Page 57 of New World

He would find her.

He would break her.

And when she lay dying beneath his blade, her final moments would not be filled with courage or defiance.

No. Her last thought will be one of acknowledgement, that she is not the best.

His eyes narrowed as the imagines of her lying broken, bleeding, defenseless, and unable to protect the man she cared about sent a thrill through him. He would show her what happened to those who dared to mock him!

Yes, he would need to time it right. She needed to live long enough to watch Dorane die in front of her.

The hunt is mine, Ancient Knight. I will not fail.

14

Aboard the Aetherial Arrow

En route to Aetherial

* * *

The corridors of the Aetherial Arrow pulsed with activity and the ship’s core pulsed through the metal walls, a smooth, rhythmic vibration Mei had grown accustomed to since her time on the Gliese. The soft glow of recessed lighting cast elongated shadows as she stood outside Dorane’s personal quarters, hands folded together, staring at the smooth panel of the door as if willing it to give her the answers she needed.

Dorane had been avoiding her. She knew it; he knew it. Ash was driving her crazy with knowing it, and he wasn’t even on the same ship! He and Kella were following her starship.

Ever since they had left Cryon II almost twenty-four hours ago, Dorane had made himself scarce, keeping to the bridge or locking himself away in his cabin under the pretense of ‘important preparations’. She wasn’t buying it. Not for a second.

The silence had become unbearable as she replayed their passionate kiss over and over in her head. She had never been one to shy away from a challenge, but Dorane was making it extremely difficult.

After spending an hour tossing and turning in the bed in her cabin, she had finally given up, dressed, and cursed her way across the hall to his door.

I swear he put me this close to help drive me crazy!

Now here she was, loitering outside his room, like some kind of nervous, lovesick fool, trying to decide if knocking was the best course of action—or if she should simply return to her cabin for another restless night’s sleep and pretend she hadn’t been debating this for the past hour.

You should knock. You felt his response. He likes you.

Her fingers twitched at her side. She raised her arm, curling her fingers to knock on the door, before she dropped her arm back to her side in indecision again.

What if he doesn’t? How can I know that he doesn’t respond to every woman who kisses him like that? Okay, if he responds like that to other women, I’ll just have to kill his ass, she savagely thought as a wave of jealousy flashed through her.

No, you won’t.

Well, maybe I’ll just?—

A soft groan slipped from her and she bowed her head. What was she doing? I should turn around and go back to my cabin. Dorane will get over it… eventually. This was good. You’ve probably driven him so far away he won’t ever want to talk to you again. You don’t need this kind of distraction.

But I do want it. That’s the problem. I want it very, very badly, she moaned in self-disgust.

Then maybe I shouldn’t have used him to piss Zoak off.

She exhaled sharply as she thought about what she had done. She had made a calculated decision back on Cryon II. Well, a partially calculated decision. The kiss hadn’t been a part of her original plan.

She hadn’t expected Dorane to react so strongly—to both her kiss and to her comment about Zoak. She didn’t regret what she had done. If given the chance, she’d do it again.

But did I have to kiss him like that?

She closed her eyes, groaning softly.

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