Page 50 of Never Run from an Immortal

She had never told anyone about her scars. Partly because she’d never cared to remember the painful details of how she’dreceived each of them, but partly because she knew she’d never have the opportunity of telling anyone whose face might light up with understanding rather than pity. “My mother ruined me and called it love,” she said after a moment of silence where they both watched the rutok play. “My father chose to ignore what my mother did, and he called that love too.”

“She did this?” The air stirred with his words, the last of the sunlight gone as it dipped too low in the city beyond, a shadow falling across the breakroom, across Aidan.

An empty cup sat on the counter, a teaspoon resting inside it, and Rae picked it up and inspected it, watching as the rutok snatched it away and wound it up between his tails like treasure. “Once, I stole a pudding, but the only thing I could find to eat it with in my haste was a teaspoon. I’d barely even finished the first mouthful before my mother found me. She pressed that spoon over my eye so hard I had burst blood vessels for weeks. It’s when I first learnt to change my eye colour.” The rutok dropped the spoon, the metal rattling against the counter and the creature flinched at the sound. Rae stroked its head in quiet reassurance. “Her punishments were varied. Sometimes just an iron from the fire. Sometimes a backhand so forceful it would send me to the floor.”

Rae could feel the ghost of each strike, the burn of each press of the iron as she spoke. “Her favourite thing to do was grab a fistful of my hair and hold me face down in the fountain at the front of our home until I saw stars.” It was why Rae had learnt to change her hair, why she’d learnt to hold her breath for so long, but she didn’t need to explain that to Aidan for him to fill in the gaps.

“Was her death painful?”

Rae hummed a laugh. Trust him to remember her mother was dead. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.” Dangerous territory. She’d already shared far too much of herself, too many pieces for himto use. He’d been honest with her, but not without motive. She couldn’t lose sight of that.

Even without telling him more, she knew she was giving too much away—her racing heart, her sweaty palms, the emotions tearing through her, hot and sharp. Anger, mostly. So much anger she could light the world on fire with it. Had tried to on more than one occasion. The beatings after that had always been the worst.

“Orion is outside,” he said quietly. Too quietly, and Rae refused to see the pity in his eyes, her attention fixed on the rutok. She focused on the soft fur, the way its little paws sparred with her thumb.

“Let’s go.” She scooped the creature off the counter, let him run up her arm and settle against her neck, claws digging into the fabric of her top.

“You are not bringing that ball of fluff into the manor,” Aidan said as he held the door open, waiting.

Rae was undeterred. “Why not? At least I know none of you are going to kill him.” Aidan couldn’t argue with that after admitting they were as good as junk food. “You still owe me, Vampire,” she reminded him as they made their way out of the kennels.

Darkness greeted them. Darkness and Orion, waiting beside a vehicle that Aidan would no doubt be driving.

Don’t I know it, the Vampire Lord’s voice rumbled in her thoughts.

Chapter twenty-five

Failure wasn’t an option for Aidan, yet two nights had passed since the colossal fuck up at the facility.

He’d given Rae space. She’d muttered something about looking for his magic as they’d made their way back into the manor that night, and if space was what she needed to locate it, he would give it to her. She was playing him, he was sure of it, but she knew something. Keeping her close was the best option he had, despite who she was.Whatshe was. Vampires had tried to strike a deal with the Witches once; it hadn’t ended well.

His hand ran over the scar on his chest as the other knocked back the remains of his glass of visk before he reached for the bottle to pour another. He could still taste Rae. Still feel the press of her body against his, the pull of her magic under his skin. A Vampire approached the front gates, alone; the cameras would pick up his arrival soon.

“Cormac is here,” he told Baelin, seated opposite his Ascendant on the sofa in the study.

Baelin hummed his acknowledgement, eyes never leaving his PAD. He’d been tracking the movements of the remaining council members at Aidan’s request; it was time to try and salvage the absolute shitshow his uncle had been so proud of. Aidan didn’t care if every last one of them perished, but he needed information, and if things got out of hand, he needed numbers.

He downed the second glass of visk, his hand rubbing at his chest again as if he could brush away the sensation of Rae’s magic. If getting under his skin had been her intention, she’d succeeded. Outside the study, Shaw had raised a hand to the door but was yet to knock. “Come in,” Aidan told him.

The old steward stood aside for Cormac, then merely dipped his chin before leaving the three of them alone.

“Sit,” Aidan told the turned Vampire. He took in the way Cormac held himself, the way he crossed one leg over the other, a hand resting on his knee. A show of confidence the male believed, though not entirely. Aidan didn’t press against his mind; not yet. One-sided conversations were dull, and he needed his Ascendant to be able to do what he did best.

His gaze snagged on one of the rings on Cormac’s hand. One of Rae’s, Aidan was certain of it. “An interesting choice.”

“A gift,” Cormac offered.

From Scarlett. His mate. Aidan felt the Vampire’s reservation at even breathing her name in front of Baelin as he slid a glass of visk across the table. “Your secret is safe with my Ascendant.” He already had what he’d been looking for, didn’t see the need to embarrass Cormac by airing it. His mate had given it to him to keep him safe. Touching, but Vampires were proud, and any show of weakness, of acknowledging what the ring was for, would shatter any respect Cormac might have earned since killing his creator. The Vampire knocked back the liquid in one,unease leaking from every pore. Fear. Fear he might never see her again.

“Weyland proposed an exchange.” Cormac smoothed the fabric of his grey trousers over his knee. “Scarlett has no remarkable abilities. Her powers are… average, at best, for her kind. What she lacks in magic she more than makes up for—”

Aidan raised a hand to cut him off. He had no interest in what her other talents were, and unfortunately, he’d already seen a flash of Cormac’s memories to show him in great detail. “What does Weyland want in exchange?” he asked, his patience running thin.

The Vampire thumbed the rim of his glass, and for a moment Aidan thought he was going to lie to them. “He gave me a list.”

“A list of those with more interesting abilities.”

Cormac nodded.

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