“Have you talked to him about it?” Aiden asked. There was no need to clarify. His son would know.
Winter sighed heavily. “Fox has had a couple of conversations with Zelda and confirmed that a witch can be turned into a vampire. It’s only been done a few times that she knows of, but she doesn’t know of any cases where a witch retained their ability to use magic.”
“He’s against being turned?”
“No, but he obviously wants to wait. He wants to learn some more magic, play with it a bit. I’ve told him that my love isn’t contingent upon him being young. I’ll love him no matter how he looks—old, young, fat, skinny. Doesn’t matter to me.”
“But you want him safe, and humans are fragile.”
“Yes!” Winter snapped, clenching both of his fists in front of him. They shook for a moment and Aiden could easily imagine Winter wanting to shake some sense into his mate. He released a loud breath and dropped his hands back to his lap. “But he’s at least willing to discuss it. He wants to talk to Marcus about it.”
“Marcus?”
A low groan left Winter. “He thinks Marcus will be more logical about it. That they can draw up some kind of guidelines about when he would want to be turned if he’s not conscious or able to relay his desires. As if I can’t be trusted with something like that.”
“Can you be trusted?”
“No, of course not!” Winter said, throwing his arms up in the air. “He’s my mate. If he gets a paper cut, I want to turn him. I want him safe. I want him with me forever.”
Aiden smiled at his son. “Mates can be a conundrum, but I’m sure you and Fox will figure this out.”
Winter’s frown eased a little as his eyes moved to the window where snow flurries were dancing lightly in the darkness. “Any chance you’d be willing to talk about your current conundrum?”
New tension hummed through Aiden’s frame, and it was hard to hold on to his smile. He wanted to redirect it to concerns about the European Ministry or the fact that members of the old MacPherson clan were in town causing problems, but he knew that wasn’t what Winter was referring to.
“Which one called you?” Aiden asked, trying to keep his voice from turning cold and hard. He wasn’t upset. He knew they were only worried about him.
“I got an interesting picture from Marcus…of you dancing with Ronan.” Winter paused and scratched his jaw. “I don’t think I’ve seen you dance in years. At least not since I was human.”
He’d danced with Julianna every chance he got. He didn’t think she was the last person he’d danced with, but she would be the last partner Winter would have seen him with.
“Does it bother you?”
“No,” he answered quickly and then winced, as if realizing he’d replied too quickly. He shifted on the couch and pulled out his phone from his back pocket. He moved his fingers around on the screen for a moment before finding what he wanted. Leaning forward, he turned the screen so Aiden could see it. “I don’t mind when I see you smiling like that.”
Aiden barely heard the words. His eyes were locked on the image of him and Ronan together. Marcus caught him smiling broadly, his hand tightening on Ronan’s shoulder. And Ronan…God, there was such a look of open joy and love in his eyes. Was it possible? Could Ronan still love him after all this time? It didn’t seem as if that could be true, but he couldn’t believe that image was lying to him.
“He’s important to you,” Winter observed.
“He was at one time.” That was an understatement. At one time, Ronan had been everything. My prince. Ronan had been his entire world. The sun had risen and set around Ronan. Aiden lived and eventually died for the man.
And now Ronan had returned. Aiden didn’t know what to do about it. He’d thought Ronan was dead. It had taken a couple of centuries, but Aiden had moved on. He’d fallen in love again, had a family. Aiden was afraid that he’d be moving backward if he reached out to Ronan or that Ronan would not mesh with the life he had now.
The truth was, he was terrified when it came to Ronan. The night they were separated, Aiden had lost more than his life. He’d lost his reason for living. He’d lost his happiness, his love, his heart. It had taken him lifetimes to feel again, to be willing to take a chance on love.
And that next chance had been Julianna Varik.
Yes, the happiness between them had been all too brief, and he’d been forced to watch her from a distance, knowing that she was not the same woman. Knowing that at any moment she could break and hurt the children they both loved. It was all the worse because he knew he’d created her.
Only his children were able to save his sanity.
“You don’t like him,” Aiden said softly as he handed the phone to Winter.
His son made a low, grumbly noise in his throat. “I look at him…and all I see is a weapon sent by the European Ministry. He knows you, and I think he knows exactly how to get past your guard. He could kill you before any of us could take a breath to act.”
Aiden grunted, his gaze drifting out to the window. It was a fair point. If there was anyone anywhere who could kill him, Ronan was at the top of that very short list.
“But he’s not actually the reason I stopped by,” Winter slowly began.
Jerking his gaze to his son, Aiden raised one brow in surprise. “Really?”
“The picture made me think of something else. Julianna.”
Aiden’s heart skipped a beat, and he shifted a little in his seat. Winter didn’t often speak of his mother. He’d never been as close to her as his siblings.
“Does it bother you that I might be with someone else?” Aiden asked carefully.
Winter’s head jumped up, his eyes wide. “No! God, no! I want you to find someone else. To fall in love and be happy. I know we’ve all said that to you. I’m not particularly thrilled about it potentially being him.” He stopped and shoved his hand into his hair again, scratching his scalp. “No, the picture just made me remember something that Mother wanted me to tell you. In all the chaos of Damon and then the aftermath the past several months, it’s slipped my mind.”
“What’s her message?”
“She said that she’s loved you every single day since you first met. She’s grateful for everything that you’ve done, but it’s time for you to stop living for your children and to find love again.”
Aiden swallowed hard and blinked against the sudden sting in his eyes. He would never stop missing Julianna, but the sadness came with a sense of peace now. Her pain was over. She was at peace now. He had to believe that. Winter had helped him to see her ghost before she finally passed on to whatever came after this life.
“Do you think that’s what I’m doing? Using you and your brothers as an excuse to not find love again?”
“I think you don’t have to look hard for an excuse. Whether it’s your sons or the Ministry or some other clan, there will always be an easy reason to close yourself off. It’s not like anyone would blame you for not wanting to take another chance. I loved my mom, but after the way your relationship turned out, most people would swear them off permanently.” Winter scooted forward on the couch so that he was balanced on the edge. He reached across and placed his hand on Aiden’s. “We want you to be happy. Safe and happy.”