Page 57 of Never Run from an Immortal

Aidan pulled his PAD from his jacket and scrolled through the message.She doesn’t have her PAD with her tonight.

I know, but she’s smart.

She doesn’t care if we see this. Have you figured out how she hid from you the other day?

I can’t fight her magic with tech, Aidan, it’s impossible.

Which means she wants us to ask her about it. She wants us to follow him.Aidan thought of the ring she’d made for Bax, wondering when she was going to give it to the human. He reached out for her, but she wasn’t among the crowd.Shit.Amongst the music, the laughter, and the chatter of Vampires, Aidan felt it, felther, and could have cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. She’d told him at the rutok kennel abouther mother’s abuse, but he hadn’t considered what else it could entail; he should have warned her before bringing her down there.

He had to find her before any of the other Providents latched onto her fear. Within the time it took him to realise it, Aidan had located which room Rae hid in, the feel of her on the door letting him know she’d sealed herself inside.Unlock the door, Farren, he told her, knowing he’d draw attention if he tried a door that was locked.

He slipped inside the second she opened it, securing the door behind him. No one would dare follow their lord into one of these rooms. Even in the dark, he knew Rae didn’t look up. He flicked at a switch, and a soft glow flared to life above them. Still dim, but better than letting her sit in the dark.

Aidan held a finger to his lips as she looked up at him, her eyes wide.They’ll hear, he told her, angling his head to the door. Rae barely nodded, twisting the ring at her thumb as she tried to smother her fear.

A warehouse full of Vampires, and she was afraid of herself.

Chapter twenty-eight

Is this the part where I pretend to be awed by your command of the council?Rae leaned back against a table despite the sofa beside her, the words sharp but her fingers digging into the wood.

This room was primarily for feeding, but Aidan wasn’t about to tell Rae that, though he felt certain she’d have already figured it out. The furnishings were just as lavish as the ones beyond it, the lighting just as soft. And if verbal sparring was what she needed, he would give it to her. He didn’t answer her question.You want me to ask you about Baxter?

Her gaze had fallen back to the floor, her fear pulsing, pressing against his skin. Aidan closed the distance between them, fingers resting under her chin to tilt her head up to face him. He could try to force her to feel calm with his abilities, but knowing Rae, she’d fight it. Spit at him for the invasion.Tell me, he told her, his thumb rubbing lightly against her cheek.

Rae brought her hand over his scar again, magic pulsing between them before her palm rested there, as if she needed the touch to ground her. The soft light made her skin glow, the folds of her dress shimmering like she was a fallen star.

The break in. I think he was looking for the stolen vials.She swallowed.I gave him the data. Before I gave it to you and Bae.

An unfamiliar feeling curled through Aidan at her admission, but he ignored it.I wouldn’t have trusted me either, he told her, the smile tugging at his mouth belying what he felt. It was a smart move, he would concede to that.He could have simply asked for the vials. He’s your—

My nothing. A one-time fuck.Her fear was diminishing, giving way to something else equally as intense. Good. He would take her anger over her fear in a basement full of Vampires.He came into the studio with me, and I was too focused on Nim to think anything of it, but he lifted my rolling mill like it was nothing. He’s human, Vale, he shouldn’t have been able to do that.

Aidan’s hand still cupped her face, hers still rested against his chest. He ignored the flicker of relief he felt at her admission, searching her eyes as he asked,He’s a hybrid?

I think he might be. He asked me to leave with him that day. To leave you, even though he knew—

This isn’t real?It was just as much to remind himself as it was a question.

A dip of Rae’s chin, and Aidan let his hand fall from her face. Reached into his jacket for his PAD and brought up the messages Baelin had forwarded him.

For a moment, he’d let himself lose sight of why they were both in this predicament.You wanted us to see these. Why?Irritation bolstered the thought, and he knew she’d have felt it.

I want Bae to track him.Rae held the PAD in both hands, her brow pinching together as she read the messages for the first time, the ones that had arrived this evening. The glow ofthe screen lit up her features, the soft swell of her lips, the bar resting across the bridge of her nose. She handed back the PAD.Silver prices have been going crazy the last few months. At first, I thought it had to do with the Liberalists stationed at the border. But you mentioned Daire stopped the bullets.The hybrid.I think they’re using the silver, I think it’s related to the testing. And I think Bax has been part of it from the beginning.

Anger tinged with a hint of disappointment rippled over her, both aimed at herself. She rested a hand over the silver chains at her chest, and Aidan tracked the movement.

Baxter knew you’d been struggling to buy silver?he asked her. The silver shortages, the hybrid’s Thaumas abilities, it could all have been part of Torrin’s ploy to amass wealth and power. To govern the city. Take control.

A nod.He placed large orders for Aera regularly. I didn’t think—

That it was Aera all along?Aidan took a step into her and eased her hand out of the way to inspect the silver chains, to take in the intricacy of her work, of the way it settled against her skin.Gades confirmed it. Baelin’s already looking for Tripp.He traced each chain with a finger, between her breasts, lower, caught the way her thighs squeezed together and her breath hitched. Once hadn’t been enough, and he knew she felt the same way, could hear the way her heart raced beneath his fingertips.

It’s Bax he needs to look for. I think Tripp answers to Bax, not the other way around.More anger flared from her, only this time it wasn’t twisted with disappointment, but something else. Something he wanted to elicit more of from her.

Does he know Omnia’s yours?His other hand came to her waist, knuckles grazing over the bare skin at her back, and Rae leaned into his touch.

He thinks I’m a cadet.

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