Page 80 of Never Run from an Immortal

“Baelin.”He reached out to his Ascendant next, cursing whatever it was in Cormac’s basement interfering with the earpieces when no answer came, and ignored the first flare of panic spreading beneath his ribs.Baelin, he tried again, this time with his Provident abilities, pulling his PAD from his pocket as Orion stepped into the elevator beside him.Where is she?he asked his Ascendant.

The climb seemed to take three times longer than usual, every second stretching on for far too long.Rae.Aidan found her—like she was buried under hundreds of wards, but still, he felt her. Below ground. At least a dozen blocks away or more, on the move. Apprehension clawed at him.What are you up to, Witch?

No answer, and then—Trying to fix what’s broken, Vampire, came her reply, so quietly he barely heard it.

The scar over his heart ached, and Aidan tightened his grip on his PAD as he waited for Baelin’s reply.Some things are better left that way,he told Rae.

I can’t locate her,Baelin’s message read.

I’ve found her, Aidan told him.

No reply from Rae, and that kernel of apprehension gave way to uneasiness. To concern. He dragged a hand through his hair, earning him a sideways glance from Orion. The elevator groaned as it slowed. The doors opened and Reed already stood waiting for them, another earpiece in his hands. Aidan took it, giving him and Orion silent, clipped commands to find her, trying to keep a lid on his unease. Dawn was approaching, and he couldn’t risk Orion out in the morning sunlight.

Wherever Rae was, she was already far away, and he didn’t know whether to laugh at her astuteness or tear through the first fucking thing he came into contact with. Her signature felt faint, but then—Aidan paused, reaching for the minds of those around him and feeling a vibration in his magic that had no right being there.

“There are reports of disruption across the city,” Baelin said in his ear as Scarlett caught his eye.

Aidan reached further, to the city beyond, understanding smacking him square in the face when he felt nothing, the realisation that he could have prevented this—could have at least fuckingtried to—slashing through him.

“The roads are gridlocked; it’s chaos out there,” Baelin went on.

Scarlett gave a tight smile, and Aidan knew she was in on it. Wherever Rae was. But—chaos?

“What is? I’ve got a basement full of Vampires waiting to get the fuck out of here, Baelin.” Cormac’s place wasn’t big enough for a garage, and in order not to draw too much attention to the location, the council and their Ascendants’ vehicles were parked halfway across the district.

“Rutoks,” Baelin told him as Aidan stepped out into what remained of the night, hundreds of tiny creatures racing past the doorway. “Every damn rutok kennel has been emptied. They’re all over the city.”

Aidan couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, adding to the hysteria building in his chest. “One lastfuck you.”

“What?”

“Rae,” Aidan murmured, watching the freed animals clambering over cars. He twisted the ring over his thumb as he took in the sight. The Witch had a flair for being creative, and this stunt was no exception. Transport across the entirecity would have ground to a halt. “She’s gone,” he tacked on, a roughness to his voice that hadn’t been there before.

“I don’t—” Baelin stammered, and Aidan knew his Ascendant was searching screens, tapping Rae’s PAD, a dozen different tasks at once.

“The service tunnels,” Aidan said as he made his way to his car, frowning when he realised he couldn’t feel the rutoks scurrying around him, couldn’t feel Orion inside the warehouse, or any of the others. “Isn’t this meant to be your area of expertise?”

“You know damned well there’s too many of them for me to control. Reed can follow you,” Baelin said in his earpiece when he must have heard Aidan’s car door slam shut. The Fae was the only team member who could follow safely.

Aidan’s fingers tightened over the steering wheel as he braced himself for what he should have known was coming, and he was a damned fool for hoping she’d change her mind. A damned fool for not asking her to stay. “She’s gone, Baelin.” It would take all day to get out of the city, and by then she’d be too far away for him to track her. Even now, her signature was weak.

“What are you up to, Rae?” he muttered as three rutoks tumbled over his windscreen.To fix what’s broken, she’d said. Returning to her people? To her position as heir? To her betrothal? The thought had him wanting to snuff out every Vampire in Cormac’s basement just to silence the crescendo building in his head. He stepped out of the car, slamming the door harder than necessary, his heart in his fucking throat. “Baelin, I need a motorbike.”

He took a single step towards the warehouse before a surge of magic hit him, the scar over his chest aching so acutely it stole his breath. He staggered back against the car, the silence in his head louder than anything he’d ever experienced.Rae.Her spell. Just as jarring and unsettling as it had been fifteen years before when her mother had torn his magic from him.

Like a web over the whole city, Rae had said. Aidan’s hand fisted in his shirt at the absence of it, the echo of pain where it should have been as he almost choked at the sensation, one hand reaching out to brace himself against his car. And this time it wasn’t just his Fae magic, his silver flame, but his Provident abilities too. She’d taken all of it. His bones felt hollow and empty, each breath like shards of glass across his lungs.

“What was that?” Baelin asked in his earpiece, his voice laced with pain.

Aidan swallowed down the acid taste coating his tongue. “She’s taken out the entire city.” He shouldn’t have been surprised, but disappointment sliced through him regardless. “Her magic. It’s everywhere,” he murmured. “She’s nullified every Order across Demesia.” So he couldn’t follow her; so she could buy herself time to flee.

Without his Provident abilities, Aidan was blind. She’d caused a disruption big enough to grind the city to a halt without harming a single citizen, freed the damned rutoks at the same time, all so she could evade him. Anger sparked through him, anger and concern all for the damned Witch, and a dozen other things he’d been too fucking stupid to name, twisting in his gut.

But if her spell had also worked on the hybrids, that changed things. Provided Aidan with an opportunity and gave the city an advantage in this war its citizens had no say in becoming a part of. And if there was any chance Rae’s spell could be traced back to her, she’d just put a target on her back. A giant one.

“Fuck,” Aidan breathed, slamming his fist against the roof of his car hard enough to leave a dent as Reed rounded his own vehicle to join him. Had she just removed his ability to shift too? What about those who were in their Fae form when her spell hit?

“Why would she do this?” Reed asked, a hand pressed to his chest. It had affected him too. Affected every gods-damned Order in the city.

---