Page 7 of The Last Hunt

“My new AI seems to have some quirks in her system,” Maeve replies, shaking her head. “Don’t take it as a compliment.”

“Well, I think -” Trell starts.

Maeve interrupts him with a raised hand. “What are you doing?”

He shrugs and his dark hair falls over his forehead. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you following me?” she asks, her tone tense.

Trell shrugs again. “I’m going to the jump point, you’re going to the jump point.”

“Yes, but there are ten other jump points nearby,” Maeve says through gritted teeth. “Choose another.”

Trell leans back in his chair and laces his fingers together in front of his stomach. Maeve can see a small amount of tension between his brows that wasn’t there before. “Nah.”

“Excuse me?” she replies.

“I said - ‘no’,” Trell repeats, his eyes narrowing, his mouth curving up on one side. “Maybe you don’t hear that very often.”

Rage rises in Maeve’s chest. Trell is probably her biggest rival in the Guild - the one she’d be nervous about catching Daik Montrose before her - if she didn’t have the advantage of knowing Daik’s exact location. But if he’s seriously thinking about following her… he can’t be. Or can he? Maeve thinks about Trell’s recent lack of bounties. Maybe he’s more desperate than she realized. But desperate enough to do something that will get him iced out of Two Roses?

“Trell,” she says slowly, trying to inject her tone with as much venom as she can. “Are you going to shadow me?”

His brows contract slightly and he’s silent for a moment. Then he leans forward, his eyes hard. “I have a proposition for you, Bladesbearer.”

“No -”

“Just hear me out,” he says. “We team up. Hunt Daik together. Split the bounty - an even fifty-fifty.”

Maeve snorts in disbelief. “No way in hell.”

Trell shakes his head. “Daik is crafty. It would be easier to catch him if we work together.”

“No,” Maeve snaps. “Maybe you don’t hear that word too often either.”

“If what you said is true, and you really don’t have Daik’s location, then why wouldn’t you want to team up?” he demands. “That bounty is huge. Even half of it is more than either of us make in years.”

But Maeve isn’t about to tell Trell about her plans for the bounty money. Once she’s out of Two Roses - she’s out. The more people who know about her plan to buy land on Kespar-2 the more likely it is she’ll get dragged into guild business again.

“I’m not teaming up with you,” Maeve says. “I’m not splitting the bounty.”

Trell leans back and nods. “Then you do know Daik’s location. I thought so.”

“I don’t know anything more than you,” she replies.

“We’ll see about that,” Trell says darkly. He ends the connection.

“That motherfucker,” she mutters. “TAI, set up an alert for the Menace,” Maeve orders. “I want to know where that ship is at all times.”

“Ooh,” TAI says. “Kinky.”

Maeve ignores the comment and a small indicator light pops up on her screen, showing the Menace following her route to the jump point. The bastard is going to shadow her. What a bitch move.

Maeve grits her teeth as they approach the jump point. If she has to lose Trell somewhere along her path toward the Keidar Belt, so be it. He’s good, but he’s not as good as her. Maeve grips the joystick hard and sets her jaw.

“Try me, Trell,” she mutters. “Just try me.”

Chapter 4