Page 24 of Never Run from an Immortal

Rae swallowed. Willed her fingers not to tremble as she returned her pencil to the paper, focusing on the slide of the lead as Aidan’s words rattled through her.

“Tradition dictates I take you to the council dinner tomorrow night.” He’d taken a step away, she realised.

Her pencil stilled, and she willed her expression to neutral as she met his silver eyes. They hadn’t discussed what would happen when their agreement came to an end, and she wasn’tfool enough to believe he didn’t already suspect her. “Am I to be on the menu?”

Aidan held her gaze, his eyes darkening as his hand slid into his pocket. “No one touches what’s mine.”

Rae’s skin prickled. Nothing good could come from those words. They only served to cement what she already knew. One: this had been a monumental fuck up on her part. And two: she was going to need more of her spells. A lot more.

Aidan walked away without another word, the threat hanging heavy in the air even when he was long gone. He hadn’t been lying when he said he wanted Demesia to be something better. Rae couldn’t say how she knew he was telling the truth, only that she did, but she couldn’t let that get in the way of what she was there to do, of what she’d worked so hard for.

Becoming the Vampire Lord’s Odalik had been far too easy; his desperation would only be his downfall, and Rae allowed herself a small smile at that. Cillian would be laughing in his grave if the old bastard had actually been buried somewhere.

She would play her role. Accompany Aidan to whatever pointless events Vampire tradition dictated. There was very little Rae wasn’t prepared to do when push came to shove. And when she was done, there would be no Vampire Lord. No manor. No council.

There would be nothing left but ash.

Chapter thirteen

Aidan had been waiting for Rae for thirty minutes.

He considered, not for the first time, getting in his car and driving off without her. He leaned back against the sleek black bodywork, arms folded across his chest, and his gaze fixed on the carved wooden door at the entrance to the manor. A beep sounded from inside the vehicle, and Aidan slid his PAD from his suit pocket to read the message.

Two minutes, Rae had written. It had been five minutes, ten minutes ago.

Another beep from inside the vehicle, but Aidan had already returned the device to his pocket and opened the driver’s door to turn off the connection between the car and the PAD. Another human invention, metal boxes with wheels and engines powered by biofuels grown in their greenhouses, only this one had been adapted by Baelin, and there was nothing else like it in Demesia.

The front door opened behind him, followed by Rae’s quiet murmur of thanks to Shaw and the crunch of footsteps on thepebble driveway, her vanilla perfume already everywhere, even though they were outside.

“No time to fiddle around with your toys, Vale, we’re going to be late,” Rae said disapprovingly as he turned to face her, one eyebrow raised and a quirk at the corner of her mouth. Fuck. She looked good, and despite what he’d told her the night before, his council members were absolutely going to be a problem with her dressed like that.

Her hair was as white as the snow-tipped mountains on the south edge of the city, waves falling over her shoulders and brushing her chest, bright blue eyes shimmering like rippling water. She wore a crimson gown that hugged her soft figure, a slit up one thigh, the hem not quite touching the floor. The neckline scooped low and the straps were so thin, Aidan wasn’t sure how she’d put the thing on without tearing them. No sign of the heavy kohl she’d worn at Rush, no lipstick, just those long lashes and bright eyes, her face fresh, her rosy skin glowing. The silver clip sat over her nose, the thumb ring and bangles he’d never seen her without. All likely spelled. Every detail intentional, no doubt.

She’d asked if she was on the menu, and she’d come dressed as the main fucking course.

Aidan had already fed before he’d changed into his suit, no tie. This might have been a meal on paper, but he had no intention of eating anything, and he never went near his councillors unprepared. It appeared the same rule now applied to Rae.

“I was going forfreshly fucked glow-upbecause I assume there’s some element ofcan’t touch, can’t haveto tonight’s proceedings, based on what you explained last night,” Rae said as her gaze flicked over his suit, one hand readjusting the bangles at her wrist.

Right. When he’d referred to her as his. A slip of the tongue, but to the other Vampires, that was precisely what being anOdalik meant. Aidan didn’t linger on the first part of her statement, because he couldn’t entertain those kinds of thoughts if he was going to get his magic back. Instead, he tested her mental shields as he opened the passenger door, waiting for her to get in.

“So that’s how it’s going to be, is it? Not a peep, just straight into my head because I was a few minutes late?” She eased past him, her body brushing against his, and held his gaze as she pulled the door shut.

A very big part of him wasn’t interested in how she felt, and Aidan hated that just for a second, an even bigger part of him, inexplicably, was. He slid into the driver’s seat and cast her a sideways glance as the engine roared to life. “If I wanted to punish you, we wouldn’t be talking.”

“Ah, so Odaliksareslaves. Wonderful.” She reached for the door handle, but Aidan leaned across her, resting his hand over hers.

“Odaliks are usually other Vampires.” He uncurled her fingers with his, reached for her seatbelt with his other hand, and fastened her in. “I need to know you can protect yourself against the others; I need you in one piece. If any of them can tamper with your mind, I lose my chance at getting what I want.”

Rae swallowed. His hand was still wrapped around her fingertips, and her skin was warm against his before he remembered himself.

“This evening will go a lot easier if you’ll let me in,” he added, moving back into his seat and resting his hands on the steering wheel.

“No.” The smallest flicker of fear flared from her before she shut it down.

Aidan ignored it. Bringing any weakness to her attention right now would probably have her exiting the car the moment it cameto a stop. And at that thought, he locked the doors as the gates to the grounds opened.

“I’m surprised you don’t have a driver,” Rae said beside him, followed by a snap of her fingers. “Actually, I take it back. You’re a control freak. Why would you have a driver?”

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