Page 9 of Never Run from an Immortal

“My, my, Lord Vampire, I’m quivering with anticipation.” Rae rolled her eyes, stepped over the body, and made her way for the door without glancing back.

With a flash of irritation, Aidan followed.

Chapter five

Rae rubbed at the bruises on her wrists as she watched Aidan unlock their cell. She’d lied about getting the marks from her boyfriend; she wasn’t the kind to tie herself down to anyone. The truth was, she’d got caught up the night before. Nothing she hadn’t been able to handle alone before she’d escaped. Tonight would be no different; she already had what she wanted. Earning Aidan’s trust had been all too easy, his desperation to find his missing magic clouding his judgement.

Ink swirled over the golden-brown skin of his sculpted chest, his arms, down his torso, and his abs… fuck, he had abs for days, before dipping into the waistband of his trousers. Some kind of ancient Vampire dialect, no doubt, but Rae admired the artistry of it, her fingers itching to sketch a design. She peeled her gaze away before he could notice her staring again. Wouldn’t want the bloodsucker getting the wrong idea. Though she’d jump at the opportunity to torture the bastard, she wouldn’t deny she’denjoyed the solid feel of him behind her as she’d lured the guard into their cell. That much muscle should have been illegal.

Rae had made it a rule to steer clear of Vampires when it came to sex. They loved to feed as they fucked, and she’d managed to avoid any of them sinking their teeth into her during her nightly pilfering. Humans loved to gossip about how euphoric an experience it was to be fed on. Given the way they hung around Rush like they were waiting for their next fix, Rae didn’t doubt it.

But there was power in blood, much like the knowledge Aidan had spoken of, only a different kind. And she wasn’t willing to give it up. Certainly not to the Vampire Lord. Great orgasms were reserved for her hand and her drawer of toys.

“Tragic,” she muttered under her breath as Aidan slid the bolt soundlessly aside, pocketing the keys.

“What is?” He arched a brow at her, silver eyes assessing, like he was always planning his next three steps.

Rae held his stare. Even though he was beaten and bloody, that he’d been in a fight with the Goddess knew how many Fae back at Rush, she could still smell the sandalwood and leather scent that drifted from him. “All these morons believing they weren’t about five minutes away from their deaths when they agreed to this alliance.”

It was well known that the humans were divided. That living as they had for so long had incited many of them to push for change; not always the right kind. Multiple factions wanted to make Demesia their own, to drive the Orders out of the city and make it a sanctuary for humans, a space for them to thrive. Some might have even been justified in their wishes, but Rae agreed on one thing: they needed a safe space. Too many fell victim to the Vampires, to the Fae and were used as blood bags, playthings, slaves.

Daily life for most in Demesia wasn’t living, it was survival, and she’d had firsthand experience at existing that way forlonger than she cared to admit. It was precisely why she needed to earn Aidan’s trust, no matter how much she hated that it had to be him.

“You can lose the spells if you need to keep stock of your preserves.” Aidan ignored her statement, flicking his chin at her hair.

She wasn’t surprised he knew, but she wasn’t about to show him her true eyes or hair. There were few left alive who knew what she truly looked like. Not even Nim. And though Rae knew she should have changed more about her identity on a regular basis, part of her loved the thrill—and the surprise—that it was all it took to trick people into looking the other way.

Besides, the best lies weren’t the elaborate ones. Although they were fun. The greatest lies were the little, everyday things that could be wrapped up so neatly in a conversation you wouldn’t even spot them. Like a change of hairstyle or any of the other array of small spells humans could pick up at the markets.

“Wait here,” Aidan murmured.

She followed him out into the cold corridor. A single light illuminated the passageway, another door at the end, anauthorised personnel onlysign above it. Even without the blood on his lips, Aidan’s presence was brutal, powerful. Terrifying even.

But Rae knew a thing or two about fear, and about those who knew how to wield it like a blade.

He raised an eyebrow at her again, but when he saw her expression he followed her line of sight. More cells, and from the ones she could see, their occupants were silent. The air was heavy with their stench, even through the metal between them.

Rae was quiet as she moved past each one, leaning up onto her toes to look through the narrow grate on each door, harsh lights flickering over corpses. Her breath caught as she took it all in. “Vampires. Humans. Fae. This doesn’t make any sense,”she said quietly, hands turning into fists against the metal as she surveyed each of the dead prisoners.

Vampires and Fae had always been at each other’s throats, and though the Fae took humans as their pets too, they hadn’t fed on them in decades. They didn’t need them for any purpose other than entertainment. Rae’s stomach flipped. A great fucking mess, all of it.

“Elred’s handiwork?” she asked. The Fae king, a Royalist, though Rae knew he wouldn’t be working with Torrin.

Aidan’s attention was on the door at the end of the corridor, no doubt listening for whoever was beyond it. “No. My guess is Torrin is working alone in this.”

“Alone? This has all the ingredients of a big fucking operation written all over it, wouldn’t you say?”

Aidan merely flicked his chin in her direction, signalling her to get out of the way, Rae presumed. “The prisoner is awake, and he’s asking for Torrin,” he said in a tone Rae suspected was his attempt to mimic a guard.

She didn’t hide her smirk. The door slid open, and she mirrored the Vampire’s movement, pressing her back against the opposite wall. The guard was down in seconds, but Aidan didn’t use his teeth this time, only his bare hands. He hadn’t wiped the first guard’s blood away from his mouth, and something told her he’d left it there to startle any of the weaker soldiers they were about to encounter.

Based on what they’d just witnessed in the cells, Rae was confident whoever approached them on their way out deserved whatever Aidan did to them.

“Let’s get your secret sauce back, Vampire.”

“After you, human.”

Rae smiled as she stepped through the door, waving at the five Fae stationed outside it. Horns and Hooves, always used forgrunt work, no guns holstered at their belts, because that would be madness in a prison—if that was what this was.

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