Page 70 of The Last Hunt

“A kiss for the road?” Aethon asks.

Her green gaze flicks up to his and he feels every inch of space between them suddenly crackling with energy. She leans forward and presses her lips to his in a kiss that’s warm, sweet, and way too brief.

“One for the road,” Maeve says as she pulls away and returns to her seat. Her expression is closed off now, a crease between her brows, her mouth tight. Aethon wants to smooth his thumb over that crease and kiss her again, but he turns back to sit in the co-captain’s chair.

“I’m hailing the hyper-jump point’s computer system,” Maeve says. Aethon watches as an empty text box pops up on the viewscreen. The only prompt it gives is: INPUT CODE.

“Here goes nothing,” Maeve mutters. She types in the twenty character code Bell Sylar sent them over her secure subspace channel and has TAI check it for accuracy.

Aethon leans on the dash and watches as she hits the button to submit the code. The iridescent ring of metal around the hyper-jump point doesn’t change, but inside the ring, the space wavers, warping the stars behind it into shifting loops of light.

“You see that, right?” he asks, unable to take his gaze away from the strange sight.

“Obviously,” Maeve says. “Is that what it’s supposed to do? I didn’t know it would be so different from -”

“Go, Maevey!” TAI interrupts. “Hurry up - that’s what it’s supposed to look like!”

“Oh, fuck - ok!” Maeve replies.

Aethon grabs the dash in front of him as Maeve accelerates the Archer quickly forward through the small metal ring and into the wavering space of the hyper-jump point.

Immediately, the space around the Archer changes. Vibrant swirls of blue, pink, green, and silver begin to rush past the ship.

“Oh my god,” Maeve murmurs.

Awe rises in Aethon’s chest as he watches the colors flow past them. It’s like the Archer is diving through a painting, or an ocean of color. It reminds him of the aurora borealis on Freehail. The swirl of lights that sometimes danced in the sky of the northern hemisphere of the planet hadn’t been seen since before Brimstone began mining due to air pollution. Aethon wonders if anyone has seen the aurora in the last fifteen years.

He checks the readings on the dash, but nothing looks amiss. The engines thrum underneath them and the support strut that had given them so much trouble is bearing up well.

Aethon turns to see Maeve’s eyes are wide, an expression of wonder on her face as she watches the play of color outside. It softens the sharpness of her features, and Aethon feels a surge of protectiveness for her.

“It’s beautiful,” he says.

Maeve nods and then says, “This is what it’s supposed to look like, right TAI?”

“Yes ma’am!” TAI chirps. “The folding of space in hyper-jump points puts on quite a show!”

Maeve looks over at Aethon and arches a brow. “She could have warned us.”

“I wanted you to be surprised!” TAI says. “And goodness gracious, I can tell by your bio-signs that you’re surprised alright!”

Aethon chuckles and stands, holding out a hand to Maeve. She takes it, her eyes fixed on the wash of ever changing colors outside the Archer. Maeve threads her fingers through his and steps up next to him. They watch the swirling colors for a minute, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. A feeling rises in Aethon’s chest and he bites his cheek as it overwhelms him. It’s exhilarating and terrifying and emboldening all at once. He stares out the viewscreen, watching as a streak of gold twines with a swirl of sky blue, creating a sparkling sort of green when they mix. And then the color is gone, replaced by blazing orange and white. Aethon squeezes Maeve’s hand, and for a moment everything is crystal clear. He feels like he could take on Brimstone and Dreadnought with nothing but a pulse gun as long as Maeve is beside him. He turns toward her and watches as her eyes drink in the colors of the hyper-jump point space. She doesn’t meet his eye, but squeezes his hand in return.

“We’re supposedly in here for longer than a normal jump point,” Aethon says. “Could be almost an hour.”

“Well -” TAI starts, but Maeve raises a hand to cut off the AI. When she refocuses on Aethon, he can’t help but lean forward and kiss her. He withdraws and she huffs a breathless laugh.

“You haven’t had enough?” she asks.

“Never enough of you,” Aethon replies. He pulls her arm around his neck and slides his hands underneath her leather jacket. “Besides, what if -” He stops himself and bites his bottom lip. He’d been about to say - What if we don’t have another chance? But he doesn’t want to speak that into reality. And he doesn’t want to pressure Maeve or make her feel guilty. Just because Aethon wants - what does he want?

A sudden surety fills his gut as he looks into Maeve’s eyes. He wants her. In comparison, everything else seems unimportant. The fact that his ship is still stuck way back in the Narrows of the Keidar Belt, his debt to Two Roses, catching Daik - all of it pales in comparison to the sheer necessity that he stays with the woman next to him. He needs her like he needs air. She’s the answer to a question he’s been asking all his life. Aethon wants to face everything this galaxy throws at him with Maeve at his side.

Fucking hell, he loves her.

But the end of this hunt hangs over his head. Neither of them have brought up the fact that catching Daik Montrose will end not only this hunt, but their partnership. They haven’t talked about if they’re going to go through with their original plans for the bounty money. Is Maeve really going to leave Two Roses?

“What if - what?” Maeve asks.

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