Page 29 of Never Run from an Immortal

She had known what she was getting herself into when she agreed to be his Odalik. Had seen him kill the Witch with nothing more than his bare hands, but knowing what Aidan was capable of with both his physical and Provident skills against the other Orders was one thing. Experiencing him using his abilities on his own kind was something else entirely.

He frowned at her as he reached for the blade, wiping the bloodied tip on Kuron’s suit and handing it back. “We need to leave.” He glanced out into the darkness of the dock as if something had drawn his attention. “Now.”

Chapter fifteen

Rae was afraid. Of him. She’d only let it slip for a fraction of a second, but Aidan had felt it, and though he was no stranger to the feel of another’s fear, Rae’s was unwelcome. Unpleasant, though he had no reason for it to be otherwise.

He held her hand as he led the way back into the restaurant, because he suspected that was as much contact from him as she was willing to endure. Torrin and his soldiers were on their way, and Aidan needed to get her out of there.

Rae sucked in a breath as he called out to Baelin in his thoughts. No response. Aidan ignored the twist of apprehension for his Ascendant as he stepped around Lorsan’s lifeless body. The old Provident had been working with Sysmus—Aidan had been certain the moment they’d arrived—and there was still no sign of Gades, Sysmus’s Ascendant, Lorsan, and Kuron flanking him like dogs. They were fools for thinking they’d have enough protection in numbers. Protection fromhim.

He’d allowed Lorsan’s wife to flee with the rest of the council, though Sysmus was nowhere to be seen. Most of the Ascendants had been Gerentis. One, a water wielder, and she’d used the ice sculptures to attack the other council members, to attack him, shattering the sculptures and honing them into weapons. Aidan had admired her creativity, but he hadn’t allowed any of her ice picks to hit their marks. Though he’d taken no pleasure in killing her, she lay dead at their feet now too.

He knew what Rae would see and what she would assume. The quiet female who had barely uttered a word throughout the meal, dead by his hand, without reason. It would do him no favours in earning her trust, but he’d stopped a far greater fight from breaking out with that one death. Perhaps it was better to have her fear than her trust anyway.

She tried to pull her hand away the moment they passed the Gerentis, but Aidan held firm. “Don’t,” he warned her. “The alternative is that I carry you to my car.”

Sysmus had warded Cosia. Aidan had felt it the moment they’d pulled up out front, but he had been so focused on protecting Rae from the council’s probing attacks that he hadn’t been paying close enough attention to the other Provident. Until Rae left the table, that is.

And he’d heard the bastard’s intentions at the same moment he’d felt Baelin’s alarm, the same moment his Ascendant had left Rae alone on the balcony. Rae yanked her hand from his and glared up at him, but Aidan didn’t have time to argue with her, not with everything going on outside. He threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her protests and the abuse she hurled at him.

“Shut up, Farren,” he murmured as he turned down the corridor towards the kitchen, focusing on the bodies moving around the building. The Vampires moving away, the Fae and the humans moving closer, the few tangled together in the middle.

“Unstrap my shoes, asshole,” Rae whispered, squirming to reach for them.

Gunshots sounded outside, and Rae stilled. Aidan reached into his jacket pocket and handed her his gun. One clip, but it would have to do.

“I’ve zero reservations about shooting you in the ass right now,” she mumbled as he unfastened her shoes, her skin soft beneath his touch, and set her back down on the carpeted floor. “Do that again and I’ll shoot you in the dick.” With swift precision, she slid a bangle from her wrist, looped the hem of her dress through it, and knotted it above her knees against her left thigh, the gun aimed at his crotch the entire time.

“Noted.”

“How many?” she asked, flicking her chin at the gun.

How many surrounding the building. “More than thirty.” Far more closing in on them, but he couldn’t reach them with his Provident abilities like he should have been able to.

“Can’t you do your thing?”

“The wards…” He hated to admit it, but something about them, they were making it difficult to track what was going on outside.

Rae sighed. “Second time this week I’m going to save your sorry ass, Vale. You owe me.” She pressed a hand to the wall beside her and winked. “Keep them busy for me.” Her eyes closed, one hand still holding the gun, and she began to murmur one of her spells.

Two humans entered the wards via the balcony they’d been standing on moments before, and Aidan made swift work of both of them. They were dead by the time both sets of feet hit the wooden floorboards. Three more came through the glass roof above the dining area, and the foundations of the building began to shake as Rae’s murmuring quickened, her eyes flicking open as a group of Horns smashed through the front doors. Aidanhad them open fire on each other, taking a step closer to Rae as plates and glasses smashed beyond the doors to the kitchen.

They were sitting ducks in their current location, but at least there were no windows on either side of the corridor. The only door behind them led to the kitchen, within the wards, and Aidan could safely deal with anyone who entered them.

The building groaned, and Rae began to shake. Outside, Aidan knew they were surrounded, but the wards were still blocking him, their minds shielded by whatever magic had been laced into the wards. The building groaned again—no,Raegroaned, her head pressing against the wall, her chest heaving with her laboured breaths, and at the same moment the wards shattered, the shield protecting everyone outside the building dissolved to nothing.

Aidan reached for every Fae and human mind in possession of a gun andpulled, crushing the very essence of all of them with a single thought.

Rae swayed beside him, and with a curse, Aidan lifted her into his arms. “You can shoot me later, Farren.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” She patted the gun where she’d angled it ahead of them, though he had no idea how she was still holding onto it. Whatever she’d just done, she’d almost knocked herself out cold in the process.

“What are you?” he asked for the second time since meeting her, shouldering the kitchen doors open and pausing once to cast his Provident abilities a little wider.

Rae choked on a laugh. “The biggest fucking headache you’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.”

He glanced down at her in his arms. “I can see that.” Strands of hair clung to her face where sweat coated her skin, and without thinking, he brushed it away for her.

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