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Chapter twenty-eight

Is this the part where I pretend to be awed by your command of the council? Rae leaned back against a table despite the sofa beside her, the words sharp but her fingers digging into the wood.

This room was primarily for feeding, but Aidan wasn’t about to tell Rae that, though he felt certain she’d have already figured it out.

The furnishings were just as lavish as the ones beyond it, the lighting just as soft.

And if verbal sparring was what she needed, he would give it to her.

He didn’t answer her question. You want me to ask you about Baxter?

Her gaze had fallen back to the floor, her fear pulsing, pressing against his skin.

Aidan closed the distance between them, fingers resting under her chin to tilt her head up to face him.

He could try to force her to feel calm with his abilities, but knowing Rae, she’d fight it.

Spit at him for the invasion. Tell me , he told her, his thumb rubbing lightly against her cheek.

Rae brought her hand over his scar again, magic pulsing between them before her palm rested there, as if she needed the touch to ground her. The soft light made her skin glow, the folds of her dress shimmering like she was a fallen star.

The break in. I think he was looking for the stolen vials. She swallowed. I gave him the data. Before I gave it to you and Bae.

An unfamiliar feeling curled through Aidan at her admission, but he ignored it. I wouldn’t have trusted me either , he told her, the smile tugging at his mouth belying what he felt. It was a smart move, he would concede to that. He could have simply asked for the vials. He’s your—

My nothing. A one-time fuck. Her fear was diminishing, giving way to something else equally as intense.

Good. He would take her anger over her fear in a basement full of Vampires.

He came into the studio with me, and I was too focused on Nim to think anything of it, but he lifted my rolling mill like it was nothing.

He’s human, Vale, he shouldn’t have been able to do that.

Aidan’s hand still cupped her face, hers still rested against his chest. He ignored the flicker of relief he felt at her admission, searching her eyes as he asked, He’s a hybrid?

I think he might be. He asked me to leave with him that day. To leave you, even though he knew—

This isn’t real? It was just as much to remind himself as it was a question.

A dip of Rae’s chin, and Aidan let his hand fall from her face. Reached into his jacket for his PAD and brought up the messages Baelin had forwarded him.

For a moment, he’d let himself lose sight of why they were both in this predicament. You wanted us to see these. Why? Irritation bolstered the thought, and he knew she’d have felt it.

I want Bae to track him. Rae held the PAD in both hands, her brow pinching together as she read the messages for the first time, the ones that had arrived this evening.

The glow of the screen lit up her features, the soft swell of her lips, the bar resting across the bridge of her nose.

She handed back the PAD. Silver prices have been going crazy the last few months.

At first, I thought it had to do with the Liberalists stationed at the border.

But you mentioned Daire stopped the bullets.

The hybrid. I think they’re using the silver, I think it’s related to the testing.

And I think Bax has been part of it from the beginning.

Anger tinged with a hint of disappointment rippled over her, both aimed at herself. She rested a hand over the silver chains at her chest, and Aidan tracked the movement.

Baxter knew you’d been struggling to buy silver? he asked her. The silver shortages, the hybrid’s Thaumas abilities, it could all have been part of Torrin’s ploy to amass wealth and power. To govern the city. Take control.

A nod. He placed large orders for Aera regularly. I didn’t think—

That it was Aera all along? Aidan took a step into her and eased her hand out of the way to inspect the silver chains, to take in the intricacy of her work, of the way it settled against her skin.

Gades confirmed it. Baelin’s already looking for Tripp.

He traced each chain with a finger, between her breasts, lower, caught the way her thighs squeezed together and her breath hitched.

Once hadn’t been enough, and he knew she felt the same way, could hear the way her heart raced beneath his fingertips.

It’s Bax he needs to look for. I think Tripp answers to Bax, not the other way around. More anger flared from her, only this time it wasn’t twisted with disappointment, but something else. Something he wanted to elicit more of from her.

Does he know Omnia’s yours? His other hand came to her waist, knuckles grazing over the bare skin at her back, and Rae leaned into his touch.

He thinks I’m a cadet.

He underestimated you. Both of Aidan’s arms wrapped around her, lifting her onto the table.

Mmhmm, came her reply, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. I’m sensing a pattern here in my life choices.

He knew what she’d meant. Tried to mean. That this was nothing. Another one-time thing. But Aidan saw the rise and fall of her chest, the way her nipples had hardened beneath her dress. The scent of her arousal filled his lungs, and he willed his canines not to extend at the taste of it.

A glass shattered on the other side of the door, followed by laughter from several voices, and Rae stilled in his arms as if she’d remembered where they were. Where she was.

Better they mistake your fear for excitement, he told her.

That was enough to snap her out of it. It’s a wonder your head stays on your shoulders, my lord.

It was selfish, he knew. To want her, but he couldn’t help himself. He brought a hand to her thigh and eased her dress higher. They know you’re a weakness to be exploited , he began, but she shook him off, her hand clamping over his wrist.

Aidan’s eyes flicked up to meet hers. I didn’t mean you are weak. I meant it would be a weakness of mine.

Giving a shit about something isn’t weakness. Her words were clipped in his thoughts, but she’d released his hand where it still rested on her thigh.

I think we both know this goes beyond me simply giving a shit.

His other hand wrapped in her hair, exposing her neck to him, his nose grazing her skin up to her jaw.

He knew it was more, much more, and the thought both terrified and thrilled him all at once.

Possessiveness surged in his chest, the memory of how fucking beautifully she’d come on his cock earlier etched into his memory.

He wanted to bury his tongue inside her, sink his teeth into her soft flesh and take from her vein.

To have all of her as she unravelled around him.

“You assume too much,” Rae whispered, her breath hot against his lips, her heart hammering in her chest.

Tell me I’m wrong. He searched her face, but there was no fear in her expression, no hesitation. Tell me to leave. Tell me you don’t want this.

Her gaze remained on his mouth, her lips almost brushing his. Touch me.

Aidan kissed her roughly, readjusted her so she was sat at the very edge of the table, and got down on his knees. He held Rae’s gaze as he lifted one leg over his shoulder, then the other, his hands running up her thighs, exploring slowly, exposing her to him fully.

He’d have liked to take his time. To have her writhing and unravelling beneath him, skin against skin.

But that wasn’t what she wanted. What she needed.

She’d said earlier that the sex changed nothing between them, but he’d felt the vulnerability in those words just as acutely as he’d felt every one of her gasps and moans.

Here? he asked her. He licked the skin of her thigh, and she fisted a hand in his hair. Aidan chuckled at her silent request, more than happy to oblige. With a rough tug, he yanked her onto his face, a yelp escaping Rae as his tongue slid home.

A groan escaped him at that first taste of her, his tongue dragging from the apex of her thighs to her opening, lapping into her and back up again.

A string of noises escaped Rae as she grabbed his hair tighter, rocking her hips against his face and Aidan smiled darkly into her flesh.

She tasted fucking divine, and the urge to feed on her was almost overwhelming.

When his teeth had fully extended, he didn’t trust himself to keep fucking her with his tongue, so he replaced it with two fingers instead, pumping in and out of her as he licked and teased at her bundle of nerves, working her faster and faster until she whispered his name.

Aidan couldn’t resist his tongue sliding into her again, needing to taste her as she came apart around him, his thumb replacing his tongue as she shook against his face, his free hand gripping the curve of her ass.

He licked her until her shaking eased, his cock thickening at the way she rasped his name again into the quiet of the room.

When her breaths slowed, he slid Rae’s legs from his shoulders, adjusted her dress, and helped her shuffle back onto the table. She raised an eyebrow at the way he strained against his trousers and watched as he adjusted himself, his eyes on hers the whole time.

Rae didn’t say anything, her cheeks flushed, her chest rising and falling, but it didn’t matter. There was no fear left now, only lust. Her gaze fell to his mouth as he licked the taste of her from his lips, her eyes widening for a moment as if she’d just noticed his canines.

Aidan held out a hand to his Odalik. Let’s go.

She hesitated for only a moment before resting her hand in his.

No one would question their absence. These rooms would have been used for fucking just as much as they were for feeding, and the expectation was that the Vampire Lord partook in both.

The adrenaline that came from fear could easily be mistaken for excitement, and Aidan hoped anyone who’d noticed Rae’s absence before his arrival hadn’t been paying close enough attention to notice the difference.

“I need to make a pit stop,” she told him quietly, pulling something from her hair as Aidan paused by the door. Cormac’s ring. He’s wearing a dud, she explained. I needed to check what modifications had been made.

Aidan laughed under his breath. Should I be checking my pockets too? He waited until the ring was folded away in her hand before tugging her with him through the door.

Magic is like a web, remember , Rae explained as they wove through the crowd, heads turning their way as they went.

You certainly know how to dent my pride, Farren.

But her fear was still firmly replaced with her lust, and possessiveness flared in him again with the knowledge that every Vampire surrounding them knew it.

Rae shot him a glance, a wide smile stretched across her mouth. “Afraid I’m going to upstage you, my lord?” she murmured.

The only thing Aidan felt certain of was how much he wanted to get her back to the manor and out of her dress. Keep running your mouth, Witch, he told her, letting his Provident abilities caress the skin between her breasts.

She sucked in a breath. “Cheat.”

They passed Thadlia, the female’s eyes fixed on the way Aidan pressed Rae to his body, hands entwined where his arm encircled her waist, but he knew the other Provident wouldn’t make a scene here.

Cormac found them first, Rae thanking him for the human food and complimenting him on the interior decoration.

It was the only time Aidan released her hand, so she could hold Cormac’s with both.

Aidan let a little of his Provident abilities wash over the Vampire, not that he doubted any of Rae’s skills.

More Vampires tried to catch their attention as they left, but Aidan wasn’t interested. Orion walked on the other side of Rae as they returned to the elevator, only stepping back once the doors closed. She stepped out of Aidan’s hold as if she’d realised she no longer needed it.

I’m sorry for taking you down there, he told her.

Rae kept her attention fixed on the doors as they ascended. The last thing I want from you is your pity, Vale.

He studied her face. What do you want from me?

“How long do we have?” she asked, tilting her face up to meet his, all traces of heat long gone from her eyes, anger simmering beneath the surface once more. How long until the coordinated attack on the facilities, the entire reason for their visit to Cormac’s residence.

“A week.”

The elevator completed its ascent, and the doors opened to the remainder of First Unit waiting to escort them from the warehouse back to their vehicle.

“I’ll get your magic back to you and be out of your life in a week then, as soon as I’ve got Nim somewhere safe,” Rae said as she slid into the passenger side of his car, fastening her seatbelt.

“Farren.” Aidan fired up the engine. Nim likely didn’t have a week, if she wasn’t dead already.

“Don’t say it. She’s out there.”

They drove in silence for a moment as he cast a wide net with his abilities, making sure no surprises awaited them. “Cormac was given a list. We’re all on it. Me, Baelin, every one of my units.”

He felt Rae’s eyes on him. “You’re worried,” the Witch said.

Aidan swallowed. “Baelin is…” More than his Ascendant. Baelin was like a brother. “Very few Elymas remain.”

More anger rolled from her. “Those Fae fuckers. You’re all as hot-headed as each other.”

“It’s only the Liberalist Fae, Farren, I know you’re not naive enough to believe it’s all of them. The Royalists aren’t like their counterparts.”

“Aren’t they? They were willing to let their prince marry a young girl he’d never met. How is that any better?”

Aidan couldn’t answer that. He’d fallen out with Elred, the Fae king, over it. Had damn near fallen out with Casius over it too, but he’d never shared that information with anyone, and he’d already told Rae more than even Baelin knew.

“One week,” Rae breathed, a heaviness to the words Aidan felt in the very centre of the scar over his chest.

One week to find Nim. One week until he got his magic back. And one week until Rae was out of his life. Aidan let her anger settle into his bones as they returned to the manor in silence.