Page 8 of Never Run from an Immortal

“What’s in it for you?” he asked, because no one did anything for free in Demesia. Particularly not cocky little humans with an arsenal of spells and a vendetta against his kind.

“Two for two,” she said with a shrug. “There’s a target on my back now. I’ll need your money, your resources. Your”—anotherwave of her hand—“this.” She gestured to his body, her face impassive. “Your protection. To get me places I can’t.”

“Places?”

She raised a finger to silence him. “You said it yourself. Knowledge is power. We both want to get to the bottom of this. I stand to lose as much as you do.” She said it like she wasn’t one of thousands of humans in Demesia and he wasn’t the Vampire Lord. Like she gave zero fucks about either of those things. Aidan didn’t doubt it.

“And I’ll throw in a freebie,” the human went on, “because I’m feeling generous. I’ll keep your secret. About your Gerentis abilities. Or whatever the fuck it is you’re missing that you’ve kept from everyone.”

It didn’t matter what she knew. The minute he got his Provident abilities back, Aidan was going to drain every last drop of crimson coursing through her veins, then melt her fucking brain and be done with her, as he should have done the moment he saw her open that locked door back in Rush.

“We’ll shake on it once I’ve freed you, but a Vampire’s word is his vow, right?” Rae folded her arms, waiting. A Vampire’s wordwasbinding, but a Provident’s went far deeper than a vow. Even with whatever the Fae had done to him to send his Provident abilities to sleep, their agreement would settle into his skin, his bones, until it was done. If only she’d worded her arrangement better.

“We have an agreement, Farren,” Aidan said with a dip of his chin.

Rae angled her head as if she were still making her decision. Whatever it was, she turned away from him, striding to a corner he couldn’t see beyond.

“Where are you going?” he murmured, rattling his chains with irritation.

“To get you a snack,” Rae huffed.

“What? You just said—”

“Oh, Vale.” She spun around to look at him, one hand on her hip. “You’re pretty but you’re not very smart, are you? Be a good little Vampire and pretend you’re still”—another hand waved in his direction—“delirious. Asleep. Just don’t fuck this up.”

And with that, she was gone around the corner where he couldn’t see, but could hear every one of her quiet steps, her controlled breathing. She was resourceful, he’d give her that.

He listened to her talking to the guard. Flattering him. Seducing him. Rae wasted no time on pleasantries. The guard was human, and she had him wrapped around her little finger within moments.

Aidan smiled as metal whined against metal, the door to their cell creaking open. Fast breaths filled the air, followed by Rae murmuring to the guard through puffs of laughter. He let his head swing to his chest, eyes almost closed.

“Fuck me against the Vampire Lord,” she said on another rush of air. “Then you can tell all your friends how limp his dick was before you killed him.”

This. Fucking. Human.

Their footsteps rounded the corner, the guard’s wet kisses and grunts of approval coming closer. A soft body stepped back against Aidan’s, Rae’s round ass grinding into him. Her hair brushed his chin, and as the guard kissed her neck, she arched back further, looking up into Aidan’s eyes and winking at him.

Rae held his gaze, her fingers digging into the guard’s hair, the human’s head travelling lower. She moaned as the guard pawed at her breast, an over-exaggerated sound that almost had Aidan shaking his head at her theatrics. Rae pressed her body flush against his, not an inch of space between them, as if she knew how hard he’d be fighting the desire to drain her first, and at last, his canines elongated to their full length.

Before he’d even finished the thought, Rae’s body was gone, spinning the guard around and shoving the human into Aidan’s chest as if it were all part of the desire addled moment.

He didn’t hesitate. His gaze never left hers as he slammed his teeth into the guard’s neck, and she pressed an arm against the man’s torso to keep the human in place. The taste of ash coated Aidan’s tongue, the warm blood sliding down his throat, replenishing him. It didn’t matter how much he tried to recall how it had once tasted, the smoky, bitter taste was all that remained.

“Vile,” Rae said, shoving the drained guard to the floor and stepping over him. Aidan wasn’t sure who the comment was aimed at, but he didn’t care. She leaned up, hands reaching up to his cuffs, her chest pressed against his, close enough to share a breath, close enough that he could smell the guard’s scent mingled with hers. “Play nice,” she whispered, her eyes darting to his blood-soaked mouth and back up again.

He watched her as she murmured her spell, watched the way her heartbeat pulsed in her neck, and his cock twitched against his trousers. He despised humans, and though fucking and feeding was instinct to any hot-blooded Vampire, Aidan had far more command over his baser desires than most of his kind. But he was a hot-blooded male, and he was wounded, and he couldn’t fight his body’s instinct to heal itself.

Rae’s eyes flicked down to where their bodies pressed together, the corner of her mouth tugging upwards. “Easy there, tiger. You want your magic back, don’t you?” The chains clicked open, and Rae stepped aside as Aidan staggered forwards.

She was rummaging through the guard’s pockets, humming when she pulled out a ring of keys. “Asshole locked us in together.”

“Seems to me like you have very little use for keys.”

“I’m not an all-powerful Provident, Vale. There’s a limit to my abilities, and if you want yours back, we need to preserve mine. You follow?”

If it wasn’t so fucking grating, it would have been refreshing how she spoke to him like no one else had dared to for decades. Except for maybe Baelin, who would have most likely been losing his mind right now over the hours of silence.

Aidan took the keys from her, flicking his chin at the corpse between them. “If you found that unsettling, I suggest you look the other way until we’re out of here.”

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