over before shrugging. “I’ll take it.”
Every cell in my body is telling me to ask her what she knows, why she just called me that, and how she even recognised me. But if Mae wanted to hurt me, she would’ve tried by now, and she might even have gotten a decent shot in. I force my muscles to loosen, to shake off my battle-ready stance.
Too angry to focus, I hadn’t paid attention to her earlier. She’s young, probably in her early twenties, although the freckles might have something to do with that. She carries herself with the stealthiness of a house cat and the prowess of a tiger. I suspect that if it came down to it, a fight between us would be close. I might even enjoy it.
Forcing myself to be polite, I ask, “Where’s the rest of your crew?”
“Hmm. Eduard’s on the bridge; the rest are back on our ship.” I must look sceptical because she laughs. “We don’t need the whole crew to keep you in line.”
“Do you know the kind of man you’re working for?”
Mae quirks an eyebrow. “Doyou?”
“I do now. Does Securitas make a habit of aiding kidnappers?”
“We’re just the escort, love.” Mae grins. “We don’t look under the hood; we just deliver.”
Disgust is acidic in the back of my throat. I shake my head, and my hair wilts, tendrils falling into my face. It just irritates me more. Shooting Mae a glare, I undo the whole thing and start to redo it from scratch. Bending forward, I flip my hair over my face so I can scrape it all into one hand. The movement only takes a moment, but as I go to straighten up, there’s another hand sliding into the strands, tugging at the root. I end up chest to chest with Mae, head pulled back, her fist tight in my hair.
Her gaze dips to my lips, and I almost laugh. Yeah, she’s young all right.
“Not interested.”
“Are you sure?” Mae asks, her breath coasting over my mouth. “We could have a lot of fun before we dock.”
In a move that sacrifices a good chunk of follicles but lets me twist her around until her arm is pinned behind her back, I growl into Mae’s ear.
“I’d rather you tell me what Gryphon has planned for Marlowe and Vee.”
She exhales a noise that sounds like knowing. “Ah, I see. Fucking the boss’s woman, are you? Naughty.”
“She is not his woman,” I hiss before I can stop myself. The accusation alone pisses me off.
“I’d beg to differ.”
I let silence fall while I attempt to calm down.
“We could have such fun together,” Mae says, breaking my concentration. Her words are sultry despite the uncomfortable position I have her in, which is, frankly, impressive.
Despite myself, I laugh a little. “In another world, maybe.”
“Hmm,” she purrs. “Suryavans... so devoted.”
Mae suddenly slams her head back, and if I didn’t jerk to the side, she’d have smashed my nose in. She sweeps a leg out, but I yank her bent arm in the wrong direction, and she has no choice but to spin with it or snap the bone. Face to face, her grin is bloodthirsty. She genuinely enjoys fighting. Even at the very start of my service in the IAF, I hated it, and that only grew as time went on. Being in danger was exciting, but I had no interest in hurting others. For me, it’s an ugly necessity, but I can see how exhilarating Mae finds it. I genuinely believe she just wanted to see if she could take me.
Still, this is my chance to find out if she knows anything.
“Is he planning to hurt them?”
“All I can tell you, Myth, is that you never had a chance with her. Not with Dominik Gryphon in the picture. Now, if we’re not gonna fight or fuck, let me go. I have better things to do.”
She anticipates my move and, when I release her, doesn’t so much as sway.
“What about my crew?” I ask.
“What about them?” Mae tilts her head. “Do you think we’re assassins or something?”
