Page 79 of Never Run from an Immortal

That the information she gave would lead to Maddock coming for Rae. That it would blow Rae’s cover. But it didn’t matter. It wasn’t the Witch’s responsibility; Rae would never have allowed anyone to cover for her before. That was why she knew this was the right thing to do, even though the guilt had already lodged itself firmly beneath her ribs. “I know I’m asking a lot from you. Lying to your mate.” She almost choked on the word.

“When I told Aidan about Seylan—” Scarlett pressed her lips together, and Rae steeled herself for whatever was coming, for what information Aidan had been given and how he’d used it. “I didn’t know they were conspiring to kill him. I’m—I’m so sorry.”

The Witch lowered her gaze, but Rae willed her expression to remain neutral, to keep every bit of rage she was feeling under wraps so that Aidan couldn’t feel it and reach out for her. Any hesitation she’d had about what she was about to do was obliterated by Scarlett’s confession. “Consider us even.”

Scarlett searched her eyes as she seemed to consider her answer, and for a moment Rae wondered if she’d find Aidan waiting for them when the elevator stopped. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Despite the Witch’s confession, Rae had always liked her. In another life, perhaps they could have even been friends. In another life, everyone she loved would still be alive. The elevator descended, and Rae couldn’t speak, the padded walls closing in on her. She was too busy focusing on her heartbeat, on steadying her breaths. On quieting her anger and fear. She thought of Ru, tails twirling through her fingers. Laughing with Nim. Playing hide and seek with her brother as a child. Aidan’s mouth on hers, though that last thought she tried to shove away. The elevator slowed and stopped. Scarlett pulled the metal doors open, leading the way.

A kernel of fear sparked in Rae’s chest at the sight of the dark corridor, but she snuffed it out, spinning Nim’s ring she’d fixedand modified on her thumb. She followed Scarlett through the maze of hallways until the Witch stopped at one with a salt line before it.

Rae reached for the door, the cold air beyond it slamming into her as it swung open. She stepped through, careful not to disturb the salt.

“Goddess guide you,” Scarlett said softly.

Rae smiled, said her thanks, and slammed the door in the Witch’s face, her hand over the lock as she murmured a spell. Scarlett had been instructed to do the same on the other side, followed by the spell Rae had used to conceal herself from Baxter back at her apartment. Only this time, with the strength of another Witch to bolster it, even a weak one, Rae would be able to move freely. Undetected.

The third spell, and the last, would keep her hidden from a Provident’s eyes. Time was all she needed, and her magic combined with Scarlett’s might just afford it. Cillian had been wrong about many things, but there had been some element of truth to his words when he’d said someone needed to hold the key. She couldn’t let herself dwell on whether Aidan would understand that. Of all the wrongs she’d done in her life, she only hoped he’d realise this was her opportunity to right them.

The spells would only last a few hours, and Rae prayed Aidan would go easy on Scarlett when he discovered what the Witch had helped her to do.

Chapter thirty-nine

“Is your Odalik well, my lord?” Thadlia asked.

Aidan had barely stepped out of the elevator at Cormac’s place, making his way through the crowd of waiting Vampires. For the entirety of their descent, Cormac had been prattling away beside him and Aidan hadn’t heard a damned word.

He’d been too busy focusing on Rae moving about above them, too busy thinking about the look on her face as the elevator doors closed. Something that looked too much like an apology.

Your Odalik. His wife. But she was more than that. Something dormant in him had awoken when Rae had returned his magic, something that had roared to life when he’d fed from her. The taste of her still lingered. The feel of her body beneath him, around him. It had settled some primal part of him to have her like that. Only he didn’t. Have her. No matter how much he wanted to claim her, mark her, and all the other absurdly primitive thoughts that had run through his head since she’d left his bed. Despite her hard exterior, her strength, beneath it all,she was afraid. Afraid of… caring too much. Letting others care for her.It’s easier this way, Aidan could almost hear her say.

“She’s up top with the survivors,” Aidan said, not looking in Thadlia’s direction, “as I’m sure you’re well aware.”

He didn’t have time for Thadlia’s antics. Her Provident abilities were strong enough that she’d have felt Rae’s presence when they arrived if she was looking for it. It was enough to remind him he didn’t need to be watching Rae’s every move. Enough to squash out his own echoing thought ofyou know why, as Malik and Karina greeted him.

The memory of how beautiful she’d looked beneath him played on repeat, the way her hair had fanned out around her, her chest heaving, her heart racing beneath his palm. How it had snapped something inside of him, something he should have fucking known sooner.Don’t ask me to stay, she’d said. But he couldn’t let her go. Not without exploring this thing between them. Not without hearing her side; that he suspected she knew.

New faces stood amongst old ones. There had been casualties at the raid, and as Vampires stepped up to introduce themselves, part of him understood why Rae had attempted what she had. Nullifying the Orders’ magic would have certainly prevented years of this bullshit, but a different kind of fight was coming to them now.

Aidan addressed his council, starting with acknowledging their losses during the raid. All of the houses had lost someone. And though he hated his kind, he hoped the faces standing before him had a chance to prove him otherwise.

He’d considered telling them about his heritage, his silver flame, but decided against it. Now was not the time to divide them with his half-breed legacy. Many had respected his uncle, and change took time. Instead, he informed them about Aera’s work with the Liberalist Fae. About Baxter and the hybrids,filling in gaps from what they hadn’t been able to glean from the raid.

“Where did the Thaumas blood come from?” Malik asked.

“We don’t know. Only that they’re going to use it to pull the strings in the city. To stop the flow of resources, to push up prices and make things very difficult for those of us that remain,” Aidan explained. Rae had tried to track Baxter with the ring he’d taken from Silver Star, but she hadn’t been successful. Baelin hadn’t been either.

Questions erupted from the council members, and Aidan answered them all as best he could, even the ones that grated on his last nerve—Vampires and their posturing—but he needed numbers, needed an army, if it came to it.

It was almost dawn when they’d finished. Half the council, the members eager to show their dedication to their new roles, had been pitching ideas, and given the amount of changes in the last few weeks, Aidan had permitted it.

He’d told them all as much as he was willing to share, but of Maddock’s visit, he’d said nothing. Anything that would jeopardise what he’d built with the Royalist Fae wasn’t open for discussion. Anything that would jeopardise Rae’s safety wasn’t either, and it was only a matter of time before Maddock discovered her in Demesia. Before he discovered where she’d been spending her time.

The Royalists had been considering an alliance with the Witches for years, despite Rae’s disappearance, but if word broke out that Maddock had any part in removing Seylan from the throne, it would all grind to a halt. If they knew Aidan’s part in it… he would accept whatever consequences fell upon him. But Rae… if she knew the truth? Whatever fragile thing they held between them would crumble. The thought was like poison settling in his veins.

He reached out for the Witch, expecting to feel her amongst the survivors, but she wasn’t with them.Rae,he called out, brushing Thadlia aside and making his way for the elevator. The Vampire had tried to speak with him all night, but Aidan wasn’t interested.

No answer from Rae.

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