“You’d do no such thing.”

“Wouldn’t I?”

* * *

I quickly got dressed, not caring what I threw on. The only thing I was worried about was Dorian being alone with Aiden. I slipped out of the bedroom and headed down the hallway. Aiden, Lauren and Dorian were standing in the living room and their eyes found my face when I entered. I walked over to them, my eyes landing on each of their faces. Lauren had her arms crossed, her hip cocked with a bored look on her face. Aiden’s hair was brushed back, his eyes wild as he stared at me. His hands were fisted at his side, and Dorian was standing as confident as ever, a smirk on his lips.

“What’s going on? Why are you guys here?”

“I need to speak to you,” Aiden said through clenched teeth. “Alone.” He glared at Dorian. Uh-oh, what had I missed? Dorian had obviously said something snarky and Aiden was fighting to remain under control.

“Okay,” I said in bewilderment.

“Like hell,” Dorian replied, reaching for my arm.

“Dorian, it’s okay.”

After a short internal debate, he let go of my arm, and Aiden and I headed down the hallway to an empty bedroom. I couldn’t take Aiden in the room Dorian and I had just been in for many reasons. I made sure to close the door so Dorian wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop on our conversation.

“How’d you find me?” I stood with my arms crossed.

“Lauren told me you guys just up and disappeared. I needed to know you were okay. The bond directed me to you.” He walked toward me, his hands reaching out before they dropped and he walked away. “You have to know I didn’t have anything to do with what happened at my club.”

“What exactly did happen?”

Aiden had made mistakes, but I still trusted him enough to believe him on this. If there was one group of people he hated, it was the VC. Murdering a person’s family didn’t earn them brownie points.

“I honestly don’t know,” Aiden said with confusion. “But I do know they’re up to something.” He walked over to me, stopping when only mere millimeters separated us. With soft fingertips, he caressed the side of my face. “I’m leaving, Gwen.”

“You just got here.”

“I’m leaving the country,” Aiden clarified. “Traveling for a while. Whatever the VC is planning, I’m part of it. I won’t allow them to use our bond to their advantage.”

I know I had just been getting frisky with Dorian, but hearing that Aiden was leaving hurt a little. For all the obstacles that had been thrown in our path, I still cared about him.

“How is moving out of the country going to help? We just need to find a way to break the bond.”

Aiden’s picked up a strand of my hair, rubbing it through his fingers before leaning forward and taking a deep breath. I didn’t comment how strange that was.

“Blood bonds are tricky, Gwen. Remember when we were trying to find a way to break the one between you and Ian?”

I nodded.

“The only answer I found was that the offending vampire has to bestow the bond on someone else. And there is no one else in this world I want to be linked to. Of course there’s always death…”

My eyes widened. “I’m not killing you.”

“That’s good to hear.” Aiden smiled. “Gwen…”

“What is it?”

Aiden took a deep breath, stepping away from me. “There’s a reason why I placed Lauren as your guard,” he paused. “It’s not a myth.”

“What isn’t a myth?” I knew the answer but needed to hear him say it.

“Hybrids. They’re rare, but not impossible to create. Lauren’s father is an incubus and her mother was human. She was able to accept the vampire virus. That’s why men seem to eat right out of her hand.”

I didn’t hear anything after Aiden admitted to hybrids existing. “But…you and her…for years,” I mumbled. “And you’re just now telling me?”

“Yes I’ve known her for years, but I didn’t know,” Aiden admitted. “She asked me about us, and once she heard our story she confessed to what she was. This is why I’m leaving. I’m afraid Aaron commanded me to bite you so we would bond and in return he’d own a piece of you too.”

I stumbled over to the bed, sitting as I zoned out. “I thought you sired Lauren? How would you not know she was part succubus?”

“No, Lauren’s sire is a vampire from Maine. I met Lauren fifteen or so years ago, but she never mentioned her mixed heritage.”

“Okay,” I said, mentally sorting through all the information. “And the reason Aaron ordered you to drink from me is because…?”

“He’s my sire,” Aiden said and I nodded. “He can command me to do anything he wants. With us bonded there is no place in the world you could hide from me. Aaron knows you’d never share blood with him. So, through me he controls you too. If he wanted to, he could order me turn you. If the transition was successful I’d be your sire. Do you understand now?”

I nodded again, all the pieces falling into place. “You would be my sire but since Aaron is your sire he could order you to make me do whatever he wanted.”

“Yes, now you know why I have to leave?”

“How does Aaron know hybrids are doable, and do you have proof that Lauren is one? She could be lying.”

Aiden knelt down in front of me, clasping my hands and staring up into my eyes. “Aaron doesn’t need to know if hybrids are achievable. His curiosity is peeked and he’ll try just to see if it’s capable. If you die turning the blood exchange he’ll consider it a lost cause.”

I could see the pain in Aiden’s eyes. I couldn’t imagine someone using me to kill someone I loved. The only way he could make sure that didn’t happen was to run away. I knew Aiden well enough to know that he would race all over the globe just to make sure the VC never found him.

“And I did a background check on Lauren after she told me her story. There’s no record of her father. It’s not concrete proof, but I’ve felt her influence. I would have begged at her feet had she asked me to.”

I frowned, imagining Aiden worshiping vampire Barbie. Then another piece of the puzzle fell into place. Dorian had been almost enamored with her when they first met and since the only person I had ever seen Dorian enamored with was himself, something was definitely odd about Lauren.

“Do you think he’s the one who sent the rogues?”

Aiden shook his head. “No, he doesn’t want you dead before he experiments with his theory. That one has Holly written all over it.”

“I don’t understand the hype with hybrids,” I said with frustration. “So what if another supernatural can accept the vampire virus?”

“Vampires live long lives based on those who either fear them or are loyal to them. Being a sire to a hybrid gives that vampire control of the hybrid’s power. If the VC knew about Lauren, they would want her just as much as they want you. She could make their enemies do whatever she wanted.”

“What if I was the one to run? The only thing I have is my shop, and the people in Flora are starting to hate me. I don’t have anything tying me to Flora like you do. What are you going to do with Vain?”

Aiden sat on the bed next to me. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “If you ran the VC would just use me to track you down. It has to be me who leaves. If they can’t find me, then they can’t force me to turn you. As for Vain,” he shrugged. “I’m putting Zane in charge of it.”

We sat in silence, both lost in our thoughts. Finally anger overwhelmed any confusion or fear I felt. Standing, I crossed my arms and said, “We have to kill them.”

Aiden looked as though I had just shoved a stake through his heart. “They’re the original vampires, Gwen. We cannot kill them.”

“Every vampire can be killed,” I reminded him. “They’re not immortal like Dorian.”

“Gwen,” Aiden said, standing and grasping my shoulders, “no one has ever gone against the VC and lived to tell the tale. They’re centuries old. Their veins run with the old ones’ blood, demonic vampire blood, Gwen. They cannot be killed. Promise me you won’t try.” When I didn’t say anything Aiden shook me a little. “Promise me,” he demanded.

“Fine, but your runaway act isn’t going to save my life. If they want to try and change me into a hybrid, they can just get another one of their children to do it. Hell, if they really wanted to control my power they would just kidnap me and change me themselves.”

Aiden released my shoulders. “They very well could. What I’ve told you is just my theory of why they wanted us bonded.”

“How did everything get so screwed up?” I said more to myself than to Aiden.

“I wish I could take all of your burdens away, my Gwen. The best I can do is take myself out of the equation. Unless…”

I had been staring at the floor, but looked up at him. “Unless what?”

“What if you left with me? We could travel the world and no one could touch us.”

While in Moon, Aiden had asked me to run away with him and I’d foolishly said no. The witches needed my help and I had given it. Now, the only people who needed me wanted to kill me. I could easily leave New Orleans with Aiden and never look back.

“Can I think about it?”

Aiden smiled and I found myself smiling too.

Chapter Fifteen

Aiden and Lauren decided to book a hotel room after Dorian very rudely told them they weren’t welcome to stay in his home. I didn’t dare tell Dorian what Aiden and I discussed or that I was thinking about running away with him. Guilt was already knotting my stomach up. Could I just pick up and leave everything behind—leave Dorian? We had shared a moment earlier. I couldn’t ignore that, and I knew Dorian wouldn’t let me forget about it. Still, if I were to leave it all behind, just maybe I could learn to breathe again without having to look over my shoulder and second-guess everyone in my life. We would eventually run into the VC, but that could be years down the road. One thing about vampires, they’re patient.