Page 18

Chapter thirteen

Aidan had been waiting for Rae for thirty minutes.

He considered, not for the first time, getting in his car and driving off without her.

He leaned back against the sleek black bodywork, arms folded across his chest, and his gaze fixed on the carved wooden door at the entrance to the manor.

A beep sounded from inside the vehicle, and Aidan slid his PAD from his suit pocket to read the message.

Two minutes , Rae had written. It had been five minutes, ten minutes ago.

Another beep from inside the vehicle, but Aidan had already returned the device to his pocket and opened the driver’s door to turn off the connection between the car and the PAD.

Another human invention, metal boxes with wheels and engines powered by biofuels grown in their greenhouses, only this one had been adapted by Baelin, and there was nothing else like it in Demesia.

The front door opened behind him, followed by Rae’s quiet murmur of thanks to Shaw and the crunch of footsteps on the pebble driveway, her vanilla perfume already everywhere, even though they were outside.

“No time to fiddle around with your toys, Vale, we’re going to be late,” Rae said disapprovingly as he turned to face her, one eyebrow raised and a quirk at the corner of her mouth.

Fuck. She looked good, and despite what he’d told her the night before, his council members were absolutely going to be a problem with her dressed like that.

Her hair was as white as the snow-tipped mountains on the south edge of the city, waves falling over her shoulders and brushing her chest, bright blue eyes shimmering like rippling water.

She wore a crimson gown that hugged her soft figure, a slit up one thigh, the hem not quite touching the floor.

The neckline scooped low and the straps were so thin, Aidan wasn’t sure how she’d put the thing on without tearing them.

No sign of the heavy kohl she’d worn at Rush, no lipstick, just those long lashes and bright eyes, her face fresh, her rosy skin glowing.

The silver clip sat over her nose, the thumb ring and bangles he’d never seen her without.

All likely spelled. Every detail intentional, no doubt.

She’d asked if she was on the menu, and she’d come dressed as the main fucking course.

Aidan had already fed before he’d changed into his suit, no tie. This might have been a meal on paper, but he had no intention of eating anything, and he never went near his councillors unprepared. It appeared the same rule now applied to Rae.

“I was going for freshly fucked glow-up because I assume there’s some element of can’t touch, can’t have to tonight’s proceedings, based on what you explained last night,” Rae said as her gaze flicked over his suit, one hand readjusting the bangles at her wrist.

Right. When he’d referred to her as his.

A slip of the tongue, but to the other Vampires, that was precisely what being an Odalik meant.

Aidan didn’t linger on the first part of her statement, because he couldn’t entertain those kinds of thoughts if he was going to get his magic back.

Instead, he tested her mental shields as he opened the passenger door, waiting for her to get in.

“So that’s how it’s going to be, is it? Not a peep, just straight into my head because I was a few minutes late?” She eased past him, her body brushing against his, and held his gaze as she pulled the door shut.

A very big part of him wasn’t interested in how she felt, and Aidan hated that just for a second, an even bigger part of him, inexplicably, was. He slid into the driver’s seat and cast her a sideways glance as the engine roared to life. “If I wanted to punish you, we wouldn’t be talking.”

“Ah, so Odaliks are slaves. Wonderful.” She reached for the door handle, but Aidan leaned across her, resting his hand over hers.

“Odaliks are usually other Vampires.” He uncurled her fingers with his, reached for her seatbelt with his other hand, and fastened her in.

“I need to know you can protect yourself against the others; I need you in one piece. If any of them can tamper with your mind, I lose my chance at getting what I want.”

Rae swallowed. His hand was still wrapped around her fingertips, and her skin was warm against his before he remembered himself.

“This evening will go a lot easier if you’ll let me in,” he added, moving back into his seat and resting his hands on the steering wheel.

“No.” The smallest flicker of fear flared from her before she shut it down.

Aidan ignored it. Bringing any weakness to her attention right now would probably have her exiting the car the moment it came to a stop. And at that thought, he locked the doors as the gates to the grounds opened.

“I’m surprised you don’t have a driver,” Rae said beside him, followed by a snap of her fingers. “Actually, I take it back. You’re a control freak. Why would you have a driver?”

He put his foot to the floor, the force of their acceleration throwing Rae back in her seat, a grin spreading across her face that he caught out of the corner of his eye. Aidan pressed down on the accelerator a little harder, fighting a smile.

“I don’t have a driver because I enjoy driving,” he told her.

She was attempting to hide her elation, but it fell from her in waves, pressing against his skin.

Aidan did his best to ignore it. “How did we meet? How long have we been seeing each other? How does a human become an Odalik? All questions we’re going to be asked tonight, and it’s going to be much, much easier if you let me in. ”

A sigh. “Do you let people into your head, Vampire?”

“Only by invitation. I have to initiate contact.”

“Well, that’s not going to work, is it? What if I’m in trouble?” Rae placed a palm over her heart, the back of her other hand against her forehead, her voice light and teasing.

Aidan could compromise. If he couldn’t get into her head without permission, and it pained him to accept he couldn’t—not without shattering her mind; not without tearing every piece of charmed jewellery from her body first—he was confident none of his other Providents could.

He threw the car into a corner without letting off the accelerator, and Rae reached for the handrail above her, her delight spiking higher.

“Fine. It goes both ways. I can live with that,” he admitted.

“You’re only nice when you want something, you know.”

He said nothing but peeled back the smallest sliver of his mind, a space just for Rae.

He knew it was pointless. She wasn’t going to agree, and all he could hope was that the other Providents didn’t notice his real reason for making her his Odalik.

None of them would question his desire for a walking feedbag because that was how most Vampires saw humans, and no doubt the reason Rae hated his kind.

She was watching the city whirl by, and he wondered if it was the first time she’d been in a car.

They were a common sight in Demesia, but only owned by the very wealthy.

Vampires, mostly, in the city, because the roads were better in Demesia than anywhere else in Mazyr, and she didn’t seem like the type to willingly get into a vehicle with one of his kind.

Which meant she truly did need what she’d asked for—money and protection. All for Omnia.

Aidan’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel at the thought.

He’d tasked Baelin and his team with Omnia as a priority, seeking out each member to take them down one by one as soon as he gave the command.

Something told Aidan he was going to need all the leverage he could get with Rae.

All of this had been too easy, but he hadn’t figured out what she wanted yet, or what she truly stood to gain.

She was silent beside him, eyes on the city as it blurred outside the window, the streetlights casting flickering shadows over the exposed skin of her thigh.

She was a means to an end, and there was only one way Aidan could see this ending.

That he had to repeat that thought to himself as the slit of her dress slid higher, he chose to ignore.

Baelin had let the other council members know they were running late, but Aidan already knew as they neared the restaurant, his PAD buzzing relentlessly in his pocket, that it was Lia calling him and considered what he should tell Rae about the other Provident.

Lia would no doubt try to cause a scene. Sysmus too.

Rae had said it was the ISA working with Torrin to carry out their tests, but Aidan didn’t believe it. She hadn’t seemed to, either, and had only let a pulse of disappointment taint the air around her when they’d discussed it briefly earlier.

He pulled up outside Cosia, the soft lights illuminating Rae’s face as she looked out over the docks.

“Pretend we’re into each other, don’t get eaten.

Any other instructions for me?” She adjusted her silver bangles, and he wondered what spells she’d enchanted them with.

They were different from the ones he’d seen her wearing before; most were very fine, some twisting, some were several pieces fused together, all her own creations, and he found himself admiring the artistry of them.

“Don’t take those off,” he said, flicking his chin at her wrist as she reached for the door and the lock flicked up beneath her touch.

“No problem, Vam—Vale.”

“You might actually have to call me by my name tonight.”

Rae made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “Absolutely not. It’ll be our cute couple’s quirk. Farren and Vale. We sound like a bad detective duo.” She clapped her hands together and shot him a smile, eyes sparkling. “You can make up the rest.”

She didn’t wait for his response, she was already leaving the vehicle, and Aidan swore under his breath as he exited the car to join her.