I huffed a half laugh and rolled my eyes. She was such a dick, but her sass was impeccable. Unlike Cair and Teighan—and possibly Orian, though I hadn’t seen the full scope of him yet—it didn’t feel as if Maeve wore a mask. Not entirely. I believed that what you saw was what you got, just pure and authentically her. She didn’t pretend for the sake of fitting in, or seem to hide behind a front of her father’s making. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t as complex and layered as the rest of the Haryk siblings, or that she had no skeletons in her closet. Maybe she just wasn’t wholly against the life she led, or she didn’t give it much weight. I got the impression that Maeve only did whatever served her. She was a hardened assassin who looked out for no one but herself, so perhaps she was using whatever she had to her advantage instead of wishing for an escape.

I could respect that.

If she didn’t antagonize my mate so much.

“Well, thank you for that interesting story, but if you don’t mind…” I side-stepped around her, officially done with whatever this was—a power play, probably, or just plain old bragging about her capabilities. Maybe a test? “I’m just gonna⁠—”

“Keep your wits about you out there,” she cut in, her tone light and almost playful. “You never know who’s in the shadows, waiting to pounce.”

I whirled around. “Are you… Was that a threat?”

She tilted her head, the grin on her face much too self-satisfied. “Oh, you’ll know when I’m threatening you, little dove. For instance…” She leaned in, her voice barely above a whisper as she added, “If you tell either of my brothers our little secret, the servants will be scraping what’s left of you all off the floor.”

I recoiled, much to Maeve’s obvious delight. “We both know you can’t kill them, and if you touched me, there would be war, so that means nothing.”

“I can’t. But I have plenty of pets who’d love to do it for me.” She patted my head condescendingly, but at the same moment, her words fully sank in and my brain finally joined the chat—better late than never.

Instead of cowering like a scared mouse, I stepped back, squaring my shoulders. That seemed to amuse and intrigue her even more, but I didn’t care. She’d unwittingly shown her hand, highlighting an opportunity I couldn’t pass up even if it was reckless. Thankfully, Cair wasn’t around to witness it.