Page 42 of Never Run from an Immortal

Vale. Top drawer by the door.

I don’t need to know where you keep your vibrator, Farren.

Just open it. There’s a data module. If you find anything—

Aidan had already found the module. He tucked it into his pocket with a glance back in the direction of the shower.You’ll be the first to know.

Chapter twenty-one

Rae had been running her whole life. Though what she’d told Aidan had been the truth. Humans recruited into the factions were taught to never run from an immortal, to never draw their attention. The past week had been evidence enough of all the reasons why that was such a monumentally bad idea.

And it had been the truth when she’d told him humans were the only ones who’d accepted her. Then Nim had come along to her shop, looking for a job, and Rae had known at once she was a Witch. Had always had a gift for sensing it.

Maybe it was because she’d been missing her own family; maybe it was because Cillian hadn’t long been buried, but the sight of Nim’s awed face at the pieces that had been spread out across Rae’s bench and the elation she’d made no attempt at hiding had been enough to remove thehelp wantedsign from the window.

There were barely any Witches in Demesia now. It was partly why she’d always been so protective of Nim. But more thanthat, Nim had become the sister she’d never had, and in many ways, the Witch had reminded Rae of her little brother, Seylan. Though he wouldn’t be little anymore.

The lights of the city blurred into one as they drove past, a different vehicle from usual, but still, Aidan drove. This one was larger, in the same style his First Unit used, two of their vehicles in front, two behind. They were on their way to one of the five testing facilities pulled from Zeke’s data, and for the first time in her life, Rae had been glad for the presence of so many Vampires. She wouldn’t send any members of Omnia into what would be almost certain slaughter; they were better suited to picking off Vampires one by one, as they had been since the faction’s inception.

Rae didn’t work Omnia the way the other factions did; her recruits wouldn’t recognise each other if they passed in the street. It was safer that way. Most never dealt with her directly either or never knew she existed. Like Bax, many thought she was simply a cadet, and even Nim believed they made the jewellery for all the factions equally.

Aidan had said nothing since leaving the manor. Reed was still there somewhere, Rae had been told by Orion, the Vampire who led Aidan’s First Unit. Though she hadn’t been able to speak with the shifter yet, and something told her that was intentional on Aidan’s part. He was keeping something from her, and she’d need to find a way to keep him busy if she was going to get some answers.

She tightened the holster at her thigh, her shirt scraping against her sutures with the movement. She thought about the way Aidan had stitched her up the night before. How she’d wanted to tug him into the shower with her, just for one very sex-deprived moment. How she’d touched herself thinking about him, hoping to chase away the stupid fucking thought with an orgasm instead. It hadn’t worked.

“What are you thinking about?” Aidan asked, snapping her out of her fantasy. His grip seemed to tighten on the steering wheel, long fingers curling around the leather.

Fuck, Rae. Get your shit together,she told herself.“Doesn’t that get annoying?”

“What?”

She turned her attention to him, but he kept his fixed on the road. “Knowing what everyone is thinking and feeling.”

“Not with you. You’ve got me locked out tight.”

“Hmm.” Not tight enough, it would seem, because of that knowing smirk he’d shot her. Asshole.

Her PAD buzzed, and Rae swiped down on a message from Baelin.

Schematics, the message read, followed by a blueprint of the facility.Is he still being a dick?

Rae huffed a quiet laugh before she shot a message back.Always.And then, because she couldn’t help herself,Why do you stay?

Baelin had stopped in to check on her not long before they’d left, Quinn at his side. To check she wasn’t about to try and flee, Rae suspected. He said he hadn’t spoken with Reed, and though Rae believed him, there had been something off about the Vampire, something that weighed on him.

He’d asked about her injuries. Rae had told him Aidan had patched her up and about how much of an asshole he’d been about her meeting Reed alone. The Ascendant had thrown his head back and laughed at that.

Dots appeared on the screen of her PAD as if Baelin was typing, and then stopped.

“What’s up with Baelin tonight?” Rae asked, concern surfacing before she shoved it down. He is not your friend, she reminded herself. Tried to remind herself of all the ways Vampires had treated humans as their blood bags, treated the other Orders asbeneath them for years, that the Vampire beside her was the one with the power to change all of that.

Aidan shot her a glance. “It’s a difficult night for him. To say any more than that would be… unfair to Baelin.”

Rae studied him, wondering if everything she’d ever heard about him had been a lie. Vampires chose their Ascendants for their loyalty. For their strength. Because they were deemed the most worthy of holding things together for their family. But in the short time since knowing both of them, Rae sensed it was more than that. Some sort of bond that preceded Baelin being Aidan’s Ascendant, something that had brought them together in their past. She’d thought Baelin reminded her of Seylan when they’d met, but she realised now that perhaps Aidan saw him as a brother too.

He’s good, Rae, came Baelin’s belated reply.Better than any of them.

It wasn’t a threat. It wasn’t an endorsement of his skills. It was one friend, vouching for another, and something about the simplicity of that sent a knot of guilt to lodge in her throat. Rae coughed it away. She couldn’t afford to feel anything for any of them.

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