Page 2 of Mayflower

Archer’s cold eyes meet mine, boring into me as his lips curl in a smirk.

“Let me explain something to you,” he says in a gruff voice he’s never used with me. “Raven is my right-hand man. He is Ayana’s caretaker. He is more important here than most people. I consider him a friend. Moreover… I would choose him over you any time, Maddy. Don’t fool yourself.”

His expression becomes almost cruel. For the first time, he looks like he’s judging me.

“You know why I chose to do what I did and prioritized your life?” Archer has never looked as spiteful as he does now. “Because I respect him more than any other person I know. I respect his opinion and decisions. And his wish was for your safety first. Always. Anywhere. In any. Fucking. Situation. He made it very clear.”

It hits me hard, the realization that even when Raven and I weren’t talking, he put me first. Before his job. Before others. And—as heartbreaking as it is—before his life.

My grief shifts into a gloomy, vacant stage where I can’t, won’t, accept the reality.

“They wouldn’t take his body if he were dead, right?” I ask in a low voice, afraid of my own words.

“I don’t know, Maddy,” Archer answers truthfully, his expression grim. “We questioned Nilanski.”

“Why?”

“Because he was in the bathroom the two minutes it took for Skiba to kidnap you.”

“I trust Nilanski. He walked out to the thugs without a weapon to retrieve me. He jeopardized his life.”

“Maybe. Maybe that wasn’t what it looked like.”

I gape at him.

“We can’t locate your other bodyguard.”

My chest tightens. “Ali?”

He nods. “Kat and the IT team are on it. But his Ayana bracelet is not active.”

“How is that possible?”

“He got rid of it. Or something happened to him. He is missing. Gone. Simply vanished.”

My insides twist in unease. “You think he…”

“I don’t know if he was in on it. We have to find him first. Not sure we will. Or Raven, for that matter. There is no way to trace anyone in Port Mrei. They use network blockers there.”

“And you can’t do anything about it? How does your security you put so much money in?—”

“Ask your father,” he cuts me off.

I gape at him. “Pardon me?”

“Someone invested time and money into infiltrating our security system. I talked to Tsariuk. He said he used hackers, yes. But the blockers in Port Mrei are not his thing. He might not be telling the truth, though.”

Archer holds my gaze with that question in them that I can’t answer.

“What are you saying, Archer? That my father has something to do with the ambush on Raven?”

His silence is the answer.

“He won’t lie if I ask. That he won’t do.” But now I’m not sure.

Archer nods, but I don’t think he believes me. “The whole team is on it. We can’t go to Port Mrei. It’s like walking into a slaughterhouse. What we need is to find Tsariuk’s people there. But here’s the thing, Maddy. Tsariuk is not interested in what we want. But he is in what you want. Talk to him. About Raven. About Port Mrei. I hate to say this… Well, I never thought that I would, but…”

Archer pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers, seeming uncomfortable. “We need Tsariuk’s help right now.”

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