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Baelin shook off his hand and pushed to his feet. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” A flick of his chin. “Quinn.”

The beast didn’t move.

“Traitor. Have it your way.” Baelin winked in Rae’s direction before he turned to Aidan. “Good morning, my lord.” And with that, he left them alone.

Aidan ignored his Ascendant. Ignored Rae and lay down beside the pool on a ledge that jutted out from one of the columns before lighting a joint. Quinn leapt up to sit beside him.

“Would you like me to arrange a lifeguard? Quinn’s a strong swimmer, though I don’t think he can hold his breath for… close to ten minutes, I believe you were down there for.”

Rae’s attention fell to the hand Aidan ran over Quinn’s coat and the tattoos on his forearms where he’d rolled his shirt up to the elbows.

How quickly she’d forgotten he knew her every movement in this house.

Her every breath. But Rae wouldn’t let him latch on to any emotions, tucking everything away as carefully as she could.

Even now, with the small space she’d allowed for him in her mind, it was like she could feel him everywhere.

In every breath that passed through her lungs, in every push of her hand against the water surrounding her.

He’d been kind to her earlier, but she wouldn’t let that cloud her judgement, not when he needed something from her.

“Quinn’s his daemon?” she asked, dismissing his question.

Rae knew a little about the Elymas Vampires, but Baelin was the first she’d met, rare as they were.

Which made Quinn her first daemon. He seemed to spend more time with anyone other than Baelin, from what she’d observed since meeting him.

A hum of agreement from Aidan.

“Anything I should know?” Rae floated on her back, mimicking Aidan’s position, wishing she could have a drag on his joint because her swim certainly hadn’t been the quiet escape she’d hoped it would be.

“Other than the fact that he and the dog are basically one mind at this point? No.”

That answered every other question she’d had.

Rae still preferred to hold onto her adorable bodyguard story.

For now. She swam closer, settled onto the underwater bench that lined the edge of the pool, and reached out a hand for the joint.

“Do you always have a joint or a glass of visk in your hand?”

Aidan didn’t look down, just lowered the hand with the joint for her. He hadn’t been lying when he said he could feel her then.

“You file metal at all hours of the day and night, make scratches with lead onto parchment. I have this.”

“Valid,” Rae said on an exhale. Rae had both those things too. Had whatever she could get her hands on in an attempt to silence the noise in her head.

Another hum.

She passed the joint back up to him. “You ate the food earlier.”

Silence.

“The human food.”

A rumble of laughter, and Aidan pushed himself to a seated position to glance down at her. “That’s the part of the evening you want to discuss with me, Farren? What food I ate?”

She leaned her head back against the edge of the pool and closed her eyes, her body finally beginning to relax. “It was good food.”

“Weed and visk because it gives me some peace and quiet. Human food because I wanted to show the council members that you’re my equal in all things. I need them to believe this is real.”

Rae opened one eye to glance up at him. Real .

He rested a hand on one knee, staring at what remained of the joint in his hands.

A few strands of hair had fallen loose from the knot he’d fastened at the back of his head, and she tracked the way his throat bobbed when he swallowed, the way he ran his tongue over his lower lip, the way he dragged it between his teeth.

For a moment she wondered what it would be like inside his head, what it would be like if she could hear everyone’s thoughts. Her own were torturous enough.

She considered whether she could give him what he wanted and still get what she needed in return.

Unlikely. There were glimpses here and there of who Rae suspected he might be beyond all of the lord bullshit.

It didn’t matter. Wouldn’t matter when all of this was over.

He’d proved his arrogance when he’d let her into his home without so much as a second thought, and Rae clung to that as she said, “I’ll need some things. To pinpoint your magic.”

“Done. Are we going to discuss why you’re really here?

” He was looking at her now, studying her just as she’d been studying him, his silver eyes bright in the darkness of the natatorium, the first few rays of sunlight casting him deeper into shadow, but he didn’t seem concerned with the encroaching light.

Rae said nothing. Her need to find Nim was as great as her need for everything else, and it would only be another weakness for him to exploit later. To exploit her .

“Or what that was earlier?” He angled his head to one side, and she felt the press of his Provident abilities—gentle, as if he were on one side of a door asking permission to come in.

He knew. He had to know. And Rae was almost glad. She was so tired of running. But she kept the door firmly closed regardless.

“I’ve had a room set up for you down the hall from your bedroom,” he told her when she said nothing. “It’s missing a polishing machine, but I’ve arranged for one to be delivered in a few hours. Soundproofed so you don’t have to tiptoe around.”

Rae had to look away from him then; considered telling him about Zeke’s data.

When her own team couldn’t access it, she’d given a partial copy to Bax and was willing to give him the day to see what he could come up with.

They needed answers, and with how many were going missing, they were running out of time.

She didn’t voice any of that; instead, she pulled herself out of the water to get some air.

Aidan’s hand wrapped around her wrist immediately.

The weed hit her as she tracked the movement, the way his biceps strained against his shirt, the way his gaze turned predatory as it swept over her body, her wet underwear, and thoughts of other ways to silence the noise ran riot in her head.

“I told you not to take the bracelets off. Even here.” He’d moved so quickly, his body towering over hers.

“I can’t guarantee your safety.” His canines were just visible, and though Rae couldn’t help the way her tongue darted over her lips at the sight, she decided fucking with him could be enough for tonight.

“From you?” She chuckled quietly, her skin pebbling where he turned her wrist, his hand sliding up her arm to her elbow.

“What was it you said? If you wanted to punish me, we wouldn’t be talking.

” Rae took a step closer, tilting her chin up to look at him.

His scent and his warmth enveloped her, her attention darting between his eyes and those perilously sharp teeth, the sight sending a shiver of anticipation down her spine.

She was seriously fucked in the head. “I’m starting to think you’re all bark and no bite, Vale,” she murmured.

His eyes blazed as he watched her. “The water tarnishes the silver.”

“Then let it tarnish them,” he said, a roughness to his voice that hadn’t been there before, his thumb swiping once over her pebbled flesh.

It was an effort to tug her arm away from his grip with a shrug, but not because of his hold. “No harm will come to me here because you need me.”

“And what is it that you need, exactly?” He watched her every movement, unabashedly taking her in, his eyes molten and her mouth drying at his expression, the knowledge that she had that effect on him only heightening her earlier thoughts.

Rae stepped around him, trailing her fingers along his chest. Unable to help herself, she pulled a little of Aidan’s power, just enough to cover the bone-deep exhaustion she felt, the feel of him in her veins setting her heart racing. “I told you. I need your money. Your protection.”

“For Omnia.” His canines had extended fully now, and Rae knew she was pushing her luck, that there was no chance in Hel he hadn’t noticed what she’d just done.

It didn’t stop her from wanting to run her tongue over those canines to see what he’d do, wanting to—A nod. “For Omnia.”

“To do what?”

But Rae had already started walking away. Fucking with him was fun.

I can press harder, Farren, he said in the space she’d allowed just for him.

Be my guest, Vale. “Pulp your only shot at getting your magic back,” she told him without looking back, though she could feel his eyes on her. I’m going to get breakfast. Looks like you need some too.

Water splashed as she made her way out of the natatorium, but Rae didn’t look back, not even when the water stilled and she knew Aidan was still watching her.