Page 64 of The Last Hunt
“Of course, honey!” TAI says.
They have plotted a slow, arduous course through the security net. Maeve initiates the descent toward the planet, and the Archer starts weaving in and out of the drones. Maeve’s mind is full of memories of Tellamar - of her parents, of the people at the market, of their neighbors. She wonders what happened to Leo and Pan - the two men who sold scrap metal at the market - and Jamara who always gave her a free crispy breadstick. She wonders what happened to her house - and the bodies of her parents. Pain at their loss lances through her as fresh as the day they died, bringing immediate tears to her eyes that she blinks away. Maeve touches her croi crystal necklace and tucks it safely under her shirt.
“I have everything ready for the refugees.” Aethon’s voice comes from behind and Maeve turns to see him striding up to her, shrugging on his leather jacket. “The weapons are locked away, and I’ve gotten out all the ration packs we have as well as the extra blankets you had in storage.”
She nods, her jaw tight and Aethon looks her over, his hand rubbing across her shoulders in a steadying way.
“Tell me what you need, chrissah,” he says.
Maeve shrugs and crosses her arms. “I’ll be fine.”
Aethon nods and walks forward to lean on the dash and examine the planet out the viewscreen. He’s dressed in full gear with his bandolier across his chest stocked with knives. He leans back and tucks a hand under his bandolier and Maeve can’t help but admire the breadth of his shoulders tapering to his trim waist. He’d spent the two days of travel it took them to get here worshiping her body until she was a quivering mess. He’d filled her and brought her over the edge more times than she could count. Their time together is short and though they both know it, they haven’t talked about it. It hits her harder now that they’ve arrived at Tellamar. Maeve wishes she could drag Aethon back to her bed and get her mouth on his cock until he loses control like he did last night - thrusting so deep that involuntary tears run down her face. She wants to lose herself in him so that her brain shuts off and she can just feel. Just be. But they have a job to do.
Aethon turns, his brow furrowed in concentration but he grins when he sees the expression on her face.
“That’s my favorite look, Bladesy,” he purrs. “Like you’re stripping me with your eyes.” He winks. “All you have to do is ask.”
Maeve rolls her eyes and spins toward her captain’s chair before he can see the flush rising on her cheeks. When she turns back and sits down, Aethon is staring at her with a glint in his amber eyes.
“We need to focus,” she says, raising a brow.
He nods. “Alright. Just promise me something before we get going on this rescue mission.”
“What’s that?”
Aethon leans forward and puts his hands on her armrests, bracketing Maeve into her chair. She smirks as he lowers his mouth to her ear, his breath light on her skin.
“When all this is over, and we’ve dropped off Sylar’s people, I want you to do something for me,” he whispers.
She bites her lower lip, her eyes closing as she breathes in his scent - lavender, and leather, and salt. “Are you ever going to get to the point, Trell?”
He chuckles, the sound low. It rolls down Maeve’s spine and she swallows hard. Then he brushes his lips along the shell of her ear and leans back, meeting her gaze. “Later I want you to sit that pretty pussy on my face, Bladesbearer.”
Maeve’s mouth drops open and Aethon takes the opportunity to nip at her lower lip before stepping back, a satisfied grin on his stupidly handsome face.
“That sounds like it might be a breathing hazard,” CAL says, his tone concerned.
Maeve sighs in annoyance but Aethon’s eyes darken. “Some things are worth dying for, CAL.”
“Fuck,” Maeve groans with a laugh. “You’re insane.”
“Oh definitely,” he says. He shoves his hair back over his head and smiles smugly.
Maeve has to hand it to him for successfully distracting her from the tension she feels at returning to Tellamar after so long. She can actually focus on the job now. She runs both her hands over her battlebraid that she’d twisted up so that there are no loose ends for anyone to grab. Hopefully that particular precaution will be superfluous, but Maeve doesn’t want to take any chances. She’d learned her lesson on Valley Starbase after that guard had wrapped her braid around their fist.
As they get closer to the planet, there are more and more patrol ships that zip across the space in front of them. Maeve and TAI make modifications to their route as needed, and Aethon sits in the co-captain chair monitoring the ships and drones.
The Tellamari ships Maeve sees are all tagged with the current ruling gang symbol. Apparently the Ro’Shar have control right now, and the ships all sport red circles slashed through with a diagonal line. The Ro’Shar ruled the majority of the time when Maeve was growing up and although she hates them as much as she hates any gang, they’re not as bad as the Brachtar who had her parents assassinated.
Maeve and Aethon are quiet as the Archer moves stealthily, avoiding the drones. Maeve shifts in her chair as she watches a Ro’Shar ship fly across their path. She knows that despite Aethon’s joking and flirting, he’s probably apprehensive about this mission too. They’ve both spent years hunting down criminals - using force to bring people in for heinous acts - not rescuing innocent victims. And although it’s strange, it feels good to be doing something proactive for regular people. Maeve sits up a little straighter.
The golden sands of Tellamar take up the entire viewscreen now - aside from a line of dark purple mountains that runs east to west, dividing the sands like the spine of a giant reptile breaching the ground.
“Here’s the pick up location Sylar gave us,” Aethon says. He throws a target up on the viewscreen and zooms in on a location just to the north of the mountain range. “The group is supposed to be waiting in a cave system there.”
Maeve nods. She hasn’t set foot on Tellamar in fifteen years, and never thought she would do so again. Tension starts to coil through her body and she takes a few deep breaths, centering herself and reaching for her focused, hunter state of mind. This is just a job she’s been hired to do. Different than a bounty, yes - but ultimately just a job. She can do this.
As they approach the mountain range, TAI starts chirping landing protocols, balancing the wings, lowering the landing gear. The mirror-cloak maintains its integrity as they land on Tellamar, but golden sand puffs up around them in a cloud as they disturb the area.