I chuckled. “True. And yet,weare the ones hiding.”
He narrowed his eyes, glaring at me from the side as we kept walking. “We’re not hiding. We’re trying to live peacefully. If we had wanted to wipe them off the earth, we could have.”
No we couldn’t. After all, lots of Immortals depended on human life. What were Vampires if they couldn’t feed off human blood? Drinking from animals only worked for a while before they became sick and died. What were tied demons if they couldn’t collect souls? Regular Succubi if they couldn’t syphon human energy?
The sad truth was, even if we were strong enough to kill them all, it would only bring our downfall. And, even without knowing this, it gave the humans the upper hand.
“Do you want to know what I think?” he said after a moment. “The prisons like the one Arc and Dimitri went to are used to make tests on us. To find a way to actually kill all of us without using theservices of an unreliable hunter. And with Arc? If they somehow find something that works against him, it’ll probably work against the rest of the Immortals.”
His theory made sense. And yet, I couldn’t forget what Dimitri had said. What he hadseen. Immortals were there too. And if some of us had allied with them? Maybe they had become a bigger threat than we’d ever imagined.
Chapter 7
Lola
June 24, AD 519
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Oh, by thefuckingstars.
The woods were silent as my grip tightened on the small knife, pressing it a little harder against Dimitri’s throat, but my heartbeat was still deafening in my ears. The slight pressure of his fingers on my wrist made my mind go blank, and I could have fainted the moment my eyes landed on his deep blue ones.
“Are you escaping?” Dimitri asked, the crease between his brows deepening, not the slightest bit worried about the dull blade touching his skin. “Did he do something to you?”
The rage in his tone was barely contained but the pressure of his hand eased when I shook my head.
Safe to say my brother’s plan was not going well. The damn Dragons have been here for three days, and so far, their leader didn’t seem ready to give up his pursuit, no matter how rude I was to him or his men. No matter how many times I snapped at him, or how many sneaky insults I threw his way. I wasn’t sure Aghen had the opportunity to talk to him about how awful I was yet, but I had little hope it’d worked.
I came here with the foolish thought that if I was away and alone for the whole day, my mind would become clear enough that I could find new ways to be a huge pain in his ass. Give him more reasons to choose the other Maiden and leave me the fuck alone.
“Anastasia,” Dimitri said. “Where are you going?”
He eyed the small pack I carried on my shoulders, the dress and shoes I was wearing, clearly not fit for a long journey.
“I—I’m just taking a stroll, that’s all.”
When the short lapse in judgment made me pack a bag in case I found the courage to escape, I forgot about that newly found mate of mine. But after all, who would want to live their life on the run? Nothing, not even a Mate link, was worth this nightmare.
“A stroll.” In a quick motion, he managed to make me drop the knife before his free hand pulled my bag off my shoulder to peer inside.
“Give it back!”
“With spare clothes and food. How far are you planning tostroll?”
I pulled on my arm, casting wary glances around to make sure we were still alone. We were far enough from the village that I knew no one would be here unless they had something to do in the woods, but hunters preferred the other side, where more animals wandered.
Dimitri didn’t let go.
“What’s going on, Anastasia?” he asked, anger leaving room for confusion. “Why are you running away?”
“I—I’m not running away. I can’t run away, they’d find me in a heartbeat.”
“Why the bag and supplies then?”
“Because for a second I was brave enough to think I could,” I hissed.
His head snapped to the side, eyes squinted. The next moment, he pulled me deeper into the forest, only stopping to shove my back against a large tree, pressing the front of his body into mine.
