Page 16 of Never Run from an Immortal

Baelin. Where was she before she arrived?

She came here directly from Sysmus according to her PAD data,Baelin replied.

Aidan could count on one hand the number of people he’d permitted to leave his manor with their hearts still beating, and depending on whatever words came out of Lia’s mouth, he’d have to consider shortening that list.

She handed Shaw her coat, dismissing the steward without a word. Aidan didn’t miss that she wore the same red dress she’d had on the first time he’d allowed her to set foot into his manor. That night had been a mistake. He hoped this one wasn’t too.

Quinn growled as she took a step closer.

“Quinn, return to Baelin. Shaw, we’ll be in my study. That’ll be all.”

Shaw bowed and took his leave. Quinn didn’t so much as blink. Baelin’s fucking daemon through and through.

Aidan turned away from the damn dog, leading Lia through another dark mahogany corridor to the room he used as his study. It was big enough to house a small family with sofas large enough to be beds. Lia had certainly put that theory to thetest during her last visit. She ran a finger along the fabric as she passed, the sound like a whisper in the empty room. Aidan didn’t turn to face her, didn’t give her the attention he knew she craved. She was trying to hide her concern but was making a poor attempt of it. Whatever had happened with Sysmus had more than rattled her.

Aidan took his seat at the desk, the old worn leather far too soft to creak anymore underneath his weight, but the wood groaned in protest. He poured two glasses of visk, slid one across the large expanse of his empty desk towards Lia, and downed the other.

She was taking in the room, her eyes roving over the bookcases he’d fucked her against, the sofas, the window seat, all the places they’d continued their exploration of each other. She took her time, turning slowly, running a hand through her glossy black hair where she’d placed it over her shoulder, the ends brushing the plunging neckline of her dress. Her eyes slid to the glass of visk as she sat in the black chair opposite him, her red dress vibrant and bold against it. Her armour.

“You’re going to have to speak the old-fashioned way, Lia.” Because he could feel her futile attempts at trying to reach him, to bypass his mental shields.

She cleared her throat. “I want you to consider usevenafter this. After last night.”

Aidan smirked as he poured himself another glass. Vampires and their traditions. A debt was owed; he’d ensured she was safe from what went down in Rush, and she was so eager to repay it after not even a full night had passed. Not because she was good—no, Lia’s heart was tarnished long ago—but because no Vampire wanted to owe their Lord a favour. “I’ll decide after I hear it.”

“Sysmus called a council meeting.”

“Without me.” Aidan swirled the visk. “That didn’t take him long.” He’d inherited the council along with everything else, and when they weren’t grovelling, they were conspiring to kill him.

“He’s up to something.” A frown. She reached for her visk, fingers tipped in red polish to match her dress pressing against the glass. “Not his usual shit against you. Something else is going on.”

“And you think this—this half of nothing—makes us even?”

Lia swallowed the amber liquid in one, fear licking the air around her for a moment before she pulled it back in. “Some of the members of his family were behaving strangely. It felt—” Aidan waited. “Wrong. I don’t know what he’s doing to them, but it was unnatural.” She frowned at the glass, and still, Aidan waited. “The other council members were on edge too. They all noticed. Something big is happening, but he had an alibi for Rush; he wasn’t involved with the attack.”

“And you believe him?”

Lia raised an eyebrow. And there it was, the reminder of precisely why their night together had been a mistake. The Provident would fuck her way through the entire council if it got her whatever information she sought; Aidan had given her a few snippets just for the fun of letting her mess with the other council members. Let her think she got what she came for, so to speak. But it was clear, now, what she wanted: the protection beinghiswould offer, because no Vampire touched what belonged to their Lord.

Another absurdly outdated tradition, but Aidan wasn’t the kind to share, so it suited him well enough. He’d never met anyone worth announcing as hisOdalik, the term the Vampires used for it, nor had the desire to.

Vampires were petty, jealous, creatures, and mated couples were powerful. Powerful and rare. Some said it was a curse on their Order to have the ability to mate. Others said it wasa blessing. But Vampires loved themselves above all else, and some bitter old sap desired what he couldn’t have and wanted to give himself an edge over his peers. So the concept of Odaliks was born. A chosen partner, but over time, in that antiquated way of all age-old traditions, Vampires began to afford Odaliks a certain amount of respect, until eventually, they were treasured just as much as mates. Treasured, but not as powerful as a mated pair. Not a true substitute for finding one’s mate.

“Just because you were with Sysmus when my club was attacked doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved. You’re not naive enough to believe that.”

“He was afraid.” Lia’s green eyes met his.

The other council members had always underestimated Lia. Aidan knew it was for no reason other than that she was female, but she was more powerful than all of them. She hid it well, because Lia was her father’s daughter through and through. Cunning and ambitious and cruel. Aidan brushed against her mind, waiting for permission to see what she’d seen, out of respect for the night they’d shared together.

She let him in without hesitation, Lia’s memories replaying in Aidan’s thoughts as though they were his own. The moment she and Sysmus were together in the VIP bathroom at Rush, Lia’s boredom as Sysmus thrust into her, the fear that leaked from the other Provident as the explosion rattled the walls. The way the bastard shoved her away from him and cowered behind the sink for safety. How even as a piece of the ceiling came down and trapped Lia in the bathroom, Sysmus took one look at her and fled. The memory cut off at the sight of him fleeing, when Lia lost consciousness.

Aidan rose, his gaze fixed on hers as he rounded the desk. She tilted her head to one side, lips pressing together as she waited. She thought he’d given in.

“If I were to be your Odalik, my lord, I would remain here, at the manor, of course,” she said behind him. Protected. Not that she truly needed protecting, which meant she had another motive. Liaalwayshad another motive, some reason to get herself ahead, to secure an advantage, and it didn’t take a Provident’s abilities to know that she was just trying to use him for her own personal gain.

Shaw, see Thadlia out,Aidan called out to his steward as he reached the door.

She turned at the sound of it opening, a moment of confusion pulsing from her though she kept her features neutral.

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