Page 63 of The Last Hunt
Aethon’s heart drops to his stomach. Maeve tenses and her hands clench the armrests.
“No one is mining on Tellamar,” Aethon says slowly. “How are these people even on your radar?”
Sylar narrows her gaze and stares at him like he’s an idiot. “For someone who’s in the business of crime, you’re woefully ignorant about how these enterprises work. Though Tellamar is notorious for its lack of resources, they have recently identified an extremely valuable one.”
“What are they selling?” Maeve breathes through clenched teeth.
“The Tellamari government - if you can even call the gangs that - has recently started providing… personnel for the mining corps.” Sylar’s lip curls in anger as she says it.
“Personnel?” Aethon says. Then his bile rises. “You mean - slaves?”
Sylar nods, a look of revulsion on her face. “They don’t call them that, of course. But mining is dangerous work and doesn’t pay very well. You don’t get many people willing to do it.”
Fucking hell - things on Tellamar are worse than ever. Aethon feels a jab of pain for the Tellamari. He wonders if his mother knows about what’s happening on her home planet. With a jolt, he realizes that these are his people too. He’s half Tellamari. He doesn’t often think about it since he grew up on Freehail.
Maeve’s knee starts bouncing, her knuckles white from how hard she’s clutching the armrests. He needs to talk to her without Sylar listening.
“Let Maeve and I speak for a minute please, Sylar,” Aethon says. She nods, and he reaches over and taps the button on Maeve’s controls to mute their audio.
“I can’t go back to Tellamar,” Maeve says immediately, her voice flinty. She avoids looking at him. Aethon reaches over and turns off their video as well before coming around to kneel in front of Maeve. She looks down at him, her eyes hard, her chin trembling just slightly. She shakes her head. “Aethon - I can’t go back there.”
“We need this bounty,” he says. He puts his hands on her knees, stroking his thumbs along her skin. “This is your shot to be done with Two Roses forever.”
Maeve’s brows narrow and she raises a hand to brush it lightly along his cheek. “And your chance to stay in the guild.”
The irony hits Aethon squarely in the chest. Doing this favor for Sylar would mark the beginning of the end of his time with Maeve. He knew their time together would be short, but that doesn’t stop him from desperately wanting more.
“I understand that you don’t want to go back to Tellamar,” he says. He squeezes her thighs and she smoothes her hands on top of his. “My mother told me enough about the planet that I’ve been eager to avoid it too.” He shakes his head. “And it sounds like it’s gotten worse since you left.”
Maeve nods, her lips tight. “It’s not just that. The gangs have built a complicated and dangerous security net around the planet. It’s not easy to get in or out - even with the mirror-cloak. They have a chokehold on the population. That’s why it probably isn’t hard for them to coerce people into working for the mining corps - people want to get off the planet however they can.”
Her brows furrow and Aethon watches as her features slowly shift into that anger that she’s infamous for. One of her hands rises and she rolls the small purple crystal on her necklace between her thumb and forefinger. She swallows, her throat bobbing and her eyes go unfocused, looking past Aethon. Her nostrils flare and her jaw tightens.
“What are you thinking?” Aethon asks. He slides his hands up and down her thighs slowly, hoping he can ground her with his touch.
Maeve huffs and refocuses on him, anger now crackling in her gaze. “I’m thinking I want to help my people get off Tellamar.”
Her stunning bravery makes Aethon glad he’s already on his knees before her. He leans forward and pushes between her legs so that he can get closer to her. She rests her hands on his shoulders and presses her forehead to his.
“I think I want that too,” he says.
A fierce glint shines in Maeve’s eyes and she pulls his head up for a kiss, her lips hard against his. It feels like she’s gathering courage, and Aethon stands - not breaking their kiss - and clasps her jaw. They finally part and he holds her face immobile, searching her features. He releases her and Maeve nods once in confirmation. They’re doing this. He moves to her side again.
Maeve looks up at the screen where Sylar is waiting for them and clicks the buttons to restart their audio and video. Before Sylar can say anything, Maeve clears her throat.
“Send us the information,” Maeve says. “We’ll get your people off of Tellamar.”
Chapter 17
Tellamar
Maeve
Tellamar is deceptively beautiful from orbit. It’s exactly how Maeve remembers it - all golden sands and red and purple rock, with small, deep blue oceans dotting the land, more prevalent in the southern hemisphere. But the heat and lack of fresh water make life down below hazardous, even without the gangs. There’s a dense net of security drones surrounding the planet like a swarm of wasps - rickety and rusted, but still dangerous.
“Mirror-cloak is functioning normally,” CAL informs them. “And TAI is masking the triennial gamma-waves that gave you away before. We’re undetectable.”
“Good,” Maeve replies. “Let us know if the drones cause any fluctuations in how the cloak is working.”