Master of Myth (The Antigone's Wrath Series Book 1) by Starla Huchton

her. She would be at the dock and he didn’t wish to keep her waiting.

Chapter Seven
The Agreement

    Danton was surprised Iris was not waiting for him at four o’clock. It was highly unlike her to be late. If nothing else, she was always punctual. They both had a considerable amount of things to do today, so it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility she had been caught up doing one of them. The Port Control office was likely to be quite crowded, and he imagined that getting permission to go as far as India would be tougher than usual. She would probably have to get special permission from the local director, even if they said they were granting passes for that far out.
    Most ships would port outside the Red Sea, either in Djibouti or Yemen. Yong Wu’s reach stopped near the Arabian Sea, and he would be hard pressed to push those boundaries any further than that. The Royal Navy and ATA didn’t need an excuse to pursue pirates, and Yong Wu had been on top of their most wanted list for quite some time. That he gave them cause to ramp up their assault on him was lunacy, but the man had delusions of grandeur and was convinced he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan. Yong Wu had a certain respect for Captain Sterling, as she often had the stones to match him when it came to ship-to-ship combat, but his dismal view of women was right up there with the ideals the Brotherhood held. Were he not such an egomaniac, he doubtless would have allied with the Brotherhood long ago. As it was, he kept on killing the emissaries they sent him, and that made Danton smile. He had no love for Yong Wu, but the man did have a few redeeming qualities.
    Twenty minutes past four, Iris rushed up the dock, arms full of papers and looking murderous. He resisted the urge to shoot a sarcastic comment at her as she whizzed by him, heading for the boat. Instead, he met her threatening gaze with a bemused smile. Iris did not like to be late.
    She emerged fifteen minutes later looking a bit less hassled, but no less hateful. “Is all of the world so full of misogyny?”
    Danton chuckled. “Trouble at the Port Control office?”
    “Those disgusting bastards kept me there for three hours filling out useless forms so they could gawk at me as long as possible. In the last five minutes, I had to put a knife to one man’s throat because he decided I wouldn’t mind having his hand on my posterior. After that, the rest of the process was surprisingly quick.” At this final statement, she gave a satisfied smirk. “How did you fare? Any leads worth pursuing?”
    “Only one of any note.” He shrugged. “I’ve a meeting later tonight to discuss the terms.”
    “Perhaps I’ll accompany you,” she mused. “I’d like to see how your negotiating tactics vary from mine.”
    “If you wish.” He smiled. Truthfully, he didn’t mind her company. She was not the skilled fighter Rachel was, but was hardly defenseless. It was always better to have a little backup, rather than none at all. Iris was no slouch at black market dealings herself, so having her along wouldn’t hurt. “Shall we go?”
    She nodded, her dark curls bobbing.
    As they walked south down the docks, Danton wondered what drove Iris to help this stranger they were meeting. It wasn’t in her nature to stick her neck out so far for someone she didn’t know. “So you say you’ve never seen this man before today?”
    Iris shook her head. “No, never. I have a very strong sense about him, though. Call it intuition if you like, but when I meet someone who is important, I know. There is no doubt in my mind that there is something very special about him. He has a mission, and I am compelled to help him complete his journey in any way I can.”
    Danton was on the fence regarding the mysticism Iris so completely believed. He was raised a God-fearing man, but knew from experience that God had little to do with certain aspects of the world. Aether Manipulation was a tool to be used, true, but he